May 16, 2024 • 47 mins
The first four episodes of Bridgerton season three are out now! Every week until part two drops, we'll be releasing a new companion episode. So, we're kicking things off with episode one: Out of the Shadows! Host Gabi Collins sits down with showrunner Jess Brownell to talk about the themes and drama already being set up for the season. Plus, the costume team joins the show to talk about the inspiration behind the multiple glow-ups we've seen so far.
You can binge part one of Bridgerton season 3 on Netflix right now, to immediately enjoy all the tea with us every week!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bridgerton The Official Podcast is a production of Shondaland in
partnership with iHeartRadio. Welcome to Bridgerton the Official Podcast, your
exclusive peak behind the curtain of Shondaland's Bridgerton series. I'm
your host, Gabby Collins, Pollen Stan and your guide through
(00:23):
season three. I'm so excited to be back kicking off
a new season of the Official Podcast. I don't know
about you, but I already binged all of Part one.
As you wait like me with bated breath for Part
two to drop on June thirteenth, You're going to want
to join us here each week as we spill the
(00:44):
tea and dissect the regal brilliance. In each episode of
Part one, we have tons of incredible guests and juicy
behind the scenes details from the cast and crew that
bring you this iconic show. Today you'll hear from the
(01:05):
extremely talented and thoughtful showrunner Jess Brownew and some of
our talented costume design team, John Glazier, Dougie Hawks and
George Sayer. But before we hear from them, let's recap
episode one. Out of the Shadows.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Dearest gentle leader, we have been a pot for fow
long At last, London's fashionable set has made its return,
and so too has this author.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Okay, so Colin returns from his travels abroad, effortlessly charming
the ladies with his new Indiana Jones Chikh style. Penelope
watches wistfully from behind a bush, still crushing plus Colin
in that carriage scene. Ugh swoon. Francesca Bridgerton is making
her debut this season. She's a touch a blase about
(02:01):
the whole thing, playing a funeral march on the piano
as she struggles to envision her future. Her sister Eloise
is donning ruffles, ruffles and embracing her femininity. She proclaims
to Colin that she has joined the winning side. She's
even made an unexpected friend, Cresida Cowper. Lady Danbury hosts
(02:24):
the first ball of the season, and Penelope wows the
crowd unveiling a stunning emerald gown based on the latest
of French fashion, Goodbye Yellow. She even catches Colin's eye,
but despite her outward transformation, she chases off a few
bachelors with her awkward small talk. Things are looking up
(02:44):
when Penelope seems to be hitting it off with a
mysterious new bachelor lord debling, but in the end she
runs out of the party crying when Cressida rips her
dress and sabotages her blossoming connection. Colin meets Penelope outside
and they make it deal. He'll give her lessons on
how to court men. It'll be their secret. This pair
(03:05):
is bound to spend more time alone as the season unfolds.
Oh my goodness. Episode one dives in head first, setting
up a slew of different meaningful threads. We already have
multiple glow ups, tension, secret scandals, So what better way
(03:28):
to kick off this season of the podcast than a
conversation with Jess Brownell, the showrunner for season three of
Bridgerton and the writer for episode one. I sat down
with her to talk about the decision to focus on
pollin this season. For all you book readers out there
who are like, wait a minute, what her journey to
(03:49):
showrunner and the theme set up in this episode that
we should be looking out for. Jess Brownell, Hello, it's
so nice to see you.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
We meet again.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
So I'm sure you've seen some folks on social aesque
like what's up with the with the order of things
and why are we doing Penelope and Colin this season
versus another sibling, right, not any sibling, you know, any
and he could have been Hyacinth Gregory.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
They're not clamoring for Benedict, right please?
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
But why why did you all decide to do Polin?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
I totally understand why people were super excited to see Benedict.
That would be the natural order that the books would take.
But Benedict is this really impulsive, passionate character, and we
just felt like it was too soon to see him
settle down. We feel like he has more adventures in him,
so we're going to get to see a bit of
(04:54):
that this season. As far as Penn and Colin, they've
been on our screens for two se reasons. We know them,
we've watched them, and we've known that Penn has this
major crush on Colin. It seems in many ways like
almost everyone else knows it to you know, Marina spotted it.
(05:15):
I think mostly just us as for Yeah, us as viewers,
we really spotted it, and I think we started feeling
like we couldn't wait for too much longer before Colin
starts to realize that Penelope has feelings for him. It
felt like we might start getting a little bit frustrated
(05:36):
with him. So instead we wanted to push their dynamic
in a new direction. Let him realize that she has feelings,
let him start to realize that, in fact, he might
have feelings for her, and play out that dynamic.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Well, there you have it, y'all, don't be upset. And
I also feel like, I mean, we get to still
see more of Benedict in a way so that when
ever his time does come, we can really get into
it with his storyline.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
For the Benedict stands out there, I would just say,
if you love him, I think it's actually a great
thing that we've pushed his season out. It means that
we get him for longer on our screens, so and
we get to see him, you know, have lots more adventures,
lots more fun and he's yeah, he's getting up to
some fun high drinks this year. Yeah, I think it'll
(06:29):
be good for.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Our listen if you don't mind, And can you just
tell a little bit more about your trajectory at Shondaland.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I've realized as I've done interviews that I keep dating
myself by saying exactly how long it's been, So I'll
just say many moons Ago. I started as the assistant
to Betsy Bearers, who is Shonda's producing partner, And I
remember doing the interview with Betsy and in her office,
(06:58):
you know, bright bushy right out of college, telling her
I want to be a show runner someday. But I
don't know that I really believed it was ever going
to happen, because you know, it's rare to even get
a show on television, to get staffed, to be able
to show run, to be able to show run a
show like Bridgerton. So I feel very lucky to be here.
(07:21):
I went from being Betsy's assistant to being a researcher
on Scandal, to being staffed on Scandal, to writing on
Inventing Anna, and then Bridgerton, which I've been with from
the beginning.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
And so tell me about that moment of what it
was like to finally step into the showrunner shoes for
season three.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I'll say I think the moment for me when everything
got to be very real was a few months, maybe
a couple months before production started. I had a zoom
call with Nikola and Luke where I pitched them the
season all in one go, just to kind of give
a heads up. Of what to expect, and it was
(08:03):
the first time anyone who wasn't my writers or Shonda
or Betsy or someone at Shondaland had heard the story.
And Nikola and Luke were just like a real audience,
you know. It was like they were just fans of
the show, and they reacted with such pure enjoyment. They
were laughing and gasping and ooing and awing, And first
(08:28):
of all, I was like, I'm going to have so
much fun working with these two. We just got along
so well right away. But mostly it was about, oh, wow, Okay,
this is real, and I think we have a good
season here based off their reactions, Like, if they're into it,
I think people are going to like it.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
We'll be right back after the break. We're back with
more Bridgeton the official podcast. What was the most important
thing to kind of capture in those first minutes, those
first pages of episode one. It's been a minute since
(09:07):
we were in the world at Bridgeton, we had Queen Charlotte,
So what was your headspace to bring the audience back
to now.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
So in the writer's room, I always talk about the teaser,
which is, you know, everything we see before the title
card as a snapshot of the episode or a vibe
of the episode, and when it comes to the very
first episode, the teaser is really meant to be a
snapshot or a vibe of the season, and so it
(09:37):
was important for us in those first few minutes to
make sure all of the elements, more or less were
represented in that teaser. So you have Penelope whose work
life is going very well but her personal life is
a mess. You have Colin, who's coming back a new
(09:59):
man in many ways. You introduce Francesca, who is a
character we haven't seen a ton of in past seasons,
but who has a major role to play this season.
And then, of course you have all the Bridgerton's assembled together.
So it was important to hit all of those beats,
and we tried to do it in as efficient a
(10:22):
way as possible. I think having Lady whistle Down really
helps take us through moments quickly. She's able to guide
us and hold our hand through it. And the real
fun of this season is not only knowing that Penelope
is whistledown, but because she's the protagonist this year, getting
(10:43):
to be in her POV and seeing through her eyes
what it feels like to be whistled down.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Yeah, especially in that opening moment, there's this I can't
remember the girl's name, but she snorts and she's like,
oh she mentioned me. Penelopees in the corner like por.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Thing for sweet thing, bless her heart, bless her heart.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Yeah, that is really cool to see things through Penelope's eyes.
