May 12, 2022 • 38 mins
Tom Verica, director and Head of Creative Production at Shondaland returns as host Gabrielle Collins and Charithra Chandran (Edwina Sharma) unpack the wild ride of Episode 6, “The Choice.” Charithra describes Edwina’s character growth as she finds her voice, plus Tom explores behind-the-scenes extras from the set.
You can (re)watch Bridgerton on Netflix now!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bridgerton The Official Podcast is a partnership between Shondaland Audio
and iHeartRadio. Welcome to Bridgerton the Official Podcast, your exclusive
peak behind the curtain of Shondaland's Bridgerton series. Before we
dive into the conversation this week, here's a brief freecap
of episode two, O six, The Choice. It's time for
(00:20):
the wedding despite everything, but as Aduena notices a look
between Anthony and Kate, she calls it off running away.
Queen Charlotte pressures the families to continue with the wedding,
and Duena finally tells Kate and Anthony how she feels
about their deception. This week, host Gabrielle Collins is joined
by Tom Verica, director and head of creative Production at Shondaland,
and Sharithra Shandron, who plays Edwina Sharma. Tom Verica, thank
(00:46):
you for these episodes. Thank you, Gabby. Great talking to weekend,
jumping back in to season two, jumping back into the
director's chair. There is so much story in season two
that it's amazing you all packed it into the eight episodes.
I mean, there's a lot of human stuff happening that's
just packed in connection, romance, chemistry, all that, yes, love
(01:11):
unfulfilled and you know, being a widow and being alone
and all you have is yourself, all that just comes
kind of like raining down on everything. I felt like
that was really different from season one. Absolutely at the
beginning of twenty twenty one, it was about keeping it
light and whimsical and glittery, and we're in the midst
of COVID and all this stuff. We need to provide
(01:34):
an escape to people. And suddenly with this for season two,
there's like cold water thrown on it. It's still beautiful,
it's still amazing, but there's just this realness to it. Well,
and I think there's I think there's layers. As you
kind of learn and meet meet a group of characters,
you identify with them, you enjoy the ride, and then
(01:56):
as you slowly peel back those layers without maybe getting
too heavy, you get a peek into If we succeed,
they're not too dimensional. Even if a character serves a
purpose as a catalyst for other characters, you want to
be able to introduce and have moments where you see
a slight peek or window into their past or what
(02:16):
makes them tick or what resonates in a way that
may not have been obvious on the surface. And that's
that's really kind of thrilling as a director to be
able to navigate and build kind of that foundation and
that kind of creates this little explosion that has a
ripple effect. So it's really how the discovery about these
(02:40):
characters and these actors who are walking into a situation
of what everyone knows now to be Bridgetin and finding
their place. Oh my goodness. Well, Sharifa Chandran, welcome to
Bridgeton the official podcast. Thank you for having me particularly
for this episode. And Weena drives it right, you know,
(03:01):
you see like a true growth that feels quite authentic.
Hopefully I felt authenticity. That's why I was wondering, like,
what did you pull from from your own experiences to
pour into Edwina, into your performances with Simon Ashley. For me,
the hardest episodes to film are one and two, because
(03:23):
Edwina becomes more like what true threat is like in
real life. Oh my god, maybe that comes across as
like bost things, it's not it. She just become the
more outspoken, right, a lot more full right, And so
in many ways I could bring a lot more of
myself to her progression. It was episode one and two
where I was like, oh my god, this is a
girl that is so different from me I probably would
(03:46):
not be friends with if we met in real life.
How do I give her the dignity and the respect
that she deserves. How do I not make her saccharin?
How do I not make her just overly sweet in
one tone and give her news? So yeah, episode one
and two were for sure like the hardest for me
to kind of assimilate to. And then working with Simone,
(04:10):
Oh my god, I mean it helps that, like, you know,
we're both fummle, we're both from the same parts of India.
Families are also both academic. We're the two actors or
the creatives in our families. And I think that, you know,
we really connected over those similarities. And yeah, it was
It was a pleasure. I mean, I never ever thought
(04:32):
that I would be in a pera jama never mind
being in a periadrama with two other brown women, Like
that's incredible. That was one of director Alex Palaize, like
one of his greatest memories, he said, was looking into
that carriage as you are approaching Aubrey Hall and just
being like, what tell me a little bit more about that.
(04:52):
Oh my god. It was again really emotional working with
Alex because he is also sum He's also from the
same part of India that Simone and I are from,
which like kind of crazy, what a coincidence. And you know,
there's a sense of like, I know that Alex has
stake in the game too. I mean, everyone is obviously
a one hundred percent committed to the show, but it's
like you have even more steak in the game when
(05:12):
you feel like, oh my god, that looks like my mom,
that looks like my niece or whatever. And so it
was just such an honor to work with Alex. I
have to say, what a privilege that fifty percent of
my directors on the show are people of color. And
I think actually one of the really wonderful things about
Bridgeton is for the most part working with Smone, Shelley
(05:33):
Adua Golder so really normal. Like, of course, when I
look back on it, I'm like, oh my god, what
a privilege, What a privilege to work with so many
wonderful women of color, But at that moment, we were
all just like, yeah, we're human. Beings and we're here.
I adore Adua and oh and I'm just like, oh, yes,
a privilege. That's so awesome that you got to work
(05:53):
with her. Yeah, that is so great. Behind the scenes,
like the whole cast, we are genuinely like a family.
Like I think it's easy to be really cynical and
be like, oh my god, are they just pretending? Is
it an act? But no, the whole cart we genuinely
um like get a lot, We genuinely love each other.
There's so much affection. Like if I were to call
(06:15):
up Adu were and be like, A, I need your
help with this, um, can you give me advice? Or
if I was to call up Golder and go, goll
then what do you think about this? Is this a
good idea for my career or whatever? Like if I
have an audition, Golder will come over to help me
with it, do you know what I mean? Like Shelley
(06:35):
is like one of my comfort people. I spoke to
her this morning. Any problems I have, I'm on the
friend of Shelley. So these relationships are really real, And
especially with the bridget turns when they call cuts and
behind the scenes, they're like that they're just like that.
They're genuinely like siblings and it's oh, it's heartwell making sorry,
(06:59):
hold on't It's okay, it's Golda messaging me queen. She is,
I mean, Golder is really like I don't know, I
still see her as the queen. I'm like, oh, my
friend said the code with Golda. I think she is
so gorgeous and she just completely fills these grand spaces.
(07:26):
The opening scene when she's getting all the preparation and
all the wedding things together and choosing very small details,
She's standing by this staircase and it looks like um,
black ballisters they maybe iron I don't know if that's
historically accurate, but like iron ballisters or something. I just
thought it was beautiful how you placed her in these
(07:47):
grand spaces and she just filled it. You're absolutely right.
Golda the actor is just in such command of her
character and her presence. She just exudes and she walks
into her room. She could be the smallest thing in
camera in a big thing, but she takes up all
that space and she owns it. And it's I just
(08:11):
love watching her work. Every take. She just you know,
she might make subtle little changes to explore certain things,
but she owns every bit of it, and it's just
such a pleasure working with her. Perhaps you might put
forth false hums so that when whistle Down prints them,
we will be able to trace the origins and Jamie's idea. Man, Yes,
(08:33):
that is why I thought of it. The author thinks
she has bested us all with her illicit spying and reporting. Well,
no one has sharp eyes on the tongue than I.
