The Bridgerton cast looks completely different in real life
One of your favourite Bridgerton cast members, Golda Rosheuvel, was in the middle of filming episode three of Netflix's sweeping Shondaland series when she let Glamour in on a little secret about becoming Queen Charlotte. “I'm wearing two wigs,” she revealed back in January 2021. “It's a wig on top of a wig! And the three feathers are real hair that Adam James Phillips [the show's principal hairstylist] crafted by hand. It's genius. Every look is different.”
Rosheuvel may have been talking about her character's look specifically, but “genius” can be used to describe nearly every costume on the show. Thanks to a lot of wigs, sideburns, and even fake fringe, most of the Bridgerton cast looks completely different in everyday life than they do onscreen.
That's no surprise, considering Bridgerton on Netflix is set in Regency-era London. But now that over 82 million households streamed the third season of the lavish series, it's only normal that some might assume Polly Walker (Lady Featherington) has red hair IRL or Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury) walks around with a tiara. Not so!
If you happened to spot the Bridgerton cast in the wild, would you really know what they looked like?
So what does everyone look like off- and onscreen? Well, consider this your cheat sheet as we now eagerly await a fourth season (please give us Benedict's story, Shonda, we beg you).
This article originally appeared on GLAMOUR US.
Netflix / Getty ImagesJonathan Bailey as Lord Anthony Bridgerton
When we asked Jonathan Bailey whether he was ready for his life to change because of Bridgerton, the actor told Glamour, “What's brilliant is I've got half my face covered in hair. I just get everything sort of blow-dried forward. It adds about another seven feet just in hair. So I think with that alone, I've sort of protected myself from being recognised ever again.” Um, beg to differ. We'd know those eyes anywhere.
Netflix/GettyLuke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton
While we wait with bated breath to see if Benedict will finally get the starring role in Bridgerton's fourth season, Luke Thompson was a scene-stealer in season three thanks to his ménage à trois.
“Benedict has such a lovely openness and fluidity about him generally, and that’s really, really fun to play because it could go anywhere," Thompson said in 2022.
Netflix/GettyLuke Newton as Colin Bridgerton
Luke Newton took centre stage in the third season as he became the love interest for Penelope Featherington in an oh-so satisfying friends to loves tale.
“As an actor, it’s a gift to be able to play your story out in such detail and to explore such a range of emotions and themes,” Newton recently told GLAMOUR UK. “What’s really fun this season is that we got to dive into the rom-com element of the show. There are just so many themes that I got to explore and the range of emotions that I get to go through all in the space of, sometimes, five minutes. That was something that really excited me.”
Netflix / Getty ImagesPhoebe Dynevor as Daphne Bridgerton
Phoebe Dynevor, who is daughter of soap star Sally Dynevor and was previously seen on Younger, led the cast in season one. Dynevor told Glamour that she really felt for Daphne from the moment she stepped into her shoes. “Not only is she figuring out herself, but she's also trying to find the man of her dreams while doing it,” she said of her character in season one. “I really resonated with the pressure to be this perfect thing or what you think people want you to be, and then what's underneath that.”
Netflix / Getty ImagesClaudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton
“She's quite brazen,” Jessie told Glamour of her character, Eloise Bridgerton. “I love her because she's funny and sarcastic and doesn't really mind what people think of her, which I'd love to have.” It should probably come as no surprise then that IRL Jessie says she'd most like to have a cup of tea with the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. “What a wonderful woman, [especially] with what she's had to deal with,” she says.
Netflix/GettyHannah Dodd as Francesca Bridgerton
One of the main subplots of season three involved Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) who fell in love with John Stirling … and maybe his cousin too.
Pre-Bridgerton, you might have recognised Dodd from Anatomy of a Scandal, Eternals, and Enola Holmes 2.
Netflix / Getty ImagesRuth Gemmell as Lady Violet Bridgerton
English actor Ruth Gemmell was the perfect choice to play the warm and welcoming matriarch of the Bridgerton family. Best known for roles in Fever Pitch, Deep State, and Penny Dreadful, Gemmell told shondaland.com that the character she most relates to on Bridgerton is her onscreen daughter Eloise. “I admire her strength of character, her humor, and am slightly envious of her outspokenness—direct but fair and always with charm,” she says.
Violet's one and only flaw as a mum? Not explaining coitus to her daughters. Those sex scenes didn't need to be so educational! Then again, with so many kids, maybe she just didn't get to it. The Bridgerton family tree is quite extensive.
