DESTROYER WARNING: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Bridgerton”, which is now being streamed on Netflix.
Netflix has drawn the final round for Shondaland’s debut series “Bridgerton”, a bonnet on the period following the debut in the Bridgerton and Featherington family’s society in London in the Regency era.
Most fans of the program, based on Julia Quinn’s best-selling series of books, would agree that they did not sum up the confusing drama between Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Duke Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page). ), they were delighted with the low-feminist icon, namely Penelope Featherington, played by Nicola Coughlan, a star of Derry Girls.
Although something of an afterthought in a mischievous family of human lighters, Penelope’s friendly but self-deprecating nature makes her one of the more believable characters of ‘Bridgerton’. It is all the more gratifying when at the last moments of the show she appears to be Lady Whistledown, the truth teller of the “Gossip Girl” whose sour-tongued newsletter wreaks havoc in high society. her one of the only independently rich women in the ton.
Coughlan breaks through in the British broadcaster Channel 4’s hit comedy “Derry Girls”, which follows a group of friends to a Catholic high school in Derry, Northern Ireland, during the end of the trouble. The show gained a worldwide fan base after appearing on Netflix in December 2018, and it remains one of the UK’s most successful executive comedy performances in recent years.
Here Coughlan talks to Variety about potential plans for ‘Bridgerton’ Season 2 and what we can expect from Penelope as Whistledown; the fierce fanbase behind the Bridgerton books; her thoughts on Daphne and Simon’s tumultuous relationship; and what’s next for “Derry Girls.”
Did you know that Penelope is linked to Whistledown and is going to play the role?
When I went for the first audition, I only had a few days to prepare; I did not have time to read the books or do anything like that. I just thought, ‘I’ll give it a try, and if I get a second call, I’ll read it all.’ But it did not happen, I just got the job. Then it was like, ‘I better read these books and find out who this character is.’ I also visited many of the forums online because these books have been around for 20 years. People love them and have such a connection with them. Penelope is very close to their hearts. On a forum, I realize she’s Lady Whistledown. When I saw it, I thought, ‘No, no, no, no, that can not be right.’ I read it again because it did not make sense: [I’m] got this amazing role in a Shondaland Netflix show, and it’s that roll. This is quite surprising.
I suspected Whistledown was Penelope. I felt justified in seeing you in that wagon!
It was so much fun. We had to film it in the middle of COVID. I had to be super, super secret. I had to be flown from Ireland, and tested and tested, and the fitting done. It was hyper secret; I could not let anyone know I was there or what was going on. But it was so much fun to film it.
How many were filmed in COVID times?
Just that one scene. We closed at the end of February. We were so happy because the scale is big on the show, especially the balls. There are hundreds and hundreds of people.
Why did Penelope, as Whistledown, not reveal her cousin Marina Thompson’s secret pregnancy earlier?
We did not get all the scripts at once [I could see] it led there, but I kept thinking, ‘Penelope is never going to do that. She’s too nice; she is too friendly. ‘But then, part of the Shondaland [philosophy] are they not afraid to write complicated women who do not like each other and sometimes make bad decisions. We do not have to offer this level of perfection. I thought of [“Breaking Bad” character] Walter White and whether we would ever see a woman write like that, where they are so uncompromisingly horrible and yet people still root for it.
I know people are really mad at Penelope, but she’s 17 years old. And she is someone who is so ignored in her life. Whistledown is her way of having power in the world, but in season 1 she still did not realize how much power she actually has. So I hope we get season 2 because I would love to see what it does to her. It will have to give her confidence, because in a way she is the most powerful woman in London, while she is the least person. That dynamic while playing her was always so interesting to me.
What’s the latest word on season 2?
We all hope [it will be renewed]. It’s a real joy to deliver and the response is beyond our wildest dreams. But until the Netflix gods come down and bless us, we do not know. If it’s going as the books go, season 2 will logically deal more with Anthony Bridgerton’s story, and I would love to because it would make the show so fresh and completely different. Anthony is such a different character than Daphne.
Did Bridgerton creator and showrunner Chris Van Dusen give you a sense of how big you can play a role if there’s a season 2?
The only things are things I suspected myself. Sure, she would be quite rich, because the first Whistledown newsletter was free, but then she started loading, and it fascinates me to think that she was the only independent rich woman at that time. She earns her own money. But it’s like what does she do with it? Where is it going? I also do not know who will take over the Featherington estate. Is Colin leaving? How long is he gone? Eloise comes out in society, what would that mean?
Personally, I would like to see a show about Penelope’s friendship with Eloise Bridgerton about the ongoing drama between Daphne and Simon.
