Synopsis : Bridgerton Season 2 is set against the backdrop of Regency-era London. The show’s central theme revolves around the Bridgerton siblings – Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth as all of them follow their journey in the London society in search of love, surrounded by friends and rivals.

Press Conference with Actors Luke Newton, Luke Thompson, Golda Rosheuvel, Bessie Carter, Polly Walker, Charithra Chandran, Jonathan Bailey, Simone Ashley, and series creator Chris Van Dusen

Q: Let’s start with you, Chris. Season 2 is different from the book, The Viscount Who Loved Me. Can you tell us a bit about what fans can expect?

CVD: Oh, fans should expect a wild, wild ride this season. We worked really hard to bring everything the fans fell in love with about Season 1 into Season 2, and I think we did it. It’s amazing. It’s emotional and romantic, and sexy and scandalous. I think we’re back into an even greater escape into 19th-century Regency London. 

Q: Sounds great. Jonny [Jonathan Bailey], hello. Jonny, tell us about where we find Anthony this season. 

JB: We start the season with Anthony making a callous decision: that he needs to find a wife, but only to find one that would suit him on the page and not link up with his heart and his love. He’s taken love out of the equation. He’s had this quite complicated sort of mistress affair in Season 1. He’s shaved off his sideburns and he’s ready to go. 

Q: Sounds great. I want to direct this next question to Simone and Charithra. Obviously you’re joining a great production, hugely successful. Do you have any fun stories about how you were welcomed on the set?

SA: A lot of Instagram DM sliding, I would say. Everyone in the cast was so warm and welcoming, and just sent a message, being understanding how overwhelming it could feel. But it was really “welcome aboard and enjoy the ride”. 

CC: I think we kindof had the ideal first day, because it was almost like a baptism of fire. It was such a large group-scene so we got to meet everyone straight out of the gate, which was the ideal way. When you have those kind of large set sequences, there’s time to get to know people because you’re waiting around. So we met everyone at once, and it was the perfect way to do it. 

Q: This question is for Luke Thompson. The Bridgerton brothers Benedict and Colin are both in different places to enter this season. Can you tell us a bit about their journeys this time around? How do they feel about the marriage mart? 

LT: Well, I think Benedict doesn’t really understand the marriage mart, really. I also think it’s a lovely position to be in because he’s watching. It’s like Anthony is his canary at the bottom of the mine. Which means that you can, sortof in that brotherly way, experience everything that’s going on but through someone else, and seeing how it’s impacting him. And learning about himself in the process, I think. Which is really fun to play, because it rings so true as a brotherly connection – older brother to younger brother. 

LN: I think for Colin, he’s kindof removed himself from any romantic feeling they share. He’s come back from his travels with some interesting facial hair. He’s detached himself from feeling anything romantically. So it was really nice to see the story unfold between these three in front of me [Charithra Chandran, Jonathan Bailey, Simone Ashley], and for Colin to feel removed from that and in his own head. 

He’s so distracted this year. He had a lot going on in trying to revisit stuff from Season 1, which a lot of the other characters are past that. He’s very much still back in torment from last year. So it was kindof cool to revisit Season 1 for Colin. 

Q: Golda, we learn a bit more about Queen Charlotte and her own love story this season. Can you talk a little bit about that? 

GR: Well, I think the love story for her is obviously with her beautiful gorgeous husband who is going through some deep trauma. I think I’m really grateful for those scenes, because we could have written a one-dimensional character who has fabulous frocks and beautiful wigs, who goes to the balls and does gossip – all that kind of stuff. But you get to see her humanity. You get to see her vulnerability in those scenes, and to play that as an actress is everything, because you want to play a full, rounded character. So we’ve got some really beautiful scenes in Season 2. 

Q: Bessie, how about Prudence’s marriage endeavors this season? How keen is she to marry, really, do you think? 

BC: What do you think? She’s desperate. She is still on the marriage mart. It’s all these young women knew, and it was all, unfortunately, that they had to achieve, really. So yes, Mama is taking us to the balls to try and marry us off. I don’t know what actually comes after marriage, I think, I just want to get married. That is all she’s aiming for, seriously. 

Q: Polly, both Lady Danbury and Lady Featherington are working their matchmaking skills once more this season, but with slightly different agendas. How is Lady Featherington busy meddling this season? 

