Millie Bobby Brown On ‘Enola Holmes 3’ And Why Her Chemistry With Louis Partridge Works: “They’re Saying So Much Without Saying Anything” (EXCLUSIVE)

Since audiences first met Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes and Louis Partridge as Lord Tewkesbury on a train back in 2020, their palpable connection has been the beating heart of Netflix's hit mystery franchise.

Now, three movies deep into their journey, “Enola Holmes 3” sees the beloved duo growing up, stepping into new roles, doing a whole lot of action scenes and navigating a bond that is anything but conventional. Far from your standard Victorian courtship, Brown and Partridge's on-screen dynamic has matured into a brilliantly chaotic blend of razor-sharp banter, deep-rooted friendship, and high-stakes detective work.

In an exclusive interview with Variety India, the co-stars opened up about how maintaining a sense of realism within the whimsical world of the Holmes family was a top priority when returning to set for this third installment.

"We do a lot of work to try to bring a really nuanced kind of relationship between the both of them so everybody can kind of feel something that's new on screen instead of seeing a typical kind of romance," Brown exclusively shares.

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Partridge agrees, reflecting on how their initial bond set the stage for where they are now. "The characters are really great friends and started off—like I don't know if you remember the first film, but all the intimacy was in it. Like a little kiss on the hand and the rest was all two people just really enjoying each other's company."

"And saying so much without saying anything, really," Brown adds.

"Yeah, this film we turned it up a bit, but they're friends before anything else," Partridge notes, before Brown chimed in with the perfect final touch: "And then they fall in love."

In “Enola Holmes 3”, fans get to see a massive shift in the dynamic as Tewkesbury sheds his "lovable but useless" label from the earlier films to take on a far more active, investigative role.

"I liked the moments because Tewkesbury can be a little bit of a—at least in the earlier films—he can be a bit foppish," Partridge laughs. "I think he becomes a little more useful here and he's grown up, he's matured. He's helpful, and Enola needs him in a way and he needs Enola in a way. I really enjoyed being able to add something."

Brown was entirely on board with giving Partridge more of the heavy lifting this time around. "Going into the third one, I really wanted Tewkesbury to have a lot more to the story because he comes from a really privileged and educational background. So Tewkesbury is a very smart guy. We wanted to bring more of that into this story, and that does prove to be useful occasionally."

Naturally, that newfound usefulness led to some playful behind-the-scenes sparring over who exactly saves whom.

"I kind of save you a little bit," Partridge teases.

"Hardly, hardly," Brown fires back.

"Yeah, I pull up and I'm holding a gun," Partridge counters. "It felt pretty good. It was the first time I've held a gun in a film."

Of course, an Enola Holmes film wouldn't be complete without the looming, brilliant presence of big brother Sherlock, played by Henry Cavill. Off-camera, that famous sibling dynamic remains very much alive.

"For me, yes, absolutely," Brown says of Cavill's big-brother energy on set. "Henry and I have been close from the very beginning. He's always looked out for me. He's got a very funny, very dry sense of humour, but an amazing guy. I'm very, very lucky that he's a part of this franchise."

While Partridge hasn't shared quite as much screen time with the elusive detective, his admiration is just as high. "Henry's awesome. I only seem to catch him a few days on every film and we have a little catch up. But he's really, really cool. I'd love to know him better, truth be told. I hope he's well, wherever he is."

With Sherlock officially holding the record as the most represented character on TV or film—having been portrayed 75 times—Louis admits he has a few favorite adaptations of his own that he loved before joining the franchise. "I can only name about three or four, but I did enjoy Andrew Scott as Moriarty, Martin Freeman as Watson, and Cumberbatch as Sherlock. That was fun."