Netflix Topic

When the historical-romance series, Bridgerton, premiered on Netflix on Christmas Day 2020, it became the most-watched English-language series on the super streamer. That is until the second season of Bridgerton premiered on March 25, 2022, and obliterated season one’s standing, now leading to a Bridgerton prequel. The Bridgerton cast of seasons one and two have brought the Regency era to the forefront as it followed the eight Bridgerton siblings through London’s high society watching them sift through love, romance, heartache, and scandal.

Bridgerton came to Netflix by way of Julia Quinn’s eight Bridgerton novels. Season one was based on the novel The Duke and I, while season two followed the novel The Viscount Who Loved Me. Both of those novels were the first two in the series.

Season three does not have a release date yet. However, it does appear it won’t be coming to Netflix until early 2023. Unlike the first two seasons, season three won’t follow the novel’s order and instead is based on Quinn’s fourth book, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, and focus mainly on Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton).

So, let’s take a look at the Bridgerton cast from seasons one and two and see how many will be joining the season three Bridgerton cast. As you can probably imagine, with eight Bridgerton siblings and their love interests, the cast is quite large.

Warning: There are some Bridgerton spoilers ahead.

CAST OF BRIDGERTON – THE BRIDGERTONS

Anthony Bridgerton – Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony Bridgerton is the 9^th Viscount Bridgerton and the eldest sibling in the Bridgerton cast. He became the 9^th Viscount at a very young age after the passing of his father, a loss that left Anthony closed off and completely traumatized, fearing love and loss. While a big part of season one, he is the lead character in season two as it is based on The Viscount Who Loved Me, which centered around Anthony Bridgerton.

Season two finds Anthony in search of his own bride, applying the same intensity he showed during his sister Daphne’s social season. He finally decides on Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) as his bride but also finds himself drawn to Edwina’s older sister Kate (Simone Ashley).

Benedict Bridgerton – Luke Thompson

Benedict Bridgeton is the second eldest child in the Bridgerton cast and has little to no desire to conform to the norms of society. He has found his way by finding love for the arts and prefers to live a more bohemian lifestyle than what is expected of him. His character is the lead in Quinn’s third novel in her series, An Offer from a Gentleman, but it appears that the novel will be skipped so they can move on to the fourth in the series.

Colin Bridgerton – Luke Newton

Colin Bridgerton is the third in the line of Bridgerton men. He maintains a good Bridgerton cast presence in the first two seasons. However, Colin Bridgerton is the main focus of Quinn’s fourth novel, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, which is also the emphasis on the third season of the Netflix series.

Season two finds Colin returning from his world travels in time for the start of the new social season. Colin shows more growth throughout the past season. But his failed engagement from season one still has left its mark.

Daphne Bridgerton Basset – Phoebe Dynevor

Phoebe Dynevor was one of the main Bridgerton cast stars in season one as Daphne Bridgerton as much of the action centered around her. After finding her husband and having a child, we find Daphne in season two still around, but with less focus on her.

She does find time to make appearances for family events. One of which is the big introduction of her sister Eloise to society. As season two shifts its focus toward Anthony, Daphne is there to offer her advice.

Eloise Bridgerton – Claudia Jessie

In the Bridgerton cast, Jessie arrives as Eloise, the fifth child. Season two sees young Eloise introduced to society and she is less than pleased. She becomes frustrated with her limited choices and finds she’d rather write and study than be bothered with what few options are given to her.

If Bridgerton continues on past season three (season four has been greenlit by Netflix, but, as we’ve seen in the past with popular Netflix shows, that is always subject to change), Eloise becomes the lead character in Quinn’s fifth novel in the series, To Sir Phillip with Love. With the numbers the first two seasons have shown, Netflix would be hard-pressed not to move forward with a potential season five. Again, though, this is Netflix.

Francesca Bridgerton – Ruby Stokes/Hannah Dodd

As season three approaches, there has been a change in the Bridgerton cast. For the first two seasons, Ruby Stokes portrayed the sixth Bridgerton child, but now she has been replaced in season 3 by Hannah Dodd. Now, some of you may be wondering why you saw so little of the Francesca character in the first two seasons, as she was seen in the first and last episode of season one and not much more in season two.

According to the series showrunner, Chris Van Dusen, her character was visiting family in Bath. This made her appearance minimal in the first season. In season two, Francesca was originally going to be featured more.

Apparently, Stokes was only available for half the season, which is why we saw very little of her. This could also be the reason why Stokes was replaced with Dodd. Although Francesca doesn’t become the main character until Quinn’s sixth book in the series, When He Was Wicked, she does require some backstory before she potentially becomes the main story.