And how she can sway between being this, you know,
very detail oriented person and then gets some snuff at
(08:57):
the same time. Yeah, and that wasn't That wasn't scripted.
That was also my uh. I added that as a
little button too to the end of that, because for
last season, I know it's it's you know, it was
it was well known that Queen Charlotte liked her snuff historically,
so it was written in the script last season that
(09:19):
I had. It was one of the scenes that I
had that she had that, and I just loved that.
You know that she's just constantly finding ways to entertain
herself and to keep herself in that thing kind of
the culmination of all this preparation, and she's picking all
these things and she just wants to end on that high. Yeah, right,
and she took it and ran with it. And she
(09:39):
again that was I threw that at her kind of
in rehearsal, and she loved it, and she just she
embodied it and made it and you know, just commanded it.
I thought that was so good. I was like, was
this in the script? Must ask Tom? That's so funny.
It was so good. I remember last time you said
(10:01):
I think she like needed assistance for some of her
gowns and her head dresses. Did the way she wore
at the weddings looked very large? Yes, did it take
five people to seat her? And it is a it
is an entire team to be able to do that,
not only with her costumes, but with her hair as well.
(10:22):
We did discover something that Gold was very thankful, and
I part of me was like, I'm sorry we didn't
think of this sooner, but I think there was so
much happening season one that there was you know, we
were all just kind of flying by the seat of
her pants, just trying to discover what world we're in.
But I noticed we had full day of scenes with
her with these wigs on, and we wait to put
(10:45):
her wig on she's requested, and we do that till
last minute, so she can do rehearsal and everything without it,
because it's quite a bit of weight on her. So
I had our grip department rig something I said, and
I kind of explained it. Is there anything you put
in there where she could sit down and basically rest
and take the take the pressure and wait off her
head that she can maybe just slide into. And they
(11:08):
built this brace that she so when she's actually filming,
even though she'll still wait between takes or between scenes,
she doesn't have to because we can't take the wig
on and off obviously between setups, so she has to
wear it for many hours. So they kind of crafted
and created this little rig where she can kind of
(11:28):
sit down and slide into and it just releases all
the weight or her spine. And she's like, oh my gosh,
this is amazing. She goes, why haven't we thought of
this sooner? Oh my goodness, which team did that? That's amazing?
Our grip department? Yeah? So they yeah, So they that's
that's what they do. Is everything that has to be
locked down or something, but it's part of it. It's
in their wheelhouse. So wow, I kind of challenged them.
(11:52):
They jumped right to and they I think they had
it within the hour. It was crazy. We'll be back
after the break, Welcome back director Tom Erica. One of
his favorite scenes to film and to think through and
to play with with camera angles and color and shadows
(12:15):
and light was the holiday ceremony. It's an opportunity to
see like a cultural mashup during a time where yes,
these things were happening, but you may not they're not
represented at least in American television the way it was
in Bridgerton. What was your experience? It was such an
(12:36):
honor to introduce something that is so known and important
in my culture to a wider audience. And I love
that scene because I think it like you said, it's
truly a mashup because it's such a Bridgeton scene, but
it's also unlike any other scene you've seen in Bridgeton before,
Like it really does feel quite vividly different but still cohesive.
(12:59):
And for me, like when I saw the beginning of
episode six, I cried because of the song. The song
that plays under it is like one of the most
famous Hindi songs like in the world, and so When
I heard it, I was like, this is crazy. What song?
What I think? Do you know the name of it? Yeah,
it's a kuby It's cut from Kaby Kushi Kabi Hum,
(13:22):
which is like one of the most famous Hindi movies
of all time. It's that song, and like, yeah, every
Indian will know that song and so that like I
just couldn't help it cry that's Matt. Why did you
guys pick Alanis Morris sets? You ought to know? Yeah,
at the end of five, Yeah, you ought to know. Yeah,
(13:43):
I think that was something. We had a couple of
different songs. You know, we always try We have covers
of a number of things. We have a bunch of covers.
Some some ore are ones that our team has put
together as potential covers. Other ones are songs that Chris
has thought about that he wants to hear. But Chris
(14:03):
landed on that pretty early on. Well, we did an
experimentation of a couple of different songs than that one
just landed that one. We heard it, we were like,
that's that's it. It's just fitting for where they're at
at the end of that episode and the sacrifice that
Kate is making and really begging Anthony to go along
(14:23):
with this wedding even though it's against it's denying everything
they're feeling about one another and being the other woman it.
You know, it certainly has parallels, but you know, I
think just totally it just fit perfectly. Yeah, speaking of
once as an individual, there's this scene and about quarter
(14:46):
of the way through episode six, Stephanie and Anthony are
talking and she's, oh my gosh, and she's basically like, dude,
like be real with yourself yep. And he cuts it
short and it's like, you were born to marry out
of this family, like, let's be real, and I was
born to continue this our name, the Bridgerton name. That's
(15:09):
exactly right, yep. And then we hear that tune that
Chris Bowers composed that played every time Daphne had a
moment of introspection or some connection to the Duke. And
I don't know, Tom, I just there was something about
hearing that song that put me back into this Well
(15:29):
it does, I think it because it does kind of
bring back there is that and this is the genius
of Chris Bowers, is that that's scoring underneath that kind
of taps into that private intimate moment. All of these
decisions that you seem to make and then resent us
for they do not make you worthy of your family's respect.
They simply make us pity you nothing more. A wedding
(16:00):
fit for a queen, You guys kind of stepped away
from historical accuracy there a little bit. Daphane and Simon's
wedding was more along the lines of what a wedding
would have actually been like during the regency era. Small quaint,
just family correct, immediate, like nucleus family. This time it
was more like what you'd see today. I thought that
(16:21):
was really interesting too. I guess it's because the queen
was hosting. Is that the queen was hosting, and we
were trying to strike that balance as to uh, you know,
certain historical things but taking you know, making it a
little bit more accessible in a way that most of
us would understand. But you know, in doing you know,
with our researcher, there were a lot of things that
were spot on. I was wondering, you know, it may
(16:43):
have been a little bit bigger, but it clearly was
intention of the queen's entertainment to have the full ton
for everyone to witness. And then she you know, had
the front, front row seat into all this, and then
there's certainly the theattrics that happened and explode not what
she expected, but um but anything she creates as always
a spectacle, So so it had to be a big event.
(17:05):
It had to you know, it had to be a
very public moment when you know, we have our runaway bride,
who can't who has to get out of there? What
has happened to my wedding ride seems to run away?
(17:25):
That was the scariest scene to film because, um, like
there were like, you know, hundreds of supporting artists there
and it's sort of all happened in real time, so
it felt really real. There was you know, a live
string quartet playing and all these people standing staring, So like,
how crazy is that to really feel like you're it
(17:46):
was like this same It didn't even feel like Duena
was getting married. It felt like truthful was Wow. Episode
six is obviously my favorite episode. Um, and like all
those memories are really meaningful to me. Yeah, I was
so impressed with you just I felt like I was
following you through episode six and just the looks you
(18:08):
were giving and just all of your nonverbal communication actually
throughout the entire season was really amazing. I felt like
you told us so much story without any dialogue. Well,
I think that is kind of what a Duena is like.
