Speaker 1: Bridgerton The Official Podcast is a production of Shondaland in
Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Bridgerton the Official Podcast, your exclusive peak
Speaker 2: behind the curtain of Shondalin's Bridgerton series. We are officially
Speaker 2: just one week away before Bridgerton returns with season three
Speaker 2: on Netflix May sixteenth. We can hardly wink for you
Speaker 2: to see what the season holds. I'm Betsy Beers, executive
Speaker 2: producer Bridgerton and also your host of Inside the Time,
Speaker 2: a deep dive into the genesis and journey of some
Speaker 2: of the most beloved characters from the show. Now, over
Speaker 2: the past two weeks, we've covered The Wallflower, the Rebels,
Speaker 2: the Mamas, and now bookending this four part special is
Speaker 2: The Eligible Bachelor. Yes, we are finally talking about our
Speaker 2: leading man, and that would be Miss Colin Bridgerton. Joining
Speaker 2: me in conversation are the author Julia Quinn, the showrunner
Speaker 2: Jess Brownell, and we're also going to have the opportunity
Speaker 2: to tap into the thoughts of the ever so charming
Speaker 2: wait for it, Luke Newton carrying on the Bridgerton torch
Speaker 2: in a new season. But first, come on, let's recall
Speaker 2: the recent events in the life of mister Colin Bridgerton.
Speaker 2: In season one, Colin spent most of his time running
Speaker 2: around with his brothers. He was the playful but a
Speaker 2: touch naive third eldest brother of the Bridgertons, who didn't
Speaker 2: really know who he wanted to be. Then Marina Thompson
Speaker 2: entered the picture. She saw Colin as a very attractive
Speaker 2: marriage prospect and in answer to her pregnancy predicament. But
Speaker 2: before they could run off together, Lady Whistledown called wind
Speaker 2: of their affair and Marina scheme. With Colin's love crushed
Speaker 2: and maybe just a piece of his naivete stripped away,
Speaker 2: he packed his bag, said goodbye to the Ton, and
Speaker 2: ventured off beyond the comfort of high society in London
Speaker 2: in search of himself. In season two, Colin's time abroad
Speaker 2: had changed him quite a bit. He was more worldly,
Speaker 2: more adventurous, and that delighted the Ton's young women. But
Speaker 2: he surprised everybody when he let it slip he'd sworn
Speaker 2: off women entirely. Maybe he wasn't totally over the whole
Speaker 2: Marina situation. Either way, Colin didn't get involved in any
Speaker 2: romantic plots. Instead, he wandered into the world of business,
Speaker 2: taking a stake in Jack Featherington's mind prospects. But that
Speaker 2: new hobby was a dead end too when Colin figured
Speaker 2: out that whole operation was a big fraud. When the
Speaker 2: season ended, Colin's future remained unclear. No familiar duties to fulfill,
Speaker 2: no pressing career prospects, and definitely no lingering marriage proposals,
Speaker 2: especially after he was overheard telling his buddies he'd never
Speaker 2: entertained the thought of courting Miss Penelope Featherington and who'd
Speaker 2: have the misfortune of overhearing him but Penelope herself. So
Speaker 2: we've seen Colin grow up on screen, whethering heartbreak, adventure,
Speaker 2: and the call of a life beyond the limits of
Speaker 2: London society. This season, he gets to come into his own,
Speaker 2: pursuing his own love match and his own destiny. Now,
Speaker 2: to kick off our discussion about that sweet Colin, I
Speaker 2: sat down with the author of Romancing Mister Bridgerton and
Speaker 2: All the Bridgerton book series, the Incredible Julia Quinn one
Speaker 2: last time. Julian I talked about the inspiration behind Colin's
Speaker 2: rakish character in the books and how he's translated to
Speaker 2: the screen. Now you all know we've spoken a lot
Speaker 2: on this podcast about what nots the TV series took
Speaker 2: from the books. But as Bridgerton fans already know, Julia
Speaker 2: got to go back to the world of the Bridgerton
Speaker 2: novels when she wrote the Rokesby prequel series once the
Speaker 2: show had already come out. So imagine my surprise when
Speaker 2: you told me that TV Colin might actually have inspired
Speaker 2: prequel book Colin In maybe one of the cutest ways possible.
Speaker 3: I do have to share with you my favorite little
Speaker 3: bit of research I did for First Come Scandal. So
Speaker 3: I was writing this as season one was filming. In
Speaker 3: the last book, however, you have Anthony and Benedict as
Speaker 3: little boys and Colin as a baby, and so they
Speaker 3: had already been cast. And I'm not a super visual author,
Speaker 3: so I don't usually have a big sense of how
Speaker 3: people look at something to maybe eye color, hair color,
Speaker 3: that sort of thing. But now I've actually had actors.
