Eleanor Tomlinson on Love, Bravery and The Forsytes
Period drama viewers may know and love Eleanor Tomlinson from her Poldark role Demelza, but in new period drama The Forsytes, she plays an entirely different brave and independent heroine. In March 2026, Tomlinson talked with MASTERPIECE about her character Louisa, navigating an undeniable and complicated love with Jolyon, making The Forsytes, and following one's heart. [Note: This interview contains spoilers related to Episodes 1-3 of The Forsytes Season 1.]
MASTERPIECE:
What do you love the most about Louisa?
Eleanor Tomlinson:
I love her independence, but for me, it's her courage and her bravery that stand out. She's had two children and she's raised them single-handedly, which at that time in particular was unheard of and just an extraordinary feat. So that’s what first attracted me to her. And she's slightly unconventional—I always seem to get this gift of playing unconventional period women, which I really love. She has perhaps a slightly more modern edge to her, which is interesting to me. She runs her own business, she's not dependent on a man, and though she raised her children without their father—and obviously they've been told that their father died when they were small—she hasn't instilled any kind of hatred towards men or jealousy.
She's just strong and powerful and completely capable on her own. And she's managed to wall up all of these feelings and not let them out, and I think that it’s incredibly brave of her to live a life for other people so that they can have the best lives possible, really never putting herself forward first.
Eleanor Tomlinson and Danny Griffin behind the scenes filming The Forsytes
MASTERPIECE:
Most of your scenes in The Forsytes are with Danny Griffin [Jolyon]. What was your relationship like, and did you have any fun offscreen between shots?
Eleanor Tomlinson:
We did, it was great. He's an enormous Lord of the Rings fan, as am I, and so we had this very sweet friendship. We were just like kids really, and we did a lot of laughing and immediately got each other. It's just so nice when you start up a job, you kind of think, "Oh my goodness, how am I going to get on with my co-stars?" He's a bit younger than I am, but we immediately found a really fun brother-sister vibe and we're very silly together and we're still very much in touch. It's lovely. It's really a treat.
Eleanor Tomlinson as Louisa in The Forsytes as seen on MASTERPIECE on PBS
MASTERPIECE:
Can you take us into Lousia's head in that amazing moment when she and Jolyon unexpectedly encounter one another after years apart?
Eleanor Tomlinson:
It’s one of my favorite scenes. When I read it, I thought, "Oh, that's really exciting." Debbie [Horsfield, the writer] writes romance moments like no other, and so I was just very excited to do that scene in particular. Louisa’s already in a world that she feels really uncomfortable in, and she's aware of the fact that Jo has married and moved on with his life. And she's been called last minute to this house to amend this dress of the daughter of his wife, and so she's already feeling as anxious...So she swoops down the stairs and is desperately trying to just get out unnoticed, and bang, there he is. And immediately it's like a punch in the stomach. All the air goes out of her chest when she sees him, and it's that gasp, that realization that she's still completely in love with him. It’s so fun to play.
It was a busy day, and there were loads of actors on set, and we have loads of different beats to play because Frances has got to clock it and June's got to be there. We've got to orchestrate this move, "I want you to meet so and-so," and then, bang, there he is. It was so important to me to chat it through with Meenu [Guar], the director, and find the space and the time to really mark it out properly because this is their moment. This is where you realize, Oh my God, she's going to be a problem for the Forsytes. And I loved that. It's a great moment.
MASTERPIECE:
What is the pull that brings them back together—first love? Forbidden love? Or that they are their truest selves together?
Eleanor Tomlinson:
I think it's a mixture. There's definitely an element of them being truly able to be themselves with each other. She's of no birth at all, and when they knew each other, he wanted to be a painter, and they were able to live this kind of dream life for a period of time, which then becomes the rose-tinted version that she always looks back on fondly and romanticizes even more than it already was. She couldn't help herself imagining her life. For her, marrying into that circle was always going to be impossible, but a girl can dream. And the most important thing for her was that she'd found this person that she loves, but she knew that it couldn't last. So I think there's always an element of the bittersweet.
I think for Louisa and Jo, finding each other again just proves that what they had was real, and has them figuring out if they should be listening to societal norms, what their peers and their people are telling them to feel, or if they should be following their heart, and in the end, actually doing what's right by them and each other?
