From Winter Issue 64
Glass talks to Bridgerton actor Claudia Jessie about how Buddhism, living offline and having a good laugh over a cup of coffee keep her grounded in the celebrity whirl
It’s a wet, grey afternoon in Birmingham and Claudia Jessie is exactly where she wants to be – and that is miles away from the circus. Over the years, her career has evolved from steady TV work, including hits Line of Duty and Vanity Fair, to the global spotlight of Bridgerton, yet she remains refreshingly normal – funny, warm and entirely uninterested in the trimmings that come with fame.
Photographer: Ellyse Anderson
Jessie, who reprises her role as the brilliantly outspoken Eloise Bridgerton in season 4 of the series, has found herself at the centre of one of Netflix’s biggest shows while somehow managing to live a life that looks the opposite of celebrity.
For starters, she lives in Birmingham, not London. She’s not on social media. And she’s absolutely fine with missing the chaos that usually goes hand in hand with the acting world. “I always knew my brain and its safety were of utmost importance to me, so there are certain things I’ve kept small,” she declares. “My job can be the most exciting thing about me, but everything else stays pretty calm.”
She didn’t grow up surrounded by art or ambition. “It wasn’t a house full of films and telly,” she says. “My mum’s amazing, but it just wasn’t that kind of household.” Instead, she’s always been one for comedy and her first spark came from watching Whose Line Is It Anyway? and The Fast Show, “I wanted to be a clown really,” she laughs. “Just muck about and make people laugh.” Acting came later, and without any masterplan: “It wasn’t something I knew I wanted to do until much later on.”
Photographer: Ellyse Anderson
Her career grew the same way, slowly and organically, appearing in the likes of Casualty and Doctors and building her path bit by bit until Bridgerton arrived in 2020. “It didn’t feel like a huge shift,” she says. “I’d been a jobbing actor for years. Everything happened at a nice, steady pace. I didn’t feel new enough for it to be this explosion, it just felt like the next step.”
When the frothy Regency drama premiered mid-lockdown, the rest of the world lost its mind in cyberspace, but Jessie wasn’t playing that game: “Because I’m not online, I missed the hysteria. It all sort of passed me by.”
Ask her about her acting process and there’s no pretence – it’s all in the lines: “I learn the life out of my lines. I want to know them so well I could do them upside down with my eyes closed in an Australian accent.” After that, it’s instinct and direction, “The director’s a god on set. I love being directed. I’m not precious. You trust the team and you go from there.”
Photographer: Ellyse Anderson
Comedy still runs through everything. “I don’t enjoy watching things that aren’t funny. Comedy is everything to me, it’s at the centre of my heart,” she explains. It’s one of the reasons she loves playing Eloise: “She was funny on the page. I just had to make it true.”
Ambition, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to interest Jessie. “I’m not a hugely ambitious person,” she confesses. “I don’t have five-year plans. I just want to feel joy.” It seems that the security of Bridgerton suits her just fine: “When we signed up and there was an option to stay longer, I thought, this is brilliant. You know work’s coming. I’ll be there until they drag me out kicking and screaming.”
She adds, “I’ve always found ruthless ambition a bit frightening. A lot of actors have those ‘by next year I’ll do this’ plans. I just don’t have that.”
Brought up variously on a canal boat and a council estate in a single parent family, Jessie’s equally straight-talking about class, too, and it’s something she’s refused to brush aside since finding success, “People can be ignorant about class. Because I don’t sound working class, people make assumptions. But class isn’t just about money. It’s about access, opportunity, education, all of it.” She’s proud of where she’s from and sees no reason to pretend otherwise. “If I don’t say I’m working class, it keeps this idea that the industry’s for middle-class people only, and that’s bollocks.”
Photographer: Ellyse Anderson
The 36-year-old actress is also quick to credit others doing good work, like actor and writer David Mumeni, who founded Open Door, a charity that helps people from low-income backgrounds get into UK’s leading drama schools via an eight-month programme of mentoring and training. “It’s incredible,” she says. “He helps people for free. That’s the kind of thing that actually changes lives.” Jessie now serves as an ambassador for Open Door, continuing to champion the cause and help widen access to the arts.
Still, she knows the industry has a long way to go: “The most working class I’ve ever felt is in this industry. Growing up, everyone was the same as me. It wasn’t until later that I realised what privilege looked like, people who’d grown up with directors round for dinner or who ate at a table instead of watching telly with the lamp on. I thought rich people were Premier League footballers and Missy Elliott. That was it.”
