On this episode of Bridgerton: The Official Podcast, host Gabrielle Collins puts the focus on a very different, but no less beloved, relationship from the steamy series: The BFF girl-mance that is #PenEloise. She sits down with the actresses, Claudia Jessie, who plays Eloise Bridgerton, and Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope Featherington, to hear all about their favorite moments on the set, their real-life friendship, and how they feel about their characters. These two actresses were the very first people to be cast on the show; Nicola remembers being a little obsessed with finding out who would be playing her dearest friend and was glad it was Claudia, because they had already met briefly before. Nicola describes their relationship as “a flip of Penelope and Eloise, in that I just talk at Claudia….or send her memes,” she laughs.
Nicola talks about playing Penelope’s feelings of unrequited love for Eloise’s brother, and how glad she was to have Claudia around for her crying scenes: “I think you need to be in a safe environment to do that….also staying in a corset so many hours,” she laughs. One of Claudia’s favorite lines as Eloise is when she tells her sister Daphne, “Thank you for being so perfect so I don’t have to be.” “Eloise can dream and explore these other options because Daphne is doing the heavy lifting,” executive producer Betsy Beers says. For Shonda Rimes’ part, PenEloise is one of her favorite relationships in the series: “Eloise is always railing at something and Penelope is always hoping for something. They just felt very sweet to me. I liked them very much and I hoped for them a lot,” she says.
Both actresses agree that their characters are young “even for 1813” because they’re so privileged and guarded. “You know that time in your life when you start realizing things and you become a little bit sanctimonious?” Nicola says. “I remember telling my parents, ‘Do you even know about the hole in the ozone layer? And are you even doing anything about it?’ I feel like there’s a real level of that to the two of them….they don’t necessarily understand anyone else’s struggle.” Claudia agrees: “I think what I found most joyful is that Nicola and I had sort of gone into this thing going, ‘They are young, and they f**king love each other….so here’s a safe space for them to say silly things and be explorative,’” she says. “Both in real life and in fiction,” Nicola quips. Hear all about their on- and off-screen friendship, complete with “magic sandwiches,” social media stalking, and more, on this episode of Bridgerton: The Official Podcast.
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