WEBVTT - Inside the Ton: The Wallflower 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.600 Bridgerton The Official Podcast is a production of Shondaland in 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:05.120 partnership with iHeartRadio. 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:15.000 Welcome to Bridgerton the Official Podcast, your exclusive peak behind 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:19.120 the curtain of Shondaland's Bridgerton Series. Season three premieres on 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:23.560 Netflix on May sixteenth, and rest assured, this podcast will 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:26.720 be your faithful companion, covering every single episode in depth 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:30.960 with extraordinary insights from some of the most amazing guests ever. 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:36.520 And while we're certainly feeling this like buzz anticipation, it's 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:39.560 way more buzzy than that because the premiere is only 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:44.040 fourteen days away, which actually means it's really fourteen days 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:47.640 too many. But we're just gonna have to wait. I'm 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:51.479 Betsy Beers, executive producer Bridgerton, and I'm your host for 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:55.400 Inside the ton a four part special that dives deep 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:58.480 into the genesis and the journey of some of the 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:00.360 most beloved characters. 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:04.440 From the show. 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:10.400 And on this very first inaugural episode, come on, it's 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:13.000 only fitting that we're talking about our next leading Lady, 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:19.120 the Wallflower, Penelope Featherington, joining me across this character spotlight 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:22.679 series or none other than Julia Quinn, author of the 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:28.000 Bridgerton novels and our incredible showrunner Jess Brownell. Plus later 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.920 you're gonna hear from the incomparable Nicola Coughlan herself on 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:36.880 the evolution of Penelope and all those amazingly big feelings 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.720 that are always bubbling up as she takes center stage. 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:43.520 But first, let's recall the recent events in the life 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:50.120 of Miss Penelope Featherington. Are you ready because I am. 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:52.440 While penn has always seemed like an awkward wallflower to 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.760 the other members of society, we all know that she's 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:59.800 actually the sharp witted gossip monger that that Ton just 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:02.960 can't get enough of. You know her, you love her, 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:07.360 Lady Whistledown, And at the end of season two, Eloise 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:11.440 discovered penelope secret, leading to the first major fracture in 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:14.600 the one relationship Penelope could always count on. Now to 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:18.200 the rest of the Ton, and especially Queen Charlotte, Lady 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:23.840 Whistledown's identity is obviously of great interest, but nobody knows 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:30.040 who she is yet. Okay, now, in order to know her, 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:31.480 Penelope might be headed. 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:33.840 Where do we start? At the very beginning? 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.800 A very good place to start, as our own Lady 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:42.120 Whistledown Julie Andrews one saying to help with that, I 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:46.880 had the incredibly cool experience of sitting down with Julia Quinn, 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:51.399 the original mind behind the Bridgerton universe, Julia Quinn, who 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:55.840 wrote eight Bridgerton novels that inspired our Netflix series. We 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:58.920 had such a good time talking about the inspiration behind 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:03.240 creating Penelope, the origins of Lady Whistledown, and by the way, 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:05.920 if it's an accident that all this Featherington girls have 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:10.120 names that start with the letter P, I don't know. 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:18.040 You got to listen to find out. Okay, today, what 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:20.200 we're gonna do is we're going to talk about something 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:22.600 I think we've all really been waiting for, which is 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:28.679 obviously Bridgerton Season three, And goodness, we've been waiting a 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:30.640 little while, but it's finally time. 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:32.200 And I don't know. 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:35.880 The season is so special for like so many different reasons. 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.960 But I got to say, as a gigantic, obsessive Penelope fan, 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:42.320 as I think a lot of people in this world are, 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:44.600 I can hardly wait for this season where we get 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.960 to focus on Colin and Penelope. And look, I would 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:50.760 assume you must feel the same way, given the fact 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.040 that you know, you originally created the characters of Penelope 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:54.520 and Colin. 