English actress Eleanor Tomlinson got her start in a period production, and while she’s done some contemporary stuff, I think she’s definitely going to be associated with frock flicks given her role as Demelza in the hit TV series Poldark. Soon she’ll play The Forsyte Saga; you can see pics at the Daily Mail, and read our in-depth review of the previous iteration of this story to tide you over while we wait!
Young Sophie in The Illusionist (2006)
A magician seduces an aristocratic woman at the turn of the century; Tomlinson plays the young version of the heroine.
Agnes Muller in Einstein and Eddington (2008)
“Drama about the development of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, and Einstein’s relationship with British scientist Sir Arthur Eddington, the first physicist to experimentally prove his ideas,” per IMDB.
Fiona Chattaway in Alice in Wonderland (2010)
I’m assuming Fiona must be friends with Alice in this adaptation of the Lewis Carroll story?
Isabelle in Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
A fantasy take on the fairy tale. Including because it’s historical adjacent!
Isabel Neville in The White Queen (2013)
She plays the elder sister of Anne Neville, who marries the future Richard III, in this Philippa Fucking Gregory medieval-set adaptation.
Alice Cunningham in Poirot: “The Labours of Hercules” (2014)
Obligatory vintage murder mystery appearance is obligatory!
Georgiana Darcy in Death Comes to Pemberley (2013)
In this murder mystery/continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Tomlinson plays the slightly older (but still ingenue-ish) younger sister of Mr. Darcy.
Georgie Raoul-Duval in Colette (2018)
She plays the supporting/real-life character, an American writer, playwright, and socialite who had an affair with French writer Colette.
Mary Durrant in Ordeal by Innocence (2018)
Yet MORE obligatory vintage murder mystery!
Demelza in Poldark (2015-19)
You know, the plucky lower class ragamuffin who marries jerk Ross Poldark.
Amy in The War of the Worlds (2019)
The TV adaptation of the H.G. Wells science fiction story.
Mary Brighton in The Nevers (2021-23)
A scifi TV series about people with special abilities living in Victorian London.
Tess in A Small Light (2023)
A TV biopic about real-life Miep Gies, who helped to hide the family of Anne Frank during World War II.
What’s your favorite of Eleanor Tomlinson’s historical roles?
First outfit in The Illusionist is indeed a riding habit as the main characters Eisenheim and Sophie have a teenage meet-cute when he comes across her while she’s out riding. Her character in The Nevers is a would-be singer, so I assume the second outfit is a stage costume (though she also has a lot of bad things happen to her including being kidnapped so could also be post-kidnapping while still wearing her stage costume?)
I have seen a few of these, and I still cannot get over her role in the Miep Gies miniseries. I also was distracted by Keira Knightley’s horrible posture in the image from Colette.
Yes! AND K.K. yet again managed to be boring, even when playing the least boring of women. But the frocks were so, so good (unlike what the Neville girls, daughters of the most powerful man in effing England, had to put up with). Anyway, I thought Tomlinson fairly convincing as the predatory Georgie.
I first saw her in Death Comes to Pemberley and was very impressed with her! I think she’s a great actress and does a really believable job as a person from another century.
Clear best in show (no pun intended) is her turn in POIROT ‘The Labours of Hercules’ – almost certainly my favourite episode (Not just because of the lovely Orla Brady either, though not least due to her presence) and, for my money, a far grander finale than the actual final episode.
On the other hand Binky is most definately a dog, not any kind of puppy.
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Also, no lie, that first picture from THE NEVERS speaks to my chivalrous soul (It says “Put on your Ulster, find a good hat and a brilliant detective and steal every scene as the plucky sidekick until somebody gives you a Love Interest – then hope to goodness that somebody looks like the lovely Eleanor Tomlinson”).
She is so beautiful and talented. She definitely has that “Frock Flicks” look. I liked her best in Death Comes to Pemberley. She was, indeed, well cast as Georgiana. The show Poldark was sooo frustrating at times. I was too frustrated with her putting up with Ross’s crap to have that as my favorite character. I was absolutely heartbroken about the premature cancellation of The Nevers due to the Whedon scandal. She, like the rest of the cast, was excellent in her role and I was really looking forward to seeing that story unfold. I haven’t seen a lot of these, including A Small Light and Colette, which have been on my radar for a while. I’m adding lots of these to my Watchlist! GREAT WCW choice!!!
I love her. She’s fantastic and looks great in costume dramas.
If memory serves, that second still from The Nevers is her in a theatrical production. I THINK her singing has the power to entrance people, and she finds that difficult to cope with / is in danger because of it.