How Arsema Thomas Brought Young Lady Danbury to Life

“She’s the type of character that I love playing. She’s the type of woman that I look up to,” the breakout star of Queen Charlotte told Bazaar.

Arsema Thomas didn’t know that she would end up playing Agatha Danbury, let alone that she would become the breakout star of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.

Taking place forty years before the events of the Netflix hit Bridgerton, the prequel tells the story of a young Queen Charlotte and King George as they fall in love and transform England, particularly when it comes to race relations. That change ushered in a new wave of Lords and Ladies, including Agatha Danbury, who we spent almost as much time with as we did with the young Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio) as she joined the royal court and fought for her spot among society.

Every time Thomas shows up on the screen, she quickly steals the show. Of course, part of that is her character—a bold young woman entrapped in a loveless marriage who is eager to be a part of high society and create less racial tension—but just as much of Agatha’s charm and wit seems to be Thomas’ doing .

“She’s in such a different place to where she is in Bridgerton so it meant that she could be different,” the 28-year-old actress tells Bazaar.com. “It’s natural and normal for her to be different from her counterpart all those years later.” While she spent time talking with Adjoa Andoh – the actress who portrays the older Lady Danbury – to discuss through lines for Agatha, she also drew from her life to create the younger version of the character.

Below, Thomas speaks about what first interested her in acting, her inspirations for Lady Agatha, and what working along the rest of the cast, especially Amarteifo and Andoh, taught her.

When did you know you wanted to be an actress?

As a kid, I did this play at an after-school program. I remember I played the zebra and there was something exhilarating about telling a story that was not my story and not true. My parents never came to watch it, [chuckles] but there was something about it that made me feel so proud. I knew that I wanted to be an actor, but I didn’t know that I could be one.

Were your parents supportive or did it take a moment?
When I told my parents they were in shock but slowly came around. They’re proof of concept people; They want to make sure what they’re investing in has legs and this is an industry that they have no idea about so they were scared for a bit that I would be on my own in this very big and very intimidating world of entertainment. Every Christmas and New Year, my mom would try and convince me to apply to Ph.D. programs, just in case. At 25, I decided I was going to go for the thing that I wanted, independent of any other influence, and when I took that step I was looking to make sure that I was doing the right thing, that indicator was they being angry or cautious. So it was like, yeah, now I know I’m on the right track.

What drew you to the role of Lady Agatha?
When I first auditioned, they didn’t have the role written out. They didn’t tell us what we were auditioning for, they just said it was something in the Bridgerton universe, so it was less about what drew me to Agatha and more about what drew me to this kind of storytelling. You have to have a lot of faith in a writer and a production team when you don’t have a full understanding of a character and you still want to jump into the story. I think it was because of my previous obsessions with Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder that drew me to Shonda, her type of storytelling, and everything that it represents.

Did they give you a lot of details ahead of time or did they keep it secret when you found out who you’d be playing?
It was secretive for even longer. When they did tell me, I hadn’t seen the show so I was cool, that sounds fun. Then two weeks before the chemistry read, I watched all of Bridgerton and was floored by who I was playing. You see Agatha in all shapes and sizes in season one, with the younger Duke and as an advisor to all these people, so there was a level of intimidation going in. But then I was like, I wouldn’t want to play anyone else but her. She’s the type of character that I love playing, she’s the type of woman that I look up to, and how amazing it is that there is an intersection between these two things, the aspirational and the career.

You share the screen with a lot of different people, but especially a young Queen Charlotte. What was it like working with India Amarteifio?
From the moment we saw each other at the chemistry read, we’ve been able to naturally be friends and be caring to each other. I can’t speak for her, but for me, there is something so similar between having had a little sister before and her being someone else’s little sister.