Before mid-April, chances are that very few people would have heard of Bowral. The pretty little town, 90 minutes south-west of Sydney in Australia, now finds itself on the map, thanks to Bridgerton.

For the upcoming third season of the blockbuster Netflix series, Regency romance swept through Bowral for a week as storefronts were transformed with over 3,000m of bunting, masses of native florals and 500 roses set up by 12 florists, and thousands of Bridgerton fans from across Australia and around the globe dressed in their Regency best to experience a fan event like few others in the past.

Gracing the celebrations were Bridgerton actors Luke Newton who plays Colin Bridgerton and Nicola Coughlan, in the role of Penelope Featherington, whose characters take centre stage this season.

‘Polin’, as the two are collectively known to followers of the show whose fandom has swept across the length and breadth of the world, is the focus of Season 3 of the ‘love, sex aur dhokha’ series, whose first part drops on the streamer on May 16, followed by Part Two on June 13.

Polin’s romance in Season 3 is teased expertly in that 30-second watch that dropped a few weeks ago in which Penelope looks at herself in a mirror and Colin emerges to stand behind her before the two look at each other with the kind of sexual tension that guarantees a blazing watch this season.

BRIDGERTON THE BLOCKBUSTER

Bridgerton and its players have caught the attention of viewers right from the time Season One took over the imagination of fans in December 2020. Season 2, that streamed in March 2022, broke viewership ratings records and established it as a successful, genre-defining franchise.

Based on the books by Julia Quinn, the first scripted series for Netflix from television writer and producer Shonda Rhimes’s Shondaland, revolves around an eponymous fictional family and is set in the competitive world of Regency-era London’s ton during the social season in the early 1800s, with young marriageable nobility and gentry being introduced into society.

Luke and Nicola with Season 3 showrunner Jess Brownell

“I think the first season of Bridgerton came out at a time when everyone wanted a bit of escapism and wanted some light relief from everything that was going on in the world. What is bigger than that, I think, is that everyone can see themselves in the show,” Luke Newton told t2oS when we sat across a computer screen to chat exclusively with him and Nicola Coughlan a few weeks ago.

Luke, as handsome off the Bridgerton set as he is on it, feels that a lot of the running themes on the show, across its different seasons, are also relevant today, making it a favourite watch for many across the world, irrespective of status and circumstance.

“It feels like it is very distant, it feels like it happened all those years ago and hence how can we relate to these people that live these totally different lives and from such wealth... lives so romantic, beautiful and glossy? But actually, the core themes of friendship and family, romance and honour and gossip are so relevant today,” he added in his conversation with us, as Nicola, pretty and confident in her skin, nodded in agreement.

What works for Bridgerton, Nicola believes, is its tremendous rewatch value. “Anyone can watch a show once.”

“But the fact that people come back to Bridgerton as a comfort show is a massive privilege as an actor because I know what my comfort shows mean to me and that we made that place for ourselves in that category is huge,” the actress who makes Penelope such a flesh-and-blood character tells t2oS.

DIVERSE LANDSCAPE

According to Nicola, the mounting of Bridgerton and its subsequent success has “changed the landscape of period drama”. For Luke, it is the inclusive casting that has endeared the series to many. “A big part of it is how Shonda Rhimes and Shondaland have so brilliantly cast the series. It is so diverse.”

“In Season One, I think we got to over 100 cast members. I don’t know where we are at now (in terms of cast members), but it is wonderful just to have such a range of actors in these roles. The audience can also relate to so many different storylines... it is one of my favourite parts of the show,” Luke added.

SEASON 3: PRIORITY ‘POLIN’

Even as the third season marks varied and satisfactory arcs for its characters and takes their stories forward in the series, what many are looking forward to is the centre staging of Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington.

In a recent article that she penned for a globally prominent fashion magazine, Nicola wrote about how she loved being the girl “in the corner of the room”, and how this season thrusts Penelope right into the spotlight. Was that unnerving in the beginning or did it, conversely, feel like an immediate high, we ask Nicola.

“Thank you for reading that because it took me a week to write and I was agonising over it! It means a lot that you read it!” she tells t2oS. “It definitely was a big transition. It is very scary. This show is so huge... huge beyond what we can comprehend. The first time that hit me very squarely in the face was going to Brazil with Netflix (as part of the streaming giant’s annual ‘Tudum’ showcase) and seeing all the fans and this huge audience and their signs and placards and how they were screaming,” laughed Nicola.

The first thought that sprung to her mind, she shares with us, was that it was quite crazy! “That is because we don’t feel like that on set at all! We film in a warehouse in West London! We have been doing it since Season One and it is quite normal for us. But then it also clicked within me that for the people who have loved the books, it has been 20 years. There are fans who have got invested in the show from the beginning,” she tells us, with Luke seconding her. “As actors, we have to accept that it is what it is, but then go on to set and just focus on the work on that particular day, the script, the characters, the journey, all of that,” added Nicola.

For Luke, focusing closely on Penelope and Colin’s storyline has been “enjoyable”. The two have always been a part of the main action — Colin is a Bridgerton, after all, and Penelope’s character development has been one of the most intriguing over the course of two seasons, but it is now that their moment has well and truly arrived.

