Some Cool and Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know

The author “Bridgerton”The TV adaptation was based on a book series.

The

Netflix

Series is based on Julia Quinn’s Regency romance novels. Each Regency romance novel follows the love story and adventures of a Bridgerton sibling.

Quinn was a consultant and remained involved in Netflix’s reimagining her stories. However, Quinn also supported Rhimes and Van Dusen taking creative liberties to her novels’ content.

Quinn told Oprah magazine, December 2020 “I was not going to tell Shonda Rhimes how to make television.”

“It’s not a word-for-word adaptation, and it shouldn’t be,”She added. “I never expected that. I didn’t want that. It’s not what television should be about.”

Despite its Regency-era setting “Bridgerton”It is far from accurate.

Many period dramas are produced with cultural experts to preserve historical authenticity. “Bridgerton”A completely different approach was taken, with a new reimagining London’s high society.

“It’s important to remember that ‘Bridgerton’ isn’t a history lesson,” Quinn told Entertainment Weekly December 2020. “The show is for a modern audience.”

In a different December interview with Town and Country magazineChris Van Dusen (creator of the show, long-time collaborator for Shonda Rhimes), shared a similar opinion.

“We knew we wanted the show to reflect the world we live in today, and even though it’s set in the 19th century, we still wanted modern audiences to relate to it and to see themselves on screen,”He said.

Fans of the “Bridgerton”Nicola Coughlan was influenced by book series.

Coughlan was a Channel 4 star who became famous for his Channel 4 drama. “Derry Girls,”Penelope Featherington plays on “Bridgerton.”

According to a Interview with The Guardian December 2020To get an idea of the expectations people had for her character, the rising talent went to fan pages.

“I spent a lot of time lurking on online book forums to see what fans thought,”Coughlan stated. “I realized that [Penelope] is this really beloved character, because she’s not this perfect girl that all the boys love.”

“She’s a complete wallflower,”She added. “So I thought, ‘OK, I really, really wanna do that justice.'”

Before “Bridgerton,”Phoebe Dynevor was the star of the TV series “Snatch”Assoc. “Harry Potter”Rupert Grint is an actor.

Dynevor portrays Daphne Bridgerton as the central protagonist. But that wasn’t the first time she was a TV lead.

Manchester-born Lotti Mott was played by the actress on Crackle’s “Snatch,”TV adaptation of Guy Ritchie’s comedy of 2000 of the same title.

The series also featured Ed Westwick, who is well-known for his role on The CW’s Chuck Bass. “Gossip Girl”Luke Pasqualino, who is most well-known for his portrayal of Freddie McClair at E4’s “Skins,”Grint, the famous actor who played Ron Weasley in The Wizard of Oz “Harry Potter” films.

Jonathan Bailey was a key role in a Phoebe Waller Bridge TV series.

Waller-Bridge was an international celebrity for her award-winning BBC programs. “Fleabag”And “Killing Eve,”She wrote and produced the British TV series. “Crashing.”

Channel 4’s show features a group of 20-year-olds who live in a disused hospital that is rent-controlled.

Bailey — Viscount Bridgerton himself — played one of the main roles on the short-lived series.

Julie Andrews portrays Lady Whistledown.

You might have recognized Lady Whistledown’s posh narration from “Mary Poppins”(1964) “The Princess Diaries”Andrews plays the role of the rumor-spreading writer in this series.

In a Interview with Oprah Magazine December 2020Quinn shared that she was thrilled to learn about the casting.

“When they told me I legitimately stopped breathing,”She spoke. “I mean, I should be dead.”

Andrews recorded her voice-over narration at a New York Studio while the others filmed season 1 in different locations in the UK.

“She was so fun to work with,”Van Dusen stated the same thing in the interview. “Everything that you think Julie Andrews is, she is.”

“I had such a blast writing the voiceover for Lady Whistledown because she gets to say the most scathing, sometimes insulting things,”He concluded. “And they’re not typical things that you would think that would be coming out of Julie Andrews’ mouth.”

Rhimes was determined get the rights for the book series.

Creator of ABC’s most popular shows “Grey’s Anatomy”And “Scandal,” Rhimes knows a potential TV success when she sees one — and that was the case with the “Bridgerton” novels.

Rhimes was passionately interested in bringing old-time Regency stories to the small screen.

“I remember, I was almost scaring people,”Rhimes told The Hollywood Reporter October 2020. “Like, ‘We have to get these crazy romance novels — they’re hot and they’re sexy, and they’re really interesting!'”

Scene with the soaked-shirt. “Pride and Prejudice”Some of the show’s racier moments were inspired.

Jane Austen’s world may seem small in comparison to the scandal-ridden society that surrounds it. “Bridgerton,”However, some of the Netflix series actually grew out of the 1995 BBC TV adaptation. “Pride and Prejudice.”

Particularly, the scene between Elizabeth Bennet (and Mr. Darcy) when he was wearing his wet shirt inspired some of the more outrageous scenes on the show.

“Obviously, Colin Firth coming out of that lake with the white shirt is seared in my mind,”Van Dusen spoke at the Los Angeles Times, December 2020. “But I wanted to see a period piece that went further than that.”

Under the supervision of an intimacy director, all sex scenes on the show were meticulously coordinated.

The series employed Lizzy Talbot, an intimacy coordinator, to manage the romantic and sexual scenes. This was in order to make actors’ lives easier.

“We rehearsed all the intimacy scenes weeks and weeks before we started to do things,”Dynevor told Harper’s Bazaar January 2021. “I think that was really beneficial to us as well, because by the time we got to set, we knew what we were doing. We felt really comfortable.”

Many of the iconic hairstyles featured on the show were inspired by real-life celebrities.

Despite the regency-era setting, “Bridgerton”It draws inspiration from many decades when it comes to hairstyles.