She she's not a massive talker, she's not a massive extrovert.
(18:30):
She feels things so deeply, and I think that at
the beginning of the season she's like afraid to express them.
So I think as the season progresses, I hope at
least it does come across that way. You see her
become more and more expressive about how she's feeling, both
physically and burbly. Yes, that's why I think I love
episode six so much, because you've snapped ed Weena went off,
(18:54):
and like the crew would come up to me and say,
you know, this is like an villain origin story, Like
we can easily you know, the next episode if it
was following, Adwena would literally be like how she became
Jack the Ripper or something. Right, God, I mean it's trauma,
Like to have what she goes through is just unbelievable trauma.
Just I don't think I could not react like Adwena reacted. No,
(19:17):
she was really calm and collected. And I'm wondering, so
if if Sharifra were in this situation, how there'd be
no prisoners, There'd be no honor, there'd be no dignity.
Don't don't even like this is the thing playing Adwena
and I also played Medeia in a play. It's like
(19:40):
I played women that have been scorned by men, right,
And at some point you know you can't help but
sort of take on that traumy yourself as a person,
which you know is a is not great for my
dating life. But yeah, that's so funny. Throughout all of
the scriptions that I've heard about what Edwina and Edwina
(20:03):
and Kate go through, and Edwia and Anthony go through,
drama and trauma are not the words I've heard you
so far. And that is like the really human like
part of what that character is going through, like all
of the at different stages, right. So, Anthony's trauma is
(20:25):
like seeing his dad die in front of his eyes
and having to take on a whole host of ridiculous
responsibilities at such a young age. Kate's trauma is her
mom and dad dying and having to do the same
take on all these difficult responsibilities. Edwina's trauma is the
betrayal of everyone around her, right, Yes, And I think,
(20:50):
you know, I've sort of seen some of the chatter
online and people are really upset by the usage of
the term love triangle or like they don't like the
idea of these sisters fighting over a man. But yeah,
that's not what's happening. I don't like for me, that's
not what's happening. If you see, Edwina has a lot
(21:13):
more vim for Kate then she does for Anthony because
she loves Kate so much more. By the end of
the episode, she's like, do you know what, Anthony, You're trash? Like, no,
I'm better than you and I can do better. But
with Kate, that's heartbreak. That's like a songmate betraying you.
And so Edwina and Kate because they are songmates, because
(21:33):
they love each other so much, is why there is
so much pain there from both both sides. Yeah, I mean,
I think that's and I think Chris, you know, Chris
again beautifully writes those moments that that cut, that punish,
that are vulnerable, that need to you know, needs that
(21:53):
independence that yeah, and punishing in certain ways and really
cutting very you know, as she did in the in
the scene coming to the scene right after the wedding
that she corrects her and says, half sister, you know
those those are you know, little things that are very
you know. It was kind of the the discovery or
(22:16):
education of Edwina in this episode, and her needing to
sort of grow up herself and find her voice and
really kind of wake up as to what's been happening
right underneath, right front of her all this time, and
uh and taking back ownership and power of who she is.
You do hurt the ones you love, and and she
(22:36):
is at a moment where she's lashing out, and you
know she'll have time perhaps, you know, to to come around,
but in this moment, it's all about establishing boundaries. Okay,
perhaps you might find that tea tea that I want.
What I want is the truth. Oh suddenly, what's face Edwina? Kate,
(23:01):
I'm not sure what is going to tell you? What
is going on? Mamma, After a lifetime of filling my
head with nonsense of all this talk of great Gallan
knows the look between her you have feeling for him.
You know, I would never want to sit here and
make her come across as like this blameless person. I
hope this comes across a little bit because she's a
(23:21):
nuanced character in that Edmina can be a bit selfish.
She's sort of kind of accepted Kate's sacrifices for her,
and there are times where she questions it. She like
encourages Kate to go for dorsing and all of this stuff.
But for the most part, there's parts of Edwina that
are selfish too. I never thought of Edwina as selfish
(23:43):
in that regard a little bit. She's kind of taken
on being a baby, and that's stifling as well, because
she thought of we had to be submissive, but until
she has to, you don't see much effort of her
trying to take on any of the family burden. And
again it's it's complicated because Kate hasn't been fully open
with her. But it's not as simple as Edwina is
(24:04):
this innocent baby that's totally good and everything's been done
to her. That's yeah, and that's preferable actually, I think
because I don't want to accept Edwina's Edwina as a victim.
I don't want to, especially after seeing how she just
(24:25):
unfurled in this particular episode in episode six, you know,
like the way she communicated the things she said, how
passionately you came through this character. You can't see her
as a victim. You do see her as someone who
has been betrayed, which is not necessarily victim. So she's
(24:48):
been manipulated by everyone around her, the Queen, Anthony, Kate,
Lady Danbrey like, so it would be really easy to
perceive her that way. She's been hard done by. But
I think you said it correctly. She's been betrayed. She
has every right to be upset. It's not like a
Dweena just suddenly becomes a whole new person, because again
(25:08):
that's not realistic either. You sort of see the ramifications
back and forth. I describe this season as full of
moral ambiguity, Like no one can look at Kate and
Anthony and go they're bad. That's too simplistic and it's
not true. Under the circumstances, they made those decisions, and
I want people to consider would they have acted any different?
(25:29):
But it's how I think one responds to those situations
that really determines one's character and one's identity. She will
make a most excellent queen. Your majesty. I hear the
two of you face many trials during your happy courtship,
(25:51):
but today today will make all of it well worth it,
will it not? Yes? And perhaps you might find your
rest to your majesty, for you both rule this kingdom
the kind of love, compassion and kindness, two of you, undoubted.
(26:15):
Licia the scene where she's talking to King George and
kind of brings him in, I'm one of those people
who rewinds it three times, as we know now, ye
could you clue us into what is happening there? When
she does that, I think there's a recognition of the
history of love between these two people who obviously the king,
(26:37):
I think she's able to sort of see in that moment,
going through what she's experienced in her own way without
the awareness of her own dilemma in that situation, and
seeing the connection between the King and the Queen and
how fragile he is in that moment. And again, part
of gaining her voice in that moment is stepping in
(26:59):
just from a pure early instinctual way to take care
of someone in calming that situation. And I think we
just see if someone who has that in her and
has that sort of ability to step up and be
the adult with no objective and no other reason other
than nobody else is stepping up, and she takes the baton,
she takes the lead. She she just it's in who
(27:21):
she is that that I think is a bit of
a discovery for a lot of people when they see
her do that, when they see her step up. She
sees someone struggling, and she sees someone that she feared
and respected, aid the Queen lost for words. And it's
this drive to just make make someone in pain, the
(27:43):
King and the Queen feel a little bit better. And
you know, love and romance and marriage has been on
her mind obviously because of everything that happens to the EPSO.
And I think it's just a will to just be
like to comfort someone in pain because I think she
wishes she had that. Maybe Anthony Bridgeton was not worthy.
I don't know. M well, maybe good discussion's good, good
(28:08):
sort of good. Points to pontifice, the scene with the
King and then the scene where the Queen is chatting
to Adwena. I think I'm my favorite from the episode
six because they're so like, they're so revealing about the
psyche of different characters. But I think it's amazing. Every
(28:30):
character makes decisions that they can very legitimately justify right,
Like you cannot point to any character and go you
are bad, you are good, this was wrong, this was right.