MASTERPIECE:
Louisa initially urges Jo to stay away, and he agrees, but then he comes back. What do you make of what he promises versus how he behaves in resisting and pursuing her, especially with Louisa having so much to lose?
Eleanor Tomlinson:
When he finds out that she has children and that they are potentially his, that really muddies the waters. I think he's drawn to his own children and is shocked by how instant the feeling is with them. He'd left Louisa in this situation, but now has the opportunity to change that. So then it becomes a question not just of his feelings for her anymore. It's Who is he? Is he a gentleman? What's he going to do about this? He's not going to be ruled by his father anymore into behaving in a certain way. It's time for him to be a man and own his decisions and choices.
So it becomes less and more about her at the same time. He sees her in a different light and has immense respect for her. And yes, she says, "Stay away," but he can't help but be drawn to her because he's in love with her and always has been. And I think when you add children into the mix, he's thinking, "Well, this is a life. I have a life here. Why would I walk away from that?" So I think we understand why he goes back and forth and doesn't necessarily listen to her. I mean, in romance, who listens to anybody? He's just led by his heart.
MASTERPIECE:
Do you have any advice that you would give to Louisa?
Eleanor Tomlinson:
Oh yeah: Just follow your heart and dare to dream. Why the hell not? Because life is so short. Why worry about what others think? And I know it's very easy to say in 2026 because we live such different lives, but for a woman to empower another woman, I would just say that.
Eleanor Tomlinson and Danny Griffin in a moment between scenes filming The Forsytes in Venice, Italy
MASTERPIECE:
What was it like for you filming in Venice for the Louisa and Jolyon flashback scenes?
Eleanor Tomlinson:
We went to Venice right at the beginning of the shoot, and it was just amazing, one of those unbelievable experiences filming when you just think, "I can't believe my life right now." I brought my mum along with me, and it was so special to share that with her.
There's something about walking around the city in that period costume, and when you're filming, you see a very different kind of Venice to the rest of the world. They closed off canals and we were able to film right by the Bridge of Sighs. We filmed at around five o’clock in the morning to avoid the tourists, so in a city that's overrun with tourism most of the time, it was so special to see it deserted and quiet in the really early hours when the sun was just coming up. Unbelievable, unforgettable memories.
Eleanor Tomlinson as Louisa in The Forsytes as seen on MASTERPIECE on PBS
MASTERPIECE:
Louisa doesn't get to wear the fanciest wardrobe, but she has some lovely cotton dresses. Was it fun to play a dressmaker, and was there any intersection for you as an actress in the costume world?
Eleanor Tomlinson:
Our costume designer Nic Ede is fabulous. I've worked with him before. We immediately had a proper chat about exactly who [Louisa] was and how she fits into this very grand world that he'd designed to be so opulent... He wanted Louisa to be really pared back in comparison, which I loved. You see other characters in taffetas, stiff fabrics, that are shiny, whereas Louisa's there in these block-print materials, a lot of which were real prints from the time that he'd found, with some Indian influences,because there were a lot of fabrics that were brought over at the time.
The little scissors and thimble kit attached to my dress and that wristband with pins and needles, which you see a couple of times, were things that I wanted to add because I wanted her to feel very real. She's always got something in her hand because she's always busy, always working, never quite able to put work down because she can't afford to.
Before filming started, I went into the costume department a couple of times and sat with the costume makers in their workroom and watched them work, seeing how they do their designs, how each piece is brought together and made. And I was then able to go back to the design team and say, "These are the kind of things that I want to see in Louisa's world. So when we're here, I want to see panels of material. I want to see paper cutouts of shapes. I want to see every version of the reality of being a dressmaker and what that looks like." And it was amazing. They always had everything that I had asked for when I got to set.
MASTERPIECE:
Congratulations on becoming Mum to your baby girl! How did this amazing experience intersect with your Forsytes timeline?
Eleanor Tomlinson:
She came in between seasons one and two. So I filmed season one pregnant, which was really interesting in the corsets, but they were all amazing about it. And then by the time I came back for season two, I had a little friend with me. It was a real joy, and Mammoth [the production company] were fantastic about it, so supportive and really incredible. It's how everyone should be about women working and enabling women to go back to work. So I had the most positive experience. I felt very good.
