By Jessica Radloff GLAMOUR
Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury
As Lady Danbury, Adjoa Andoh undoubtedly plays the most fun character on Bridgerton. As Andoh tells Glamour, “She’s got loads of money, she’s a powerhouse in the town, a friend of the Queen’s, and she knows all the strategies and all the manipulations that need to go on. For women in this period, she’s about as free as you can be. And then she gets together with her girlfriends, plays cards, smokes, drinks…she’s just living her best life.»
Regé-Jean Page as Simon Basset
When we asked Page if the Duke of Hastings is the equivalent of Grey’s Anatomy’s «McSteamy» (Mark Sloane), the 30-year-old actor coyly answered, “I wouldn’t disagree with that description. There is steam on this show, there is salaciousness, there is scandal, and there are moments when you might wish that your parents weren’t in the room with you. If there were a reaction I am looking for, it’s for people to be shocked, appalled and delighted all at once.”
Ruth Gemmell as Lady Violet Bridgerton
English actor Ruth Gemmell was the perfect choice to play the warm and welcoming matriarch of the Bridgerton family. Best known for roles in Fever Pitch, Deep State and Penny Dreadful, Gemmell told Shondaland.com that the character she most relates to on Bridgerton is her on-screen daughter, Eloise. “I admire her strength of character, her humor, and am slightly envious of her outspokenness—direct but fair and always with charm.”
Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne Bridgerton
Dynevor told Glamour that she really felt for Daphne from the moment she stepped into her shoes. “Not only is she figuring out herself, but she’s also trying to find the man of her dreams whilst doing it. I really resonated with the pressure to be this perfect thing or, what you think people want you to be, and then what’s underneath that.»
Claudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton
“She’s quite brazen,” Jessie tells Glamour of her character, Eloise Bridgerton. “I love her because she’s funny and sarcastic and doesn’t really mind what people think of her, which I’d love to have.” It should probably come as no surprise then that IRL, Jessie says she’d most like to have a cup of tea with the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. “What a wonderful woman, [especially]with what she’s had to deal with.”
Jonathan Bailey as Lord Anthony Bridgerton
When we asked Jonathan Bailey if he was ready for his life to change thanks to Bridgerton, the actor told Glamour, “What’s brilliant is I’ve got half my face is covered in hair. I just get everything sort of blowdried forward. It adds about another seven feet just in hair. So I think with that alone, I’ve sort of protected myself from being recognized ever again.”
Polly Walker as Lady Portia Featherington
“She’s the Kris Jenner of the period,” Golden Globe nominee Polly Walker tells BT TV of playing the ambitious Featherington matriarch. “She’s a very complicated lady with many, many challenges thrown her way,” she says, referring to Portia’s frustration with marrying her three children off to wealthy suitors. “She faces a lot of criticism. I feel sympathy for her.”
Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington
Even after Coughlan began filming Bridgerton, she couldn’t believe the role was actually hers. “The producers had seen me in Derry Girls, but that’s a very different character,” the Irish actor tells Glamour. «This is a drama; that was a comedy. So I was like, How? Why? I went to the table read, terrified, thinking the minute I open my mouth they’d say, «Oh, we didn’t mean her. We meant Nicole Kidman, not her.» Everyday I’m like, how am I here? It’s crazy to me.»
Bessie Carter as Prudence Featherington
The real life daughter of acting royalty Imelda Staunton (the next Queen Elizabeth II on The Crown) and Jim Carter (Downton Abbey) told Glamour that she and her on-screen sisters (Nicola Coughlan, Harriet Cains) set up a Featherington WhatsApp group after they were cast on Bridgerton. “We first met at a dialect session for the show,” she says. “And then we went to the bar and bonded over tequila.”
Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte
Rosheuvel tells Glamour she never could have dreamed of playing a role like Queen Charlotte on Bridgerton. “I just wasn’t represented. There weren’t people that looked like me playing roles like this. But in terms of representation of color, it’s a beautiful, enriching time now. And Netflix is the perfect platform for a show like ours because it’s global. The audience can see themselves be represented. And I feel very, very blessed to be part of that.»