PW: Well, she’s highly motivated, she’s penniless, and so she’s throwing everything she’s got at it to get her girls secure and in a good position. So she’s on it bigtime, as you’ll discover.

Q: I want to talk a little bit about the game pall-mall. Fans seem incredibly excited for the game. Why is that scene so beloved? Chris, I’d love to get your opinion on this.  

CVD: It’s classic Bridgerton. You have this amazing game on this incredible country estate, its beautiful scenery, the camaraderie amongst the family is so real and it’s compelling. Also, a large part of this season is about a game, about the game that’s happening between Kate and Anthony, and that pall-mall sequence moves that story forward in some incredible ways, I think. 

Q: Who of all of you would win at a game off pall-mall? Hands straight up. 

LT: I was going to say me, I think. 

CC: You did get it through the hoop. 

LT: That was cheating. I got it through the hoop with my legs, which I’m not supposed to do. You’re supposed to use the – and I did break six clubs. 

LN: If you had been given a new mallet, then you wouldn’t win. 

LT: No, I feel pretty confident that I would win. Jonny has got really good technique. 

LN: You were annoyingly good considering you couldn’t rehearse with us. 

JB: I remember  Charithra being the best.

CC: I think I took it the most seriously. Was I the best? Probably not. 

Q: So it would be Luke Thompson?

LT: I’ve decided that. No one else. 

Q: Okay. What was the hardest thing to shoot? Because there’s quite a lot of action, there’s horse riding, fencing, wearing giant wigs – which I think not enough people respect. 

GR: Polly’s bald, the Featherington bald, night shoot, raining, fireworks. Yes, I took you all back there, didn’t I? 

BC: For me, it was genuinely – when we had a lovely moment of me trying to bowl, and I really wanted to be able to get them all down, which is what happens, and I couldn’t. So the lovely Props hands Ged Henshaw and Neil Glynn get a rope so that when I bowled, the rope did that [gestures swipe] so it looked like they all fell. But it revealed my competitive nature to myself. So that was, for me personally, really hard. 

Q: With all of that, there must have been some outtakes. Who was the worst at breaking into fits of laughter? Let’s be honest, now. 

SA: It’s either Jonny or anyone with Jonny. 

JB: There’s something I think, possibly, about playing a character that’s so inward anyway and so serious. The line between that and hysteria is always there. But also Chris’s writing is amazing and demands a certain level of cognitive thought. When the Bridgerton family are all together and we’re trying to get through our lines at speed, if you can see just one person falling off the metaphorical horse in terms of what they’re saying, you can see the twinkle in their eye. Very quickly those long scenes become really traumatic. 

Q: Can any of you share a surprising fact from filming the viewers would never guess? 

BC: I like the really obvious thing to us that people don’t know is the joy of on set. You’ve got the Featherington house, and then you go across one corridor and you’re in the Bridgerton house. That I quite like, and you’d never know, watching it. And I love that. I still, to this day, find it so amazing. It’s so thin, and it’s just all fake and the set design is so extraordinary. I like that.

CVD: I have a post filming one, and that’s [that] a lot of the show was edited in my basement. I mean, you would expect me to be in this huge state-of-the-art editing suite, but as a sign of the times due to the pandemic, we did all the editing virtually. And God bless my editors for being so patient. 

But there was a lot of just me in my basement at home with, sometimes, eighteen-months-old twins running around and a four-year-old running around. They were actually a benefit to the show because I knew if they would dance to the orchestral pop songs that we were doing, then I knew that those songs were keepers. 

Q: I want to ask each of you to answer this one. Can you describe Season 2 in one word? Chris, we’ll start with you.

CVD: Charged. 

PW: Roller-coaster. 

BC: Climax. 

SA: Volatility. 

GR: Dynasty. 

JB: Yearning.

LT: Different.

CC: Thoughtful. 

LN: Tense. That’s how I felt when I watched it. There are some scenes that I wasn’t involved in, and watching them I’m like on the edge of my sofa. And I’ve watched those scenes like multiple times. It’s amazing. 

Q: There’s one character that the book fans adore: she’s Newton, Kate’s Corgi [dog]. How amenable was he to life in the ton? 