And I think that's what's so exciting. All the viewers
are going to react and sympathize with different characters in
different ways, and there's going to be a lot of discourse,
which I think is kind of like the best TV.
(28:54):
That's it from Sharithra. But after the break, Tom Verica
takes us even further behind the scenes with post production
Lady Whistledown. In comparisons to the novel series Welcome Back,
I saw you did A asked Tom on Twitter. It
was an impromptu one. It was something I did. I
(29:16):
discovered when I was doing Scandal because it was obviously
a very heavy social media driven platform that was there
was much more turnovers, so that was quite active. So
I would do it ask Tom to kind of give
a little bit more of a perspective or point of
view from kind of the director's chair, uh, you know,
introducing some of our viewers to some of our directors
(29:39):
what we go through. Just to give a little bit
another layer to the process. So it's I do it
very few and far between because there's not many things
I can talk about with bridget In. There's a there's
a big clamp on me to not reveal too much
or put too much out there. So yeah, I was
waiting for you to slip up and say something. But
you've read a good you did, They've they've trained me. Well,
(30:03):
you all are so tight lipped. I can't even like,
well I put there? Was like I think I put
an emoji in there, and suddenly the projection of as
to a character or an actor's been cast. I'm like,
how do I get a lot of an emoji? Right?
What made me laugh, literally laugh out loud was someone
asked you how many episodes did you do for season
(30:25):
two and you were like twenty, Yeah, And I thought
that was so funny. That is definitely my sense of humor.
And I think anyone who's followed me knows that I
like to play in tease a bit. But yeah, you
also mentioned being star struck by Julie Andrews. Yeah, how
was it to have her back? Did you get to
(30:47):
work with her? She's a legend. I mean, it's it's
we met doing a number of our sessions. We did
them virtually but kind of a zoom room with only
a few of us, and it was, you know, just
I've known everything about Julie Andrews for most of my
life and she's an icon, and so it was a
(31:08):
bit intimidating. There's not too many people that I'm sort
of wow, that's so and so. But she she carries
not only the presence, but you know, she's just a
you know, just known throughout the world. And as we
got on it was very quickly. She just has a
tremendous sense of humor, she's she has fun with what
we did. She played around with some of the things
(31:30):
we asked and was very frank about opinions on certain things.
That was really refreshing and quite enjoyable. Each time we
had our you know, numerous sessions recording Lady whistledown, you know,
talking a little bit about the scene and where we're
at and what's happening. I was able to sort of
give that insight based on what we shot. She was
(31:53):
very interested in understanding kind of what it is we're
looking for and what's happening in this moment. So it
really was a testament to the pro that she is
and wanting to really bring the most out of it.
Did all of the directors get to work with Julie
individually or was that something you were honored with specifically, Yes,
none of the directors do. She basically comes in after
(32:16):
we or as we're kind of going and cutting the
episodes together, and because I'm the producer on the show,
I tend to work with her. And this is mainly
done in the post process. So the other three directors
kind of come into their block and then they move on.
So we're not even close to being able to record
her sessions until the episodes are kind of locked and
(32:39):
ready to go, and we started adding those post elements
that they're usually long gone onto the next jobs. All
of this really leads me to some of my favorite
lines from Lady Whistledown and from episode two oh five
and two oh six, And so I'm wondering how these
(33:00):
resonate with you. It is a distinctly human act to
marry and then follows up with marriage is the ultimate
act of fools. What that evoked in me is that
we are all fools, and we all play the full
game of love as wonderful it is and as human
instinctual as it is. When we think we have control
(33:21):
of it, it gets the best of us, and it's
something that is beyond our understanding and ultimately has the
last word with all of it's kinson and ups and downs.
While we have this romanticized notion about what true love
is and do you achieve a moment of life is everything?
If I just get this, there's nothing that's so clear cut.
(33:43):
Everything is nuanced. There are gray areas and what that
is and how do you embrace that as part of
that love is an unrealistic image that we have of
that situation, and reality will have the final word. Actually,
she ends off with saying she asks why do we
(34:03):
feel like we have to orchestrate what nature has already ordained?
M M, what a way to wrap up those two
episodes um to well to wrap up episode two h six.
For sure, I was wondering if those those uh last
few notes from Lady Whistledown for you and Chris and
(34:26):
the actors Shonda Betsy was also a nod to um
some of Julia's work, and I'm wondering if there are
any other nods to her book, because there were so
many departures from the book. Oh, I think there's always, yes,
there are departures, a lot of departures. And it's not
(34:47):
a it's not in defiance, it's not a need to
you know, just go off the book because it is.
I think it's just serving the needs of the world
that it is, in the world we've created, uh, and
really in this medium, the need to sort of use
the blueprint of what Julia has laid out with these
wonderful characters in this wonderful world. But is it is
(35:09):
its own it is its own journey, so we'll be
on the same track, but how we get there might
be slightly different, and not a concerted effort to be different.
I think it's just honoring kind of the world that
we've created and how to tell this in not a
full novel, but we have a certain you know, certain
points that we have to hit within one episode and
(35:29):
another episode, so there are built in there's a kind
of a built in pattern that changes the rhythm of
what a novel might have. I think it's all those
elements that keeps the heart and tension of and hopefully
captures the essence of the books and these characters with
adjustments that are very specific to how this medium tells
this story. Working with Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers and
(35:54):
Chris van Deusen and being a creative director, just any
big takeaway ways from this season, I just really hope
that people enjoy the journey that this takes, which is
as it's a different journey than the last season, it's
still part of the same world. Being able to live
with kind of the bridgeton is the kind of the
(36:14):
center of our show. But the exploration of these stories
allow yourself to get caught up on these these relationships
as they progress in ways that really play with the
line of the times that are also very identifiable in
today's time. Relationships are ultimately universal and how we get
(36:35):
there is conventional unconventional. But yeah, I think the takeaway
is this has every bit of the fun and levity
and sparkle of the world that we've created and I
think sustained and built upon, as well as finding those
new layers emotional torment in relationships. It's it's really kind
(36:59):
of enjoyed the you know, slower burn, whereas in today's
storytelling sometimes things happen much quicker between relationships and the
earning of the journey is something that we relish and
exploring and hope the audience relishous as well. Well. Thank
you for these episodes. Well, thank you, Thank you for
(37:21):
for for diving in and being very very specific and
you know, identifying and enjoying and analyzing these things that
it means a lot. I'd love to hear what your
takeaways were, and it's it's great. It's great that that
you picked up on a lot of these these these
things that we work on. Thank you for joining us
(37:42):
on this deep dive into the world of Bridgerton. Next week,
Nicola Coughlin returns and is joined by Cheryl Dounier, director
of episodes two of seven and two Elite. If you're
enjoying this show, please subscribe, share with your friends, rate,
or leave us a review. And if you haven't finished
binging Bridgerton on Netflix, please go do that so you
can enjoy all of the juicy spoilers with us. Bridgerton.