I was also so excited to see Francesca. That was
actually a surprise for me. I didn't I just was
not thinking of any other Bridgerton siblings as like a
central story for us to or a main story for
us to follow. And the way we are introduced to
(11:30):
Francesca is it's really in your face. I think Benedict says,
she's playing like a funeral march song on the piano.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
We learn quite a bit about her right away, Francesca, Francesca.
So I need to shout tell us about what you
wanted us to take away from Francesca.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
So, Francesca is probably the most different from her siblings.
You know, most of the Bridgerton siblings are extroverted, opinionated,
able to articulate those opinions very easily, sociable. Francesca is
an introvert. She's probably the one introvert in the family,
(12:16):
and so she's a difficult character to set up in
many ways because she has a rich in her life.
She has great strength and inner wisdom. She is similar
to her siblings in many ways, but she just doesn't
express it in the same way. So when you first
meet her, she's preparing for her debut. We've now seen
(12:38):
two Bridgerton girls' debut. You saw Daphne, who was all
about it and super into it and very vocal about that,
and then you saw Eloise, who hated it and was
really vocal about that. And here comes Francesca, who is
just kind of like, yeah, okay, let's go, and she's
not expressing a opinion. But as we get to know her,
(13:03):
we'll realize that in fact, this is difficult for her.
It's difficult for her to debut in society. She's not
someone who's super comfortable socially, so we had to find
subtle ways to let an audience in on that because
she's certainly not going to tell you herself. I think
she's on a journey of figuring out that what it
(13:23):
means to her passion.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
And maybe that's how she and Penelope are not similar.
But can connect and have that moment where they do connect.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Penelope's the never been kissed kind of character, right, but
she devours romance.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
And yeah, I feel like Francesca and Penelope are quite similar,
and I think they probably would have been really close
friends if they were closer in age, and like if
Penn and Eloise hadn't met and become friends, and if
Fran had met Penn first, they might have been the
best friends, you know. But I also think, you know,
(14:01):
Penn and Eloise being opposites in certain ways is a
good match too. But yeah, I think Penelope is much
more in control of the fact that she wants love Fran.
She's just not sure what love means to her quite yet.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Look at you nickname in Francesca, oh, Fran.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I know. You know, it's funny when I'm writing, when
we're writing the scripts, I'm always looking ways for ways
to cut page length.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
And sometimes that.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Literally means that I call Benedict, Ben, I call Francesca, Fran,
I call Anthony aunt Eloise's l just to you know,
shave off like one line sometimes.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
So yeah, okay, there was a lot of translating these
amazing I'm sure directions and what you all saw in
your minds. I as far as like what was around
all of the action happening around the dialogue and everything.
(15:05):
What were some of the conversations that you had, some
of the more difficult conversations you had about bringing those
to life?
Speaker 3 (15:13):
No difficult conversations, really, I mean I feel like our
teams this season really brought it. They have leveled up
and brought their a game. John Glazer, who runs our
costumes department, is bringing even more theatricality and beauty and
(15:34):
glamour to the wardrobe. He's doing a lot of layers
this season with fabrics and it's even a more colorful
vision than I think it's been before, which I think
in a lot of ways really suits the tone of
this season being more of a rom com. We've definitely
upped things to match with that. And then Erica Okfus,
(15:57):
who led our hair and makeup department, is also the
wigs are taller and closer to God or whatever the
saying is. And Alison Gartshore is our production designer. This year,
she came up under Will Hughes Jones and she did
a knockout job. I mean, the sets are stunning, The
(16:18):
balls have all become really thematic. She really we had
a lot of conversations about what the theme of the episode
was and how we could reflect that in the ball
of the episode and also in the whistledown, and then
our directing. Our directors this year were phenomenal and it
(16:39):
was about really capturing that rom com sensibility.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
You know.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Season two, obviously things got a little darker. We were
dealing with grief, but this season it was all about
it being bright and poppy and you know, joyful.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Was there any discussion around how you would differ she
ate some of the characters we've seen plenty of, like
Queen Charlotte Golda Rochevelle. Was there a conversation about how
they would be presented differently this time around, especially in
their first moments in episode one?
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, we felt like it was time to show a
slightly new flavor from the Queen. We've seen her be
super into the presentations for two seasons, and to be honest,
she hasn't made the best predictions. She was trying to
pair her Daphne.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
With the print was so upset.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I know, I know, poor Queen. She was trying to
pair Anthony with Edwina and you know, things haven't gone
the way she expected. So I think she's entering this
season a little bit more trepidacious about the debutantes and
withholding her opinion. She's not going to grace any debutante
(17:58):
with her favor too early. So you get to see
her playing at a bit of boredom and like she's
over it. But I don't really think that's true.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Yeah, the boredom of it all that was. I felt
like Golda was very very much leaning into that this
time around.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Yeah, she plays it so well. She makes it so funny.
I feel like you could give Golda the phone Book
to read and you would be, you know, alternately cracking
up and weeping. She's so talented, Miss La Livingstone.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
Did I fight your refreshment, your majesty?
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Perhaps a casket? The lack of interest here today?
Speaker 5 (18:41):
She'll usher me to an early grave at any moment.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Oh yeah, you know you are very much into the
way relationships come together fall apart. You've talked about that
a lot before, and friendships, and I am so curious
about how Eloise, Penelope Cressida, how that friendship non friendship
(19:09):
situationship was all discussed among your team that's one of
the most interesting parts of the story.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
To me, Bridgerton is a show about love in many forms,
and I think friendship, breakups, friendship couplings, they are just
as important, can be just as important as romantic relationships,
especially at the age Penelope and Eloise are at. You know,
(19:38):
you're really defining yourself by the company you keep and
figuring out who you are based on your friends at
that age. And so you know, Penn and Elouise, I
would say there will they or won't they? Is in
many ways the secondary love story of the season. It's
something we explore in a lot of depth, you know.
(19:59):
I think for me, it's the story of you make
friends when you're young based on you know, oh, you
live next door to each other, or you go to
the same school, And there's always a point at which
I think you have to decide is this a real
friendship that can go deeper? Or is this not going
(20:21):
to be the kind of friendship that's going to last
the test of time. So for Penn and Eloise this season,
they are both undergoing real journeys of self discovery separate
from each other, and the question is whether those journeys
will lead them in the same direction or not. So
when we were talking about Eloise this year and what
(20:43):
life without Penelope might look like, I think there's a
sense of if you can't beat them, join them going
on with her, and I think she's lost a little
bit of her fight in certain ways.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Oh that broke my heart.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
I felt that, Yes, sad, it's sad, but in a
way it's a journey. I think Eloise needs to go
on because Eloise has been extremely overconfident. I think that
if you look at her breakup with Penelope last season,
it's easy to understand Penn's culpability in it. Penelope lied
(21:20):
about being whistled down and she wrote this thing about
Eloise that she never should have written, like she has
a lot of growth to do coming out of that.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
But I do think that.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Eloise has a piece in the breakup, which is that
her relationship with Penn was a little bit uneven and
a little bit one sided in that Eloise kind of
talks at Penelope and maybe didn't make as much space
for Penelope in the friendship as she could have. Now,
some of that is on Penelope needing to step into
(21:49):
her power and take up space by herself but I
think Eloise has something to learn about listening, and so
I think that that's hopefully something she's going to learn
this year by being such a fish out of water
in society with Cressida.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
I'm so glad you said that, because I was wondering
if somewhere deep down Eloise felt like she had some
not control, but just that she led that relationship.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
She definitely led that relationship, and I think subconsciously maybe
she liked that that she got to be, in some
ways the alpha and Penelope. Yeah, Penelope would just kind
of like do what she wanted to do and be
like yes, Eloise and like laugh at her jokes. And
you know, I don't think that penn got to show
(22:44):
her full self previously in that relationship. So if they
get back together as friends, I think that there's some
evening out that needs to happen where they can both
show up as full people.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Speaking of true self, what version of Penelope that we've
seen so far is closest to her true self?
Speaker 3 (23:03):
That's such a good question. In some ways, I don't
know that we've fully seen it from her. There is
a scene in season two where Penelope is laying on
the grass with Eloise and the daffodils. That was a
scene that Chris van Duzen really had such a vision
for and really felt strongly about creating that visual And
(23:26):
I feel like in that moment you get to see
a glimpse of real Penelope. It's a moment where she
and Eloise are acting as equals because Penelope is finally
honest with Eloise. Hey, you know, I actually really do
like society, and I do like coming to these balls.