SA: I loved Newton. He listened to me. I like that he was strong-willed and literally did whatever he wanted. Whether it was action or cut, he didn’t care, he would just turn-up pre-diva. My fondest memory of him is when we were filming at Aubrey Hall, and at the front of the building it’s like a pebbled ground. And he would eat the pebbles. He would look down and he’d be chomping away on them. 

CC: And then he passed out that day because he was too full. 

SA: Yeah, he passed out from eating all those pebbles. 

Q: Is he alright? 

SA: Yeah. He was very well taken care of. Kate makes sure he’s hydrated, that’s for sure. 

JB: It was like he was cast by Andrea Arnold, like found in the street somewhere. He only loved his pebbles, and sausage. He’s quite hard to work with, but then I suppose he’s got an innate sense of character and I really look forward to what he does next. 

SA: That’s his go-to snacks in his trailer: stone and pork. 

 

Q: This is to Polly and Bessie: First, what were your favorite moments of this season? 

PW: I had lots, but I have to say having my own ball was pretty special, because it was a miracle that I ever got invited to anyone else’s balls. So to actually have my own, I was then in total heaven. 

BC: I love any moment that Varley’s in the rain. Lorraine [Ashbourne], Varley, I just love the dynamic that she brings, watching you two together, and we’re always left out of it. 

PW: Yeah, she’s a good servant. 

BC: Yeah. She’s a very good servant. 

Q: How do you think each of your characters have developed from the previous season to this season? 

PW: I think in this season you definitely see different aspects to Portia. I think she’s more rounded, I think you see her struggles, her vulnerability, her sincerity. I hope that people will appreciate everything that she struggles with and be on her side. I think you definitely see more of that this season.  

BC: I think with Pru, she is really desperate to find a husband, and I think it’s quite damaging when you go to ball after ball and no one even looks at you. What that is genuinely doing to your insides. So I really try to find the seriousness in that, the truth in that, and hopefully her attempts to secure a match, and potentially the failing of that. And also hopefully it’s quite funny and I enjoyed doing that this series is finding the truth and hoping it could also – 

PW: Yeah, I think we’ve had lots of funny things to do together, haven’t we? Some great scenes. Thank you, Chris

BC: Yes. 

Q: Jonny, a question here for you: What do you have in common with your character Anthony?

JB: Good question. The things I can find immediately identifiable – and we talked about, Chris, when we first met – was about family. I’m from a big family, I’m the youngest, though. So I’ve got an easy perspective of what it must be like to be the eldest, having not experienced it. Yeah, the understanding of what it is to – I don’t know, to fulfill a role within a bigger gang, in a bigger tribe. 

There’s a lot about him I don’t think is very similar at all. But he’s quite stubborn, and there’s things you learn. My experience of Season 2 is that it was quite isolating, I think, it was for me and Simone. I think both Kate and Anthony have this sortof weird thing where they exist for other people, and their sense of boundaries I think is something that they have to really come to terms with. Their isolation in their family scenes means that when they meet, they finally have this sort of addictive quality to the time spent together. 

So although maybe there’s not obvious things that I find similar, it made me think a lot about what it is to love, and what it is to love yourself before you can love someone else. What it is to be a soulmate, what it means to grow from trauma or to be stuck in something without identifying it. Obviously, [it’s] really interesting to study what that is for these two people who’ve experienced quite similar things in their past, but at a time when there was no conversation, really, and what that meant for their scenes with Ruth [Gemmell], playing Lady Violet, that I really enjoyed as well. So lots of [things] made me quite introspective and reflective of myself. But there’s nothing, necessarily that I can draw on it. 

Q: You touched on Kate’s character so I want to ask Simone and Charithra: What should we expect from the new players in Season 2? 

CC: I think that the Sharmas are really an interesting family because, one, I like to think that they’re sortof the audience’s perspective, in that they’re not accustomed to the ton, they’re not familiar with its dealings, they have their ideas. So they are like the audience’s advocate. And I think particularly Kate and Edwina, you see a lot of sibling relationships. But I think theirs is super-unique because, again, they only have each other and they’ve grown up in isolation. So with that comes a sort of an increased dependency and higher stakes.

SA: Yeah, the stakes are higher.

CC: Yeah. But which can generate, obviously, so many positive things, but it also can mean that certain things can go wrong as well. So yeah, it’s a very unique sibling dynamic. 

