“You kind of think, ‘Oh, my God, is this ever going to happen? Am I just deluding myself?’ said Coughlan, 37, during a recent Zoom call from the New York stop of the “Bridgerton” promotional blitz. “I had confidence in myself, but I didn’t enter the rooms. So it was really difficult. I told myself: “I’m not failing, because I don’t even have the chance to fail. »
Luke Newton, the English actor who plays globe-trotting Colin Bridgerton, had a chance to fail – and did so, he confirms, prolifically. When he booked “Bridgerton,” it was one of six auditions he did that week between shifts at a bar and nights spent sleeping in a friend’s London apartment .
“It wasn’t even a spare room,” notes Newton, 31. “It was the pull-out sofa bed in his living room.”
Given the incredible popularity of “Bridgerton,” the couple’s hustling days are surely behind them. Here are the numbers: Netflix said viewers watched 2.3 billion minutes of the Regency-era romance in the week after the first four episodes of season 3 were released on May 16, easily surpassing any other emission. And the series remained at the top of streamers’ charts ahead of the second half of the season, released on Thursday.
The frenzy is fueled by Coughlan’s Penelope and Newton’s Colin, whose long-running friends-lovers romance brought the heat to Season 3 — and set social media ablaze. For two actors whose love for the industry has long gone unrequited, the journey from unemployed artists to the diamonds of the season has been an improbable one indeed.
“They poured themselves into these roles,” says “Bridgerton” showrunner Jess Brownell. “It was wonderful to see them receive the flowers they deserve.”
TThose outside the mammoth “Bridgerton” audience may not be familiar with the show’s season-by-season game of romantic roulette. Adapted from Julia Quinn’s novels, each of which focuses on the love life of a Bridgerton sibling, the Netflix series follows suit by elevating different actors to the top of the narrative hierarchy each season.
Set in early 19th century London high society (aka “The Ton”), the first season catapulted Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page to stardom. The second put Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley in the spotlight. Meanwhile, Coughlan and Newton were waiting in the wings.
Coughlan became a fan favorite as Penelope, a wallflower and rumor mill secretly responsible for Lady Whistledown’s salacious lampoons. Newton, meanwhile, won hearts as Colin navigated subplots involving a doomed engagement, numerous bohemian visits, and an obliviousness to a certain girl-next-door’s crush.
“As an actor, especially when you’re starting out, you feel very privileged just to be working,” Newton said. “So I was like, ‘Okay, I’m along for the ride.’ I’ll see how long it lasts. I don’t know if I will make it to my season.
Although Penelope and Colin – or “Polin”, as the Internet has dubbed them – don’t fall for each other until the fourth novel in Quinn’s series, the “Bridgerton” brass informed the cast during the production of season 2 that they would headline the show. third installment.
Coughlan’s time in the circle on deck was nerve-wracking. She freely admits that she prefers to be “the weird girl on the corner” – a role she played to perfection as a bookish worrier on the sitcom “Derry Girls” on the set of Troubles from 2018 to 2022. But becoming the ingénue in a lush period drama was not exactly on Coughlan’s to-do list before her trip to Shondaland.
“The ingenue, certainly in my mind, always felt like a cipher, and that felt like a very masculine thing and not a completely well-rounded woman,” Coughlan says. “So I said, ‘Well, I’m not interested. What does Bette Midler do? What does Liza Minnelli do? It was much more the type of thing I thought I wanted to do.
Newton’s moment of prominence was also anything but predetermined. Although he booked a few TV shows as a teenager and made his West End debut as an understudy for Elder Price in “The Book of Mormon,” meaty roles proved difficult to land. find as the home ground of West Sussex through the audition circuit. His diagnoses of dyslexia and ADHD also posed challenges in a business that involves a large amount of reading from scripts. But while negotiating the chatty phrasing of “Bridgerton” was tricky, Newton points out that people with dyslexia tend to demonstrate higher levels of empathy — a handy attribute when it comes to inhabiting the ever-sensitive Colin .
“Even though I felt like it was going to be a struggle,” Newton says, “even though it helped me, and it seemed really fitting for Colin.”
Newton radiates sincerity as he opens up on Zoom from a New York hotel, relishing the opportunity to travel the world on the ‘Bridgerton’ press tour and sneak into a musical theater in progress of road. (He attended Boy George’s final performance of “Moulin Rouge!” and the final performance of “Sweeney Todd” at this New York swing.) And although Coughlan is a little worried, speaking while being driven from ‘one Manhattan media obligation to another, his rapid thoughts remain imbued with witty humility.
When the cast gets together, as has been the case for many promotional videos or photo shoots in recent months, they have a palpable connection. While filming season 3, which begins with Colin introducing himself as Penelope’s wingman before unleashing his own dormant infatuation, their real-life friendship helped establish a welcoming tone on set.
“I just think their chemistry is amazing,” says Hannah Dodd, who joined the “Bridgerton” cast this season as Francesca, Colin’s sister. “What makes them so great together is that they really care about the work, they really care about the acting, but between takes they can chat and be hysterical. It keeps a really nice atmosphere.
AAsked to highlight the duo’s best moments from the first half of the season, Brownell mentions the subtle strength Coughlan exudes during a ballroom conversation between Penelope and Francesca in the first episode. For Newton, she identifies a moment in episode 4 in which Colin castigates his gentleman friends – the “idiot lords,” as Brownell astutely calls them – for discussing their sexual conquests in such a cavalier manner.
And then, of course, there’s the carriage scene. As the first half of the season wraps up, Colin and Penelope embark on a hot, heavy, convenient homecoming that delivers a years-long making moment and leads the characters toward their sudden engagement.
“The first time I watched the scene – and I obviously participated in writing it – I felt shy,” Brownell recalls. “I felt like I was intruding on a private moment. I think it’s really to Luke and Nicola’s credit that it feels like such an authentic moment.
Reflecting on filming Season 3, Coughlan and Newton emphasize the scale of the material as their hours on set multiplied from those in previous seasons (not to mention increased costume fittings and rehearsals). dance). Speaking of the second half, that carriage scene was just a glimpse of the steamy intimacy the actors share on screen.
“Now we can see them sort of moving into adulthood,” Newton says, “and everything that comes with it.”
As Brownell points out, the womanizing and conceited Colin that Newton portrayed earlier this season is a charade that gives way in the final four episodes. “For those who say, ‘That’s not Colin in the first half,’ you’re right,” says the showrunner. “That’s a big part of his arc this season.”
Coughlan’s story as Penelope, on the other hand, hinges on the possibility of her being unmasked as Whistledown – a character Colin despises. “What’s exciting about this plot,” Brownell says, “is that it has a modern dimension in terms of a woman wondering if she can have it all.”
Even though this season concludes Polin’s arc, it won’t end Newton and Coughlan’s “Bridgerton” experience. Following this season’s twists and turns, Newton says the cast spoke to Brownell about exploring more of a “rom-com” angle when they return in supporting roles for season 4.
“In your season, it’s full of drama,” Newton says. “So to have a moment of slight relief and say, ‘Everything’s OK,’ that would be really nice.”
“I guess we left nothing unsaid in Colin and Pen’s story,” adds Coughlan. “But I’m excited to come back and I hope to have a lot of fun.”
Yet the actors also understand “Bridgerton’s” knack for propelling its stars into other high-profile projects. Now that they’re the talk of the town, Coughlan and Newton can only look back on those difficult days clearing tables or serving drinks and marvel at their rise to Hollywood’s upper class.
“We bonded a lot around all of that,” Coughlan says. “I think it gives you a really strong work ethic – and also an appreciation for how lucky we are to be on a show like this.”