Speaker 3: And Luke Newton texted his mom the day I met
Speaker 3: him and got me baby pictures of him, which then
Speaker 3: I used to describe baby Colin in the book. And
Speaker 3: if you go to my website, this is my website
Speaker 3: plug every book has a page, and every book page
Speaker 3: has a section called inside the Story. And if you
Speaker 3: go to the Romancing Mister Bridgerton page and you go
Speaker 3: to inside the Story, you can see Luke Newton's baby
Speaker 3: picture courtesy of his mother. I have permission to post it.
Speaker 3: He's adorable. He's got these chubby, chubby cheeks, which is
Speaker 3: perfect for Colin because he eats so much. And it
Speaker 3: was just so much fun to be able to actually
Speaker 3: visualize characters. For Anthony Benedicte, I just shrunk down Johnny
Speaker 3: and the other Luke. But for Colin, I actually had
Speaker 3: the baby picture.
Speaker 2: Unbelievable.
Speaker 3: It was awesome.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's so awesome. I actually have to go
Speaker 2: check that out because I didn't realize that that was
Speaker 2: up there. Oh my gosh, yep. I mean, he's been
Speaker 2: in the background of three novels before he got to
Speaker 2: star in his own right. Did you find it was
Speaker 2: difficult to articulate his voice as he matured, given the
Speaker 2: fact he spends so much time sort of out of
Speaker 2: the books, or did it stay kind of vivid in
Speaker 2: your head?
Speaker 3: You know, in the books, he's actually a bit more
Speaker 3: of a jokester in a way. That I think Benedict
Speaker 3: has come out in the show, so I kind of
Speaker 3: ran with that, and he's sort of like the guy
Speaker 3: everything always seems to work out for, you know, the
Speaker 3: one who just always seems to if he drops his toast,
Speaker 3: always butter side up, you know, that sort of thing.
Speaker 3: And so it just kind of ran with that, which
Speaker 3: was nice because it brought in some nice conflict when
Speaker 3: you know, he's complaining about something going on and Penelope
Speaker 3: just loses it with him. It's just like, what are
Speaker 3: you talking about? Do you have any idea how lucky
Speaker 3: you are? You can do anything you want and you know,
Speaker 3: And he's never thought about his own privilege in that way.
Speaker 2: And that's great because I would have thought, you know,
Speaker 2: taking constantly on European trips and it would be hard
Speaker 2: to sustain. But it sounds like it was always really
Speaker 2: present in your brain. Did people really take world tours
Speaker 2: at that point? I mean, how did that work? They did?
Speaker 3: But and this was a big, big mistake I made.
Speaker 3: I was just had him coming back from some trip
Speaker 3: in the Duke and I and completely forgot about the
Speaker 3: fact that the Napoleonic Wars were going on, and he
Speaker 3: makes a comment about France being dull or something, and
Speaker 3: oh my gosh, I heard from like the History police
Speaker 3: being like one of them was I remember this one
Speaker 3: so well, being like, I don't know what universe you
Speaker 3: live in, but in my universe, Napoleon was blah blah
Speaker 3: blah blah blah aah. So I think actually at some
Speaker 3: point I manage in the subsequent printing to change instead
Speaker 3: of saying Paris was a dull wee finish, to change
Speaker 3: it to some other city, because it's like, no, no, you
Speaker 3: would not have been in Paris then. But it was
Speaker 3: more a little bit before that. It was called the
Speaker 3: Grand Tour about it. Half to a generation before him,
Speaker 3: The Grand Tour was a huge thing and it was
Speaker 3: something that wealthy young men did.
Speaker 2: To finish their education.
Speaker 3: They went off around Europe. But not the women. They
Speaker 3: didn't get to do that.
Speaker 2: I was just press say, not the women. So with
Speaker 2: all the stories you have, all the characters you have,
Speaker 2: how is it that you ensure everybody's personality and motivation
Speaker 2: stands out.
Speaker 3: It's all about the characters who they are, what has
Speaker 3: happened up until this point, and I forget out what's
Speaker 3: going on? I need to know you know where are
Speaker 3: they in the birth order. This is why I asked you,
Speaker 3: are you the youngest or the middle, because I think
Speaker 3: that makes a huge difference, especially then when you know,
Speaker 3: especially if you're a man, where you are in the
Speaker 3: birth order means everything. What kind of parents did they have?