SA: Yeah. I’d agree. There’s the love triangle and that really does represent the loving relationship between Edwina and Kate. I think what’s so special about her is the roles kindof reverse a little bit throughout the series. 

You first see Kate being this incredibly protective sister, sometimes maybe a little too overly protective, and Edwina is obviously this diamond – the diamond – and I feel actually Kate learns a lot more from Edwina as the series goes on. I think the arc is really interesting, and especially – without giving any spoilers away – by episode 6, I think Charithra’s performance is so powerful and comes out with a bang. Even doing the scenes during that episode, you really find the depth within this family. 

Shelley Conn plays Lady Mary [Sharma]. It all really comes to a head and comes to life. I think it’s a really earned moment as well between them all. And what I like about the Sharmas is, I think there is a bit of a sense of mystery to them. The stakes are high for them. They have to be protective of themselves, it’s kindof a survival act. You really start to get through the cracks and see what this family is about, what’s the history. And then they kindof have to fall apart and then bond even stronger together. 

JB: You can’t really imagine Bridgerton without the Sharmas now. 

SA: Yeah, I think so. 

CC: What I love is that all of the sibling relationships in the show are so realistic. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows and flowers. It’s like there are ups and downs, but always with a foundation of love. 

SA: Yeah. It gets real. 

Q: I’m glad you mentioned “without giving away spoilers” because I feel constantly, work for Netflix is a minefield. I have so many spoilers in my head all the time. It is very, very stressful to the point where I was like, I can’t finish the whole of Season 2 because I will spoil it by accident, and then I’ll lose my job. 

So for all of you: how hard is it to not spoil your own show? 

LT: I find it quite hard. 

BC: When in doubt, I just make a joke and avoid the question. Yeah, it’s hard, but I think you just say as little as possible. 

PW: Say as little as you can, basically. 

GR:  Also, if you do do something, just hope they’re going to cut it. 

CC: I just lie. Sometimes I say the most outrageous things. I’m like, “you’re going to believe it and print that, go ahead.” So I think I told everyone that Edwina dies in episode 2, like “Yes, she dies. Sorry.” 

Q: Jonny, playing Anthony in this series and being pushed into the spotlight, how did you prepare for that role and what are the challenges of being thrust into the lead role in this series? 

JB: It happened at an extraordinary time, didn’t it? Season 1 came at a time when I think everyone needed to fall in love and be reminded what it is to be filled with joy. Following that meant that we were running up to Season 2 still in the pandemic and still in lockdown. 

I started listening to the audio book. That was my way of slowly trying to focus in on Anthony again. But it’s such a unique way of telling a story, and I think that’s what makes Bridgerton thrilling. And as the world expands every year with amazing new actors coming in, it only will lean into the further seasons of watching other Bridgertons fall in love in the way that they will. 

But yeah, there was definitely a deal of pressure, but the moment you start getting the scripts and you start having those conversations. One of the first things I did – the very first thing I did – was do RuPaul’s Drag Race. I think I got taken out of lockdown and thrown, and suddenly was next to Mum Marie. So that was thrilling. 

But the only thing that could top that is meeting Simone, which was like a week later. We had our chemistry test and things just fall into place. You meet Simone and suddenly it’s like, okay, this is going to be a joy. And really easy as well, when you meet someone and have a partnership as we’ve had. I think everything just clicks.

And then Chris, we had amazing conversations. It’s going to be so sad not having him as our captain again going forward. But the conversation that we had there meant that you can start percolating. And then Charithra came on the scene with her screen test. And obviously, we’ve got amazing actors all around, and the sibs and the bros are like, always there. 

So actually, it didn’t feel at all like stepping into a role that meant that there was a massive amount of pressure because everyone cares so much, and we are one big family. And the knowledge of knowing how we’re going to pass the baton forward.  I’ve got a little notebook to whoever’s next. Could be Will Tilston, young Gregory getting married at a very young age. Who knows? 

Yeah, so it’s a big group effort. I think that it’s such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be cast in a family like this, knowing there are people who are at home who really buy into the family. We move as a unit, and so the pressure was – obviously it’s a relief now it’s out. I really enjoyed signing off on it. I’m really looking forward to supporting everyone else now. 

Q: When you first read the script, was there anyone unsure, or who nearly turned down their role? 