(38:03):
The official podcast is executive produced by Sandy Bailey, Lauren Holman,
Tyler Klang, and Gabrielle Collins. Our producer and editor is
Vince de Johnny Bridgerton. The official podcast is a production
of Shondaland Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
from Shondaland Audio, visit the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you
(38:25):
subscribe to your favorite shows.
Bridgerton The Official Podcast is a partnership between Shondaland Audio
and iHeartRadio. Welcome to Bridgerton the Official Podcast, your exclusive
peak behind the curtain of Shondaland's Bridgerton series. Before we
dive into the conversation this week, here's a brief freecap
of episode two, O six, The Choice. It's time for
(00:20):
the wedding despite everything, but as Aduena notices a look
between Anthony and Kate, she calls it off running away.
Queen Charlotte pressures the families to continue with the wedding,
and Duena finally tells Kate and Anthony how she feels
about their deception. This week, host Gabrielle Collins is joined
by Tom Verica, director and head of creative Production at Shondaland,
and Sharithra Shandron, who plays Edwina Sharma. Tom Verica, thank
(00:46):
you for these episodes. Thank you, Gabby. Great talking to weekend,
jumping back in to season two, jumping back into the
director's chair. There is so much story in season two
that it's amazing you all packed it into the eight episodes.
I mean, there's a lot of human stuff happening that's
just packed in connection, romance, chemistry, all that, yes, love
(01:11):
unfulfilled and you know, being a widow and being alone
and all you have is yourself, all that just comes
kind of like raining down on everything. I felt like
that was really different from season one. Absolutely at the
beginning of twenty twenty one, it was about keeping it
light and whimsical and glittery, and we're in the midst
of COVID and all this stuff. We need to provide
(01:34):
an escape to people. And suddenly with this for season two,
there's like cold water thrown on it. It's still beautiful,
it's still amazing, but there's just this realness to it. Well,
and I think there's I think there's layers. As you
kind of learn and meet meet a group of characters,
you identify with them, you enjoy the ride, and then
(01:56):
as you slowly peel back those layers without maybe getting
too heavy, you get a peek into If we succeed,
they're not too dimensional. Even if a character serves a
purpose as a catalyst for other characters, you want to
be able to introduce and have moments where you see
a slight peek or window into their past or what
(02:16):
makes them tick or what resonates in a way that
may not have been obvious on the surface. And that's
that's really kind of thrilling as a director to be
able to navigate and build kind of that foundation and
that kind of creates this little explosion that has a
ripple effect. So it's really how the discovery about these
(02:40):
characters and these actors who are walking into a situation
of what everyone knows now to be Bridgetin and finding
their place. Oh my goodness. Well, Sharifa Chandran, welcome to
Bridgeton the official podcast. Thank you for having me particularly
for this episode. And Weena drives it right, you know,
(03:01):
you see like a true growth that feels quite authentic.
Hopefully I felt authenticity. That's why I was wondering, like,
what did you pull from from your own experiences to
pour into Edwina, into your performances with Simon Ashley. For me,
the hardest episodes to film are one and two, because
(03:23):
Edwina becomes more like what true threat is like in
real life. Oh my god, maybe that comes across as
like bost things, it's not it. She just become the
more outspoken, right, a lot more full right, And so
in many ways I could bring a lot more of
myself to her progression. It was episode one and two
where I was like, oh my god, this is a
girl that is so different from me I probably would
(03:46):
not be friends with if we met in real life.
How do I give her the dignity and the respect
that she deserves. How do I not make her saccharin?
How do I not make her just overly sweet in
one tone and give her news? So yeah, episode one
and two were for sure like the hardest for me
to kind of assimilate to. And then working with Simone,
(04:10):
Oh my god, I mean it helps that, like, you know,
we're both fummle, we're both from the same parts of India.
Families are also both academic. We're the two actors or
the creatives in our families. And I think that, you know,
we really connected over those similarities. And yeah, it was
It was a pleasure. I mean, I never ever thought
(04:32):
that I would be in a pera jama never mind
being in a periadrama with two other brown women, Like
that's incredible. That was one of director Alex Palaize, like
one of his greatest memories, he said, was looking into
that carriage as you are approaching Aubrey Hall and just
being like, what tell me a little bit more about that.
(04:52):
Oh my god. It was again really emotional working with
Alex because he is also sum He's also from the
same part of India that Simone and I are from,
which like kind of crazy, what a coincidence. And you know,
there's a sense of like, I know that Alex has
stake in the game too. I mean, everyone is obviously
a one hundred percent committed to the show, but it's
like you have even more steak in the game when
(05:12):
you feel like, oh my god, that looks like my mom,
that looks like my niece or whatever. And so it
was just such an honor to work with Alex. I
have to say, what a privilege that fifty percent of
my directors on the show are people of color. And
I think actually one of the really wonderful things about
Bridgeton is for the most part working with Smone, Shelley
(05:33):
Adua Golder so really normal. Like, of course, when I
look back on it, I'm like, oh my god, what
a privilege, What a privilege to work with so many
wonderful women of color, But at that moment, we were
all just like, yeah, we're human. Beings and we're here.
I adore Adua and oh and I'm just like, oh, yes,
a privilege. That's so awesome that you got to work
(05:53):
with her. Yeah, that is so great. Behind the scenes,
like the whole cast, we are genuinely like a family.
Like I think it's easy to be really cynical and
be like, oh my god, are they just pretending? Is
it an act? But no, the whole cart we genuinely
um like get a lot, We genuinely love each other.
There's so much affection. Like if I were to call
(06:15):
up Adu were and be like, A, I need your
help with this, um, can you give me advice? Or
if I was to call up Golder and go, goll
then what do you think about this? Is this a
good idea for my career or whatever? Like if I
have an audition, Golder will come over to help me
with it, do you know what I mean? Like Shelley
(06:35):
is like one of my comfort people. I spoke to
her this morning. Any problems I have, I'm on the
friend of Shelley. So these relationships are really real, And
especially with the bridget turns when they call cuts and
behind the scenes, they're like that they're just like that.
They're genuinely like siblings and it's oh, it's heartwell making sorry,
(06:59):
hold on't It's okay, it's Golda messaging me queen. She is,
I mean, Golder is really like I don't know, I
still see her as the queen. I'm like, oh, my
friend said the code with Golda. I think she is
so gorgeous and she just completely fills these grand spaces.
(07:26):
The opening scene when she's getting all the preparation and
all the wedding things together and choosing very small details,
She's standing by this staircase and it looks like um,
black ballisters they maybe iron I don't know if that's
historically accurate, but like iron ballisters or something. I just
thought it was beautiful how you placed her in these
(07:47):
grand spaces and she just filled it. You're absolutely right.
Golda the actor is just in such command of her
character and her presence. She just exudes and she walks
into her room. She could be the smallest thing in
camera in a big thing, but she takes up all
that space and she owns it. And it's I just
(08:11):
love watching her work. Every take. She just you know,
she might make subtle little changes to explore certain things,
but she owns every bit of it, and it's just
such a pleasure working with her. Perhaps you might put
forth false hums so that when whistle Down prints them,
we will be able to trace the origins and Jamie's idea. Man, Yes,
(08:33):
that is why I thought of it. The author thinks
she has bested us all with her illicit spying and reporting. Well,
no one has sharp eyes on the tongue than I.
