Netflix Keeps Dressing Louis Partridge in Waistcoats — Give Him Hawkins Already

Louis Partridge keeps getting handed a cravat and a moral gray area, and honestly, it suits him. After two Enola Holmes movies, he turned up as Edward Guinness in Netflix's House of Guinness and is now stepping into George Wickham's polished shoes for the streamer's new Pride & Prejudice. In a new chat with Netflix's Skip Intro, he broke down the costumes, the homework, and why being the charming problem in a period piece is kind of a blast.

The period uniform: waistcoats, layers, and... Hawkins-coded?

Partridge has done more than four period projects now, all set in the 19th century. Translation: he has spent a lot of time in stiff waistcoats and way too many layers. He admits he would love nothing more than to show up in a T-shirt and jeans for once — he joked that vibe is 'Hawkins-coded.' Yes, that phrasing is a little odd; the point is he wants modern, comfy clothes, not ten buttons and a cravat.

Still, he is into the ritual of it. The layers help him click into character and set the tone — the kind of detail that quietly does half the acting for you. After this many corseted detours through the 1800s, he says he actually understands what people wore back then and why. And at 22, he is pretty grateful for the experience, even if his shoulders might disagree.

Pride & Prejudice: Louis vs. Wickham

Next up: Partridge as George Wickham, the smooth-talkin' antagonist in Netflix's new Pride & Prejudice. On Skip Intro with Krista Smith, he sounded genuinely delighted to be playing the resident troublemaker. He clocks Wickham as the baddie — or at least one of them — but he is not playing him like a mustache-twirler. It is more fun (and more truthful) if Wickham thinks he is in the right.

'When you are playing that, you are not gonna go around thinking you are a baddie... He has a way with words, he has got the gift of the gab, and he has got all the charm, and it usually works.'

He also shouted out the cast and crew as fantastic, which never hurts when you are living in Regency-land for months.

House of Guinness: the research rabbit hole

As Edward Guinness in the eight-part historical drama House of Guinness (created by Steven Knight), Partridge plays a cunning, sharp, business-first operator with more layers than he shows you at first glance. He talked through that with directors Tom Shankland and Mounia Akl, because the guy's priorities — strategy over emotion — are not exactly Partridge's default setting.

He even bought two books to prep: 'Say Nothing' and 'A Short History of Ireland.' And here is the inside-baseball bit — neither book ended up being relevant to what he needed. Wrong rabbit hole. Still, he came away with some useful context on Irish history and the era's socio-political mood, which is never wasted when you are playing the heir to a brewing empire.

What to watch and what's next

• Enola Holmes and House of Guinness are streaming now on Netflix (Partridge plays Tewkesbury in the former, Edward Guinness in the latter).
• Pride & Prejudice is expected to hit Netflix next year, with Partridge as George Wickham.