LT: Absolutely not, no. 

[everyone says no]

Because you only get, like, a scene. You get a couple of scenes. That’s all you get. Well, that’s what I got, anyway, to start with. It’s such a strong flavor. When I read the two they gave me, the swing scenes with Eloise, it was just a couple of pages. But I felt, oh wow, there’s such a strong, clear conversation between a brother and sister, that is absolutely in the Regency world but feels completely believable today. So it was just a no-brainer. You read that and you think, yeah, I want to do that. 

SA: These are characters that we can all relate to, with real human problems and real human experiences. I think as an audience you can watch these different families and definitely find maybe which nest you might be a part of. I think collectively as a cast and crew, we’re quite “yes” people, I would say, and we bring out the best in one another. Amongst the night shoots and the horse riding and all of that, it’s like, “yes, we’ve got this”.

Q: How did you relate specifically to your character then?

SA: I would say there’s quite a few different things, actually, with Kate I related to. I like reserved people in general. I like people that you kindof have to earn their trust to get to know, and I saw that in Kate. Maybe I’m learning to just be less reserved and get over myself, and be a bit more open. 

Also I like that she has a very warm, soft heart, and maybe has an exterior where she is quite protective over that, and that’s mirrored in her protection over her family. I’m the youngest in my family as well, so I wouldn’t say that I have that role. But yeah, I think when one has a soft heart, it’s good to protect it. 

Q: I think it’s clear that the results of your work are glorious on screen, but real life is never quite so kind. So I wonder if you could share with us the most embarrassing or awkward moment you experienced or witnessed on set this season. 

JB: Yeah, multiple moments. I’m looking at the bros. There’s the fencing sequence brought about its complications. We had amazing costumes, incredible across the board. And obviously, as men, we’re not going to complain about restrictive clothing with the women in their corsets.

But the fencing outfits were quite tight in various places, and we were wearing plimsoles on quite a dewy morning on the grass. And going in for my final lunge with Benedict, my crotch ripped, and it was all on camera. And it was just in those moments when you suddenly realize you’re being filmed by four different cameras. So I just sortof to scream “This is so embarrassing.” Much to the joy of bro Bri Town [Luke Thompson]. 

But there are a lot of complications along the way. It’s never quite as slick as you think. And it is amazing what you can do in a basement in the edits, so thanks, Chris. 

Q: This is for Chris, with Jonathan and Simone if you’d like to answer. Compared to Season 1, there is a lot less sex in this one, and I wondered if that is a deliberate decision, and if you’re worried the fans might be disappointed. 

CVD: It was never about quantity for us, and our approach to intimacy on the show really is the same as Season 1. We use these intimate scenes to tell a story and to push a story forward. We’ve never done a sex scene for the sake of doing a sex scene. I don’t think we ever will. It all serves a larger purpose. 

And it’s a different story this season, and it’s different characters. We’re with Anthony and Kate most of the season, and that’s very different from Daphne and Simon. It’s a different story, and that’s really part of the draw, to me, of a project like this. The ability to tell these closed-ended love stories of different characters season after season. 

SA: Yeah, and it makes sense for these characters because they’re so protective over their families, and they’re so truthful to their duty and responsibility, I would say. So for them to kindof break that, I think, wouldn’t have made sense for the characters. And as Chris has said, they aren’t performative sex scenes or intimate scenes. They have a meaning behind them, and I think they’re very earned when the fireworks happen. 

JB: Yeah, I think what is achieved, which is also a nod to the future and how people fall in love, there are so many different ways in which people connect with their own bodies and their intimacy. But I think Kate and Anthony feel explicit in the way that they feel naked in front of each other, and I think that’s also really – it’s a very interesting cerebral way of exploring that sort of innate sexuality. 

I think it bodes really well for the following seasons to not just be expected, for it just to be about the sex, because that is a huge part of it, but there are so many other amazing things that I explored and will be explored going forward. 

CVD: And the chemistry. Let me just say the chemistry between these two is off the charts. It is so amazing. You know, there is so much sexiness in just the looks across a room, and the hands grazing, and the fingers almost touching. And you can really feel that build from episode to episode – scene to scene, really. And you know that when we get there, the climax if you will, the payoff is going to be well worth it. 