And how she can sway between being this, you know,
very detail oriented person and then gets some snuff at
(08:57):
the same time. Yeah, and that wasn't That wasn't scripted.
That was also my uh. I added that as a
little button too to the end of that, because for
last season, I know it's it's you know, it was
it was well known that Queen Charlotte liked her snuff historically,
so it was written in the script last season that
(09:19):
I had. It was one of the scenes that I
had that she had that, and I just loved that.
You know that she's just constantly finding ways to entertain
herself and to keep herself in that thing kind of
the culmination of all this preparation, and she's picking all
these things and she just wants to end on that high. Yeah, right,
and she took it and ran with it. And she
(09:39):
again that was I threw that at her kind of
in rehearsal, and she loved it, and she just she
embodied it and made it and you know, just commanded it.
I thought that was so good. I was like, was
this in the script? Must ask Tom? That's so funny.
It was so good. I remember last time you said
(10:01):
I think she like needed assistance for some of her
gowns and her head dresses. Did the way she wore
at the weddings looked very large? Yes, did it take
five people to seat her? And it is a it
is an entire team to be able to do that,
not only with her costumes, but with her hair as well.
(10:22):
We did discover something that Gold was very thankful, and
I part of me was like, I'm sorry we didn't
think of this sooner, but I think there was so
much happening season one that there was you know, we
were all just kind of flying by the seat of
her pants, just trying to discover what world we're in.
But I noticed we had full day of scenes with
her with these wigs on, and we wait to put
(10:45):
her wig on she's requested, and we do that till
last minute, so she can do rehearsal and everything without it,
because it's quite a bit of weight on her. So
I had our grip department rig something I said, and
I kind of explained it. Is there anything you put
in there where she could sit down and basically rest
and take the take the pressure and wait off her
head that she can maybe just slide into. And they
(11:08):
built this brace that she so when she's actually filming,
even though she'll still wait between takes or between scenes,
she doesn't have to because we can't take the wig
on and off obviously between setups, so she has to
wear it for many hours. So they kind of crafted
and created this little rig where she can kind of
(11:28):
sit down and slide into and it just releases all
the weight or her spine. And she's like, oh my gosh,
this is amazing. She goes, why haven't we thought of
this sooner? Oh my goodness, which team did that? That's amazing?
Our grip department? Yeah? So they yeah, So they that's
that's what they do. Is everything that has to be
locked down or something, but it's part of it. It's
in their wheelhouse. So wow, I kind of challenged them.
(11:52):
They jumped right to and they I think they had
it within the hour. It was crazy. We'll be back
after the break, Welcome back director Tom Erica. One of
his favorite scenes to film and to think through and
to play with with camera angles and color and shadows
(12:15):
and light was the holiday ceremony. It's an opportunity to
see like a cultural mashup during a time where yes,
these things were happening, but you may not they're not
represented at least in American television the way it was
in Bridgerton. What was your experience? It was such an
(12:36):
honor to introduce something that is so known and important
in my culture to a wider audience. And I love
that scene because I think it like you said, it's
truly a mashup because it's such a Bridgeton scene, but
it's also unlike any other scene you've seen in Bridgeton before,
Like it really does feel quite vividly different but still cohesive.
(12:59):
And for me, like when I saw the beginning of
episode six, I cried because of the song. The song
that plays under it is like one of the most
famous Hindi songs like in the world, and so When
I heard it, I was like, this is crazy. What song?
What I think? Do you know the name of it? Yeah,
it's a kuby It's cut from Kaby Kushi Kabi Hum,
(13:22):
which is like one of the most famous Hindi movies
of all time. It's that song, and like, yeah, every
Indian will know that song and so that like I
just couldn't help it cry that's Matt. Why did you
guys pick Alanis Morris sets? You ought to know? Yeah,
at the end of five, Yeah, you ought to know. Yeah,
(13:43):
I think that was something. We had a couple of
different songs. You know, we always try We have covers
of a number of things. We have a bunch of covers.
Some some ore are ones that our team has put
together as potential covers. Other ones are songs that Chris
has thought about that he wants to hear. But Chris
(14:03):
landed on that pretty early on. Well, we did an
experimentation of a couple of different songs than that one
just landed that one. We heard it, we were like,
that's that's it. It's just fitting for where they're at
at the end of that episode and the sacrifice that
Kate is making and really begging Anthony to go along
(14:23):
with this wedding even though it's against it's denying everything
they're feeling about one another and being the other woman it.
You know, it certainly has parallels, but you know, I
think just totally it just fit perfectly. Yeah, speaking of
once as an individual, there's this scene and about quarter
(14:46):
of the way through episode six, Stephanie and Anthony are
talking and she's, oh my gosh, and she's basically like, dude,
like be real with yourself yep. And he cuts it
short and it's like, you were born to marry out
of this family, like, let's be real, and I was
born to continue this our name, the Bridgerton name. That's
(15:09):
exactly right, yep. And then we hear that tune that
Chris Bowers composed that played every time Daphne had a
moment of introspection or some connection to the Duke. And
I don't know, Tom, I just there was something about
hearing that song that put me back into this Well
(15:29):
it does, I think it because it does kind of
bring back there is that and this is the genius
of Chris Bowers, is that that's scoring underneath that kind
of taps into that private intimate moment. All of these
decisions that you seem to make and then resent us
for they do not make you worthy of your family's respect.
They simply make us pity you nothing more. A wedding
(16:00):
fit for a queen, You guys kind of stepped away
from historical accuracy there a little bit. Daphane and Simon's
wedding was more along the lines of what a wedding
would have actually been like during the regency era. Small quaint,
just family correct, immediate, like nucleus family. This time it
was more like what you'd see today. I thought that
(16:21):
was really interesting too. I guess it's because the queen
was hosting. Is that the queen was hosting, and we
were trying to strike that balance as to uh, you know,
certain historical things but taking you know, making it a
little bit more accessible in a way that most of
us would understand. But you know, in doing you know,
with our researcher, there were a lot of things that
were spot on. I was wondering, you know, it may
(16:43):
have been a little bit bigger, but it clearly was
intention of the queen's entertainment to have the full ton
for everyone to witness. And then she you know, had
the front, front row seat into all this, and then
there's certainly the theattrics that happened and explode not what
she expected, but um but anything she creates as always
a spectacle, So so it had to be a big event.
(17:05):
It had to you know, it had to be a
very public moment when you know, we have our runaway bride,
who can't who has to get out of there? What
has happened to my wedding ride seems to run away?
(17:25):
That was the scariest scene to film because, um, like
there were like, you know, hundreds of supporting artists there
and it's sort of all happened in real time, so
it felt really real. There was you know, a live
string quartet playing and all these people standing staring, So like,
how crazy is that to really feel like you're it
(17:46):
was like this same It didn't even feel like Duena
was getting married. It felt like truthful was Wow. Episode
six is obviously my favorite episode. Um, and like all
those memories are really meaningful to me. Yeah, I was
so impressed with you just I felt like I was
following you through episode six and just the looks you
(18:08):
were giving and just all of your nonverbal communication actually
throughout the entire season was really amazing. I felt like
you told us so much story without any dialogue. Well,
I think that is kind of what a Duena is like.
She she's not a massive talker, she's not a massive extrovert.
(18:30):
She feels things so deeply, and I think that at
the beginning of the season she's like afraid to express them.