And I know that we make fun of it all
the time and say how terrible it is, but I
(23:48):
kind of like it.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Low key my jam.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Yeah, it's low key my jam. That was like one
of the few times where she was really honest with
Eloise about who she is. So I think that's probably
the closest we've seen. But I don't think Penelope is
either fully whistledown or fully a wallflower. She's someone somewhere
(24:10):
in between. She is not just the girl who writes
scathing gossip, and she's not the girl clinging to the shadows.
So this season is about merging those two selves and
stepping into her authenticity.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Thank you so much, Jess.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Thank you so much, Gabby.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
We'll be back after the break to talk to the
masterminds behind this season's glow ups the costume team. Welcome
back to Bridgerton, the official Podcast. Often when a character
is going through a visual transformation, it is indicative of
a deeper emotional evolution. This season, we're seeing massive shifts
(24:57):
for so many in these arenas.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
To break down some of those choices and talk about
the costume innovation, I sat down with some key members
of the costume design team. John Glazier, the Lee costume designer,
Dougie Hawks, mastermind behind the men's looks, and George Sayer,
the brain behind the women's looks.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Hey, I'm John glazer the costume designer for Bridgeton.
Speaker 6 (25:25):
My name is George Sayah, I'm the associate costume designer
for Women's.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
And Hello, my name is Dougie Hooks and I'm associate
costume designer for Bridgeton, concentrating on the men.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
Good morning, morning, good morning, good morning.
Speaker 7 (25:41):
It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
I just want to jump right on in right now.
People are binging or have just watched episode one and
are seeing a lot of changes, transitions and just a
lot of foreshadowing Right now, the season feels brighter, some
(26:05):
would say, if you look on social and just like
listen to the chatter, and the costumes also seem bigger
than ever before. Can you just begin by walking us
through what was different about this season, how you reproached it,
or if there was anything about your process that returned
(26:26):
to kind of give us that texture and feel that
we so love. Where do you draw all of your inspiration?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
You know, this season we looked at season one, which
was an experiment, and it was pretty bold and.
Speaker 7 (26:44):
A graphic.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
Season two became a little more technical and a little
and the coloring a little more acidy, a little stronger.
So we always liked to improve and give the audience
something new to look at with maintaining the bridget and look.
So we thought we looked at flowers, We looked at paintings,
(27:06):
We looked at texture, which you'll see this season, and
the colors are a little more organic, a little more real,
as as if you looked at a floral garden with
that texture. You know, I hate to say, like bugs
and butterflies, but you look at clouds and trees and
(27:26):
the seasons changing.
Speaker 7 (27:28):
We've just used.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
All those colors that are a little more real.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
A second, and say that we've built from season one
and season two, and we've reached a lot of from
a lot of decisions made from the looks that previously
come that we've been involved with. Is a new look,
and I think you will see a new brighter Boulder
(27:55):
look with season three.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
And time is actually we're like three or four years
into the future, so we've switched suddenly the styling a
little bit more towards eighteen seventeen seventeen. That's about as
far as we can go. And also the characters. The
audience knows the characters now, so their clothes can become
(28:21):
a little more real, which they have because the costume
doesn't have to tell the story of the character. You know,
we know who the who the persona is now, so
we let them come to the forefront a little more.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
When you said the colors are a little more real,
it makes me think of Penelope actually and Eloise. But
I'm like, oh, I wonder if there's a little bit
more of that, like natural dye inspiration happening that may
be closer to history maybe.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
Well actually believe it or not. At that time, the
dies were much brighter, weren't they, Douggie. We're actually we're
going looking more current, more present day.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
Yes, we'll be pushing a little bit more strength into
even the poorer classes off of the High Street. We're
bringing color into those as well, but we're looking at
much stronger base colors with a lot more.
Speaker 7 (29:25):
We've kind of flipped it.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
During that period, the poor people would have been dark colors,
and we've actually making them this season more vibrant. And
we've taken the real people or the main cast, which
would have been stronger colors, and we've minimized it just
to make it pretty.
Speaker 7 (29:45):
That's you know.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
We always have to remember Bridgington is not a history lesson.
Speaker 7 (29:50):
It's a fantasy.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
So as long and I always say that and it
gets very repetitive, as long as we can help tell
the story what is written and make it beautiful, that's
our job. So it's not a history lesson.
Speaker 7 (30:03):
It's a fantasy.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
And we like to switch things around and move things
around into different places that they probably shouldn't always be,
but it keeps an interest.
Speaker 6 (30:13):
We used very few of the traditional fabrics that you'd
have in say Jane Austin's general period dramas, so we
use much more modern fabrics. We don't have any muslins
at all or cottons really and women's wear.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
No.
Speaker 5 (30:28):
I think that's where you would see a distinct contrast
between Bridgeton and something like the movie of Emma. It's
a lot there's softer and we've got harder lines and
more sharper images within the costume because it's something that
hasn't been seen, so we can explore that much easier
than trying to follow suit, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
And we're using fashion fabrics, like contemporary fabrics rather than
the more traditional prints.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
We've tried to create our own little world, which I
think we've been successful with.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
Yeah, seas, That's why I think season three is going
to be a really big innovation to the viewers.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
The actual characters have matured over the years, over the years,
over the few years, so you have to make those
subtle changes to their bodies, their face, you know, everything
changes subtenly, so you have to kind of watch that
and keep.
Speaker 7 (31:21):
Up with it.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
When you are all coming together to work on building
your palettes and your vision boards and everything, how do
you keep it fresh for yourselves? Returning to this production
now after several years and you're still working within within
that seven years or so of the story, how do
(31:42):
you keep it fresh for yourself? George, if you want
to begin, We.
Speaker 6 (31:46):
Look at fashion references, not just we obviously look at
regency fashion references, but we also look right through history.
It's mainly from the twentieth century, I would say, up
to contemporary catwalk. Yes, So we just totally immerse ourselves
in fashion references, the runway and just absorb as much
(32:09):
information as we can, and from that we can develop
designs that suit the different characters. So it's just keeping
influences coming in the whole time.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
And our mood boards from the very first season, when
I did the mood boards, I always took images of
what influenced regency fashion, what regency fashion was from the
little bit of information that you can grasp because there's
no photographs, there's only paintings and etchings. And then what
(32:42):
currently was influenced by regency fashion, which was the sixties.
And if you look at any current runway or any
current fashion magazine, you can always find a regency influence.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
And that's and we sucked that right in, and.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
So all of our inspiration boards always have something real,
something fashion, and always like a painting, so you can see,
oh that that came from there, and they've copied that
and that's been you know, back and forth.
Speaker 7 (33:14):
You know.
Speaker 6 (33:15):
The other thing that we do is quite often when
we're starting the process for designing the women's where we
have a we will pick fabrics that we like and
will work them on a stand and quite often the
fabric to take dictates the style of the sleeve or
where we're going with it. And so it's a really
organic process as well. So you bring in the influences
from the references that we've been looking at, and then
(33:38):
you develop your own on the stand, yeah, something.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
As you can see, we bring all those ideas on
at the early stages of the production or of a
season and then pile those into a mixing pot and
then we extract things that we like to we want
to move to that for a new season or a
new character and use the historical correctness blended with modern
(34:03):
fashion catwalk runway styling and try and it's our that
that is our task then to actually blend that and
nod to fashion, but sticking in a you know, in
a in a in a historical correctness as a base.
So we that's that's the skill, that's that's what we
do as a collaborative group, and.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
We sometimes even like go say like with Francesco, she's
based on regency period, but we looked at Grace Kelly
and we also looked at the nineteen forties Katherine Hepburn,
Sheer sleeves.
Speaker 6 (34:39):
Well, they would they were the kind of mus for
her characters.
Speaker 7 (34:41):
They were the mws for her character.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
So we just, like what Jagie said, we everything's kind
of in a melting pot and we just extract what
we like.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
When we've got the script and when we've got the
showrunner and the writer's ideas of characters that's extracted from
the book and then expanded and given to us, then
we can sit down and be directed where that character
could go. In our third eye sense, there's very directed
characters and very free characters. And that's where we blend
(35:15):
the two influences of costume design. I mean, that's purely
what it is. It's not because we're not following historical recreation.
We are designing. And that's the big difference between maybe
this period drama then a lot of others.
