Around 2018 the Irish Nicola Coughlan had already been hired by Chris Van Dusen and Jess Brownell to play Penélope Featherington in the TV adaptation of Bridgerton’s novels when she learned that an unknown British actor named Luke Newton had been the chosen to embody another key character, Colin, the third male child of the family that gives the title to the series. Instead of waiting to meet him when filming began, she decided to contact him on Instagram and the connection was instant. Thus began a friendship that grew stronger when they met in person.
By then, Coughlan had already read the eight Julia Quinn books on which the story was based and knew that in the fourth volume, Seducing Mr. Bridgerton, the axis was the passionate love experienced by its characters. What she wasn’t sure about was if this love would ever be filmed. Although it was a series produced by the successful Shonda Rhimes for Netflix, with whom the screenwriter and producer of open television titles such as Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal or Sin cita previa had signed a multimillion-dollar contract, there was no no guarantee that his first bet with the platform would pass from the first season, which revolved around the adventure between Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon (Regé-Jean Page). “At the time it was very strange to think that one day we could do romantic scenes,” Coughlan recently confessed to Town magazine
Released at Christmas in the middle of the pandemic, that first season of Los Bridgerton is currently the fourth most-watched English-language original Netflix production of all time, with almost 1 billion views. His ambitious bid to present an alternative reality for the aristocratic England of the 19th century in which racial issues do not exist, sex scenes and passionate love stories abound equally in a society in which the goal is to get married. Its protagonists became stars, but Nicola and Luke had to keep waiting.
The second season revolved around the relationship between the eldest of the Bridgertorns, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), and Kate (Simone Ashley), until it managed to place itself in ninth place among the most viewed on Netflix, with almost 800 million views. However, no one who has seen the first 16 episodes has missed Penelope’s glances at Colin, even if he doesn’t see her as a woman, so the passion that consumes them in the season three is something fans have been waiting for for a long time.
In a global press conference attended by La Vanguardia, Nicola explained: “We had the great privilege of playing these characters for two seasons. Each shoot was eight months, so we lived with them for a long time,” adding: “We understood very well what they meant to each other, and we knew that they all saw them as losers, a which has led the audience to identify with it. They are not the most celebrated people in the city. That’s why, when they meet in another way, what is generated is something very beautiful.” For his part, Newton pointed out: “There has always been a connection between the two of them, but Colin saw it in a different way, a little because she has always been underestimated. Society, and particularly his family, have put him in a box and decided how he should be seen. But Penelope has other aspirations and dreams, and this is what makes Colin discover her appeal. Suddenly he realizes that he is someone with whom he shared something special from the beginning.”
Coughlan’s big moment in the series coincides with other successes of this 39-year-old actress who has specialized in playing younger characters. After a brief but unforgettable role in Barbie, he starred in the British mini-series Big Mood for Channel 4. And although Newton is currently ranked 600th among the most popular actors in the world on IMDB, he is not looking forward to advance your career. It is enough that Netflix has confirmed the fourth season of Los , which will begin filming very soon, and rumors indicate that it will take the story of Colin and Penelope even further.