Q: My question is for Simone and Charithra: Overseeing this series, there is a Bollywood cover in the soundtrack and which I think a lot of South Asian viewers were really excited about. How did it feel to hear that for the first time? 

SA: I think it’s so much fun. I think what the show has done is brought a sense of joy to representing many different cultures – for this one specifically, South Asian cultures. I think my intention, anyway – I can’t speak for everyone – is to just bring the fun and joy of part of that. I think representation and diversity on screen is a very complex conversation that we’re all having, all the time, and it’s an important one. 

But for me personally, I just want to bring the fun to it now, and the normality and the joy. And to bring that through music in such an amazing scene, which we had so much fun filming – yeah, it brings a smile to my face. 

CC: By the way, that movie and that song is like a Bollywood staple, so everyone is raised with that. 

So for me, as soon as the song came on I was like, hold on. And then rewound it and immediately paused, texted Chris; this literally brought tears to my eyes. Because it’s, like, the collision of both of my worlds. I think when you’re growing up as immigrants’ children, sometimes it’s so hard to figure out your identity, and you sometimes don’t know where you belong. Those are one of those kind of defining moments where you go, “ahhh, okay, I get it now. I can be both, and I can do both.” 

And especially that song, it’s such a family song. It’s got great meaning behind it that I think the scene also represents. So for me it was like, wow, that’s kindof indicative of my identity and I love that. So yeah, really, really special and I’m so grateful. [to Chris] Thank you. 

Q: This is for Chris and Jonathan. The tension in this series is palpable. I was wondering about not capturing that on screen, and is there anything you guys did off screen to help capture that chemistry? 

CVD: You know, we did what we did from a writer’s perspective. I put as many scripted moments as I could, but really, at the end of the day, it’s up to these guys, and they’ve elevated those scenes in such an amazing, incredible way. I’ve described you guys as magnets, and you can really feel that tension, and you’re just drawn to each other throughout the season. It’s really something to behold. 

JB: I suppose we did develop a sort of process, I think. We’re unspoken – we knew that we were both in it, and we worked on it. Obviously, you really surrender your whole life when you do a series like this, when you’re in every day. We really looked after each other. 

SA: Yeah. We were both just as enthusiastic, I think. We have that in common, that drive, “if we’re going to do this, let’s do this.” 

JB: Yeah. And then there’s a trust that develops where we sortof touch base before a scene and loosely, have a moment, which I think is quite important. What I’ve discovered is to make sure that you keep your cards and your power together, and that you’re united. And I think we touched base at the beginning of a scene. Obviously, then, you’d start work with the director, and then we developed a shorthand that was actually, really when it came down to it, just a look. 

SA: A very open communication. I think to put it simply, brilliant writing, and having that as an actor, is all to do with the truth, really, and remained my character’s truth and Jonny remaining to Anthony’s truth. That kindof does all the work in itself. Neither of us ever did anything for the sake of it, if that makes sense. 

JB: Yeah. And it sortof is by the amazing way that ShondaLand and Netflix create spaces. And the crew, it’s the same crew as [Season] 1, and they’re so as much a part of the Bridgerton family as the cast. So when you’ve got Dave Rankin, the grip, going “It’s all right, you’re here.” And Leo [Bund], who’s on Steadicam, who are unsung heroes of a show like “Bridgerton”. There are certain sweeping Steadicam shots that this amazing camera operator Leo did that really sell as much as what we’re doing. That’s what the writing does as well. 

So it knows moments in the chemistry when it’s earned. It’s actually hundreds of people’s work. But just with me and Simone, I think we did develop this way of doing it which meant that we kept a bit of secret power to ourselves. 

SA: Yeah. I think that’s the best way to describe it, yeah. 

Q: A question for Golda, Bessie, Polly: While the costumes are amazing for this show, how comfortable are they to actually wear for extended periods? And what outfits were your favorites? 

PW: Well, I can’t say that mine were comfortable. I have a massive corset going on. I also had little white tights that wouldn’t stay up. So I might have looked very elegant, but my tights were like a two-year-old’s, you know, with the gusset down by my ankles. It was all for a good cause. 

BC: Well, I’ll go quickly because I was actually very comfortable, unfortunately. I didn’t have to wear a full [corset], I got away with a half corset. I was wigged this year, the first season I actually dyed my hair red, which I regretted the minute I did it, because that took going in every two weeks to get my roots done. But I was actually fine.