Speaker 6 (35:30):
The other thing that we do is we work very
closely with the hair and makeup department, So when we've
done a fitting, we'll photograph it, will show them the
images of the costume, and then they will work with
our milliners because we're lucky enough to have a millinery
department too to work on whatever the hair creations are
going to be. And so it's very much a sort
(35:51):
of team effort to get the overall look.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
But specifically with the dance scenes, in the bar scenes,
so we do have some in episode one, do you
need to ever got back to the drawing board because oh,
this this particular movement that the dancers are going to
be doing, the garments aren't flowing the way you imagined
or people are tripping over, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
But you know, when we get to a fitting with
the dancers, they know what they're doing, so they can
help guide us too.
Speaker 5 (36:22):
You know, we're very lucky to have the same choreographer.
Speaker 7 (36:26):
So we know what they can tell us.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
All that's not going to work because I'm doing a
I don't even know what a dance move is. But
they can tell us what their what their action is,
and we can and.
Speaker 5 (36:37):
We you know, we accordingly, it's lovely to have this,
but this is in an ideal world. We like to
costume the dancers up front, if you like, because we
we know how much they are in frame in every
ball scene and not just the ball scenes. Of course
they use them elsewhere, but they become more than dancers.
They become they become background artists as well.
Speaker 4 (37:01):
And scenery.
Speaker 5 (37:02):
They really so to us, they're really important.
Speaker 7 (37:05):
Yeah, we ought.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
We do try to improve and make it better each
season and more I don't want to say flamboyant, but
more sumptuous and rich, you know. Fresh.
Speaker 7 (37:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
I definitely wore the most citrusy color I had today
in honor of Penelope and her original, her original citrus world.
Speaker 4 (37:28):
Yeah. What's interesting is when you look at season three
and it begins with the feathering tins and their citrus colors,
you don't question it because that's what you're used to.
But then when the change happens, you go, oh my god,
what you know what, you really do see a big difference,
(37:49):
and you understand that it's an improvement and it's a
sophistication of the show moving forward, I think correct.
Speaker 6 (37:56):
And to pick up on that when you when we
first see the Featherington's. They're wearing dresses that would be
familiar to the audience, but they've been reworked and re
embellished because the Featheringkington haven't got any money or there's
the appearance of poverty, so they've had to kind of
rework them to try and keep in with their fashion.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
I do not wish to see a citrus color ever again,
sour Coless.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Indeed, So Penelope's aesthetic change is so dramatic and no doubt,
very exciting for the fans. I loved it. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
Talk us through the thought process of her new look
this episode and season.
Speaker 6 (38:37):
So Penelope's new look when she has been to the Mediste's,
she's had enough of being you know, it's very important
for her to get away from the Featherington's and to
really put herself out there on the marriage mark, and
she wants to reject the whole citrus world. And so
we see her going to the Mediese and saying, can
(38:58):
you give me the new Paris look? Which is which
is a link to it is to Colin as well.
He's just gone back from Paris. So the first time
we see her, she has this big reveal in her
emerald gown, and she very much looks the part, and
she's suddenly the center of attention, but actually she's still penned,
she's still anxious, she still kind of disappears into you know,
(39:22):
the scenery.
Speaker 7 (39:23):
You have to remember her.
Speaker 4 (39:25):
As George mentioned today that her new look backfire is
when cresslers it.
Speaker 6 (39:30):
Yeah, so that that there's that kind of insecurity. She's
putting herself out there. It's kind of it hasn't worked
out for her, and so when we then see her again,
she's gone back to kind of a softer, a softer
color sort of where she could also disappear into her surroundings.
(39:50):
And like John was saying about, sort of kind of
she looks like a painting. You've got all these layers
going on, so you don't really know what's what's going on.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
So she had kind of had to still be on
the war a little bit.
Speaker 6 (40:04):
Observing the similarity between her and the only similarity between
her and Crestatter is that they're both trying to escape
their families, but Crasster is doing it in a much
bolder way. She's putting herself out there to find a
husband because it's now season number three that she hasn't
and so there's that whereas you know Penelopes has been.
Speaker 5 (40:26):
She was within earshot of being rejected by Colin amongst
his friends, and she said he would never date, he
would never call Penelope Featherington. So she sees the man
that she that gives her heart palpitations, but she knows
(40:46):
she feels off. She believes that he would never look
at her, so that that that sort of chemistry is
really cool. On episode one, I think now.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
To Colin, and I mean, wherever you'd want to begin,
But were there were there any set dressings or props
that inspired you.
Speaker 5 (41:05):
It's kind of the reason I wanted to do this,
and it's to be given someone like Colin for this
for season three, because you know, normally we begin organically
analyzing a character and then then it evolves. What with
Colin it was, it was so different because you know,
here we have our traveler boy and I, you know,
(41:28):
I knew this. I knew Colin from two previous seasons.
I knew Luke Newton from two previous seasons, so I
knew the man and John and I sort of had
had discussions on how we wanted to produce a new
silhouette and to create kind of like a maverick cowboy
(41:48):
kind of pirate returning from a voyage and get the
almost I guess nineteen eighties new romanticism into his he's
our whole persona and completely different to this. I saw
Colin as it's a sort of I started off with
(42:10):
this because it's his personal to me, but I saw
him as a James Stewart George Bailey from from It's
a Wonderful Life who wanted to travel right from the
day one he was born. I know that's that's Miles
and Miles apart, but Colin is that he's that eternal traveler,
an adventurer, and you know, we lose him as one
(42:33):
of the boy brothers and then he returns a fully
fledged man, and which is the big reveal obviously in
episode one. So I wanted to introduce that this transformation
was the Boy's brother to a confident, worldly, fully fledged
man of the world. And so my concept was someone
(42:54):
who was daring, dashing, and dangerous even so, you know,
using the concept of those three ds into into this
guy's design. So we completely changed his silhouette from everything
being tight and pretty baby blue and pink to something
(43:19):
that was flowing and a little bit more open and
a bit more Devil May care and rakish to give
the viewers who is this guy who?
Speaker 4 (43:30):
And he himself changed physically, Yes, very he became much
more angular, much more mature looking.
Speaker 7 (43:39):
I keep saying mature, but they.
Speaker 4 (43:44):
Definitely, Penelope definitely became angular.
Speaker 5 (43:48):
Yeah, these two guys rose to the occasion of being leading,
leading man, leading lady. You know, the writing just completely
elevates that for them. But yeah, he arrives with a bang.
I mean, he's we see this guy. Oh, I saw
this guy, And you know, this is how John and
I sort of got that sort of cowboy feel that
(44:09):
he's been traveling. Obviously, the last portcoll seems to be
Paris and France, but he's been he's done the Grand Tour,
he's been all over Europe. Who knows where he goes. Yeah, yeah,
So he's been cooped up in a ship for maybe
six weeks from from the last port to London in
(44:29):
a cabin, and so I almost wanted him to look
as if he'd been sleeping in those clothes that he
comes out back into fresh London or not so fresh London,
but into fresh London. Walking down that gangplank, we see
his boots, so his boots are still his old favorite boots.
And then he gets into a carriage, his luggage is
(44:50):
thrown in there. And then when he gets to his
home address, he's in a different world.
Speaker 7 (44:57):
The world is all.
Speaker 5 (44:58):
Pretty and straight and wonderful and beauty. And he comes in,
striding in with looking a little bit out of play.
Speaker 7 (45:04):
He comes in unrestrictive.
Speaker 5 (45:06):
Well I think, I think Anthony turns around and said,
is that my Is that my brother? Is that my
brother coming?
Speaker 3 (45:16):
Sure?
Speaker 7 (45:16):
Yeah, movement and swagger.
Speaker 5 (45:18):
He opens up as well, he's closing, opens up. We
decided to de restrict him of the next stocks. He
has them when they're needed, i e. In the balls,
but as soon as he can he almost wants to
fight out of them.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
Jess Brownell in the writer's room, gave you, gave you
a treat to play with, Yes, and.
Speaker 5 (45:37):
We hopefully we've given her the same treat back. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
Thank you so much on behalf of everybody. Thank you
so much, and thank you for your time today. Thank
you for joining me for this first episode of this
season of Bridgerton. The official podcast Join me next week
to talk episode two, where I'll be joined by Hannah
(46:02):
Dodd who plays Francesca Bridgerton and the Dynamic duo Martin's
Imhangbey and Emma Naomi who play the Mandritches. Until Next Time, Bridgerton,
The official podcast is produced by Shondaland Audio and Wonder
Media Network. This show is executive produced by Sandy Bailey,
(46:25):
Alex Alcea, Lauren Homan, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our
producers are Sarah Schleid, Edie Allard, and Carmen Borca Carrio.
