No one does high society like Bridgerton! The new Netflix series has become all the rage since its Christmas Day debut, as has its gorgeous cast.
Bridgerton is based on the popular book series of the same name written by American author Julia Quinn. The period drama follows two elite families as they debut their children in London society, preparing them to find a suitable partner for marriage.
Phoebe Dynevor (Daphne Bridgerton), Regé-Jean Page (Simon Basset) and Nicola Coughlan (Penelope Featherington) are among the incredibly stunning cast. Additionally, veteran actress Julie Andrews is featured in the narrator role as Lady Whistledown.
The series is the first of TV mogul Shonda Rhimes’ projects released under her $150 million multiyear deal with the streamer. She signed with Netflix in 2017 after leaving ABC, where she created acclaimed shows including Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, How to Get Away With Murder and Scandal.
Rhimes, 50, was a big fan of the Bridgerton books prior to developing it for Netflix. “I remember I was almost scaring people, like, ‘We have to get these crazy romance novels — they’re hot and they’re sexy and they’re really interesting,” she recalled to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview posted on Friday, December 25.
In making the series, creator Chris Van Dusen wanted to give it a modern twist that would appeal to today’s viewers.
“We knew we wanted to make the show reflect the world that we live in today,” he explained to Collider on Saturday, December 26. “And, even though it’s set in the 19th century, we still wanted modern audiences to relate to it, and see themselves on screen no matter who they were. And, that’s something having worked in Shondaland for so long, since Grey’s Anatomy really, it’s what we do.”
Van Dusen continued, “We cast the best actors for roles in ways that represent the world today. And, we knew we’d had that same chance to do the same thing, and to do a similar thing with Bridgerton. Color and race is a part of the show, and it is a part of the conversation and it is, you’ll find it, written in the text or the scripts, just like class and gender and sexuality are.”
Since Bridgerton offers an abundance of characters across its eight-episode-long season, it’s understandable if it’s hard to keep up with who is who. Scroll through the gallery below to get to know the show’s many beautiful stars!
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