The Bridgertons are back in a new season with even more romance, scandals, friendships, and betrayals. Season 1 ended with the revealing of Lady Whistledown’s true identity: Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). The mysterious writer of the “scandal sheets’ ‘ isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, as the ton is abuzz for the beginning of a new season, the most glamorous and romantic time of the year during the regency era. This year, Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) will need to find his viscountess. But the eldest Bridgerton sibling isn’t exactly romantic and doesn’t believe in a love match. When Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) and her sister, Kate Sharma (Ashley Simon) arrive from India, Antony sets his sight on Edwina.
However, Kate soon discovers Anthony’s real intentions and opposes this union as she does not want to see her young sister condemned to a loveless marriage. A verbal fight is declared between the two of them, and eventually, their constant bickering will only bring them closer to each other…
On this occasion, we attended the press conference of Bridgerton also known as the most delightful event to open this ‘’London season’’, like a true member of the ton. Creator, showrunner, and executive producer Chris Van Dusen opened the conversation by telling us what we are going to witness in this second season:
“Fans should expect a wild, wild, ride in season 2 (…) It’s just more. More steam, more scandal, more sex, more sexy moments, and it’s an amazing season.”
Jonathan Bailey also explained a little bit where we find his character. While he wasn’t the most appreciated character amongst the fans during the first season (‘’bossy’’, ‘’selfish’’, ‘’sexist’’, are probably the adjectives that came back the most to describe him). However, Anthony becomes the main character this time, which gives him plenty of room to explore where his short temper and fears come from. Bailey declared:
“We find Anthony at the point where he needs to find a wife. He decides to commit to finding his viscountess, but he’s taken love out of the equation. So what could possibly go wrong? He’s finally going to fulfill his duty, and we get to explore, I think, alongside lots of other things this season, about his vulnerability, his anxieties, and hopefully understand some of his behavior from the past.”
Luke Newton and Luke Thompson, who respectively play Colin and Benedict, two of the three other Bridgerton brothers, were also present during this press conference, and they told us a bit more about where their characters are at. Luke Thompson aka Benedict, the artist of the family, declared:
“I think that Benedict doesn’t really understand the marriage mart. So watching Anthony muddle his way through it is useful to him. I guess that’s what older brothers are for. I think Benedict is more sort of trying to find himself creatively this season. (…) I think that there’s this sort of dichotomy I identify with, definitely, about being in a creative job. You spend a lot of time either thinking that you’re wonderful or the worst actor in the world. And actually, Benedict goes through that, he’s at one point, literally high on himself (…). He also has all these doubts, and I think his journey is about trying to find (…) what it actually means to be creative and to sort of take yourself as your own measurement, and to not compare yourself to other people.”
Luke Newton said that Colin is finally back from his journey to Greece, after the scandal of the previous season with Miss Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker).
“He’s returned to town, with some interesting facial hair, and a tan, which is nice! He sworn off women for the time being, he’s kind of looking towards business pursuits, and he kind of wants to find his place in the family. He feels like his brothers, as much as they’re very much not settled, he sees that they have ambition, and drive, and they have things that they focus on in their lives, and he’s looking for his thing. He’s done the traveling now, he’s ticked it off, and he’s looking for what’s next, really.”
One of the fan-favorite characters, Queen Charlotte, is portrayed by the wonderful Golda Rosheuvel. In season 1, we got a quick look at her private life and at her relationship with her husband, who’s dealing with mental illness. This season, we get an even better understanding of who she truly is.
“I think it’s really important to see her humanity. I think it’s important to see her vulnerability, and I’m so grateful that, you know, we have a queen that is three dimensional. That we see her in her gowns, and her wigs and all the glorious opulence, but then we get to see her private life, and what she’s dealing with behind the scenes, and to have that layer to play is very important, and thrilling.”
We also asked Jonathan Bailey what his favorite moment of shooting season 2 was.
“There are so many’’ declared the actor, while the rest of the cast laughed and pressured him to tell a story that would include every single one of them.
“I think, it’s a Kanthony moment” he continued, “When they dance for the first time (…) they did a light shift, and we sort of existed in the spotlight, and even though, we’ve all been there for season 1, many of us, actually standing into a love story, after having watched Phoebe (Dynevor) and Regé (Jean Page) so elegantly and gracefully tell their story (…) That was a really amazing moment.”
He continued:
“And of course, with the bros, and all of the sisters, and Ruth, who plays mommy, really does feel like a family. We became more and more emotionally invested.”
Golda Rosheuvel added:
“That moment for everybody, it felt like everything had come together in that moment.”
Edwina and Queen Charlotte have an interesting relationship this season. Charinthra Chandran said that it was an honor to share the screen with Golda Rosheuvel. From her perspective, she brought what Golda and her have in their personal relationship. Saying that she is also new in this industry, just like Edwina is new to London, Golda was like a shining light she could come to for any advice. Rosheuvel continued saying that during this scene where Queen Charlotte and Edwina really speak together for the first time, she wanted them both to be senseis, unlike the usual ‘’mother-daughter’’ relationship. She wanted it to be more like a sisterhood because it was very important for them to be equals in this scene.
Bridgerton has so many diverse, interesting characters. Some even play a double game. FandomWire had the opportunity to ask the cast which character they would like to portray, other than their own character. Luke Newton responded, without any hesitation:
“Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh). She’s the absolute boss. I would play Lady Danbury in a heartbeat, like, what a character! I actually saw Andjoa the other day for the first time since we wrapped, and I just hugged her and said, ‘My god, what an incredible job.’ Just the power Lady Danbury has in a scene, entering into a room. One of my favorite memories is Lady Danbury during the Pall Mall sequence. There’s like a couple of lines that stuck in my head (…) yeah definitely Lady Danbury.”
Charithra Chandran added, pointing at Golda Rosheuvel:
“I’d like to be the most powerful woman in England, I want that power, I’m coming for your crown!”
Who’s your favorite character and what are you looking forward to seeing in season 2?
Bridgerton is now out on Netflix, so fix your sideburns, wear your best dress or suit, pour yourself a cup of tea, and go binge-watch Bridgerton Season 2!
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