Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor opened up about her co-star Rege-Jean Page’s departure and what to expect from the second season of the Netflix show as the plot focus changes.
The news of Rege-Jean not returning as Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings, disappointed many fans. Recently Phoebe, who plays Daphne Bassett, expressed her views on her co-star’s departure and what is in store for the fans, reported Variety.
Phoebe, who has just returned to the sets of Bridgerton, confirmed that her character will still be a major part of the action as she now turns her attention to finding true love for her brother, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey).
“I had a bit of a heads up so I knew but yeah, I guess it is a spanner,” Phoebe told Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast of Rege-Jean’s departure.
She added, “But again, the show centers around the Bridgertons and there are eight books. I think maybe the fans of the books were more aware of that happening than the fans of the show. I think fans of the books know that every episode is about a different sibling. And we’re very much passing the baton to the lovely Johnny, who plays Anthony. Obviously, it’s sad to see Page go but I’m looking forward to being reunited with my family.”
“I remember shooting the last scene in episode one where Rege and I have our first dance together. And I remember thinking, wow, this feels kind of special,” Phoebe recalled.
But nonetheless, she wasn’t prepared for the attention that Bridgerton has received in the weeks, and now months, since its debut during the holiday season last year.
“I had no idea what we were filming and I just I just worked my butt off and hoped for the best,” she said.
She added, “I remember, Johnny Bailey and I having conversations where we were like, what is this? Are people gonna get what we’re trying to do? Because it just feels so strange. And luckily, they did.”
That hard work included piano lessons, etiquette classes, and learning how to ride horseback, among other things.
“We had six weeks prep, so it was pretty mega. I was so nervous about dancing because I’ve always thought of myself as a terrible dancer. So I was like, ‘oh, God, they cast me and I can’t dance and they’re gonna find out and it’s gonna be awful!’ But luckily, I had a great dance instructor and ended up just really enjoying it. And we got to dance to modern music. I really loved horse riding as well. Piano, I’m not so good at,” Phoebe added.
The most difficult element of the show was its intimate scenes, which Phoebe describes as a challenge, but one that the show’s producers treated with care.
Phoebe said, “I remember talking a lot to Rege and our intimacy coordinator, and our showrunner and directorm particularly the first intimate scene, about how it has to look very consensual. Even though Daphne has no idea what she’s doing, she still has to be in control in a certain way. So it was finding that balance and how we were going to portray that on screen in an authentic way.”
Based on Julia Quinn’s best-selling series of novels, Bridgerton is set in the lavish and competitive world of London high society during the Regency period of the early 1800s.
The Netflix series has already been renewed through season four, so there’s plenty of period drama to come. But because each season will be inspired by a different book in the series, that means the focus on each Bridgerton child will change.
The second season of the series will draw from the sequel in Julia Quinn’s romance series, The Viscount Who Loved Me, which follows the quest of Daphne’s brother, Lord Anthony Bridgerton, to find his viscountess.
The first season of the romantic period drama focused on the steamy courtship between Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings (Rege-Jean Page).
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