Louis Partridge is feeling protective of George Wickham, the notorious knave he plays in Netflix’s all-star adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice,” currently in production.
“Yeah, he is a bit of a shit … but I think he possibly means all the lovely things he says to girls before he leaves them,” suggests the Londoner somewhat optimistically.
Not only is Partridge hoping to offer the ruinous flirt a splash of humanity, but he even smothered himself in superstrength SPF 75 sunscreen for Wickham’s sake on a recent backpacking trek around Mexico.
During a break in the rigorous shooting schedule for the limited series, which also stars Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden, Partridge was able to squeeze in the trip with old college friends. But there was one condition: “I had to keep my face out of the sun.” Giving Wickham a nice holiday tan would be a bridge too far for the genteel world of Jane Austen.
The jaunt — which he had assumed he’d have to bail on — was a rare break for the 22-year-old Partridge, who has seen his status as an in-demand actor soar ever since his breakthrough in the YA mystery franchise “Enola Holmes.” However, it meant missing the Venice Film Festival debut of “Jay Kelly,” the Noah Baumbach-directed comedy-drama in which he stars alongside George Clooney and Adam Sandler.
Centered around an aging movie star, the film has Partridge playing a younger version of Billy Crudup’s resentful failed actor, who sees an early chance to make it in Hollywood go the way of Clooney. It’s clearly not something Partridge has experienced himself, although he does recall a rival in his formative years.
“For a long time my acting nemesis was Kit Connor,” says Partridge with a chuckle. That was back when both were budding child stars and regularly going for the same roles — and with their parents in tow. “He was always in the room in auditions. It was always me and my mum and him and his mum. And my mum would roll her eyes.” But as he notes, it’s worked out for both himself and the “Heartstopper” star and asserts they’re now “really good buddies.”
While he may have missed this year’s Venice Film Festival, Partridge did make it there in 2024 for Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple TV+ series “Disclaimer,” where he played the young backpacker at the center of the mystery thriller.
He winces as he recalls the premiere, where he had to sit through his own especially steamy sex scene “with the CEO of bloomin’ Apple, Tim Cook, literally in the seat behind me.” Maybe “even more harrowing,” he says, was the thought of his girlfriend sitting just a couple rows back. “But she was very professional about it,” he says coolly. For those not clued in to Partridge’s flashbulb-friendly relationship status, said girlfriend is pop star Olivia Rodrigo.
Louis Partridge in ‘House of Guinness‘
Partridge is now back in the U.K. (and thanks to his high-powered sun lotion — which he admits “he didn’t even know was a thing” — tan-free). It means he’s not only able to join his “Pride and Prejudice” co-stars for a few romps around stately homes (the series is mainly shooting in rural England), but also attend the launch of Netflix’s dynastic crime drama “House of Guinness.” A sort of alcoholic 19th-century blend of “Peaky Blinders” and “Succession,” the Steven Knight-created series sees Partridge stepping back into period costume as Edward Guinness, boss of the brewing giant and one of the key figures across an ensemble cast.
Historical trappings aside, the role marks a departure from the rakish George Wickham or anyone he’s portrayed before. Edward is “quite a straight, sober character, trying to keep everything in check — and usually I’m a bit more irresponsible in the roles I play and throw caution to the wind,” Partridge says. “So it did feel like something quite new for me.”
For all his fast-rising profile and acceleration up the call sheet — Partridge also returns as Millie Bobby Brown’s love interest Tewkesbury in “Enola Holmes 3,” which shot earlier this year — he’s acutely aware that for many, he’s still better known for his Grammy-winning partner. “I can handle that,” he says, smiling. As for how he feels being “Mr. Olivia Rodrigo,” he says he’s had the title for “a while now. I’m very happy, and I think she is too, so all is good in our world.”
But their world is far from a normal one. Rodrigo’s song “So American” was inspired by their relationship, and she gave her “boy from London” a holler during her Glastonbury headlining set this summer. Her on-stage references about adopting the British fondness for having a “pint at noon” and “sticky toffee pudding,” he claims, “was my work.” But the “Glastonbury experience,” he acknowledges, “was so, so surreal” (he didn’t know the shout-out was coming) and “also such a treat and a joy.”
It likely won’t be the last surreal moment for Partridge, who recently became a new entry on book- makers’ James Bond lists as Amazon reportedly looks to cast a more youthful superspy for the next installment. Sadly, incoming writer Knight didn’t spend much time on the set of “House of Guinness,” so Partridge wasn’t able to throw down any 007 impressions in his vicinity. But he still has time.
“I’ve got to prepare something for the premiere!” he says. “Maybe I could just be at the bar swilling a martini, saying nothing.”
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