Her worldview, a mix of humour, honesty and balance, comes from her long-time practice as a Nichiren Buddhist. ”We’re the noisy ones,” she laughs, explaining how she chants every morning and evening. “It’s the foundation of everything. It’s about creating value out of whatever happens. I don’t pray to a god, it’s about seeing that Buddha nature in yourself.” She calls this the backbone of her day: “In the morning, it’s about setting yourself up. In the evening, it’s about gratitude. It’s not passive. It’s active.”
Photographer: Ellyse Anderson
Buddhism has also helped her manage anxiety: “I think I was dealt the hand of ‘you’ll have anxiety, my darling, but that’s okay’,” she grins. “A friend once told me he was glad to have struggled because now he knows what hell feels like and can help others. That stuck with me, turning something hard into something useful. That’s the whole point.”
It’s clear she’s built her life to protect her peace. “I’ve surrounded myself with things that keep me balanced,” she asserts. “I’m not online. I live in Birmingham. I’m near my family. There’s no noise. If I suddenly joined social media, everyone I know would think something had gone wrong.” The line lands half as a joke, half as fact, “I just don’t want to forget how to talk to my mates,” she continues. “That’s what the internet’s done to us, we’ve forgotten how to have a chat.”
Ask her what happiness looks like and the answer is blissfully straightforward: “My perfect day? Coffee – I go to bed excited for coffee,” she says, laughing. “Then a mooch. I love a mooch. Bit of rag market, TK Maxx, Computer Exchange. Get a second coffee, take my dog for a walk – I’m easily pleased.”
Photographer: Ellyse Anderson
For someone who now spends much of her career in lavish corsets, Jessie regards her work in a similar no frills fashion. “I still think of myself as a jobbing actor,” she says. “If I can pretend to be someone in exchange for money – that’s sick. That’s all I ever wanted.”
If she weren’t acting, she wouldn’t be far from nature. “I’d be a park ranger,” she tells me without hesitation. “Or move to Svalbard in the Arctic. That’s my dream.”
For a woman best known for playing one of television’s sharpest rebels, Jessie’s real act of rebellion might just be how ordinary she’s chosen to stay in an industry that famously isn’t. “I’m buzzing,” she says finally, “It’s all gone better than anyone thought it would.”
by Felicity Carter
Bridgerton S4 will premiere in two batches on 29 January and on 26 February 2026
Photographer: Ellyse Anderson
Stylist: Sally Bottomley
Hair: Stefan Bertin using AMIKA
Makeup: Francesca Brazzo using MERIT BEAUTY
Manicurist: Chisato Yamamoto using DIOR Manicure Collection DIOR Vernis and DIOR Le Baume
Photography assistant: Lucas Bullens
Styling assistant: Roxy Barrow
Talent: Claudia Jessie
Look 1: Top: Bee De Chaumet pendant in white gold with diamonds, Bottom: Bee De Chaumet Medium model pendant in rose gold with diamonds, Index, top: Bee De Chaumet ring in white gold with diamonds, Bottom: Bee De Chaumet ring in white gold, Middle finger: Bee De Chaumet ring in white gold with diamonds, all CHAUMET, Dress ISSEY MIYAKE
Look 2: Bee De Chaumet Pompon pendant in yellow gold with diamonds, Bee De Chaumet Hoop earrings in rose gold with diamonds, both CHAUMET, Dress SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO
Look 3: Bee De Chaumet Necklace in white gold with diamonds, Bee De Chaumet Hoop earrings in white gold with diamonds, Middle finger, top: Bee De Chaumet Ring in white gold, Middle finger, bottom: Bee De Chaumet Ring in white gold with diamonds, Ring finger: Bee De Chaumet Ring in white gold with diamonds, Bee De Chaumet Bracelet in white gold with diamonds, all CHAUMET, Jacket and skirt DIOR
Look 4: Bee De Chaumet Pompon earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, Bee De Chaumet Ear cuff in rose gold with diamonds, both CHAUMET, Blazer and top GIVENCHY BY SARAH BURTON
Look 5: Top: Bee De Chaumet Bracelet in rose gold with diamonds, Middle: Bee De Chaumet Bracelet in white gold with diamonds, Bottom: Bee De Chaumet Bracelet in rose gold with diamonds, Top: Bee De Chaumet Ring in rose gold, Middle: Bee De Chaumet Ring in rose gold with diamonds, Bottom: Bee De Chaumet Ring in white gold with diamonds, all CHAUMET, Coat LOUIS VUITTON
Look 6: Bee De Chaumet Necklace in white gold with diamonds, Bee De Chaumet Hoop earrings in white gold with diamonds, Middle finger, top: Bee De Chaumet Ring in white gold, Middle finger, bottom: Bee De Chaumet Ring in white gold with diamonds, Ring finger: Bee De Chaumet Ring in white gold with diamonds, Bee De Chaumet Bracelet in white gold with diamonds, all CHAUMET, Jacket and skirt DIOR