So I think as the season progresses, I hope at
least it does come across that way. You see her
become more and more expressive about how she's feeling, both
physically and burbly. Yes, that's why I think I love
episode six so much, because you've snapped ed Weena went off,
(18:54):
and like the crew would come up to me and say,
you know, this is like an villain origin story, Like
we can easily you know, the next episode if it
was following, Adwena would literally be like how she became
Jack the Ripper or something. Right, God, I mean it's trauma,
Like to have what she goes through is just unbelievable trauma.
Just I don't think I could not react like Adwena reacted. No,
(19:17):
she was really calm and collected. And I'm wondering, so
if if Sharifra were in this situation, how there'd be
no prisoners, There'd be no honor, there'd be no dignity.
Don't don't even like this is the thing playing Adwena
and I also played Medeia in a play. It's like
(19:40):
I played women that have been scorned by men, right,
And at some point you know you can't help but
sort of take on that traumy yourself as a person,
which you know is a is not great for my
dating life. But yeah, that's so funny. Throughout all of
the scriptions that I've heard about what Edwina and Edwina
(20:03):
and Kate go through, and Edwia and Anthony go through,
drama and trauma are not the words I've heard you
so far. And that is like the really human like
part of what that character is going through, like all
of the at different stages, right. So, Anthony's trauma is
(20:25):
like seeing his dad die in front of his eyes
and having to take on a whole host of ridiculous
responsibilities at such a young age. Kate's trauma is her
mom and dad dying and having to do the same
take on all these difficult responsibilities. Edwina's trauma is the
betrayal of everyone around her, right, Yes, And I think,
(20:50):
you know, I've sort of seen some of the chatter
online and people are really upset by the usage of
the term love triangle or like they don't like the
idea of these sisters fighting over a man. But yeah,
that's not what's happening. I don't like for me, that's
not what's happening. If you see, Edwina has a lot
(21:13):
more vim for Kate then she does for Anthony because
she loves Kate so much more. By the end of
the episode, she's like, do you know what, Anthony, You're trash? Like, no,
I'm better than you and I can do better. But
with Kate, that's heartbreak. That's like a songmate betraying you.
And so Edwina and Kate because they are songmates, because
(21:33):
they love each other so much, is why there is
so much pain there from both both sides. Yeah, I mean,
I think that's and I think Chris, you know, Chris
again beautifully writes those moments that that cut, that punish,
that are vulnerable, that need to you know, needs that
(21:53):
independence that yeah, and punishing in certain ways and really
cutting very you know, as she did in the in
the scene coming to the scene right after the wedding
that she corrects her and says, half sister, you know
those those are you know, little things that are very
you know. It was kind of the the discovery or
(22:16):
education of Edwina in this episode, and her needing to
sort of grow up herself and find her voice and
really kind of wake up as to what's been happening
right underneath, right front of her all this time, and
uh and taking back ownership and power of who she is.
You do hurt the ones you love, and and she
(22:36):
is at a moment where she's lashing out, and you
know she'll have time perhaps, you know, to to come around,
but in this moment, it's all about establishing boundaries. Okay,
perhaps you might find that tea tea that I want.
What I want is the truth. Oh suddenly, what's face Edwina? Kate,
(23:01):
I'm not sure what is going to tell you? What
is going on? Mamma, After a lifetime of filling my
head with nonsense of all this talk of great Gallan
knows the look between her you have feeling for him.
You know, I would never want to sit here and
make her come across as like this blameless person. I
hope this comes across a little bit because she's a
(23:21):
nuanced character in that Edmina can be a bit selfish.
She's sort of kind of accepted Kate's sacrifices for her,
and there are times where she questions it. She like
encourages Kate to go for dorsing and all of this stuff.
But for the most part, there's parts of Edwina that
are selfish too. I never thought of Edwina as selfish
(23:43):
in that regard a little bit. She's kind of taken
on being a baby, and that's stifling as well, because
she thought of we had to be submissive, but until
she has to, you don't see much effort of her
trying to take on any of the family burden. And
again it's it's complicated because Kate hasn't been fully open
with her. But it's not as simple as Edwina is
(24:04):
this innocent baby that's totally good and everything's been done
to her. That's yeah, and that's preferable actually, I think
because I don't want to accept Edwina's Edwina as a victim.
I don't want to, especially after seeing how she just
(24:25):
unfurled in this particular episode in episode six, you know,
like the way she communicated the things she said, how
passionately you came through this character. You can't see her
as a victim. You do see her as someone who
has been betrayed, which is not necessarily victim. So she's
(24:48):
been manipulated by everyone around her, the Queen, Anthony, Kate,
Lady Danbrey like, so it would be really easy to
perceive her that way. She's been hard done by. But
I think you said it correctly. She's been betrayed. She
has every right to be upset. It's not like a
Dweena just suddenly becomes a whole new person, because again
(25:08):
that's not realistic either. You sort of see the ramifications
back and forth. I describe this season as full of
moral ambiguity, Like no one can look at Kate and
Anthony and go they're bad. That's too simplistic and it's
not true. Under the circumstances, they made those decisions, and
I want people to consider would they have acted any different?
(25:29):
But it's how I think one responds to those situations
that really determines one's character and one's identity. She will
make a most excellent queen. Your majesty. I hear the
two of you face many trials during your happy courtship,
(25:51):
but today today will make all of it well worth it,
will it not? Yes? And perhaps you might find your
rest to your majesty, for you both rule this kingdom
the kind of love, compassion and kindness, two of you, undoubted.
(26:15):
Licia the scene where she's talking to King George and
kind of brings him in, I'm one of those people
who rewinds it three times, as we know now, ye
could you clue us into what is happening there? When
she does that, I think there's a recognition of the
history of love between these two people who obviously the king,
(26:37):
I think she's able to sort of see in that moment,
going through what she's experienced in her own way without
the awareness of her own dilemma in that situation, and
seeing the connection between the King and the Queen and
how fragile he is in that moment. And again, part
of gaining her voice in that moment is stepping in
(26:59):
just from a pure early instinctual way to take care
of someone in calming that situation. And I think we
just see if someone who has that in her and
has that sort of ability to step up and be
the adult with no objective and no other reason other
than nobody else is stepping up, and she takes the baton,
she takes the lead. She she just it's in who
(27:21):
she is that that I think is a bit of
a discovery for a lot of people when they see
her do that, when they see her step up. She
sees someone struggling, and she sees someone that she feared
and respected, aid the Queen lost for words. And it's
this drive to just make make someone in pain, the
(27:43):
King and the Queen feel a little bit better. And
you know, love and romance and marriage has been on
her mind obviously because of everything that happens to the EPSO.
And I think it's just a will to just be
like to comfort someone in pain because I think she
wishes she had that. Maybe Anthony Bridgeton was not worthy.
I don't know. M well, maybe good discussion's good, good
(28:08):
sort of good. Points to pontifice, the scene with the
King and then the scene where the Queen is chatting
to Adwena. I think I'm my favorite from the episode
six because they're so like, they're so revealing about the
psyche of different characters. But I think it's amazing. Every
(28:30):
character makes decisions that they can very legitimately justify right,
Like you cannot point to any character and go you
are bad, you are good, this was wrong, this was right.
