Nicola Coughlan, who stars in Bridgerton as Lady Penelope, has said she may be ‘biased’ but season three of the hugely popular Netflix show is her favourite.
Based on Julia Quinn’s bestselling novels, the show follows the eight siblings of the Bridgerton family as they attempt to find love.
The third season will see Penelope, played by Galway girl Nicola Coughlan, give up on her long-held crush on Colin Bridgerton, played by Luke Newton, after hearing his disparaging words about her last season.
Speaking on the red carpet ahead of a special screening of the new season in London, Coughlan said: “It felt coming back this year after season two, which was Covid filming season when we were all very separate, it felt like coming home and everyone was finally everyone together again.
“I’m obviously biased, but it was my favourite one [season] to film.”
Coughlan explained that fans will see a huge ‘power shift’ between Colin and Penelope. She said: “She [Penelope] always had him on a pedestal and he was different and he is well and truly knocked off that pedestal. I think the power shift is an enormous thing.”
Luke Thompson who plays Colin’s brother Benedict, said: “There are some really big dramatic moments this season and I’m really looking forward to just seeing those. There are quite a few.”
At the end of season two Penelope’s best friend Eloise Bridgerton, played by Claudia Jessie, discovered the secret identity of the illusive Lady Whistledown, an anonymous letter writer who shares secrets of the ton.
Jessie, 34, said she found it “exciting” that season three will explore this further.
She said: “I always think it’s really exciting when the audience knows something that none of the cast members do and that was obviously true last year with Lady Whistledown.
“But obviously, now we know that Eloise knows and so that’s actually quite exciting and now the audience and one character knows this big thing.”
Speaking further on “dramatic moments” was showrunner Jess Brownell, who said that there will be a “big moment” between the main couple at the end of the season’s first instalment.
“Dropping it in two parts is gonna be really interesting”, she said.
“We didn’t originally plan it that way but Netflix came to us and we had a natural break in the middle at episode four.
“So there’s a big moment that happens between the main couple at the end of episode four and I think it’s going to leave fans with a lot of time for speculation, anticipation.
“Just in general, I’m excited for fans to see how well Nicola and Luke have portrayed these characters.”
She added: “This is a show about frustration and we’ve waited now two years-plus for people to see it so we’ll have people wait just a little bit in between.”
Bridgerton became the most-watched show on Netflix when it first launched on Christmas Day 2020, thanks to its risque scenes and opulent costumes and sets.
The first season followed the development of a steamy romance between Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings (Rege-Jean Page).
The second instalment centered around the family’s eldest son Viscount Anthony Bridgerton getting caught up in a love triangle between Kate Sharma, played by Simone Ashley, and her sister Edwina, Charithra Chandran.
RTE
Published February 15, 2024
