27 "Bridgerton" Facts About Season 1 That Are So Good, You'll Want To Rewatch Immediately
It took Nicola Coughlan two hours to get into Penelope's wig.
🚨Warning: There are MASSIVE spoilers ahead for Bridgerton Season 1!🚨
1. First, Shonda Rhimes gave showrunner Chris Van Dusen a copy of the eight-book Bridgerton series three years ago because she wanted to see if he'd be interested in developing it for Shondaland.
Chris previously worked with Shonda as a writer and producer on Grey's Anatomy and Scandal.
2. After being cast, Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page began "six weeks of prep" before filming even began — they had dance lessons, writing lessons, costume fittings, horse riding lessons, etiquette classes, and Phoebe had piano lessons.
3. Phoebe said that the dance rehearsals really helped her and Regé find Simon and Daphne's mesmerizing chemistry.
Phoebe explained, "We just spent so much time with our choreographer, Jack Murphy, and loads of time in the studio — just me, Regé, and Jack sort of getting the moves right and dancing and dancing to this modern, fun music. And we just got time to play and sort of form a connection."
4. Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page's first day on set — and Phoebe's first scene as Daphne — was when Simon and Daphne have sex in the library.
5. And Jonathan Bailey, who plays Anthony, revealed that his first day on set included Anthony and Siena having sex against a tree — Jonathan joked that he got to know the makeup department "intimately" on day one because they had to "de-shine my bottom."
6. When Nicola Coughlan auditioned for Penelope, she didn't have "any full scripts" and she got offered the job after just one audition.
After getting the job, Nicola read the Bridgerton books, specifically Book 4, which is primarily focused on Penelope.
7. Nicola is pretty short in real life, so originally they had her wearing heels so she would be "eye level" with the other actors, but they quickly got rid of the heels after Nicola fell over "three times" on her first day while wearing them.
Nicola hilariously explained that one time she tripped in the heels while holding a parasol and actually stabbed Claudia Jessie, who plays Eloise, in the hand and "drew blood."
8. Julie Andrews' recording sessions for Lady Whistledown were all done virtually and, according to showrunner Chris Van Dusen, they were "a total riot."
9. Also, most of the cast has yet to meet Julie Andrews in real life.
Nicola Coughlan explained that originally there was a plan for Julie to visit set, but it never worked out. And then, they all thought they would meet her during the press tour for Season 1, but obviously that didn't happen because of the coronavirus pandemic.
10. The cast and crew had "very limited time" to film the moment when Simon explains to Queen Charlotte that he loves Daphne, because Queen Elizabeth II — yes, the real queen — needed the space.
The moment was filmed at Lancaster House in London.
11. There were close to "7,500" pieces of wardrobe that were made specifically for Bridgerton.
12. Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick and her team designed the costumes with the idea of it being the Regency era, but with modern elements.
Ellen explained that they made the costumes "more luxurious and more sumptuous" and they introduced a "modern color palette" but they tried to stick to the "foundation of the 1813 silhouette."
13. In fact, when explaining the costumes to the cast, Ellen said it was a perfect combination of real paintings from the 1800s and high fashion outfits, which equals "Shonda."
Before Bridgerton, Ellen also did the costumes for The Greatest Showman.
14. Phoebe Dynevor had "104 dresses" in Season 1 of Bridgerton, and her favorite is from Episode 8 when Daphne is getting her portrait done.
15. All of the corsets used on Bridgerton were made by Mr. Pearl, aka Mark Erksine, who is a famous corset maker.
Mr. Pearl began his career as a costume designer for the Royal Opera House in London and has gone on to design corsets for some of the best in fashion, including Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, and more.
16. It took about two hours to get Nicola Coughlan into Penelope's wig and "ball ready" before filming a scene.
17. All of the sex scenes on the show were choreographed like action sequences and each movement was blocked out by intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbot.
Showrunner Chris Van Dusen explained, "We had many, many conversations about exactly what we were doing. It was all so that the cast would feel comfortable, and we all really left it in their hands to take the scenes for as far as they wanted to take them. Those scenes were heavily choreographed, much like an action sequence, like 'Your hand goes here, your leg goes there.' They were all really, really rehearsed."
18. In fact, Phoebe Dynevor, Regé-Jean Page, and Lizzy Talbot blocked all of the sex scenes "weeks and weeks" before filming actually began.
Phoebe said, "We blocked and rehearsed all the intimacy scenes weeks and weeks before we started to do things. I think that was really beneficial to us as well. Because by the time we got to set, we knew what we were doing. We felt really comfortable."
19. Most of the carriage scenes were filmed on a sound stage, so the horses pulling the carriages aren't real — crew members would move the carriage to give the illusion that they were moving.
Regé-Jean Page found it hard to "keep a straight face" while filming these moments.
20. Regé-Jean Page listened to a lot of music while getting into character as Simon, namely Deftones, Vivaldi, and Nina Simone.
Regé joked that one of the recurring jokes on set was people saying, "Where are Regé's AirPods? Regé has lost his AirPods. Regé is freaking out because he doesn't have his music."
21. The moment when Simon and Daphne kiss in the garden maze was filmed on location at Hartfield House — the crew "searched and searched" for the perfect place for this moment.
23. Nicola Coughlan had no idea Penelope was going to be revealed as Lady Whistledown until she sat down with showrunner Chris Van Dusen and asked — she said knowing that she was Whistledown greatly influenced how she played Penelope.
Nicola explained, "For me to know that was really important, because it changes everything about her. It means that she's this crazy active listener all the time. She's the most low-status character in any room, but she's the most high-status as well, like she controls all of London society while being looked down on as this total wallflower. It hugely informed how I played the part."
24. Nicola found out that Julie Andrews was going to voice Lady Whistledown while scrolling through Instagram in her kitchen, and she "burst into tears."
She said, "I was in the kitchen with my mum and she was cooking, and I was just scrolling through Instagram, and I saw Julie Andrews' face, and then I saw Shonda and I saw Whistledown, and it was like too much information at once, so I just burst into tears."
25. The funniest scene to film for Jonathan Bailey was when Anthony and Daphne are riding horses together.
Once they said "action," the horses started going backward, and they tried to film the scene before they started laughing hysterically.
26. The first ball hosted by Lady Danbury was filmed on location at the Bath Assembly Rooms, where actual Regency balls in 1813 took place.
27. And finally, as a wrap gift for Season 1, Luke Thompson, who plays Benedict, drew everyone portraits, and Regé-Jean Page has his displayed in his home.