And I think that's what's so exciting. All the viewers
are going to react and sympathize with different characters in
different ways, and there's going to be a lot of discourse,
which I think is kind of like the best TV.
(28:54):
That's it from Sharithra. But after the break, Tom Verica
takes us even further behind the scenes with post production
Lady Whistledown. In comparisons to the novel series Welcome Back,
I saw you did A asked Tom on Twitter. It
was an impromptu one. It was something I did. I
(29:16):
discovered when I was doing Scandal because it was obviously
a very heavy social media driven platform that was there
was much more turnovers, so that was quite active. So
I would do it ask Tom to kind of give
a little bit more of a perspective or point of
view from kind of the director's chair, uh, you know,
introducing some of our viewers to some of our directors
(29:39):
what we go through. Just to give a little bit
another layer to the process. So it's I do it
very few and far between because there's not many things
I can talk about with bridget In. There's a there's
a big clamp on me to not reveal too much
or put too much out there. So yeah, I was
waiting for you to slip up and say something. But
you've read a good you did, They've they've trained me. Well,
(30:03):
you all are so tight lipped. I can't even like,
well I put there? Was like I think I put
an emoji in there, and suddenly the projection of as
to a character or an actor's been cast. I'm like,
how do I get a lot of an emoji? Right?
What made me laugh, literally laugh out loud was someone
asked you how many episodes did you do for season
(30:25):
two and you were like twenty, Yeah, And I thought
that was so funny. That is definitely my sense of humor.
And I think anyone who's followed me knows that I
like to play in tease a bit. But yeah, you
also mentioned being star struck by Julie Andrews. Yeah, how
was it to have her back? Did you get to
(30:47):
work with her? She's a legend. I mean, it's it's
we met doing a number of our sessions. We did
them virtually but kind of a zoom room with only
a few of us, and it was, you know, just
I've known everything about Julie Andrews for most of my
life and she's an icon, and so it was a
(31:08):
bit intimidating. There's not too many people that I'm sort
of wow, that's so and so. But she she carries
not only the presence, but you know, she's just a
you know, just known throughout the world. And as we
got on it was very quickly. She just has a
tremendous sense of humor, she's she has fun with what
we did. She played around with some of the things
(31:30):
we asked and was very frank about opinions on certain things.
That was really refreshing and quite enjoyable. Each time we
had our you know, numerous sessions recording Lady whistledown, you know,
talking a little bit about the scene and where we're
at and what's happening. I was able to sort of
give that insight based on what we shot. She was
(31:53):
very interested in understanding kind of what it is we're
looking for and what's happening in this moment. So it
really was a testament to the pro that she is
and wanting to really bring the most out of it.
Did all of the directors get to work with Julie
individually or was that something you were honored with specifically, Yes,
none of the directors do. She basically comes in after
(32:16):
we or as we're kind of going and cutting the
episodes together, and because I'm the producer on the show,
I tend to work with her. And this is mainly
done in the post process. So the other three directors
kind of come into their block and then they move on.
So we're not even close to being able to record
her sessions until the episodes are kind of locked and
(32:39):
ready to go, and we started adding those post elements
that they're usually long gone onto the next jobs. All
of this really leads me to some of my favorite
lines from Lady Whistledown and from episode two oh five
and two oh six, And so I'm wondering how these
(33:00):
resonate with you. It is a distinctly human act to
marry and then follows up with marriage is the ultimate
act of fools. What that evoked in me is that
we are all fools, and we all play the full
game of love as wonderful it is and as human
instinctual as it is. When we think we have control
(33:21):
of it, it gets the best of us, and it's
something that is beyond our understanding and ultimately has the
last word with all of it's kinson and ups and downs.
While we have this romanticized notion about what true love
is and do you achieve a moment of life is everything?
If I just get this, there's nothing that's so clear cut.
(33:43):
Everything is nuanced. There are gray areas and what that
is and how do you embrace that as part of
that love is an unrealistic image that we have of
that situation, and reality will have the final word. Actually,
she ends off with saying she asks why do we
(34:03):
feel like we have to orchestrate what nature has already ordained?
M M, what a way to wrap up those two
episodes um to well to wrap up episode two h six.
For sure, I was wondering if those those uh last
few notes from Lady Whistledown for you and Chris and
(34:26):
the actors Shonda Betsy was also a nod to um
some of Julia's work, and I'm wondering if there are
any other nods to her book, because there were so
many departures from the book. Oh, I think there's always, yes,
there are departures, a lot of departures. And it's not
(34:47):
a it's not in defiance, it's not a need to
you know, just go off the book because it is.
I think it's just serving the needs of the world
that it is, in the world we've created, uh, and
really in this medium, the need to sort of use
the blueprint of what Julia has laid out with these
wonderful characters in this wonderful world. But is it is
(35:09):
its own it is its own journey, so we'll be
on the same track, but how we get there might
be slightly different, and not a concerted effort to be different.
I think it's just honoring kind of the world that
we've created and how to tell this in not a
full novel, but we have a certain you know, certain
points that we have to hit within one episode and
(35:29):
another episode, so there are built in there's a kind
of a built in pattern that changes the rhythm of
what a novel might have. I think it's all those
elements that keeps the heart and tension of and hopefully
captures the essence of the books and these characters with
adjustments that are very specific to how this medium tells
this story. Working with Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers and
(35:54):
Chris van Deusen and being a creative director, just any
big takeaway ways from this season, I just really hope
that people enjoy the journey that this takes, which is
as it's a different journey than the last season, it's
still part of the same world. Being able to live
with kind of the bridgeton is the kind of the
(36:14):
center of our show. But the exploration of these stories
allow yourself to get caught up on these these relationships
as they progress in ways that really play with the
line of the times that are also very identifiable in
today's time. Relationships are ultimately universal and how we get
(36:35):
there is conventional unconventional. But yeah, I think the takeaway
is this has every bit of the fun and levity
and sparkle of the world that we've created and I
think sustained and built upon, as well as finding those
new layers emotional torment in relationships. It's it's really kind
(36:59):
of enjoyed the you know, slower burn, whereas in today's
storytelling sometimes things happen much quicker between relationships and the
earning of the journey is something that we relish and
exploring and hope the audience relishous as well. Well. Thank
you for these episodes. Well, thank you, Thank you for
(37:21):
for for diving in and being very very specific and
you know, identifying and enjoying and analyzing these things that
it means a lot. I'd love to hear what your
takeaways were, and it's it's great. It's great that that
you picked up on a lot of these these these
things that we work on. Thank you for joining us
(37:42):
on this deep dive into the world of Bridgerton. Next week,
Nicola Coughlin returns and is joined by Cheryl Dounier, director
of episodes two of seven and two Elite. If you're
enjoying this show, please subscribe, share with your friends, rate,
or leave us a review. And if you haven't finished
binging Bridgerton on Netflix, please go do that so you
can enjoy all of the juicy spoilers with us. Bridgerton.
(38:03):
The official podcast is executive produced by Sandy Bailey, Lauren Holman,
Tyler Klang, and Gabrielle Collins. Our producer and editor is
Vince de Johnny Bridgerton. The official podcast is a production
of Shondaland Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
from Shondaland Audio, visit the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you
(38:25):
subscribe to your favorite shows.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.