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.000 You know. So here's an interesting story before I wrote 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:01.480 this book, which is as much the book fans know 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:02.840 where I guess as all the book fans know is 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:04.960 actually the fourth book in the series, so we're going 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:08.040 a little out of order. So we'd had three books 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.360 to kind of build this up, and my fans were 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:11.080 all going. 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:12.880 Colin, Colin, we want Collin's book. 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:16.279 It's all about Colin, Colin, Colin, Colin. And then after 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:19.440 the book came out, all they wanted to talk about 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:24.160 was Penelope. I mean, she just which is something about 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.800 her just spoke to so many people in a way. Yeah, 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.960 no other heroine that I'd ever written had and I 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:35.800 mean the most vivid comment I got from somebody and 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:38.720 said something like, were you spying on me in high school? 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:41.039 Because that was me? 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:45.920 And I just think that the essence of Penelope, in 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:49.039 my mind, is someone who it's not that she doesn't know. 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:49.560 Who she is. 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.320 She knows who she is, but she doesn't know how 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:56.080 to be the person on the outside that she knows 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:59.760 she is on the inside. And I remember that feeling 0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:03.360 so distinctly from my high school days. I pulled a 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:04.240 lot from that too. 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:05.280 Is just it. 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:07.039 Sounds so good in your head and then you say 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:11.040 it and it comes out all wrong and things like that, 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.880 and you're just like, no, I know I'm funny and 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.360 I know I'm smart, and how come whenever I then 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:18.600 try to be that way, it really feels like I'm 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:23.000 trying too hard or I just cannot be effortlessly effortless 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:25.640 sleep cool. See I still can't even say the word effortlessly. 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.640 It's an overrated word. No, I know exactly what you mean. 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.680 I do think that that's the part. It's almost like 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:35.800 there's a jet lag between your brain and then when 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:37.920 it comes out of your mouth. That's somehow or another 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:40.520 time went by and it was great the way it 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.159 sounded in your hand, but then it popped out. And look, 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:45.560 I think we all at the core of it is 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.919 we all identify with PENELOPEA at one point or another, 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:52.279 because we've all been that person who felt like one 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:56.880 thing internally, and then we realize that we don't project 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:01.920 at all the way we actually I wished that we did. Now, 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:04.279 when you first started the world of Bridgerton, how soon 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:09.600 did Penelope emerge and what kind of thought process went 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:12.839 into your your I mean obviously your own experience, but 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.600 the creation of her character, like, what was that process like? 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:21.279 So when I wrote the first book, she was really 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:25.200 kind of just this side character who came about who 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.479 there wasn't much of her. But I just wondered, I needed, like, 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:32.520 you know, this wallflower who she almost existed as a 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:34.960 prop or came up as a prop. So like the 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.440 Bridgington boys, we could show that they were kind because 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:40.200 they needed to be kind to somebody. And that's how 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:42.159 she first kind of entered, and then she kind of 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:45.559 became a little bit more. But when I was writing 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:47.839 the first book, I had no idea who Lady Whistledown was. 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:50.240 I was just about to ask you that I. 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.800 Figured it out, or I should say I decided when 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:56.520 I was right around me, probably a few chapters from 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:58.320 the end, and because I'm starting to panic, I'm thinking, 0:06:58.360 --> 0:06:59.760 I really need to know who this is. Even if 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:01.200 I'm not going to reveal it, I need to know 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:03.719 who it is. And so then I decided, you know, 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:06.080 I think it should be Penelope because she's you know, 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:10.320 she's off everyone's radar. And then I went frantically back 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:13.240 to make sure I hadn't done anything to make it impossible, 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:15.600 like I hadn't, you know, had her often you know, 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.280 Scotland or something when when she would have to be 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:24.080 seeing something. And then from there, from the next few 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:28.360 books on, I knew that she was Lady Whistledown. So 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.440 there was a lot more thought involved in developing her character, 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:35.520 but in kind of a slightly stealth way not to 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:37.200 make it so obvious that she was going to be 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:42.320 this big part, and also just really kind of to 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:45.600 to ramp up her crush with on Colin. And so 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:47.960 one of my favorite scenes that she's in is actually 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:50.600 in an Offer from a Gentleman, which is Book three, 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.960 which they have a version of it in last season, 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:58.080 where she overhears Colin saying I'm never going to marry 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.440 Penelope Featherington and it's it's the world's most awkward moment. 