This episode is edited by Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our associate producers are Lauren Williams and Akia mcnight and
I Am Your Host, Gabrielle Collins. If you haven't finished
(46:46):
binging Bridgerton, please head to Netflix so you can enjoy
these spoilers with us each week. If you're enjoying this show,
please subscribe, share with your friends, rate, or leave us
a review. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Bridgerton The Official Podcast is a production of Shondaland in
partnership with iHeartRadio. Welcome to Bridgerton the Official Podcast, your
exclusive peak behind the curtain of Shondaland's Bridgerton series. I'm
your host, Gabby Collins, Pollen Stan and your guide through
(00:23):
season three. I'm so excited to be back kicking off
a new season of the Official Podcast. I don't know
about you, but I already binged all of Part one.
As you wait like me with bated breath for Part
two to drop on June thirteenth, You're going to want
to join us here each week as we spill the
(00:44):
tea and dissect the regal brilliance. In each episode of
Part one, we have tons of incredible guests and juicy
behind the scenes details from the cast and crew that
bring you this iconic show. Today you'll hear from the
(01:05):
extremely talented and thoughtful showrunner Jess Brownew and some of
our talented costume design team, John Glazier, Dougie Hawks and
George Sayer. But before we hear from them, let's recap
episode one. Out of the Shadows.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Dearest gentle leader, we have been a pot for fow
long At last, London's fashionable set has made its return,
and so too has this author.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Okay, so Colin returns from his travels abroad, effortlessly charming
the ladies with his new Indiana Jones Chikh style. Penelope
watches wistfully from behind a bush, still crushing plus Colin
in that carriage scene. Ugh swoon. Francesca Bridgerton is making
her debut this season. She's a touch a blase about
(02:01):
the whole thing, playing a funeral march on the piano
as she struggles to envision her future. Her sister Eloise
is donning ruffles, ruffles and embracing her femininity. She proclaims
to Colin that she has joined the winning side. She's
even made an unexpected friend, Cresida Cowper. Lady Danbury hosts
(02:24):
the first ball of the season, and Penelope wows the
crowd unveiling a stunning emerald gown based on the latest
of French fashion, Goodbye Yellow. She even catches Colin's eye,
but despite her outward transformation, she chases off a few
bachelors with her awkward small talk. Things are looking up
(02:44):
when Penelope seems to be hitting it off with a
mysterious new bachelor lord debling, but in the end she
runs out of the party crying when Cressida rips her
dress and sabotages her blossoming connection. Colin meets Penelope outside
and they make it deal. He'll give her lessons on
how to court men. It'll be their secret. This pair
(03:05):
is bound to spend more time alone as the season unfolds.
Oh my goodness. Episode one dives in head first, setting
up a slew of different meaningful threads. We already have
multiple glow ups, tension, secret scandals, So what better way
(03:28):
to kick off this season of the podcast than a
conversation with Jess Brownell, the showrunner for season three of
Bridgerton and the writer for episode one. I sat down
with her to talk about the decision to focus on
pollin this season. For all you book readers out there
who are like, wait a minute, what her journey to
(03:49):
showrunner and the theme set up in this episode that
we should be looking out for. Jess Brownell, Hello, it's
so nice to see you.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
We meet again.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
So I'm sure you've seen some folks on social aesque
like what's up with the with the order of things
and why are we doing Penelope and Colin this season
versus another sibling, right, not any sibling, you know, any
and he could have been Hyacinth Gregory.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
They're not clamoring for Benedict, right please?
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
But why why did you all decide to do Polin?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
I totally understand why people were super excited to see Benedict.
That would be the natural order that the books would take.
But Benedict is this really impulsive, passionate character, and we
just felt like it was too soon to see him
settle down. We feel like he has more adventures in him,
so we're going to get to see a bit of
(04:54):
that this season. As far as Penn and Colin, they've
been on our screens for two se reasons. We know them,
we've watched them, and we've known that Penn has this
major crush on Colin. It seems in many ways like
almost everyone else knows it to you know, Marina spotted it.
(05:15):
I think mostly just us as for Yeah, us as viewers,
we really spotted it, and I think we started feeling
like we couldn't wait for too much longer before Colin
starts to realize that Penelope has feelings for him. It
felt like we might start getting a little bit frustrated
(05:36):
with him. So instead we wanted to push their dynamic
in a new direction. Let him realize that she has feelings,
let him start to realize that, in fact, he might
have feelings for her, and play out that dynamic.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Well, there you have it, y'all, don't be upset. And
I also feel like, I mean, we get to still
see more of Benedict in a way so that when
ever his time does come, we can really get into
it with his storyline.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
For the Benedict stands out there, I would just say,
if you love him, I think it's actually a great
thing that we've pushed his season out. It means that
we get him for longer on our screens, so and
we get to see him, you know, have lots more adventures,
lots more fun and he's yeah, he's getting up to
some fun high drinks this year. Yeah, I think it'll
(06:29):
be good for.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Our listen if you don't mind, And can you just
tell a little bit more about your trajectory at Shondaland.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I've realized as I've done interviews that I keep dating
myself by saying exactly how long it's been, So I'll
just say many moons Ago. I started as the assistant
to Betsy Bearers, who is Shonda's producing partner, And I
remember doing the interview with Betsy and in her office,
(06:58):
you know, bright bushy right out of college, telling her
I want to be a show runner someday. But I
don't know that I really believed it was ever going
to happen, because you know, it's rare to even get
a show on television, to get staffed, to be able
to show run, to be able to show run a
show like Bridgerton. So I feel very lucky to be here.
(07:21):
I went from being Betsy's assistant to being a researcher
on Scandal, to being staffed on Scandal, to writing on
Inventing Anna, and then Bridgerton, which I've been with from
the beginning.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
And so tell me about that moment of what it
was like to finally step into the showrunner shoes for
season three.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I'll say I think the moment for me when everything
got to be very real was a few months, maybe
a couple months before production started. I had a zoom
call with Nikola and Luke where I pitched them the
season all in one go, just to kind of give
a heads up. Of what to expect, and it was
(08:03):
the first time anyone who wasn't my writers or Shonda
or Betsy or someone at Shondaland had heard the story.
And Nikola and Luke were just like a real audience,
you know. It was like they were just fans of
the show, and they reacted with such pure enjoyment. They
were laughing and gasping and ooing and awing, And first
(08:28):
of all, I was like, I'm going to have so
much fun working with these two. We just got along
so well right away. But mostly it was about, oh, wow, Okay,
this is real, and I think we have a good
season here based off their reactions, Like, if they're into it,
I think people are going to like it.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
We'll be right back after the break. We're back with
more Bridgeton the official podcast. What was the most important
thing to kind of capture in those first minutes, those
first pages of episode one. It's been a minute since
(09:07):
we were in the world at Bridgeton, we had Queen Charlotte,
So what was your headspace to bring the audience back
to now.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
So in the writer's room, I always talk about the teaser,
which is, you know, everything we see before the title
card as a snapshot of the episode or a vibe
of the episode, and when it comes to the very
first episode, the teaser is really meant to be a
snapshot or a vibe of the season, and so it
(09:37):
was important for us in those first few minutes to
make sure all of the elements, more or less were
represented in that teaser. So you have Penelope whose work
life is going very well but her personal life is
a mess. You have Colin, who's coming back a new
(09:59):
man in many ways. You introduce Francesca, who is a
character we haven't seen a ton of in past seasons,
but who has a major role to play this season.
And then, of course you have all the Bridgerton's assembled together.
So it was important to hit all of those beats,
and we tried to do it in as efficient a
(10:22):
way as possible. I think having Lady whistle Down really
helps take us through moments quickly. She's able to guide
us and hold our hand through it. And the real
fun of this season is not only knowing that Penelope
is whistledown, but because she's the protagonist this year, getting
(10:43):
to be in her POV and seeing through her eyes
what it feels like to be whistled down.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Yeah, especially in that opening moment, there's this I can't
remember the girl's name, but she snorts and she's like,
oh she mentioned me. Penelopees in the corner like por.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Thing for sweet thing, bless her heart, bless her heart.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Yeah, that is really cool to see things through Penelope's eyes.
I was also so excited to see Francesca. That was
actually a surprise for me. I didn't I just was
not thinking of any other Bridgerton siblings as like a
central story for us to or a main story for
us to follow. And the way we are introduced to
(11:30):
Francesca is it's really in your face. I think Benedict says,
she's playing like a funeral march song on the piano.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
We learn quite a bit about her right away, Francesca, Francesca.