“I have enjoyed focusing on the nuances, changes, growth and development of their characters as individuals, but also together. Compared to previous seasons, we get to explore so much more this time. It was really nice to dive into all those different sort of genres within this one genre. We looked at elements of romantic comedy and then there is obviously a lot of drama within the story. It was nice to tick off a lot of boxes that I hadn’t experienced in other acting jobs,” says Luke, 31, an alumnus of the London School of Musical Theatre.

THE RELATABILITY FACTOR

In Bridgerton, Penelope idealistically longs for someone who she fears may not love her back. While she is often underestimated, she works behind the scenes to bring her creativity, intuition, and imagination to life. It is a character that has endeared itself to Bridgerton viewers and Penelope’s trajectory through the series could well mirror Nicola’s journey in her career so far.

This is an observation Nicola agrees with. “In the first season, I definitely related to Penelope... just being really young and seeing the boy she likes dance with another girl, that sort of first heartbreak of first love... I can totally remember that feeling,” she tells us.

“In Season 2, Penelope suddenly dealing with a certain level of fame was something I had to go through in my life as well. In Season 3, the thing that I relate to the most was Penelope having to step up. And that is what I had to do in Season 3. When you can do the oddball in the corner well, you are super happy to continue doing that. In this season, both Nicola and Penelope had to step out of their comfort zones,” she adds.

Stepping out of one’s comfort zone was not limited to Nicola alone. Luke, too, reveals that playing Colin has thrown him into situations which he hasn’t been prepared for as an actor.

“A show of this scale is always going to feel slightly intimidating. When we did Season One, we had no idea what the reaction was going to be, whereas now we know how many people are hopefully going to tune in to watch the show and we know that there is a support and a hunger to see this story play out. There is definitely added pressure from that,” he smiles and tells us, shrugging his shoulders.

“But then, when you get to the Bridgerton set and you experience everything 360-degree, when you touch everything on set and feel that it is real, it is easy to escape from all the pressures of the outside and just fall into character. We spend so much time in these characters that it is not tough to dive right back in,” he adds.

AT ONE WITH THEIR CHARACTERS

Spending months at a time playing out men and women in a different era can have a profound impact on those who embody them. Nicola feels that parts of Penelope have definitely seeped into her, especially in Season 3.

“As much as we try not to let our characters penetrate into our lives, it is a given. We filmed the show for eight months for what is eight hours-ish of a viewing experience. During those eight months, you live with their thoughts and their lives for so long that you start to really examine things and it can make you think about your own life. It definitely did that for me. It was funny because the show is so joyful, light and fun but it was so much more of a profound experience filming this season than I ever anticipated it would be,” she reveals to us during the course of the conversation.

Luke, too, is cognisant of the fact that Colin has a huge influence on him. “I feel like I cannot not let elements of my characters filter into my real life and it actually frustrates me at times. But for Colin, in Season 3, I liked having his swagger and confidence. I feel that trickled into my real life. I happened to do a play immediately after filming Season 3 and played this very sort of insecure guy, and found myself tripping over things on the street,” he laughs.

REGENCY FOR THE WIN

Bridgerton was one of the first off the block and over the years, Regency era dramas have become quite popular. What is it about this genre, led by their show, that works so well with the audience, we ask Luke and Nicola.

“What has worked is what Shondaland has done... a sort of reimagined version of a Regency drama. It is beautiful and romantic, but the core relationships and friendships between characters are so relatable that it connects you to the era and makes you want to be a part of it,” offers Luke.

For Nicola, as Luke had said at the beginning of this conversation, the Regency era affords “a beautiful world of escapism. It is a sexy era... people look good in the costumes. The fun lies in the rule-breaking because it was such a regimented time. It felt naughty to do those things. It is the risk and reward part of it that people find interesting,” she laughs.

Nicola (in green) poses with a fan at the Bridgerton fan event in Bowral, Australia, recently

Speaking of rule-breaking, the Internet was recently flooded with the news that Nicola, as part of her contract, had asked the makers of Bridgerton to supply her with a PG version of the series, one that she could show to her Irish Catholic family, specifically her mother. To cap off the chat, we asked the actress about that, bringing on peals of laughter from Nicola and Luke.

“I always thought I had it in my contract and just a few days ago, I was told: ‘No girl, you don’t!’ I think I am just going to become an expert on fast forwarding the racy bits. Some of them are really long, but I can’t let mom see them!” laughs Nicola.

SEASON 3 DEETS

Season 3 will be the first season of Bridgerton to be released in two parts.

The season will focus on the slow-burning romance between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, as well as the early days of Kate and Anthony Bridgerton’s marriage.

Season 3 is based on Romancing Mister Bridgerton from Julia Quinn’s series of books. In this book, Colin returns from his travels and begins to see Penelope in a whole new light, but the pair are prevented from getting together by the momentous secrets they are hiding from each other.

Alongside Coughlan and Newton, most of Bridgerton’s Season 2 cast will also be back for Season 3, including Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell), Lady Portia Featherington (Polly Walker), Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), and much of the Bridgerton clan — Benedict (Luke Thompson), Eloise (Claudia Jessie), Hyacinth (Florence Hunt), and Gregory (Will Tilston) among them. Phoebe Dynevor’s Daphne, however, is likely to be absent but Simone Ashley — who dazzled as Kate in Season 2 — will be returning.