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:03.760 It's a little different in the book because he's talking 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:05.840 with his brothers then as opposed to a bunch of friends, 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:11.000 and you know, his brothers are really horrified on his behalf. 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.360 I mean they just I mean they can't even defend 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:17.200 him because it's just this terrible, terrible moment. And yeah, 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:18.680 so kind of went on from there. 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.320 I think that the whole kind of concept of Lady 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:27.880 Whistledown is such an interesting idea because you figure it 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:31.600 is so you think about, I mean, people talk by gossip, 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.840 earl et cetera, et cetera. But it's so much rooted 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:40.959 in obviously the history of regency England and England. How 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:44.720 did you go about building because you're two different personalities, 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:47.560 so it sounds sort of like you did it. It 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.120 is two trains running, and then you put the trains 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:55.360 together and then started to tailor Penelope to incorporate whistle Down. 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:56.520 Is that correct? 0:08:56.960 --> 0:09:01.640 Yeah, So Whistledout definitely had her her own voice before 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:04.880 I realized it was Penelope. But it didn't mean that 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:08.360 it couldn't be Penelope, because as I was writing the 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:12.720 first book, The Duke and I, Lady Whistleden was a 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:15.720 much bigger part of it than Penelope Feather and Chain was. 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:20.160 So it wasn't like I was establishing this Penelope's character 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:22.240 in a way that made it not make sense with 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.360 Lady whistle Down. It was sort of Yeah, So Lady 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:26.840 Wiston did kind of come first in terms of developing 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:30.200 the characters. And then as I realized I needed to 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:37.240 work with Penelope in this way. I started, I wouldn't 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:39.360 say hints, but started just building her out in a 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:42.640 manner that could incorporate this. And then when we got 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.360 to Romancing Mister Bridgerton, which is the book upon which 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:47.840 season three is based, that's when I really had to 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:51.800 get into it, because that's when you're finally in her head, right. 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:54.480 And I still wanted to write that book in a 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:57.200 way so that even halfway through the book, the reader 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:00.000 didn't know that she was Lady Whistledown. It didn't even 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.880 revealed to the reader. It still could have gone a 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:03.360 different way. 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:04.199 I loved that. 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.400 I mean I loved that, somehow or another, you were 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:08.040 still in point of view. And that's a real trick, 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:10.760 is to stay in point of view but keep a 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:15.120 secret from the reader without making the reader feel like, 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.240 how could I not have known this? But that was 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.760 such an incredible juggling act. Now I know we talked 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:26.000 about this in the Bridgerton book, that Whistledown is there's 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:30.960 a historical precedent for Whistledown because from what I understood, 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:34.920 there were gossip columns during this period of time. This 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.960 wasn't something which was totally out of the ordinary. I 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:42.480 suspect I don't know that the identity of the gossip 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.320 communist was always secret. I mean that I don't know. 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.120 The big difference was that in the gossip columns they 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:52.880 never named people outright. God they always and you could 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:55.720 usually guess who it was, but they never actually wrote 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:59.040 out full names, and so that was meant to be 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:02.679 the big the big deal that lady whistled Awound was 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:07.920 actually pointing fingers directly at people, and then I tried 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:10.360 to make it so it was also maybe just being 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:12.319 a little bit I don't know, harsher's the right word, 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:15.719 but a little bit more detailed in what she was saying, too, 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.280 which made it pretty clear that it was one of them, 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:21.120 somebody who had a lot of inside knowledge was in there, 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:26.160 which I'm not sure the gossip colonists then were as 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:27.400 connected as Penelope. 