My favorite costume was basically just any handbag I was given. Because one was like a little pumpkin, one was like a little carrot, one was like a jellyfish but also a lamp shade at the same time. I would just walk around going “Look”, not doing any work. So I got away very easily. 

CR: My costumes: they’re great, they’re amazing. I loved them. I am double-corseted. I train three times a week, I eat healthily, I drink lots of water. Because you have to have stamina to wear these costumes so that the recovery days are less difficult. I haven’t died yet, my insides are still intact, but one still has to be very careful. Match-fit – you’ve got to be match-fit. 

JB: Yes. That’s something amazing about the ball sequences. Because you’d have a tent, because it was so hot, to lower the temperature. And you just see the silhouette of Golda in this tent in the corner. 

BC: Like Marge Simpson.

[laughter]

Q: A question for Chris: What is it about moving from enemies to lovers that make it such a romantic story? 

CVD: You know, enemies/lovers is really probably my most favorite trope of the romance genre. I think it’s because there’s all this inherent conflict to mine, and the banter that happens between Kate and Anthony all season. You watch them go toe to toe just about in every scene in the beginning, and you’re just taken by it. It’s so fun, you guys are so good at that kind of thing. It leads to such a satisfying payoff that when we get there, the “lovers” part, it’s really satisfying. 

Q: This question is for Jonny: What is it like being a central character in “Bridgerton” Season 2? 

JB: I think with Anthony – again, when I met Chris for the first time, the big conversation [was] how you go forward in a big show like this, that promises so many different stories. With Anthony, it was clear that there was so much going on. I’d read the second book and I knew where he was going to get to, So the thrill of [Season] 1 and being a character that can support Phoebe’s love story, you get to play around with that and be on the inside of those conversations, which feels really creative. 

So it’s a thrill to be able to jump into a romantic male character that we know quite well through literature, but then to be able to really understand avoidance and the toxicity that Anthony’s definitely carried around in [Season] 1, and probably will continue to. But yeah, he’s got a troubled past, and that’s been great to explore. Obviously to me, to see him smile more was always the thing that I looked forward to. And he gets there through meeting Simone’s Kate.   

Q: My last question is for Luke Thompson and Luke Newton. With “Bridgerton” now a global phenomenon after the success of Season 1, do you feel more pressure, or at least the weight, of expectation going into the making of Season 2? 

LT: No, personally. I actually feel more relaxed this time around, the reason being that, I think when we started off, the universe of Bridgerton didn’t really exist, right? So we were like, “Okay, is this going to work? How is this all going to fit together?” 

Whereas now, coming back in, we have this world and we just have to dive straight back into it. And the fact that the response has been so wholeheartedly supportive and amazing, I think if anything, we sortof think, all right, people are buying into it, they’re pouring themselves into it, so now we just have to go around and swim in it. 

LN: Yeah, definitely. I think earlier, there’s such a family dynamic on set, which means that you feel so safe. I remember the first day on Season 2, when we met you guys for the first time. It was a massive day, everyone was together, and I was really nervous. I had a couple of lines with you two and it was like, the back of my throat, and I was like, “I can’t even speak, I’m so nervous.” It isn’t in the show in the end, so you won’t ever see it. 

But after that day seeing everyone together, and almost what Luke just touched on, which is, you go into this fancy world so you start off [feeling] this is really overwhelming. This job is massive and it’s such a pleasure to be a part of it. 

But then once you dive in and you’re there every day, the rest of the world you kindof forget about, and you’re so immersed in the world of Bridgerton that you lose yourself. So the pressures just fall away and you’re completely with your castmates and in character the majority of the time. It’s great. 

LT: And I would also say, really quickly, that another advantage Is having a show where there is this constant change on the front line. It means that every season feels different. So it’s very difficult to compare, which again, is very useful. The idea that there’d be pressure would be if we had to in any way emulate what’s happened before, But there’s something about the structure of the show that completely works against that. So it’s such a gift. Because we can just constantly redefine it, reinvent it, and put new things in it. 

Q: Thank you all so much. 

Check out more of Nobuhiro’s articles.

Here’s the trailer of the series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYNCws-a6CQ&t=8s