On April 2 Bridgerton fans reacted with dismay when the news of Regé-Jean Page’s exit from the series became known – and now the series’ executive producer, Shonda Rhimes, has weighed in.
In a Vanity Fair piece Tuesday, she joins her co-executive producer Betsy Beers in conversation and notes that the reaction is not one she would have expected. “I was really shocked because it usually happens when I kill someone who’s been around for a while. Like, we did not kill him, he’s still alive! She said. ‘Our job is every season to find the right people and put together this incredible, world-changing romance. I do not know that I expected so much explosion, given every book [in the Bridgerton series] is another romance. ”
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The reaction made Rhimes wonder: What would the actor’s character, Duke of Hastings Simon Bassett, do if he returned for season 2, along with his romantic interest, Phoebe Dynevor, Daphne Bridgerton? (Dynevor will in fact return in the coming season.) “What will be the combination of the combination?” she said. “We have happily always given them! And now we have this next couple coming. And so yes, I was like, no! ”
In the interview, the producer noted that she has had to kill often popular characters during the last twenty years in the show business. “It’s our job … to find guys. I mean, hopefully ladies too, but to find men who find our audiences devastatingly attractive and they become incredibly attached to them, “said the founder of Shondaland, who was also behind such series. Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, “And they get angry … when we move them in any way.”
The news of Page’s exit was first introduced on Netflix’s Twitter account in the form of a letter written by Bridgerton character Lady Whistledown. Following the announcement, Rhimes wrote on Instagram, “Remember: the duke is never gone. He’s just waiting to be watched again from scratch. #ShondalandMenOnNetflixAreForever. ”
While Page’s turn in the drama drove him to the world stage, he, as an actor to watch, was never seen at the end of Season 1 in the series, according to sources familiar with the matter. In the deadline, it is heard that since the tremendous popularity of Page made an attempt to bring the actor back for the role of the guest star in Season 2, but the deal never materialized. Yet the character is expected to be referred to in the series.
Created by Chris Van Dusen, Bridgerton is based on a series of novels by Julia Quinn. Looking at prosperity and betrayal within the context of England from the Regency era, in the eyes of the mighty Bridgerton family, the series was recently renewed for a third and fourth season.
With the performance in the rearview mirror, Page has already set up his next projects. He’s starring opposite Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in the action thriller of Joe and Anthony Russo The gray man, and will also appear in Dungeons & Dragons, by directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.