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.520 Yeah. I sort of feel like the gossip columnists then 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:34.600 were much more like blind items. I used to live 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:36.280 in New York and there was a New York Post 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.720 and there was these blind items. Was it felt to 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:42.599 me like it was much more observations without names, and 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.400 this which is so startling because it is calling out right, 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.640 you know that the ton of incredible detail. Penelope is 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:55.160 so incredibly captivated by the Bridgerton family, obviously, as are we. 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:59.200 I mean, what is it about what are the embody 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:04.760 that you feel appeals to Penelope to that degree? I mean, 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:06.720 can you say in words like what is it about that? 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:08.199 I mean, I know what appeals to me about the 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:10.439 Bridgertons is you just want to be a freaking Bridgerton. 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.079 Yeah. I think it's just the love and the acceptance 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:16.760 and you know, the fun. I mean, they don't always 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.120 get along, but you know that they're always there for you. 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:22.520 They've always got each other's back, and that is something 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:25.240 that she's not getting in her family at all. She's 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:28.080 never feeling that she's got that her family has her back. 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:30.480 And in fact, in the book, and this was something 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:34.240 that we couldn't really incorporate into the television series because 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.839 we elected not to have Felicity, there was a fourth 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:42.000 Featherington's sister in the books, in Him's Felicity, And there 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:43.959 is a scene in the book which I thought really 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:48.000 encapsulated when Colin comes to ask for her hand, her 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:52.200 mother assumes that he wants Felicity, and she's just like Felicity, 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:55.520 Felicity get down here, and he's like, why would Felicity 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:57.040 need to be here, you know, And it was just 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:02.880 this perfect moment of all the ways Penelope has been overlooked, 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:04.760 which I mean, I do think the show still captures 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.640 it wonderfully even without Felicity, But it was just this 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:12.200 is what she sees as a family that supports each other, 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:13.760 which she just doesn't have. 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:18.959 Now you have all the other Featherington girls and mom 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:26.640 with the letter p SO, because you have Philippa Pruden's Penelope, 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:27.720 and then there was. 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:30.800 Philippa sounds like you an f SO. I don't know, 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:35.320 it just seemed like it just seemed like the right name. 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:47.560 We'll be right back after this short break. Welcome back 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:51.600 to Bridgerton the Official Podcast. It should come as no 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:56.000 surprise that I love nothing more than a fast minded, 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.360 brilliant creative. Such a joy to take a peek into 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:04.160 Julia's Penelope process right now. As Julia mentioned, Colin and 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:08.240 Penelope story takes place in book four. However, we moved 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:12.240 it up to season three of the series. Why well 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:15.200 I talk more about this decision with the one and 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:20.800 only Jess Brownew. Jess is a fabulous writer, the phenomenal 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.800 showrunner for season three of Bridgerton in an all round 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:27.240 incredible human being who I've known many many years and 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:32.520 is just a big bright burst of talent to get 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.520 into Penn's series journey and some of the decisions of 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:40.000 how season three is crafted. Please enjoy my conversation with 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:46.840 the amazing showrunner Jess Brownew. Obviously, this is the season 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:50.920 of Colin and Penelope. We're all incredibly excited to see this. 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:54.560 I mean, we've been following them for two seasons now, 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:59.360 in their individual orbits and in their incredible friendship and 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:02.440 connection with the each other. I know, we decided to 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:04.520 skip a book in the series, so we sort of 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.960 went straight from book two to book four. Can you 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:10.080 give us any insight as to why we decided to 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:11.760 move out order on that, Jess. 