Claudia Jessie Peyton (born 30 October 1989), known professionally as Claudia Jessie, is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the third series of the BBC One police procedural WPC 56 (2015) and as Eloise, the fifth Bridgerton child, in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton (2020–present). She also appeared in series 4 of Line of Duty (2017), the Dave sitcom Porters (2017–2019) and the ITV miniseries Vanity Fair (2018).
Early life
Claudia Jessie Peyton was born in Moseley,[4] and grew up on a canal boat.[3] She spent some of her childhood on a council estate in North London[5] and was homeschooled from the age of 14 before returning to Birmingham when she was 17. Her family struggled financially; Jessie described the experiences that came with it, such as bailiffs coming to the door, as traumatic.[3] In addition, her parents split and her father was not around. Her single mother, Dawn, worked cleaning houses to provide for her and her brother.[6][7]
Jessie's mother also worked to afford her ballet lessons at the Challis School of Dance. She was subsequently discovered by student director Hannah Phillips who cast her in several amateur productions.[8] Jessie trained part-time at the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School and spent a year studying with the Birmingham Library Theatre Company.[9] She then signed with an agent in 2012.[4]
Career
Early work (2012–2016)
Jessie's first professional acting role was in a short film titled Rosie in 2012. She followed this with appearances in the soap operas Doctors and Casualty.[10] She appeared in an episode of House of Anubis,[11] and reprised her role as Sophie Danae in the television film Touchstone of Ra.
Between 2014 and 2016, Jessie starred in the BAFTA-winning CBBC Online web series Dixi as Shari.[12] In 2015, she was cast as WPC Annie Taylor, the lead character in the third series of the BBC One television programme WPC 56.[4][13] She was a guest in Josh, playing the protagonist's love interest. Jessie acted in the 2014 short film Copy That directed by Kingsley Hoskins which won the Best Comedic Short Film award at TSFA in New York.[14] Jessie made her feature film debut as Doris in the 2016 war film Their Finest.
In 2023, Jessie narrated the audiobook The Rebound by Leeanne Slade for Audible Original. It was voted as one of Audible's best books of 2023.[20] She has an upcoming role in the Netflix series Toxic Town.
Personal life
Jessie lives in Birmingham with her partner Cole Edwards, a casting editor whom she met at her Bridgerton audition.[5] She has stated she is a vegan and meditates for at least an hour a day. Her aunt introduced her to Nichiren Buddhism, and Jessie has regularly practiced it since she was 17 for her mental health.[8][21] She has spoken of her experiences with panic attacks and anxiety since childhood, as well as depersonalisation disorder.[3]