Claudia Jessie [who plays Eloise] is only the light of the world. She’s a pretty amazing person. We met during the wrap party for a show called ‘Porters” a year before we were in ‘Bridgerton’. She is a ray of sunshine. Penelope has a very hard time with her family, but when she’s with Eloise, you see most of her true personality. I think she finds Eloise so entertaining and she says all the things Penelope is too scared to say. I’m ready for more Peneloise.
I heard you were the main character that everyone came to when they wanted to understand what the fans were saying, because you were everywhere in the forums.
The fans are like MI5 detectives. [The show] was super mysterious. We could not share one thing before it came out, in terms of pictures or storylines or anything. But a crew member took a photo of a floor tile that you thought was fairly harmless, but the fans determined exactly where we were filming from the floor tile. Do not ask me how, but they did. At one point, I tweeted, “Can we all just agree that Christmas this year takes place just after Halloween?” and the fans read it and said [the show] would be released on Christmas Day, with the trailer on November 1st. And they were right, but that was not what I said, so I had to tell my public to tell Netflix that I did not leak it.
It’s madness.
They found official photos before we even got them on Netflix.
Simon and Daphne’s relationship is really tense because he did not want to get married initially and then have children, despite her ambition for a family. The way it plays out is hard to reconcile for some people. What are your thoughts on their dynamics and how they are brought to the screen?
This is difficult, because with all these characters, when you read a text, you only come up with your perspective and the time in which you live and how these things will apply. But back then, these women were like property. They had no agency of their own. Daphne is in a way her family’s best prospect of making money. You have to think about all the limitations of the society of that time and how much the patriarchy is confusing everyone. It’s very obvious what this did to women, but even characters like Anthony Bridgerton, he does not live up to the masculine and patriarchal ideal of being the head of the family.
In the relationship of Daphne and Simon, she is completely innocent in this, with the awakening of her sexual desire, and with him being more worldly than she is, there is a power imbalance. But I think, with all that stuff, the show is better for it, because you are not offering this princess and princesses of cookies. They are very flawed people. You should welcome all conversations about it, because it’s all relevant. People are going to feel what they are going to feel. But do I feel like Simon needs therapy? Yes.
How do you think are British audiences, who are more accustomed? traditional drama dramas from places like the BBC, take in the show?
This is a bit of a shock to the traditionalists. But “Pride and Prejudice” was done. It’s perfect. We’re not going to do that. I saw someone complain that the wisteria [in the show] stayed in bloom for too long and I thought, ‘This is a fantasy show. They all have straight teeth and there is no shit on the street. It’s a fantasy Regency London. It was ‘read the rule book but throw it out the window’. Our costume designer was as follows: ‘There are no bonnets in this world.’ She just did not want hoods!
This is Shondaland’s first major program for Netflix, and it’s being filmed in the United Kingdom. It also comes at a time when Netflix is investing heavily in the country. What do you think of their plans?
I think this is phenomenal. I was studying drama school in 2011 and it feels like there were so few roles at that point. You think of the hierarchy: it’s white men who get the most roles, and then white women, and then it’s women of color and it just goes down and down. But I think we’re slowly tackling the balance and that Netflix in the UK is a big part of it.
In the UK, the industry goes back to the whole system of who went to RADA and who did it, but then you look at the cast in ‘Bridgerton’, some went to drama school and others did not. They come from different backgrounds. I think this is something that Netflix is doing really well. You do not have to be part of that hierarchy. Because I did not come from an acting background; I come from the west of Ireland, I do not know a single actor. I just worked in there. A number of years ago there was pressure on actors to go to LA and launch season and do all that stuff, but somehow the launch season came here. Here is such a wealth of talent.
Did you meet the narrator of the program, Julie Andrews? Will do you meet her?
I hope so, but it’s so scary too. When I found out she was thrown, I burst into tears because that was the first indication of the scope of the project. I thought, ‘Oh, they had Julie Andrews do this. This is not an am-dram production. We thought she could act, but she did all her recordings in the US remotely.
What’s up with season 3 of “Derry Girls”?
It is written and ready to go. It’s been a while. We had to film in May 2020, which did not happen. We had two more dates where we tried, but things [in the U.K. and Ireland] got worse and worse. It was a bit of a wait, but it’s definitely going to happen [in 2021] at some point hell or high tide comes.
Do you think you might be able to shoot in the spring?
We’m not really sure yet because we’re taking most of our filming in Belfast in Northern Ireland, so it’s about seeing what the situation is like there. Everything is ready and ready.