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.560 So we decided to move the book order for a 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:17.720 few reasons. First, you have the fact that you know, 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:22.360 we've known Colin and Penelope for two seasons now, We've 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:25.600 fallen in love with both of them. We love you know, 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:27.760 Nikola and Luke and want to see more from them. 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:32.680 But most importantly, there's this dynamic between Colin and Penelope 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:36.160 where she obviously has a massive crush on him and 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:40.640 he has no idea, or as soon as he is 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:44.040 about to have an idea, he pulls back from having 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:48.080 an idea, and it's a sort of infuriating dynamic. I 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:50.880 think as a viewer, you want to scream at your television, like, 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:53.920 come on, Colin, She's right in front of you. And 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:58.760 we just felt like that wasn't something we could continue 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:02.080 on for too long before people would be maybe physically 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:07.280 shaking their TVs. So it was really it was really 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:11.160 time to, you know, push their dynamic in a new 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:15.680 direction and see what else is there for them. I'll 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:19.400 say also that, as people know, the book that was 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:24.920 skipped was Benedict's book, and Benedict is a real fan favorite, 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:28.520 and he's a real writer's room favorite. You know, Benedict 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.320 has a real appetite for adventure, and it didn't feel 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:36.720 right for him to settle down to three seasons into 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:39.040 our show. It felt like we wanted to see more 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:42.040 of his adventures and give him a few more high 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:45.200 jinks before he's ready to meet his one and only. 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:47.720 You know, I think that's such a good point because 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.720 in a way, it's despite the fact that there are 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:54.800 two trains running, you know, Penelope and Colin. We dug 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.400 much more into their stories. I mean, Colin had the 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:01.080 entire experience with Marina in the first season, and obviously 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:05.560 Penelope's been a point of concentration since we discovered she 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:07.560 was whistled down at the very least. So it does 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:10.719 make so much sense that these these two characters who 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:15.000 we've we've always had this connection with, get to move 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:18.439 forward at this point, you know. And I also just 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:23.160 think it's it's fascinating to have Penelope as the sort 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:27.520 of third heroine, if that makes sense, because so far 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:31.240 we've had Daphanie. She was poised and she was confident, 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.240 and she knew what she wanted and she was going 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:37.280 willingly into the marriage mart And then we had Kate, 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:40.480 who had no interest in it whatsoever except for her 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:47.040 sister and was feisty and judgye and and now we've 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:51.720 got Penn, who's, you know, sort of a wallflower. I mean, 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.600 how do you think Penn's going to bring and what 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:56.000 do you think she's going to bring to the table 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:56.919 as a leading lady. 0:17:57.760 --> 0:17:59.800 Yeah, you know, she's a very different kind of leading 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:03.400 life Penelope. She is a bit of an underdog and 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:08.240 has been underestimated left and right by especially her family 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:12.639 and the rest of society as well. And I think, 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:16.440 you know, Nicola Coughlan, first of all, brings so much 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:22.760 humor and optimism and this effervescence to the role, which 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:27.040 makes her a really exciting character. Even though Penn is 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:30.520 getting kind of dumped on left and right by her 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:34.920 family and everyone else, you always know that she's going 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:37.840 to find a solution, She's going to make the best 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:41.480 of a bad situation because that's what she does, and 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:44.920 Nikola brings that sort of, you know, sense of optimism. 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:50.200 So I'm really looking forward to seeing this character get 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:52.920 to shine this season. You know, she's spent so long 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:58.480 in the Shadows. She has this double personality where she's 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:02.480 a badass, she's whistled down deep inside, which is almost 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:04.800 like the girl if she were at the end of 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.200 her arc, and yet she can't show that person in 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:12.920 her public life, in her romantic life. So seeing her 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:16.479 get to step into her own with skills we already 0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:18.440 know she has is really exciting. 