Bridgerton’s Pall-Mall Scene Was A Struggle For Claudia Jessie & Luke Newton

When Bridgerton Season 2 arrived on Netflix, perhaps no scene was more anticipated by the series’ readers than the first pall-mall battle royale. As author Julia Quinn has shared, of all the books she’s written, it’s the one scene she hears most about from fans. Yet, as fun as it all looked, a couple of the Regency-era drama’s stars also found the game to be a huge struggle to film.

Claudia Jessie and Luke Newton, who play Eloise and Colin Bridgerton, respectively, opened up about their pall mall experience in a video posted to Bridgerton’s social media accounts on Saturday, April 9. The two admitted that they were both “suffering terribly with hay fever,” and poor Newton looked almost pained by the memory of it. Jessie may have had it even worse, though, because she recalled an awkward moment that fans never saw on screen. “We all looked down and we could see that I’d just snotted down my dress,” she said. Newton, having witnessed it all, oh-so charmingly added, “Yeah, just liquid.”

As for their pall-mall skill level, well, that wasn’t so impressive, either. Jessie described the group as “all terrible at it,” a fact Newton corroborated, laughing. They both liked the satisfying sound of a good shot, but there very weren’t many of them to celebrate. “It’s so hard to play,” Jessie added.

That’s not to say they didn’t have any fun with pall-mall. Jessie told Netflix’s Tudum in March that they “all did pretty well by the end of it,” though she still isn’t sure she understands the game. The Porters vet also highlighted that Bridgerton’s stars had fun filming together. “We get really giddy when we’re all together, so it’s all of us really hyperactive,” she said.

And for those without allergies, it sounds like shooting the Episode 3 pall-mall scene was an all-around positive experience. Jonathan Bailey, who plays the eldest Bridgerton brother, Anthony, told Town & Country in March that it was “the dream” to film with his TV siblings. “It took a few days to shoot, we had the most amazing weather, and it was just ridiculous and silly,” he said.

Hay fever aside, the scene earned the approval of Quinn, who told Town & Country that she thought “it was perfect.” Like in Season 2’s source material, The Viscount Who Loved Me, the on-screen pall mall game delightfully served its role of pushing the adversarial relationship between Anthony and Kate (Simone Ashley) over the fine line between love and hate. It’s “a really big moment” in their enemies-to-lovers journey, as Bailey noted to Tudum.

“They have a real moment of intimacy and vulnerability with each other, and that really sets the ball rolling,” he said. “That sequence really is game on for those two, and I think it’s where they cross a line in terms of how much they can stop denying what’s really going on.”

Ashley echoed that sentiment, saying, “It forces them to forget about their responsibilities and to just play with one another. That’s when they find these moments of laughter and falling in the mud and finding common cause.”

As much as fans can probably empathize with Jessie and Newton’s uncomfortable hay fever struggles, the scene was worth it — and they should probably be prepared for more in the future.