Speaker 3: Did a sibling die? Because that's not uncommon then, and
Speaker 3: so you have to know all these things that happened
Speaker 3: before page one. And I may come up with items
Speaker 3: and experiences for these characters that never end up in
Speaker 3: the book, But I'd like to think that my knowing
Speaker 3: them helps me somehow just to create a more three
Speaker 3: dimensional character, and it helps me to understand their motivations
Speaker 3: and their mindset a little bit more clearly, so that
Speaker 3: it just will then inform what they do.
Speaker 2: And do you feel like it's the same for how
Speaker 2: you keep romance fresh because you have this unbelievable ability
Speaker 2: to make every single story you tell feel like the
Speaker 2: first time. Everything's a very different approach to what the
Speaker 2: dynamic is in a relationship.
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, thank you, because that's actually something
Speaker 3: that I One of the things I actually consciously work
Speaker 3: toward is not writing the same book over and over again. Right,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm always very careful to tell people it's
Speaker 3: not that we have a formula. It's not that we're following,
Speaker 3: you know, a predetermined plot, but you do prayer. You
Speaker 3: have to have your couple meet or re meet, and
Speaker 3: you have to have a happy ending. Just like in
Speaker 3: a mystery you have to open with a dead body
Speaker 3: and you have to solve it because you do have
Speaker 3: these parameters. I think that I wouldn't say it's easy
Speaker 3: to write the same book over and over again, but
Speaker 3: you can fall into that trap of you know, somebody
Speaker 3: being like I feel like, you know, I've read six
Speaker 3: books by this author and they all feel the same.
Speaker 3: And so that's something that I have actively tried not
Speaker 3: to do. One of the ways that I try to
Speaker 3: avoid it is to sometimes shake up my process a
Speaker 3: little bit, you know, because I've realized, I if I
Speaker 3: don't want to change it up what I'm writing, like,
Speaker 3: I'm still very much enjoying writing historical romance set in
Speaker 3: you know, the regency period or twenty to thirty years
Speaker 3: on either side of it. Whatever, changing up for how
Speaker 3: can help with that? And you know, doing the project.
Speaker 3: The Queen Charlotte book with Shonda was a fabulous experience.
Speaker 3: I've never worked off source material before, and right, yeah,
Speaker 3: it is so interesting and so different and again and
Speaker 3: just use a totally different part of the writing brain.
Speaker 3: And I think coming up with us some ways to
Speaker 3: change how you're doing it can sort of shake things
Speaker 3: up a little bit.
Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this short break. Welcome back
Speaker 2: to Bridgerton the official podcast. Julia and I had a
Speaker 2: blast talking about Colin and it's not easy to be
Speaker 2: a middle brother in the Bridgerton TV universe. Colin is
Speaker 2: still clearly trying to find his place in the world,
Speaker 2: I think, mostly by traveling a lot, something that makes him,
Speaker 2: by the way, quite the catch in this marriage season,
Speaker 2: not just for the ladies of the Ton, but you know,
Speaker 2: of course for audiences too. So after two years of
Speaker 2: metaphorically sitting on the sidelines, Colin is finally front and center.
Speaker 2: So I finished off my conversations with the amazing writer
Speaker 2: and Bridgerton's showrunner Jess Brownell by getting into Collin's role
Speaker 2: in our series thus far. You know what goes into
Speaker 2: crafting a leading man. I mean, we've gone from sort
Speaker 2: of a little brother who clearly in season one is
Speaker 2: desperate to prove that he can take on responsibility, and
Speaker 2: he steps into the whole situation with Marina and does
Speaker 2: what he does. And then, you know, season two he
Speaker 2: sort of seems to be in search of himself to
Speaker 2: some degree. How does he turn into this eligible bachelor
Speaker 2: and worthy mate for the amazing Penelope slash rustle Bound.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's always been trying to find himself, like you said,
Speaker 4: trying to project this image of who he thinks a
Speaker 4: Regency man should be. Season one, you know, he thinks
Speaker 4: he's ready for an engagement. Season two, he's trying to
Speaker 4: save the Featheringtons from Jack Featherington, and you know, coming
Speaker 4: back talking ad nauseum about his travels. So it was
Speaker 4: something we had to square with when we entered into
Speaker 4: season three. And we have this great device, which is
Speaker 4: that every summer Colin goes on a big, big trip.
