Claudia Jessie Peyton (born 30 October 1989), known professionally as Claudia Jessie, is an English actress. She first gained attention for CBBC Online's series ''Dixi'' (2014–16) before receiving wider recognition for her roles in ITV's ''Vanity Fair'' (2018) and

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

’s ''

Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American alternative history regency romance television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series Bridgerton (novel series), of the same name by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted ...

'' (2020–present) and '' Toxic Town'' (2025).

Early life

Claudia Jessie Peyton was born in

Moseley Moseley ( ') is an affluent suburb in south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. It is located within the eponymous Moseley ward of the constituency of Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley (UK Parliament constituency), Hall Green and ...

, and grew up on a canal boat. She spent some of her childhood on a council estate in North London and was homeschooled from the age of 14 before returning to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

when she was 17. Her family struggled financially; Jessie described the experiences that came with it, such as

bailiffs A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

coming to the door, as traumatic. 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. Jessie's mother also worked to afford her

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

lessons at the Challis School of Dance. She was subsequently discovered by student director Hannah Phillips who cast her in several amateur productions. Jessie trained part-time at the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School and spent a year studying with the Birmingham Library Theatre Company. She then signed with an agent in 2012.

Career

2012–2016: Early work

Jessie's first professional acting role was in a

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

titled ''Rosie'' in 2012. She followed this with appearances in the soap operas ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' and ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

''. She appeared in an episode of ''

House of Anubis ''House of Anubis'' is a mystery television series developed for Nickelodeon based on the Dutch–Belgian television series '' Het Huis Anubis''. The series was created by Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst and premiered on Nickelodeon on 1 Jan ...

'', and reprised her role as Sophie Danae in the television film ''Touchstone of Ra''. Between 2014 and 2016, Jessie starred in the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-winning CBBC Online web series '' Dixi'' as Shari. In 2015, she was cast as WPC Annie Taylor, the lead character in the third series of the BBC One television programme '' WPC 56''. 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 New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Jessie made her

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

debut as Doris in the 2016 war film '' Their Finest''.

2017–present: Rising popularity and breakthrough

In 2017, she starred as DC Jodie Taylor in series four of ''

Line of Duty ''Line of Duty'' is a British police procedural and serial drama television programme created by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It began broadcasting on BBC Two on 26 June 2012. ...

'' on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

and Lucy in the

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

sitcom ''

Porters Porters may refer to: * Porters, Virginia, an unincorporated community in Virginia, United States * Porters, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community in Wisconsin, United States * Porters Ski Area, a ski resort in New Zealand * Porters (TV series), '' ...

'', the latter of which she would return to for its second series. The following year, she played Amelia Sedley in the ITV miniseries adaptation of

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...

's '' Vanity Fair''. She also made a guest appearance in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' episode " Kerblam!" in 2018. In 2020, Jessie began playing Eloise, the fifth Bridgerton child, in the

Shondaland Shondaland (stylized as ShondaLand from 2005 to 2016 and shondaland thereafter) is an American television production company founded by television writer and producer Shonda Rhimes. She founded it to be one of the production companies of her fir ...

-produced

period drama ''

'', an adaptation of the Regency romance novels by

Julia Quinn Julie Pottinger (née Cotler; born January 12, 1970), better known by her pen name, Julia Quinn, is an American author. Her novels have been translated into 41 languages and have appeared on The New York Times Bestseller List, ''The New York Times ...

. Jessie appeared in '' Bali 2002'' for Stan and 9Network, an Australian drama about the real life

2002 Bali bombings The 2002 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist attacks on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attacks killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people ...

. Jessie portrayed real-life survivor Polly Miller, a newlywed British tourist. For her performance, Jessie was nominated for the

Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress The Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress, commonly known as the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress, is an award presented annually at the Australian TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television pr ...

. In 2023, Jessie narrated the audiobook ''The Rebound'' by Leeanne Slade for Audible Original. It was voted as one of

Audible Audible may refer to: * Audible (service), an online audiobook store * Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks * ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player * Audible finish or ru ...

's best books of 2023. In 2025, she played the main role of Maggie Mahon 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. She has stated she is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

and meditates for at least an hour a day. Her aunt introduced her to

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism (), also known as ''Hokkeshū'' (, meaning ''Lotus Sect''), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period school ...

, and Jessie has regularly practiced it since she was 17 for her

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

. She has spoken of her experiences with

panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and Comfort, discomfort that may include palpitations, otherwise defined as a Tachycardia, rapid, Arrhythmia, irregular Heart rate, heartbeat, Hyperhidrosis, sweating, chest pain or discomfort, s ...

s and

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

since childhood, as well as

depersonalisation disorder Depersonalization-derealization disorder (DPDR, DDD) is a mental disorder in which the person has persistent or recurrent feelings of depersonalization and/or derealization. Depersonalization is described as feeling disconnected or detached fro ...

. Jessie is a member of the climate activist group

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and ...

and considers herself a fan of

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is an English journalist, author, and Environmental movement, environmental and political activist. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and has written several books. Monbiot ...

. She does not use social media.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Audio

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Claudia Jessie
at Spotlight {{DEFAULTSORT:Jessie, Claudia Living people 20th-century births 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Birmingham, West Midlands British climate activists English Buddhists English film actresses English television actresses Members of Sōka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhists People educated at Susi Earnshaw Theatre School People from Moseley Year of birth missing (living people)