“Dear readers”. It’s been more than two years since the voice of Julie Andrews welcomed viewers to the second season of The Bridgertons. The series based on Julia Quinn’s romantic novels, and one of Netflix’s greatest hits, has taken its time before returning with its third season. This time, in addition, it will force its followers to be patient, because it will be divided into two parts with a month of separation: the first four chapters were released on May 16 and the next four will arrive on June 13. Of course, neither part falls short of the expected sauce in the form of flirtation, romance, sexual tension and, unlike the previous installment, sex.
Produced by the queen of the most addictive television fiction, Shonda Rhimes, the series creates its own version – stylized, diverse and with a contemporary perspective – of London high society in the Regency period, focusing on the marriage market in which young women look for the best possible husband. Each season focuses on one of the eight Bridgerton siblings, but the true protagonist of the new season is Penelope Featherington, who until now had remained in a discreet background. After all, she is the one who hides behind Lady Whistledown, the mysterious woman who signs the chronicles that reveal the secrets that are the talk of high society.
The new chapters begin with the beginning of another season of pairings and Penelope’s decision to turn her life around. With her friendship with Eloise Bridgerton broken after her friend discovers her identity, and heartbroken after hearing her crush, Colin Bridgerton, say he would never dream of courting her, Penelope steps forward, changes her look and sets out to look for a husband. She will offer to help her Colin himself, who returns from a trip to Europe becoming one of the most sought-after singles on the couples market. Logically, things will get complicated quickly, with unexpected suitors, twists in feelings and secrets about to come to light.
Like her character, actress Nicola Coughlan (37 years old, Galway, Ireland) has also traveled the path from supporting roles to leading roles. “I have made the same journey as Penelope. Right before I found out that she was going to be the protagonist of the third season, I was saying ‘how fun it is to have a secondary character who is a little bit of the odd one out and does fun things.’ When Jess Brownell (head of the new season, replacing Chris Van Dusen, creator of the series) called me and told me it was going to be Luke (Newton) and I, I felt unprepared, even a little terrified. I had to learn to be in the spotlight in the same way that Penelope does,” Nicola Coughlan told EL PAÍS a year ago in an interview of just four minutes granted by Netflix within the framework of the Tudum fan event that it organized in June 2023. in São Paulo. Despite the very few minutes of conversation, the speed at which Coughlan speaks allowed her to succinctly review her impressions a few weeks after finishing filming.
“This is a series that so many people like and has such passionate followers that you want to do it as well as possible,” he says of the responsibility he feels in taking charge of the plot. “When we record, for example, the big dances, which can take us five days, the normal thing is that you record your moments and then you go to rest in the caravan and continue with the protagonists. But soon Luke and I realized that, oh, it wasn’t anyone else’s responsibility, but ours,” she says. In the now classic dances of The Bridgertons, This season instrumental versions of contemporary songs such as Happier The Ever by Billie Eilish, Give Me Everything of Pitbull and Snow On the Beach by Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey.
Known thanks to comedy Derry Girls —about a group of teenagers in the turbulent Northern Ireland of the nineties—Nicola Coughlan believes that one of the reasons for the success of The Bridgertons It’s how diverse and inclusive the casting is, the responsibility of Kelly Valentine Hendry. Contrary to what happens in the books, where it is insisted on explaining that Penelope has lost a lot of weight by the time she becomes the protagonist, Jess Brownell has chosen in the series for the character to maintain her body with all its curves and May the change have more to do with your attitude and confidence.
For the actress, it is important to be able to show herself as she is and for that not to be an obstacle for her to be valued appropriately. Already in 2018, when she rose to fame with Derry Girls, wrote an article in Guardian demanding that they focus on her qualities as a performer and not on her body following a review of a work in which she was described as an “overweight girl.” “Everything she had done to create my character had been reduced to a painful word and a casual comment about my appearance (…). I was supposed to review my work. Instead, she reviewed my body. “That is not acceptable,” she lamented in her text.
In The Bridgertons, The challenge for Nicola Coughlan went beyond being in the foreground of the plot (“imagine, I was used to doing plays with 10 people in the audience, so to be part of a global success is a privilege,” she says) ; She was also in the sex scenes in which she stars. “You already know, The Bridgertons It’s a pretty daring series. That was very intimidating, but Luke was amazing and I had a great person holding my hand the whole way, we talked a lot and we supported each other a lot. “I don’t think I could have done it without him, honestly.”
For the actress, her character has gone from being almost a child in the first season to being prepared to show herself as she is, with her pros and cons. “She and Colin have taken that journey together. They both have to get to a point where they realize who they really are as people and really see each other for the first time,” she adds. “Each season has its own identity. In my mind, the first season was about passion, the second was about longing, and the third I think is about romance. It is so romantic that it takes your breath away. It is so well written… I hope we have done justice to the script.”
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