Speaker 4: You know what happens on big big trips. You learn
Speaker 4: a lot of lessons, You learn a lot about yourself,
Speaker 4: You do a lot of soul searching. Last season it
Speaker 4: didn't necessarily help him get any clarity, but I think
Speaker 4: this year it did. He spent a little more time alone,
Speaker 4: he maybe spent some time writing his thoughts out and
Speaker 4: when he comes back this season, he thinks he has
Speaker 4: a clear idea of who he is and what he
Speaker 4: brings to the table. And Luke Newton, I mean, he
Speaker 4: brings so much to the table, so it was really
Speaker 4: easy for him to step into that role. And you know,
Speaker 4: it gets a little Bridgerton glow up, which we love
Speaker 4: to see. I have to say, I think Colin's conversation
Speaker 4: with Marina last season was really key. She said to him,
Speaker 4: you know, you've got to stop projecting these romantic fantasies
Speaker 4: and you've got to look at what's right in front
Speaker 4: of you. She was kind of talking about Penelope, and
Speaker 4: it will be a while before Colin's going to realize
Speaker 4: that piece of it. But I do think he's trying
Speaker 4: to focus on living in the moment what's right in
Speaker 4: front of him, instead of projecting something that he's not.
Speaker 2: I think that's so well put. He's evolving into this
Speaker 2: character where in the book, my memory is he was
Speaker 2: more Rakish to begin with, right.
Speaker 4: Yep, book, Colin is has this ease, this natural charm
Speaker 4: and playfulness, you know, very lighthearted, never bothered. But I
Speaker 4: think for TV Colin, it made sense to have him
Speaker 4: wrestling with a little bit more. We've seen Penelope wrestle
Speaker 4: with quite a lot with Whistledown, and I think our
Speaker 4: version of Whistledown she's made some bigger mistakes and had
Speaker 4: a little bit more of a struggle than book Whistledown.
Speaker 4: And to meet her in that story, you needed a
Speaker 4: Colin who also is wrestling with something and figuring out
Speaker 4: his identity at the same time, so they really have
Speaker 4: something to share with each other.
Speaker 2: You've got a little bit of a long drive because
Speaker 2: you know, Colin swore off women in season one.
Speaker 4: Yeah he did, he did, but I think the women
Speaker 4: on the continent have swayed him.
Speaker 2: So I guess we can hopefully expect too that you're
Speaker 2: turning him into a great romantic. This whole wisted on
Speaker 2: thing is I mean, obviously nobody knows about it is
Speaker 2: a big She's got a lot to unpack.
Speaker 4: She's got a lot to unpack. I will also say
Speaker 4: he's got to be worthy of her because once she
Speaker 4: finally realizes her power, which is tremendous, you know, if
Speaker 4: he doesn't step into his own as well, then he
Speaker 4: might not be deserving of a woman with that kind
Speaker 4: of power. So so yes, I think Colin is giving
Speaker 4: us the romantic side of him that we want, the
Speaker 4: Rakish side, the confidence, and he's going to have to
Speaker 4: fight for Penelope, if he decides that's what he wants.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, he's uh. I also think, you know,
Speaker 2: there's a possibility he goes to Europe and he may
Speaker 2: come back with a new way of looking at everything,
Speaker 2: because I think it's smart when you say when you travel,
Speaker 2: you learn things. And I always sort of feel like
Speaker 2: with Colin, you never really know what he's going to
Speaker 2: come back as, because he's the guy. In a weird way,
Speaker 2: he most overtly transformed slightly, He's still Colin with that
Speaker 2: lovely sense of humor. But I do think which is
Speaker 2: very normal for these characters is everyone's trying on new outfits.
Speaker 2: It's like, if Anthony's this and we all know this,
Speaker 2: who have siblings? If Anthony's this, you know and Benedict's this,
Speaker 2: what am I?
Speaker 4: He is the one who is trying on different personalities.
Speaker 4: For sure, you've got the dooty brother and you've got
Speaker 4: the rebel, Okay, so who am I? He's not sure.
Speaker 4: I will say it made him a somewhat difficult character
Speaker 4: to write. Initially, we had to really dig deep because
Speaker 4: it's not a specific issue like Anthony, like I'm obsessed
Speaker 4: with duty and I need to let go of that
Speaker 4: to find love with Colin. It's this more cerebral, soul,
Speaker 4: holistic thing of uring out what kind of man he
Speaker 4: wants to be, figuring out what kind of person he is.
Speaker 4: And you can try to be a certain kind of person,
Speaker 4: but at the end of the day, he is already
Speaker 4: a certain kind of person and he has to learn
Speaker 4: to embrace that. He has to learn to embrace the
Speaker 4: Colin Bridgerton who is kind, who is a little bit goofy,
Speaker 4: a little bit sensitive, and is man enough, person enough
Speaker 4: in every way.