Marc Pilcher was the hair and makeup artist for season one. He told Insider January 2021 that Daphne’s curled bangs were inspired from Audrey Hepburn. “War and Peace” (1956).

“When I did Daphne’s first fittings she had these amazing eyebrows and the looks that we started doing reminded me of Audrey Hepburn,”He said.

Other notable, inspired looks include Queen Charlotte’s Afro, which was based on Beyoncé’s hair in “Austin Powers in Goldmember”(2002). Lady Featherington’s updo which Pilcher compared it to a “red-headed Elizabeth Taylor.”

One of Queen Charlotte’s wigs was so heavy, it had to be taken off during breaks.

Most wigs can be worn on their own. “Bridgerton”They weren’t heavy but the one that Queen Charlotte wore at Simon and Daphne’s wedding was heavier because it had so many braids.

“That was the heaviest one, I think because of the braids,”Pilcher spoke to Insider “We just made sure that whenever Golda had a break, we would always take it off because even though they’re bigger they’re actually quite easy to keep coming on and off.”

Queen Charlotte wore an Afro, which consisted of five separate wigs joined together.

Simon’s iconic stubble was Regé-Jean Page’s idea.

Page was the charming, brooding Duke Of Hastings in season one. He wore a beard.

The unshaven appearance wouldn’t have been appropriate for the setting. However, Pilcher decided to follow Page’s lead.

“And even though it’s technically wrong for that period for a wealthy man to be stubbly, you know, we’re making ‘Bridgerton,’ and it’s not like anything else,”Pilcher spoke to Insider “So I was happy to go with that and the producers were too.”

“The whole thing with Simon, we wanted him to look hot and handsome — all the girls are swooning for him — so we kept it just for that aspect and he looked great,”He concluded.

Fans aren’t the only ones to have compared the series. “Gossip Girl.”

Lady Whistledown exposes London’s upper classes like how Gossip girl reports Upper East Side dramas on the CW’s namesake CW.

The similarities were noted by viewers, who then took to the Internet to compare the two. Page, the leading actor in the film, did the same.

In a Variety Interview December 2020Page said that “Bridgerton”It is “something a bit like if Jane Austen met ‘Gossip Girl’ and maybe like, you know, ’45 Shades of Gray.'”

“We have a lot of fun in period costumes and it is set in the Regency period in 1813,”Page added. “It is a romance and a fantasy, and it’s a big, warm Regency hug.”

Van Dusen had the idea of using modern-day pop songs against a Regency-era background.

The concert featured a mix of orchestral renditions of Taylor Swift’s songs. “Wildest Dreams” and Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,”Other well-known pop songs include Antonio Vivaldi’s and other classical masterpieces such as the aforementioned. “The Four Seasons.”

Alexandra Patsavas (the series’ music director who worked closely with Kris Bowers), will retire in December 2020. Entertainment TonightVan Dusen was the one who suggested that genres could be merged.

“The familiarity of these pop songs performed by a quartet or orchestral seemed the most seamless way to create a ‘Bridgerton’ musical signature and also support Bowers’ beautiful score,” Patsavas said.

The show’s costumes designer was focused on creating a “Shonda” look.

In a Interview with Slate, November 2020, “Bridgerton”Ellen Mirojnick, costume designer, stated that she did not prioritize historical accuracy in designing the show’s costumes.

“There [needs to be] an element that people that are watching it today can really dive into and not be taken back to a time in history that they can’t relate to — that there’s something about this that gets them swept up immediately in the story,”Mirojnick spoke.

“And then there’s Shonda. And what that means is that Shonda has a particular aesthetic,”She added. “And if you think of all of Shonda’s shows, it’s evident, whether they are period or they are present-day, they’re very fashionable in their own right.”

Coughlan fell three times on his heels while filming.

In a Interview with BBC March 2022 “The One Show,”Coughlan stated that Mirojnick gave her the heels she wore when she was a child. “too small,”But the actress struggled to walk in them.

“I agreed to wear these crazy heels, and then on my first day on set we were walking around and I toppled over not once, not twice, but three times,”She spoke.

The “Derry Girls”Actress added “Three times, and I thought they’re going to think I’m drunk, they’re gonna think I’m crazy, and I was holding a dog at the time.”

Although the dog was fine, the crew soon realized that heels were not going to be an option.

Lady Whistledown’s identity was not always established.

Season one’s final episode revealed that Penelope Featherington was Lady Whistledown throughout, which was true to the book series.

According to Stacy Lambe, however Entertainment Tonight ReportingThe creators of the show considered other avenues. They noted that characters such as Lady Danbury, Eloise and Daphne were all possible candidates to be the divisive writer.

It can be difficult for actors to perform while wearing earpieces.

It can be challenging to film dance scenes, especially if the actors wear earpieces that keep them informed of the action.

In a March 2022 Press ConferenceLuke Newton, Colin Bridgerton’s actor, stated that while he enjoys rehearsals and dancing, filming is difficult due to the earpieces.

“Hats off to the dancers because they do it every take, and they do it perfectly, and then I step in, and I feel like I’ve got two left feet because I can not hear the music,”Newton spoke. “I hear everyone else talking.”

To keep the actors out of the shot, they must move their earpieces between different ears. “headphone choreography.”

Coughlan was originally auditioned to play the role of Eloise.

In a 2022 profile at The New York TimesCoughlan claimed that her turn would come after she had turned on “Derry Girls,”The producers of “Bridgerton”She reached out her agent to audition. She originally auditioned for the role Eloise.

Van Dusen stated that even though she did not get the part, he believed she was the right fit for the youngest Featherington sibling.

“I called all of our other producers into the room and showed them the tape,”Van Dusen spoke to The New York Times. “I’m happy to say that everyone loved her as much as I did.”