So I need to shout tell us about what you
wanted us to take away from Francesca.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
So, Francesca is probably the most different from her siblings.
You know, most of the Bridgerton siblings are extroverted, opinionated,
able to articulate those opinions very easily, sociable. Francesca is
an introvert. She's probably the one introvert in the family,
(12:16):
and so she's a difficult character to set up in
many ways because she has a rich in her life.
She has great strength and inner wisdom. She is similar
to her siblings in many ways, but she just doesn't
express it in the same way. So when you first
meet her, she's preparing for her debut. We've now seen
(12:38):
two Bridgerton girls' debut. You saw Daphne, who was all
about it and super into it and very vocal about that,
and then you saw Eloise, who hated it and was
really vocal about that. And here comes Francesca, who is
just kind of like, yeah, okay, let's go, and she's
not expressing a opinion. But as we get to know her,
(13:03):
we'll realize that in fact, this is difficult for her.
It's difficult for her to debut in society. She's not
someone who's super comfortable socially, so we had to find
subtle ways to let an audience in on that because
she's certainly not going to tell you herself. I think
she's on a journey of figuring out that what it
(13:23):
means to her passion.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
And maybe that's how she and Penelope are not similar.
But can connect and have that moment where they do connect.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Penelope's the never been kissed kind of character, right, but
she devours romance.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
And yeah, I feel like Francesca and Penelope are quite similar,
and I think they probably would have been really close
friends if they were closer in age, and like if
Penn and Eloise hadn't met and become friends, and if
Fran had met Penn first, they might have been the
best friends, you know. But I also think, you know,
(14:01):
Penn and Eloise being opposites in certain ways is a
good match too. But yeah, I think Penelope is much
more in control of the fact that she wants love Fran.
She's just not sure what love means to her quite yet.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Look at you nickname in Francesca, oh, Fran.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I know. You know, it's funny when I'm writing, when
we're writing the scripts, I'm always looking ways for ways
to cut page length.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
And sometimes that.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Literally means that I call Benedict, Ben, I call Francesca, Fran,
I call Anthony aunt Eloise's l just to you know,
shave off like one line sometimes.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
So yeah, okay, there was a lot of translating these
amazing I'm sure directions and what you all saw in
your minds. I as far as like what was around
all of the action happening around the dialogue and everything.
(15:05):
What were some of the conversations that you had, some
of the more difficult conversations you had about bringing those
to life?
Speaker 3 (15:13):
No difficult conversations, really, I mean I feel like our
teams this season really brought it. They have leveled up
and brought their a game. John Glazer, who runs our
costumes department, is bringing even more theatricality and beauty and
(15:34):
glamour to the wardrobe. He's doing a lot of layers
this season with fabrics and it's even a more colorful
vision than I think it's been before, which I think
in a lot of ways really suits the tone of
this season being more of a rom com. We've definitely
upped things to match with that. And then Erica Okfus,
(15:57):
who led our hair and makeup department, is also the
wigs are taller and closer to God or whatever the
saying is. And Alison Gartshore is our production designer. This year,
she came up under Will Hughes Jones and she did
a knockout job. I mean, the sets are stunning, The
(16:18):
balls have all become really thematic. She really we had
a lot of conversations about what the theme of the episode
was and how we could reflect that in the ball
of the episode and also in the whistledown, and then
our directing. Our directors this year were phenomenal and it
(16:39):
was about really capturing that rom com sensibility.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
You know.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Season two, obviously things got a little darker. We were
dealing with grief, but this season it was all about
it being bright and poppy and you know, joyful.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Was there any discussion around how you would differ she
ate some of the characters we've seen plenty of, like
Queen Charlotte Golda Rochevelle. Was there a conversation about how
they would be presented differently this time around, especially in
their first moments in episode one?
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, we felt like it was time to show a
slightly new flavor from the Queen. We've seen her be
super into the presentations for two seasons, and to be honest,
she hasn't made the best predictions. She was trying to
pair her Daphne.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
With the print was so upset.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I know, I know, poor Queen. She was trying to
pair Anthony with Edwina and you know, things haven't gone
the way she expected. So I think she's entering this
season a little bit more trepidacious about the debutantes and
withholding her opinion. She's not going to grace any debutante
(17:58):
with her favor too early. So you get to see
her playing at a bit of boredom and like she's
over it. But I don't really think that's true.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Yeah, the boredom of it all that was. I felt
like Golda was very very much leaning into that this
time around.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Yeah, she plays it so well. She makes it so funny.
I feel like you could give Golda the phone Book
to read and you would be, you know, alternately cracking
up and weeping. She's so talented, Miss La Livingstone.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
Did I fight your refreshment, your majesty?
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Perhaps a casket? The lack of interest here today?
Speaker 5 (18:41):
She'll usher me to an early grave at any moment.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Oh yeah, you know you are very much into the
way relationships come together fall apart. You've talked about that
a lot before, and friendships, and I am so curious
about how Eloise, Penelope Cressida, how that friendship non friendship
(19:09):
situationship was all discussed among your team that's one of
the most interesting parts of the story.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
To me, Bridgerton is a show about love in many forms,
and I think friendship, breakups, friendship couplings, they are just
as important, can be just as important as romantic relationships,
especially at the age Penelope and Eloise are at. You know,
(19:38):
you're really defining yourself by the company you keep and
figuring out who you are based on your friends at
that age. And so you know, Penn and Elouise, I
would say there will they or won't they? Is in
many ways the secondary love story of the season. It's
something we explore in a lot of depth, you know.
(19:59):
I think for me, it's the story of you make
friends when you're young based on you know, oh, you
live next door to each other, or you go to
the same school, And there's always a point at which
I think you have to decide is this a real
friendship that can go deeper? Or is this not going
(20:21):
to be the kind of friendship that's going to last
the test of time. So for Penn and Eloise this season,
they are both undergoing real journeys of self discovery separate
from each other, and the question is whether those journeys
will lead them in the same direction or not. So
when we were talking about Eloise this year and what
(20:43):
life without Penelope might look like, I think there's a
sense of if you can't beat them, join them going
on with her, and I think she's lost a little
bit of her fight in certain ways.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Oh that broke my heart.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
I felt that, Yes, sad, it's sad, but in a
way it's a journey. I think Eloise needs to go
on because Eloise has been extremely overconfident. I think that
if you look at her breakup with Penelope last season,
it's easy to understand Penn's culpability in it. Penelope lied
(21:20):
about being whistled down and she wrote this thing about
Eloise that she never should have written, like she has
a lot of growth to do coming out of that.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
But I do think that.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Eloise has a piece in the breakup, which is that
her relationship with Penn was a little bit uneven and
a little bit one sided in that Eloise kind of
talks at Penelope and maybe didn't make as much space
for Penelope in the friendship as she could have. Now,
some of that is on Penelope needing to step into
(21:49):
her power and take up space by herself but I
think Eloise has something to learn about listening, and so
I think that that's hopefully something she's going to learn
this year by being such a fish out of water
in society with Cressida.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
I'm so glad you said that, because I was wondering
if somewhere deep down Eloise felt like she had some
not control, but just that she led that relationship.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
She definitely led that relationship, and I think subconsciously maybe
she liked that that she got to be, in some
ways the alpha and Penelope. Yeah, Penelope would just kind
of like do what she wanted to do and be
like yes, Eloise and like laugh at her jokes. And
you know, I don't think that penn got to show
(22:44):
her full self previously in that relationship. So if they
get back together as friends, I think that there's some
evening out that needs to happen where they can both
show up as full people.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Speaking of true self, what version of Penelope that we've
seen so far is closest to her true self?
Speaker 3 (23:03):
That's such a good question. In some ways, I don't
know that we've fully seen it from her. There is
a scene in season two where Penelope is laying on
the grass with Eloise and the daffodils. That was a
scene that Chris van Duzen really had such a vision
for and really felt strongly about creating that visual And
(23:26):
I feel like in that moment you get to see
a glimpse of real Penelope. It's a moment where she
and Eloise are acting as equals because Penelope is finally
honest with Eloise. Hey, you know, I actually really do
like society, and I do like coming to these balls.
And I know that we make fun of it all
the time and say how terrible it is, but I
(23:48):
kind of like it.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Low key my jam.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Yeah, it's low key my jam. That was like one
of the few times where she was really honest with
Eloise about who she is. So I think that's probably
the closest we've seen. But I don't think Penelope is
either fully whistledown or fully a wallflower. She's someone somewhere
(24:10):
in between. She is not just the girl who writes
scathing gossip, and she's not the girl clinging to the shadows.