Netflix / Getty ImagesNicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington/Bridgerton
Even after Coughlan began filming Bridgerton, she couldn't believe the role was actually hers. “The producers had seen me in Derry Girls, but that's a very different character,” the Irish actor told Glamour. “This is a drama; that was a comedy. So I was like, How? Why? I went to the table read, terrified, thinking the minute I open my mouth, they'd say, ‘Oh, we didn't mean her. We meant Nicole Kidman, not her.’ Every day I'm like, How am I here? It's crazy to me.” Now we can't imagine the show without her.
Netflix / Getty ImagesPolly Walker as Lady Portia Featherington
“She's the Kris Jenner of the period,” Golden Globe nominee Polly Walker told BT TV of playing the ambitious Featherington matriarch. “She's a very complicated lady with many, many challenges thrown her way,” she said, referring to Portia's frustration with marrying her three children off to wealthy suitors. “She faces a lot of criticism. I feel sympathy for her.”
Netflix / Getty ImagesBessie Carter as Prudence Featherington
Bessie Carter is the real-life daughter of acting royalty Imelda Staunton (Queen Elizabeth II on the final seasons of The Crown) and Jim Carter (Downton Abbey). The actor told Glamour that she and her onscreen sisters (Nicola Coughlan, Harriet Cains) set up a Featherington WhatsApp group after they were cast on Bridgerton. “We first met at a dialect session for the show,” she says. “And then we went to the bar and bonded over tequila.”
Netflix/GettyHarriet Cains as Philippa Featherington
One of our favourite moments from season three was when Cains' character Philippa ran across the ballroom instructing their housekeeper to ‘let out the bugs’ (IYKYK).
Netflix / Getty ImagesSimone Ashley as Kate Sharma
The breakout star of season two, Simone Ashley was already a fan favourite from Netflix's Sex Education. Her experience no doubt came in handy when she joined the hottest show on television. It's a bodice ripper, after all.
Ashley told E.W. of her character's relationship with Anthony, “They can hit each other's buttons within a second, and it's something that's instinctive. Their sense of self they project to other people, they can't do that [with one another]; they're naked in front of each other.”
Netflix / Getty ImagesCharithra Chandran as Edwina Sharma
British Indian actor Charithra Chandran played Anthony's betrothed, Edwina in season two, a good-girl debutante raised to be kind and polite to all. This is by far the 27-year-old's most high-profile role to date, but she was already a star academically. According to Bustle, Chandran graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, she utilised that big brain to discuss Lady Whistledown's pamphlets through a feminist lens. She said, “One could argue that the negative perception of gossip is a misogynistic feature to prevent women from communicating and sharing knowledge.” Exactly!
Netflix / Getty ImagesShelley Conn as Mary Sharma
Despite not appearing in season three, Shelley Conn played one of our favourite characters in season two. Conn is a British TV veteran who's done everything from crime dramas to romantic comedies. In Bridgerton, she took a backseat to her daughters' shenanigans, but had some history of her own. Born to nobility, Mary married far below her rank (for love, of course), but weathered the scandal and returned to high society to help her girls do the same.
Netflix / Getty ImagesGolda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte
Rosheuvel told Glamour that there was a time when she never could have dreamed of playing a role like Queen Charlotte on Bridgerton. “I just wasn't represented. There weren't people that looked like me playing roles like this,” she said. “But in terms of representation of colour, it's a beautiful, enriching time now. And Netflix is the perfect platform for a show like ours because it's global. The audience can see themselves be represented. And I feel very, very blessed to be part of that.”
Netflix / Getty ImagesAdjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury
Adjoa Andoh undoubtedly plays the most fun character on Bridgerton. As Andoh tells Glamour, “She's got loads of money, she's a powerhouse in the town, a friend of the queen's, and she knows all the strategies and all the manipulations that need to go on. For women in this period, she's about as free as you can be. And then she gets together with her girlfriends, plays cards, smokes, drinks…she's just living her best life.”
Netflix / Getty ImagesRuby Barker as Marina Thompson
Remember Marina Thompson from season one? The pregnant Featherington cousin's tale of long-lost love was a heartbreaker, but that didn't mean fans were willing to excuse her lies. “I didn’t play her to be liked. I played the truth,” Barker told the Evening Standard. “It pissed a lot of viewers off because she did break boundaries and people’s perceptions—a lot of people couldn’t handle it. They need to look in the mirror and ask what about that makes them so angry.”
Netflix / Getty ImagesRegé-Jean Page as Simon Basset
When we asked Page whether the Duke of Hastings is the equivalent of Grey's Anatomy's McSteamy (Mark Sloane), the actor coyly answered, “I wouldn't disagree with that description. There is steam on this show, there is salaciousness, there is scandal, and there are moments when you might wish that your parents weren't in the room with you. If there were a reaction I am looking for, it's for people to be shocked, appalled, and delighted all at once.”
Sadly, Page departed the show after season one.
