Bridgerton: 5 unusual facts about the Netflix series
Bridgerton, a historical romance drama, impressed audiences in its first season with its stunning locales, outlandish clothes, multicultural ensembles, and intimate encounters.
Thanks to showrunner Chris Van Dusen, who took Julia Quinn's popular book series from the page to a splashy, passionate, and fully contemporary perspective on Regency Era England. Bridgerton is the latest big Netflix hit from Shondaland.
From the creation of an incredible, interactive environment to heart-fluttering romances, the creators revealed quite a few off-screen, on-screen unknown facts about Bridgerton.
Reportedly, Chris Van Dusen, the program's creator and executive producer, told Shondaland,
"I don’t think there’s been anything easy about the show, but that’s of course what made it so rewarding. This is the hardest job I’ve ever had, but that has made it the most satisfying."
Bridgerton's season 2 is all set to drop on Netflix this March 25 with drama and gossip better than ever. This season is likely to revolve around the eldest Bridgerton brother Anthony, in sync with Quinn's books.
Here are five unknown facts that Bridgerton fans need to know about the making of the show and its cast members.
Exploring five unusual and uncommon facts about Bridgerton
1) Inspiration behind the modern-day soundtrack
Audiences were exposed to a mix of orchestral recreations of excessively popular pop songs like Taylor Swift's Wildest Dreams and Billie Eilish's Bad Guy, along with classical treasures like Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Alexandra Patsavas, the series' music supervisor who joined forces with soundtrack composer Kris Bowers, revealed that blending genres was Van Dusen's suggestion.
She said,
"The familiarity of these pop songs performed by a quartet or orchestral seemed the most seamless way to create a 'Bridgerton' musical signature and also support Bowers' beautiful score."
2) Lead-black characters absent in Julia Quinn's novels
Netflix's Bridgerton gained traction for its diverse cast. Although the hit series is based on Quinn's works and consists of added spices of its own, the author's novels lack black lead characters. The choice to feature a diversified ensemble was decided by showrunners Chris Van Dusen and Shonda Rhimes.
In an interview with Collider, Van Dusen confirmed that,
"Color and race is a part of the show, and it is a part of the conversation and it is, you'll find it, written in the text or the scripts, just like class, and gender and sexuality are."
He added:
"I think that working with historians, it became very clear that 19th century Regency London was a lot more diverse and a lot more colorful than people thought it to be."
Reportedly, the series is set in an alternate universe influenced by Queen Charlotte, who was England's first mixed-race queen in real life.
3) The narrator of the show revealed
It still comes as a shock to fans when they learn that Lady Whistledown's voiceover was done by none other than Academy Award winner Julie Andrews. After receiving the scripts, the 85-year-old immediately fell in love with the role and practically recorded the entire series from a New York studio.
In an interview, Van Dusen revealed the circumstances under which they worked with Andrews:
"We did all of our sessions virtually with her. I was in Los Angeles, and we were able to do it over Zoom. She was so fun to work with. Everything that you think Julie Andrews is, she is."
He added:
"I had such a blast writing the voiceover for Lady Whistledown because she gets to say the most scathing, sometimes insulting things. And they're not typical things that you would think that would be coming out of Julie Andrews's mouth."
4) Lady Whistledon's unexpected disclosure
The unveiling of Penelope Featherington as Lady Whistledown at the end of the first season astounded audiences. The revelation happens considerably later in Julia Quinn's novels, and the author was unaware of it until she was watching preliminary edits of the first season.
Penelope is in the background across several instances for a purpose. She was obviously collecting information for her piece to be published the following day.
According to reports, the show runner decided that it was pointless to continue the suspense around the gossip journalist because enough people already knew the truth from the novels.
5) Queen Charlotte is missing in the novels
In an interview with Town and Country, Julia Quinn discussed the adaptation process, exposing Easter eggs. She spoke of the inclusion of a few new characters that are not a part of her books. According to her, Queen Charlotte is one of the new characters, fantastic in every way.
She even stated:
"Wow, I wish I'd put her in the books. I'm glad I didn't put her in the books because I wouldn't have done her as great as they do her here."
She's incredible, bringing a tad bit of extra structure to the work in terms of how the tale is conveyed. Queen Charlotte's obsession with Lady Whistledown's mystery also adds substantial drama to the show.
Indeed, Bridgerton has a lot of innovative twists in the genre while staying faithful to the romanticism of the books. It is the lighthearted, escape-reality romantic drama that fans craved. According to Netflix, the Shonda Rhimes-produced show proved to be a massive smash with 63 million viewers.
As fans impatiently wait for the season to premiere, these unusual facts about the hit series seem like the perfect excuse to revisit season 1.
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