I’m hoping for a happy ending for Morwenna
AS THE NAIVE MORWENNA, ELLISE CHAPPELL IS PROVING TO BE ONE OF THE SHINING LIGHTS IN THIS RUN OF POLDARK. AHEAD OF THE PENULTIMATE EPISODE OF SERIES THREE, SUSAN GRIFFIN CHATS TO THE RISING STAR ABOUT PINCH-ME MOMENTS ON SET AND THE PERKS OF PEPPERMINT TE
WHAT a difference a few months can make in the world of Poldark, as the sweet and innocent Morwenna has been discovering to her detriment. One of a number of new faces introduced at the beginning of the current run, we’ve witnessed Elizabeth’s cousin and former governess fall in love with Ross Poldark’s brother-in-law Drake Carne.
The pretty pair even promised to marry before Elizabeth’s dastardly husband George ensured that plan was put to rest.
As Debbie Horsfield, who adapted the story from the Winston Graham novels, has said: “They inadvertently got mixed up in the Warleggan and Poldark feud and they’re innocent casualties of that.
“It’s very much Romeo and Juliet in that they’re from warring families.”
When it looked like Drake would hang by the noose, Morwenna allowed herself to be blackmailed, as she tells her sister, “to save the life of the man I loved” and now finds herself pregnant and wed to the gruesome Osborne Whitworth, a vile and violent man she refers to as “a monster”.
“Her struggle comes from what her heart is telling her and her duties,” explains actress Ellise Chappell, who plays Morwenna in the hit BBC show.
“She’s become a pawn in George’s constant games and he uses her to further his own aspirations, which is sad because as much as she has the courage to try and take control of her own life, ultimately that is taken away from her.”
There are two more episodes before the final credits roll on series three on Sunday, August 6 and it’s unclear whether Morwenna and Drake (Harry Richardson) will enjoy a happy ever after. Ellise hopes they do. “Morwenna has certain qualities and Drake has certain qualities that they’re just like a jigsaw puzzle, they just kind of fit,” she notes. “I think Drake pulls out certain qualities in Morwenna that she didn’t realise she had and I think vice versa. So I think it’s just a sweet, lovely relationship.” It could be said there is an element of fate at play in 24-year-old Ellise’s casting. Karen Thrussell, Poldark’s executive producer, used to frequent the cafe she once worked in. “I had previously served her coffee. I like to think it was all meant to be,” exclaims Ellise, who