Louis Partridge, the cutie in Enola Holmes, is the ‘actor to watch’
MANILA, Philippines — If you’ve already seen Enola Holmes on Netflix, lead star Millie Bobby Brown is not the only charmer in the adventure film about Sherlock Holmes’ aspiring detective of a teen sister. There’s Louis Partridge who plays Lord Tewksbury, the young viscount-in-distress who Enola decides to help.
The STAR recently had a Zoom interview with Louis, who like Millie is British and only 16. He starred in Medici as Piero de Medici and Paddington 2 as G-Man before getting cast in Enola Holmes. Not a few fans and articles are saying that Louis is the actor to watch. During the interview, it was easy to understand why. He told us he wants to do “more and more and more and more” acting.
But first, there was a lot of curiosity as to how he got the role of Tewksbury, who ends up teaming up with Enola in solving the mystery in his own life. Louis looked back on his auditions which took place over four weeks in the run-up to his big exams at school. “So, I was revising exams, working hard while going and then envisioning the first four or five revisions, then I met Millie, and director (Harry Bradbeer) for chemistry. I was so, so nervous.”
He continued, “And then I got a call back. Then I met her again. And that time was brilliant. I met her before, I was really, really nervous that time. But when I saw her again, and saw everybody else again, I think I was three hours less nervous. I did a better audition, basically, which I think got me the part.”
The day he was told the big news fell on his exam day. “I found out on the day of this exam I was doing in the morning, and I went into the exam just like completely I couldn’t concentrate. I was just so fuzzy because I found out that I got this part that was more important than any exam to me. I ended up doing really badly in that exam, which I prepared quite a lot for, because I could not concentrate. But I mean, it didn’t really matter to me, you know, as I was about to spend the summer filming this incredible project.”
There’s a hint of “puppy love” in the film, which also tells the coming-of-age story of Enola, and it would be interesting to see how Millie and Louis’ chemistry plays out in the sequel (should there be one). According to Louis, it helped that he had never seen Stranger Things, where Millie first became popular as Eleven, a mysterious character with psychic powers.
“It was really fun building the relationship with Millie. It was quite surreal at times. I mean, I hadn’t seen Stranger Things, which helped me because I didn’t see her as this ‘celebrity, oh my god!’” he said but laughingly admitted as well that he told Millie recently and “she was not happy.”
Still, “I quite liked it that way. I wasn’t completely nervous to Millie... You know, I celebrated my 16th birthday, like she got me a cake. It was really sweet.
“She’s not in any way entitled or anything... She’s really, really down-to-earth. And that’s just what you want when you are acting with somebody. It was really easy to build that relationship. And then it all came naturally. I think we’ve seen that on screen.”
Louis was happy to note that he had some input into his portrayal. He recalled, “I had rehearsals with the director; it wasn’t just me preparing for it. But I could bring my own stuff, obviously, which I did, and I really liked doing my own ideas…which I hadn’t really had before in a project.
“I had the opportunity to say to the director, ‘I think you should be a little bit more like this if we can,’ which really helped me feel comfortable in the part and bring what I want to do to the part.”
The result? “I think there’s a little bit of me in Tewksbury like some of the stuff he says and some of the looks he gives, I do (those) in my own life,” he said. “Originally, he was sort of, a bit of — to put it in my dad’s way — a wet blanket of a character, a bit sort of pathetic. But, I mean, we brought this sort of warmth in rehearsals and gave him a bit more character because Enola has to really, really like him and want to go back and save him. If he’s just this sort of burden on her, she’s not going to bother saving him.”
Young people like Louis can learn from the film’s message of empowerment and authenticity. “That you don’t have to fit in. That you can be an Enola basically. And you can be a Tewksbury who isn’t your typical man who loves his flowers, you know, and his tree house. There’s a lot going on in the film that relates with me as a person.”
As for what he learned from playing his “biggest role to date”, Louis shared, “It has taught me that you will never not be nervous with our work. I thought, when I was doing it, that it’s like, okay, if I get this part, I can never be nervous because I’ve got this amazing part. You know, people will know that I can act because I’ve done this part.
“But that’s not the case. Like you go into a film set, and you’re still so nervous on the first day. I feel like, however many projects you do, it’s quite humbling to always start from a similar position, sort of like square one. You have your experience that you rely on, to always sort of go back to the drawing board.
“But I think it’s quite reassuring that I will always be nervous. It’s also a reminder that I’m nervous because I care about what I’m doing, and I genuinely enjoy it. And also, I want to do it more and more and more and more.”
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