Speaker 2: Okay, So what went into the decision that we'd end
Speaker 2: the last season on Colin bad mouthing Penelope Because it
Speaker 2: was really it was a really interesting tonnage. It was
Speaker 2: sort of like, Wow, your day, couldn't get your time,
Speaker 2: could get any worse.
Speaker 4: Her best friend breaks up with her, basically finds out
Speaker 4: she's whistled down, throws some sort of deserved grief her way,
Speaker 4: and then the boy she's loved forever says, no way,
Speaker 4: you know, I do think that Penn has some lessons
Speaker 4: to learn.
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 4: I think she's powerful and should be commended for what
Speaker 4: she's done with Whistledown in a lot of ways, yes,
Speaker 4: but in other ways, she's hurt some people along the way,
Speaker 4: and I think she needed to go through the struggle
Speaker 4: a little bit and hit a bit of a rock
Speaker 4: bottom so that she could have some time alone figure
Speaker 4: out who she really is and what she needs to
Speaker 4: do to get out of that situation. And at that point,
Speaker 4: we already knew that we wanted to do Colin and
Speaker 4: Penelope for season three, so there was an awareness that
Speaker 4: that moment was a good launching pad into the season.
Speaker 4: You know, she enters with no one, which gives her
Speaker 4: a long way to go, so dramatically it brings with
Speaker 4: it a lot of interesting opportunities for characters.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a phenomenal obstacle. You know, it's
Speaker 2: just a phenomenal obstacle for somebody who too. There's really
Speaker 2: only one person in the world that she has trusted
Speaker 2: besides Alouise to be who he is delightful, funny, genuine
Speaker 2: and to hear him, sir of playing the game of
Speaker 2: wanting to go along with the guys at the very
Speaker 2: best scenario and the worst scenario that he fully means
Speaker 2: it is neither as good. Thank you so much, Jess
Speaker 2: for all of your brilliant insight and discussion. One final
Speaker 2: piece of the puzzle, you know, before we set you
Speaker 2: off into season three. Shondaland sat down on set with
Speaker 2: the amazing Luke Newton, who offered a glimpse into what
Speaker 2: it's been like to play Colin thus far in his
Speaker 2: excitement for season three. I wonder if he's as excited
Speaker 2: as we are.
Speaker 5: I feel so lucky that I got to do season
Speaker 5: one and two as Colin as part of this incredible
Speaker 5: ensemble and like really explore how I wanted to play
Speaker 5: him and his development through each season. What's interesting about
Speaker 5: Colin is that the emotional side of it is kind
Speaker 5: of a bit pretense. It's all like a bit of
Speaker 5: an illusion that he's created, and now I get to
Speaker 5: the front story of this amazing show and have all
Speaker 5: of those experiences.
Speaker 2: It's weird.
Speaker 5: It's it's like having character research, but I actually lived it.
Speaker 5: It's like, actually insane. I get to have elements of
Speaker 5: Colin that I've had before, but then introduce this new side,
Speaker 5: So it's like a new job even in terms of
Speaker 5: how much I'm going to be in and I just
Speaker 5: get to come back and play play another version of
Speaker 5: this guy that I've learned and loved for like three
Speaker 5: years now.
Speaker 2: I have to thank my special guests Luke Newton, Jess Brennell,
Speaker 2: and Julia Quinn. I'm your host, Betsy Beers, and thank
Speaker 2: you for listening to Inside the time. It's been a
Speaker 2: pleasure to explore all six of these beloved characters with
Speaker 2: all of you. Next, mark your calendars for the new
Speaker 2: season of Bridgerton, coming to Netflix May sixteenth, and for
Speaker 2: Bridgerton the Official podcast companion season dropping alongside it week
Speaker 2: by week. I'm Betsy Beers, thank you for playing, and
Speaker 2: I'm glad I don't have to wear a corset.
Speaker 1: Bridgerton the Official Podcast is produced by Shondaland Audio and
Speaker 1: Wonder Media Network. This show is executive produced by Sandy Bailey,
Speaker 1: Alex Alcea, Lauren Homan, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our
Speaker 1: producers are Sarah Schleid, Edie Allard, and Carmen Borca Carrio.
Speaker 1: This episode is edited by Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our Associate producers are Lauren Williams and Akia mcnight. If
Speaker 1: you haven't finished binging Bridgerton, please head to Netflix so
Speaker 1: you can enjoy these spoilers with us each week. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.