So this season is about merging those two selves and
stepping into her authenticity.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Thank you so much, Jess.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Thank you so much, Gabby.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
We'll be back after the break to talk to the
masterminds behind this season's glow ups the costume team. Welcome
back to Bridgerton, the official Podcast. Often when a character
is going through a visual transformation, it is indicative of
a deeper emotional evolution. This season, we're seeing massive shifts
(24:57):
for so many in these arenas.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
To break down some of those choices and talk about
the costume innovation, I sat down with some key members
of the costume design team. John Glazier, the Lee costume designer,
Dougie Hawks, mastermind behind the men's looks, and George Sayer,
the brain behind the women's looks.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Hey, I'm John glazer the costume designer for Bridgeton.
Speaker 6 (25:25):
My name is George Sayah, I'm the associate costume designer
for Women's.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
And Hello, my name is Dougie Hooks and I'm associate
costume designer for Bridgeton, concentrating on the men.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
Good morning, morning, good morning, good morning.
Speaker 7 (25:41):
It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
I just want to jump right on in right now.
People are binging or have just watched episode one and
are seeing a lot of changes, transitions and just a
lot of foreshadowing Right now, the season feels brighter, some
(26:05):
would say, if you look on social and just like
listen to the chatter, and the costumes also seem bigger
than ever before. Can you just begin by walking us
through what was different about this season, how you reproached it,
or if there was anything about your process that returned
(26:26):
to kind of give us that texture and feel that
we so love. Where do you draw all of your inspiration?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
You know, this season we looked at season one, which
was an experiment, and it was pretty bold and.
Speaker 7 (26:44):
A graphic.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
Season two became a little more technical and a little
and the coloring a little more acidy, a little stronger.
So we always liked to improve and give the audience
something new to look at with maintaining the bridget and look.
So we thought we looked at flowers, We looked at paintings,
(27:06):
We looked at texture, which you'll see this season, and
the colors are a little more organic, a little more real,
as as if you looked at a floral garden with
that texture. You know, I hate to say, like bugs
and butterflies, but you look at clouds and trees and
(27:26):
the seasons changing.
Speaker 7 (27:28):
We've just used.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
All those colors that are a little more real.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
A second, and say that we've built from season one
and season two, and we've reached a lot of from
a lot of decisions made from the looks that previously
come that we've been involved with. Is a new look,
and I think you will see a new brighter Boulder
(27:55):
look with season three.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
And time is actually we're like three or four years
into the future, so we've switched suddenly the styling a
little bit more towards eighteen seventeen seventeen. That's about as
far as we can go. And also the characters. The
audience knows the characters now, so their clothes can become
(28:21):
a little more real, which they have because the costume
doesn't have to tell the story of the character. You know,
we know who the who the persona is now, so
we let them come to the forefront a little more.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
When you said the colors are a little more real,
it makes me think of Penelope actually and Eloise. But
I'm like, oh, I wonder if there's a little bit
more of that, like natural dye inspiration happening that may
be closer to history maybe.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
Well actually believe it or not. At that time, the
dies were much brighter, weren't they, Douggie. We're actually we're
going looking more current, more present day.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
Yes, we'll be pushing a little bit more strength into
even the poorer classes off of the High Street. We're
bringing color into those as well, but we're looking at
much stronger base colors with a lot more.
Speaker 7 (29:25):
We've kind of flipped it.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
During that period, the poor people would have been dark colors,
and we've actually making them this season more vibrant. And
we've taken the real people or the main cast, which
would have been stronger colors, and we've minimized it just
to make it pretty.
Speaker 7 (29:45):
That's you know.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
We always have to remember Bridgington is not a history lesson.
Speaker 7 (29:50):
It's a fantasy.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
So as long and I always say that and it
gets very repetitive, as long as we can help tell
the story what is written and make it beautiful, that's
our job. So it's not a history lesson.
Speaker 7 (30:03):
It's a fantasy.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
And we like to switch things around and move things
around into different places that they probably shouldn't always be,
but it keeps an interest.
Speaker 6 (30:13):
We used very few of the traditional fabrics that you'd
have in say Jane Austin's general period dramas, so we
use much more modern fabrics. We don't have any muslins
at all or cottons really and women's wear.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
No.
Speaker 5 (30:28):
I think that's where you would see a distinct contrast
between Bridgeton and something like the movie of Emma. It's
a lot there's softer and we've got harder lines and
more sharper images within the costume because it's something that
hasn't been seen, so we can explore that much easier
than trying to follow suit, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
And we're using fashion fabrics, like contemporary fabrics rather than
the more traditional prints.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
We've tried to create our own little world, which I
think we've been successful with.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
Yeah, seas, That's why I think season three is going
to be a really big innovation to the viewers.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
The actual characters have matured over the years, over the years,
over the few years, so you have to make those
subtle changes to their bodies, their face, you know, everything
changes subtenly, so you have to kind of watch that
and keep.
Speaker 7 (31:21):
Up with it.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
When you are all coming together to work on building
your palettes and your vision boards and everything, how do
you keep it fresh for yourselves? Returning to this production
now after several years and you're still working within within
that seven years or so of the story, how do
(31:42):
you keep it fresh for yourself? George, if you want
to begin, We.
Speaker 6 (31:46):
Look at fashion references, not just we obviously look at
regency fashion references, but we also look right through history.
It's mainly from the twentieth century, I would say, up
to contemporary catwalk. Yes, So we just totally immerse ourselves
in fashion references, the runway and just absorb as much
(32:09):
information as we can, and from that we can develop
designs that suit the different characters. So it's just keeping
influences coming in the whole time.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
And our mood boards from the very first season, when
I did the mood boards, I always took images of
what influenced regency fashion, what regency fashion was from the
little bit of information that you can grasp because there's
no photographs, there's only paintings and etchings. And then what
(32:42):
currently was influenced by regency fashion, which was the sixties.
And if you look at any current runway or any
current fashion magazine, you can always find a regency influence.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
And that's and we sucked that right in, and.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
So all of our inspiration boards always have something real,
something fashion, and always like a painting, so you can see,
oh that that came from there, and they've copied that
and that's been you know, back and forth.
Speaker 7 (33:14):
You know.
Speaker 6 (33:15):
The other thing that we do is quite often when
we're starting the process for designing the women's where we
have a we will pick fabrics that we like and
will work them on a stand and quite often the
fabric to take dictates the style of the sleeve or
where we're going with it. And so it's a really
organic process as well. So you bring in the influences
from the references that we've been looking at, and then
(33:38):
you develop your own on the stand, yeah, something.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
As you can see, we bring all those ideas on
at the early stages of the production or of a
season and then pile those into a mixing pot and
then we extract things that we like to we want
to move to that for a new season or a
new character and use the historical correctness blended with modern
(34:03):
fashion catwalk runway styling and try and it's our that
that is our task then to actually blend that and
nod to fashion, but sticking in a you know, in
a in a in a historical correctness as a base.
So we that's that's the skill, that's that's what we
do as a collaborative group, and.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
We sometimes even like go say like with Francesco, she's
based on regency period, but we looked at Grace Kelly
and we also looked at the nineteen forties Katherine Hepburn,
Sheer sleeves.
Speaker 6 (34:39):
Well, they would they were the kind of mus for
her characters.
Speaker 7 (34:41):
They were the mws for her character.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
So we just, like what Jagie said, we everything's kind
of in a melting pot and we just extract what
we like.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
When we've got the script and when we've got the
showrunner and the writer's ideas of characters that's extracted from
the book and then expanded and given to us, then
we can sit down and be directed where that character
could go. In our third eye sense, there's very directed
characters and very free characters. And that's where we blend
(35:15):
the two influences of costume design. I mean, that's purely
what it is. It's not because we're not following historical recreation.
We are designing. And that's the big difference between maybe
this period drama then a lot of others.
Speaker 6 (35:30):
The other thing that we do is we work very
closely with the hair and makeup department, So when we've
done a fitting, we'll photograph it, will show them the
images of the costume, and then they will work with
our milliners because we're lucky enough to have a millinery
department too to work on whatever the hair creations are
going to be. And so it's very much a sort
(35:51):
of team effort to get the overall look.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
But specifically with the dance scenes, in the bar scenes,
so we do have some in episode one, do you
need to ever got back to the drawing board because oh,
this this particular movement that the dancers are going to
be doing, the garments aren't flowing the way you imagined
or people are tripping over, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
But you know, when we get to a fitting with
the dancers, they know what they're doing, so they can
help guide us too.