Gregory Bridgerton – Will Tilston

Netflix is really going to have to commit if we are going to see Will Tilston’s Gregory Bridgerton be part of the Bridgerton main cast. Gregory is the seventh, and youngest son, in the Bridgerton line and thusly doesn’t have a massive footprint in the series to this point. If Bridgerton fans are lucky enough to get all of Quinn’s Bridgerton novels on the small screen, Gregory is the featured main character in the eighth and final novel of the series, On the Way to the Wedding.

Hyacinth Bridgerton – Florence Hunt

As with Gregory, Hyacinth Bridgerton will have to wait her turn as a main Bridgerton cast character. Played by Florence Hunt, she doesn’t get her main storyline until Quinn’s seventh novel, It’s In His Kiss. As her character finds her way through the novels, one hopes she is portrayed with the same gusto on the small screen.

Hyacinth is described (in the books) as smart (and fiendishly so), outspoken (devilishly, in fact), and possibly best taken in small doses. But this isn’t fully seen until the seventh novel. How she is portrayed on screen until that point is still up for debate.

CAST OF BRIDGERTON – LOVE INTERESTS

Penelope Featherington – Nicola Coughlan

Lets start here, as Nicola, as Penelope, is the straw that stirs the Bridgerton drink. Penelope is the youngest of the Featherington daughters and is a close friend to Eloise Bridgerton. But what no one knows is that Penelope is also the pen behind Lady Whistledown, the one who produces scandalous society newsletters.

On Bridgerton, Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music) is the voice of Lady Whistledown and the one who narrates the trials and tribulations of the Bridgerton family. Penelope not only has to continue navigating the dangers of her position while trying to keep her identity a secret, but she also has to continue trying to avoid Queen Charlotte, who continues investigating just who Lady Whistledown is.

Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings – Regé-Jean Page

No doubt, Regé-Jean Page was a hit in season one of Bridgerton. Page played Simon Basset, who returns to London having sworn off love, romance, and having children after making this pledge to his father on his deathbed. Somehow though, he finds his way into love and romance with Phoebe Dynevor’s Daphne.

Both characters came together with the thought that they’d simply pretend to court each other. This way they would live up to the promises they made to themselves. Along the way, though, the two fell for each other, which led to some of the steamiest scenes performed by the Bridgerton cast.

Page became a bonafide star in season one, which led to a fan uprising of sorts when Page decided not to return for season two. In the novels, his character was sent to the sidelines, only to be used as a supporting character and Page was not interested in only appearing part-time, if that, after being one of the main characters in the first season.

Kathani Sharma – Simone Ashley

This is one of the main changes seen in Quinn’s novels and Van Dusen’s series. In the novels, Kate was actually Katherine Sheffield. Although her background has changed, the make of her character has not, and when she remains the fierce protector of her younger sister, Edwina, while she also tries to find a match for her sister. Things seem to be going well, that is until she meets Anthony Bridgerton.

Sir Phillip Crane – Chris Fulton

Not a major character to begin with, but Crane is one who shows a lot of heart after his brother passes away. He chooses to marry his brother’s widow, Marina Thompson, and care for her children. As Quinn’s novels progress, Phillip becomes one of the major characters in To Sir Phillip With Love. Perhaps Netflix will keep the series around long enough for fans to see this.

THE CAST HEADING INTO SEASON THREE

One thing you should understand if you have seen the first two seasons of Bridgerton is that the cast is huge. While the focus follows Quinn’s novels (at least the first two seasons) and in particular, one major character, the Bridgerton universe is vast. On top of the eight Bridgerton siblings, there are also the Featherington’s, the Sharma’s, the Royalty, the members of the ton (high society), along with the working class and the servants.

Season three looks to change things up a bit by jumping over Quinn’s third novel and moving right into the fourth, Romancing Mister Bridgerton. The series’ new showrunner, Jess Brownell, explained to Variety the reasons for skipping the third book. “I really feel like it’s Colin and Penelope’s time. Because we’ve been watching both of these actors on our screens since Season 1, we’ve already invested in them a little bit. We know who they are as people,” Brownell explained.

“I feel like, especially in the last season, there are these moments of tension between them where it’s like, Colin walks up to the line of almost realizing that Penelope has feelings for him but doesn’t quite get there. Instead of treading water on that dynamic, we wanted to push it into their season. It really felt like the perfect moment to tee it up.”

“We already differ from the books a little bit because we’re an ensemble show,” she continued. “The books really focus on one-on-one romantic pair at a time and maybe the siblings have a little cameo here and there but they don’t have full stories. In that way, even though we’re reversing the order of the books, I think all the people you would expect to see—Benedict, who is book three, he will be a vital part of Season 3.”

This will mean the focus will go on Bridgerton cast members Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton. Fans of the first two seasons should be happy though, as season two stars Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate (Simone Ashley) have been confirmed to return for season three along with lead Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor). The hit Netflix series comes from executive producer Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy) and her plans are to make eight full seasons of Bridgerton that, like Quinn’s novels, will focus on one particular Bridgerton sibling.