Brown adopted a daughter with her husband, Jake Bongiovi, in the summer of 2025. Bongiovi is also now a producer on Enola Holmes 3.
How the new film changes Enola’s world
The third film keeps the franchise’s focus on Enola’s intelligence, nerve and refusal to be reduced to a famous surname. This time, though, the stakes are more personal.
Enola is engaged to Lord Tewkesbury, played by Partridge, and is beginning to worry about what that means for her own identity. She has spent the previous films trying to prove she deserves the Holmes name, while also measuring herself against her brother Sherlock, played by Henry Cavill.
The new story also gives her plenty of physical work, including a fistfight and carriage-roof stunts. When the interviewer suggested there was a hint of Eleven from Stranger Things in the action, Brown pushed back with a smile.
“I think in a lot of ways Enola gave me training for Eleven,” she said.
Partridge joined in: “That’s what I like to think. Stranger Things stands sort of very much on the shoulders of what we’ve done here.”
Brown found that funny, as intended. The two have an easy, teasing rapport, closer to siblings than colleagues doing a press day under studio lighting.
Brown and Partridge know the pressure of growing up on screen
Both actors have moved from child and teen roles into adult careers without the usual wobble. Brown became internationally known through Stranger Things, the Netflix series that ended in late 2025 after making her a household name a decade earlier.
Partridge, now 23, had smaller parts in Pan in 2015, Paddington 2 and the series Medici before Enola Holmes gave him his breakout role in 2020. Since then, he has played Sid Vicious in the 2022 miniseries Pistol and taken a leading role in Netflix’s historical drama House of Guinness, written by new James Bond scribe Steven Knight. That series has recently been renewed for a second season.
The transition has come with pressure, especially in the social media era. Partridge praised Brown for speaking publicly against negative attention she had received.
“You literally posted a video a year ago, being like, ‘This is messed up, this is not how you treat people, be better,’ which is not something I’ve seen anybody else do. Respect,” he told her.
“I think most people would read it and they would feel bad about it, and keep reading stuff and keep engaging in it, but it takes something to stand up for yourself and for other people, like you do.”
Brown quietly thanked him, and the tone shifted.
Brown says growing up in public was difficult
Brown asked Partridge whether staying in school had given him “a level of normalcy” while he was acting. He said it probably helped, though leaving school brought its own problems.
“You get out of school, and you’ve still got to do some growing up, on the other side,” he said.
Brown’s own experience was less protected. She said growing up while the public watched her friendships, relationships and mistakes was hard, especially because she was also expected to be a role model for people her own age.
“So, you can’t make the mistakes because people are looking up to you and they’re relying on you and you feel almost responsible for other people’s decisions,” she said. “And yet you’re not. You’re 14, and you’re trying to figure it out yourself.”
She called it “a difficult thing to get through,” but credited her family and parents with helping her through it.
That perspective also explains why she remains attached to Enola. The new film also gives young viewers a heroine who can be clever, messy, emotional and capable all at once. It also moves into heavier territory, including colonialism, while taking on the familiar criticism that women are “too emotional.” Imagine that accusation surviving another century. Somehow, it did.
Malta, sea shoots and a darker new director
Production moved to Malta for the third film, giving Brown and Partridge their first experience filming in the sea. The cast also stayed in the same hotel during the shoot and saw one another every morning at breakfast.
Partridge appears to have made full use of the buffet. “I make three trips, minimum,” he said.
The film is directed by Philip Barantini, newly joining the franchise after Adolescence, the Netflix drama created by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne. Thorne also writes the Enola Holmes films. Barantini joked that moving from hard-hitting drama into a family-friendly mystery adventure did offer something of a reset.
“The short answer is yes,” he said. “But also I’ve got a nine-year-old daughter, and I wanted to make something that she could watch.”
Brown and Partridge said Barantini respected the fact that they had already made two films and knew their characters well.
“He was very open and respected the fact that we’d done two films,” Partridge said. “And as much as he was bringing his feel and vibe and cinematography and everything to it, it was a real collaboration.”
Brown said she was drawn to his darker approach.
“He wanted to make it a lot darker than it was before, so you do find elements of, wow, it doesn’t feel like the same franchise sometimes, but then it pulls you right back in and you’re like, oh yeah, of course it is,” she said. “And I think the maturity in our relationship amps up a bit in this film.”
Henry Cavill’s boundaries are still very much in place
Cavill returns as Sherlock Holmes, while Helena Bonham Carter is back as Eudoria, the unpredictable Holmes matriarch. Sherlock’s kidnapping sets Enola’s latest investigation in motion.
Brown described Bonham Carter as “a book of knowledge” and said she talks to her “too much about absolutely everything.” She also called the Oscar-nominated actor a “mother figure,” adding: “Her and I are awfully similar, in many ways.”
Her relationship with Cavill is a little different, and apparently still comes with clear rules. In 2022, while promoting the second Enola Holmes film, Brown said Cavill had “terms and conditions” for their relationship, including firm boundaries around topics like his personal life. She said then that she appreciated it.
Asked whether that had changed now that she is older and a parent, Brown was direct.
“No!” she laughed. “No, the funny thing with Henry and I is we’re like brother and sister, so like my big brother, he’s like, ‘Millie, no, I’m not doing that,’ and it’s just like, you go, ‘Okay.’ You’ve just kind of got to respect it because you’re like, I’m not going to argue, you know?”
She compared the dynamic to her real relationship with her brother Charlie.
“You’re just like my brother, I love you, and then I’m also like, ‘No, I’m not doing that!’” she said.
Brown has previously contrasted that with her Stranger Things castmates, whom she described as sibling-like specifically because there were “no boundaries.” Cavill, it seems, remains committed to the concept. Efficient, really.
Louis Partridge addresses the James Bond talk
The conversation then turned to another famous British character. Partridge has been linked to James Bond speculation since Variety reported in April that he was in contention for the role. Cavill, of course, has long been a fan-favourite choice for 007.
Partridge said he and Cavill had not discussed the rumours, but added that Cavill “would be a fantastic James Bond.”
He did not entirely dodge the question about himself.
“I don’t know what direction they want to take with it, but I think James Bond is awesome and I think every man wants to play James Bond,” he said. “And if they say they don’t, they’re lying! But we shall see, on that front.”
Brown first joked, “I could play James Bond!” before backing her co-star.
“No, vote for Louis,” she said. “I’ll say it here. I work with him, he’s the best, and he’s my James Bond.”
Enola Holmes 3 streams exclusively on Netflix from Wednesday, July 1.