Speaker 5 (36:22):
You know, we're very lucky to have the same choreographer.
Speaker 7 (36:26):
So we know what they can tell us.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
All that's not going to work because I'm doing a
I don't even know what a dance move is. But
they can tell us what their what their action is,
and we can and.
Speaker 5 (36:37):
We you know, we accordingly, it's lovely to have this,
but this is in an ideal world. We like to
costume the dancers up front, if you like, because we
we know how much they are in frame in every
ball scene and not just the ball scenes. Of course
they use them elsewhere, but they become more than dancers.
They become they become background artists as well.
Speaker 4 (37:01):
And scenery.
Speaker 5 (37:02):
They really so to us, they're really important.
Speaker 7 (37:05):
Yeah, we ought.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
We do try to improve and make it better each
season and more I don't want to say flamboyant, but
more sumptuous and rich, you know. Fresh.
Speaker 7 (37:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
I definitely wore the most citrusy color I had today
in honor of Penelope and her original, her original citrus world.
Speaker 4 (37:28):
Yeah. What's interesting is when you look at season three
and it begins with the feathering tins and their citrus colors,
you don't question it because that's what you're used to.
But then when the change happens, you go, oh my god,
what you know what, you really do see a big difference,
(37:49):
and you understand that it's an improvement and it's a
sophistication of the show moving forward, I think correct.
Speaker 6 (37:56):
And to pick up on that when you when we
first see the Featherington's. They're wearing dresses that would be
familiar to the audience, but they've been reworked and re
embellished because the Featheringkington haven't got any money or there's
the appearance of poverty, so they've had to kind of
rework them to try and keep in with their fashion.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
I do not wish to see a citrus color ever again,
sour Coless.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Indeed, So Penelope's aesthetic change is so dramatic and no doubt,
very exciting for the fans. I loved it. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
Talk us through the thought process of her new look
this episode and season.
Speaker 6 (38:37):
So Penelope's new look when she has been to the Mediste's,
she's had enough of being you know, it's very important
for her to get away from the Featherington's and to
really put herself out there on the marriage mark, and
she wants to reject the whole citrus world. And so
we see her going to the Mediese and saying, can
(38:58):
you give me the new Paris look? Which is which
is a link to it is to Colin as well.
He's just gone back from Paris. So the first time
we see her, she has this big reveal in her
emerald gown, and she very much looks the part, and
she's suddenly the center of attention, but actually she's still penned,
she's still anxious, she still kind of disappears into you know,
(39:22):
the scenery.
Speaker 7 (39:23):
You have to remember her.
Speaker 4 (39:25):
As George mentioned today that her new look backfire is
when cresslers it.
Speaker 6 (39:30):
Yeah, so that that there's that kind of insecurity. She's
putting herself out there. It's kind of it hasn't worked
out for her, and so when we then see her again,
she's gone back to kind of a softer, a softer
color sort of where she could also disappear into her surroundings.
(39:50):
And like John was saying about, sort of kind of
she looks like a painting. You've got all these layers
going on, so you don't really know what's what's going on.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
So she had kind of had to still be on
the war a little bit.
Speaker 6 (40:04):
Observing the similarity between her and the only similarity between
her and Crestatter is that they're both trying to escape
their families, but Crasster is doing it in a much
bolder way. She's putting herself out there to find a
husband because it's now season number three that she hasn't
and so there's that whereas you know Penelopes has been.
Speaker 5 (40:26):
She was within earshot of being rejected by Colin amongst
his friends, and she said he would never date, he
would never call Penelope Featherington. So she sees the man
that she that gives her heart palpitations, but she knows
(40:46):
she feels off. She believes that he would never look
at her, so that that that sort of chemistry is
really cool. On episode one, I think now.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
To Colin, and I mean, wherever you'd want to begin,
But were there were there any set dressings or props
that inspired you.
Speaker 5 (41:05):
It's kind of the reason I wanted to do this,
and it's to be given someone like Colin for this
for season three, because you know, normally we begin organically
analyzing a character and then then it evolves. What with
Colin it was, it was so different because you know,
here we have our traveler boy and I, you know,
(41:28):
I knew this. I knew Colin from two previous seasons.
I knew Luke Newton from two previous seasons, so I
knew the man and John and I sort of had
had discussions on how we wanted to produce a new
silhouette and to create kind of like a maverick cowboy
(41:48):
kind of pirate returning from a voyage and get the
almost I guess nineteen eighties new romanticism into his he's
our whole persona and completely different to this. I saw
Colin as it's a sort of I started off with
(42:10):
this because it's his personal to me, but I saw
him as a James Stewart George Bailey from from It's
a Wonderful Life who wanted to travel right from the
day one he was born. I know that's that's Miles
and Miles apart, but Colin is that he's that eternal traveler,
an adventurer, and you know, we lose him as one
(42:33):
of the boy brothers and then he returns a fully
fledged man, and which is the big reveal obviously in
episode one. So I wanted to introduce that this transformation
was the Boy's brother to a confident, worldly, fully fledged
man of the world. And so my concept was someone
(42:54):
who was daring, dashing, and dangerous even so, you know,
using the concept of those three ds into into this
guy's design. So we completely changed his silhouette from everything
being tight and pretty baby blue and pink to something
(43:19):
that was flowing and a little bit more open and
a bit more Devil May care and rakish to give
the viewers who is this guy who?
Speaker 4 (43:30):
And he himself changed physically, Yes, very he became much
more angular, much more mature looking.
Speaker 7 (43:39):
I keep saying mature, but they.
Speaker 4 (43:44):
Definitely, Penelope definitely became angular.
Speaker 5 (43:48):
Yeah, these two guys rose to the occasion of being leading,
leading man, leading lady. You know, the writing just completely
elevates that for them. But yeah, he arrives with a bang.
I mean, he's we see this guy. Oh, I saw
this guy, And you know, this is how John and
I sort of got that sort of cowboy feel that
(44:09):
he's been traveling. Obviously, the last portcoll seems to be
Paris and France, but he's been he's done the Grand Tour,
he's been all over Europe. Who knows where he goes. Yeah, yeah,
So he's been cooped up in a ship for maybe
six weeks from from the last port to London in
(44:29):
a cabin, and so I almost wanted him to look
as if he'd been sleeping in those clothes that he
comes out back into fresh London or not so fresh London,
but into fresh London. Walking down that gangplank, we see
his boots, so his boots are still his old favorite boots.
And then he gets into a carriage, his luggage is
(44:50):
thrown in there. And then when he gets to his
home address, he's in a different world.
Speaker 7 (44:57):
The world is all.
Speaker 5 (44:58):
Pretty and straight and wonderful and beauty. And he comes in,
striding in with looking a little bit out of play.
Speaker 7 (45:04):
He comes in unrestrictive.
Speaker 5 (45:06):
Well I think, I think Anthony turns around and said,
is that my Is that my brother? Is that my
brother coming?
Speaker 3 (45:16):
Sure?
Speaker 7 (45:16):
Yeah, movement and swagger.
Speaker 5 (45:18):
He opens up as well, he's closing, opens up. We
decided to de restrict him of the next stocks. He
has them when they're needed, i e. In the balls,
but as soon as he can he almost wants to
fight out of them.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
Jess Brownell in the writer's room, gave you, gave you
a treat to play with, Yes, and.
Speaker 5 (45:37):
We hopefully we've given her the same treat back. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
Thank you so much on behalf of everybody. Thank you
so much, and thank you for your time today. Thank
you for joining me for this first episode of this
season of Bridgerton. The official podcast Join me next week
to talk episode two, where I'll be joined by Hannah
(46:02):
Dodd who plays Francesca Bridgerton and the Dynamic duo Martin's
Imhangbey and Emma Naomi who play the Mandritches. Until Next Time, Bridgerton,
The official podcast is produced by Shondaland Audio and Wonder
Media Network. This show is executive produced by Sandy Bailey,
(46:25):
Alex Alcea, Lauren Homan, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our
producers are Sarah Schleid, Edie Allard, and Carmen Borca Carrio.
This episode is edited by Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our associate producers are Lauren Williams and Akia mcnight and
I Am Your Host, Gabrielle Collins. If you haven't finished
(46:46):
binging Bridgerton, please head to Netflix so you can enjoy
these spoilers with us each week. If you're enjoying this show,
please subscribe, share with your friends, rate, or leave us
a review. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
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