Bridgerton season 3 spoilers follow.
Bridgerton stars Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton are back for season three of the Netflix period drama and their characters have done some growing up.
The actors, who play highly-shipped friends Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton, have spoken about how they handled their characters maturing on screen, over three years on from their season one debut.
"I think what was really fun [about playing] the romantic leads of this year is that you’ve seen these characters for three years so to see us play different versions of Colin and Pen from season one, they felt like children," Newton told Digital Spy and other press.
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Coughlan added: "Yeah they’re so different. It’s weird for us, we say all the time that the last thing the fans have really seen is season two, because it feels like a really different show and it’s interesting because they get these glow-ups, aesthetically, but then you realise that they’re still these big nerds.
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"Then they try [but] you’re like 'you’re not cool, you’re not cool at all.'"
The show's supervising producer Jess Brownell also teased how Penelope's 'glow-up' will be received by her family.
"In every family people have their roles and when people step out of those roles, it can throw the family into chaos," Brownell said.
"Pen is definitely stepping out of her role this year. Stepping out of her citrus colours. What that will do to Lady Featherington – who was sure citrus was the best colour palette – drama, you know? Absolute drama."
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Showrunner Shonda Rhimes added: "And what it does to the sisters? I love that story actually, I think it’s very moving. It’s hilarious but then it's very moving."
Fans are hoping that Colin and Penelope find their happy ending together, and while season three teasers have hinted there may still be hope, there's also a spanner in the works.
Coughlan previously revealed that Penelope is set to have a new love interest in season three, after setting her sights on getting a husband.
The actress teased: "She finds some suitors, some are more successful than others but one is very, very fond of her, and she's like, 'Yeah, this could work'."
Bridgerton seasons 1-2 are streaming now on Netflix, along with Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Season 3 premieres in two parts, on May 16 and June 13.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.
After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.
Outside of her work at Digital Spy, she writes about pop culture, with a special focus towards Irish media and how it intersects with politics.
You can read more of her work on her Substack page.
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