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:22.200 How do you think about her two identities and how 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:25.360 do you feel like they're intersected? In seasons one and two, 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:27.000 like how does she embody them? 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:30.359 So we have Lady Whistledown on the one side, who 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:35.639 is this badass woman who has had the fortitude to 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:39.000 put together this scandal sheet, to figure out how to 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.520 get it printed, to figure out how to secretly destro it. 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:46.480 And then you have Penelope in season one, who, even 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:52.520 though she's you know, writing about affairs and really sexy, 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:56.119 scandal is like how do women come to be with child? 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:01.520 So there's this real dichotomy between what she has inside 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:03.959 of her. But the fact is she's still a girl 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:07.440 in seasons one and two, and it's a lot of 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:11.320 power and a lot of responsibility to give a girl, 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:15.200 and we've seen her make some mistakes along the way. 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.639 So when we enter season three, I think that that's 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:20.480 something that she'll have to reckon with. 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:23.560 Yeah, in the relationship at the end of season two, 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:28.120 I mean when Elouise finds out obviously it's so complicated. 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:30.920 I mean that's that extra layer that now got placed 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:34.080 upon it, which is she has this particular power. She's 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:37.120 done her best to try to balance how to use 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:41.159 that power, and in the process has potentially destroyed forever 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:46.359 her best friendship, which is an incredibly difficult pill to 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:48.199 swallow in in a weird way. For me, when I 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:49.840 saw that, it was sort of like the first time 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:55.680 I think she actually really it fully resonated on to 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:59.240 her the kind of power she has because she made 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:04.600 certain choices. Is, you know, encouraging Eloise's breakup in order 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:09.600 to save her. It's it's this weird realization that you're 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:11.720 not just a gossip columnist. In a weird way, you're 0:21:11.720 --> 0:21:15.080 playing god, you know it. Just certainly I think Eloise's 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:18.840 point of view too, And I really feel for Penelope 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:20.640 because I think your point is so well taken. She's 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:26.040 she's just a girl who needed an outlet. 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.520 Yeah, she chose a pretty big outlet, but yeah, she 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:35.240 doesn't have the means to understand her power because she's 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:39.560 denied power in so many ways. Think about, you know, 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:44.760 Daphne in season one having sex barely explained to her, 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:48.600 and then you can extrapolate running an empire in which 0:21:48.600 --> 0:21:52.199 you're sharing everyone's secrets, like you don't understand the code 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:55.560 or the ways of the world. No one is explaining 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:58.680 anything to these girls. They're having to figure it all 0:21:58.720 --> 0:21:59.719 out for themselves. 0:22:00.400 --> 0:22:02.520 No, when you think about it, the only person that 0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:04.399 she's been able to confide in at all in the 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:07.399 least tiny way as the mode East. You know, so 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:11.560 there's been she's had. To your point, it's it's not 0:22:11.640 --> 0:22:14.440 like she has a team of a team of helpers 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:18.520 who are counseling her. There's no business here. It's Penelope 0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:22.919 of the floorboards. She's also hiding it from everybody, So 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:26.520 it's it's definitely, it's definitely a lot. How did you 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:30.040 go about planning the seeds of pollen? 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:34.320 Seeds of pomp? That's funny. How did you go about 0:22:34.359 --> 0:22:38.000 planting those seeds like putting? I just realized that was. 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:42.520 A pun y'all in seasons one and two, because I 0:22:42.560 --> 0:22:44.360 know we just you know, you can't get away from 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:49.280 a good pun. Fans I think have really high expectations, 0:22:49.320 --> 0:22:54.560 obviously for this relationship. I mean, I know I do, 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:57.040 and I'm sure everybody else does. And because we're so 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:00.280 invested in them, I mean, how do you ever meet 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:03.600 everyone's expectations? In the beginning of any of these shows, 0:23:03.640 --> 0:23:08.239 like any any season of Bridgerton, it feels like, how 0:23:08.280 --> 0:23:08.800 do you do it? 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:15.320 You can't think about it, you know, when we talk 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:18.200 about the fans, when I first started on the show. 0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:21.840 You know, my grandmother is ninety one years old. She 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:24.919