“We weren’t doing a documentary on Queen Charlotte, she was very much a character from history that was being put into the world of Julia Quinn’s books.”
If you’re all caught up with Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, you may have wondered how this spectacular production came to be.
Good news! BuzzFeed sat down with India Amarteifio (Young Queen Charlotte), Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte), Corey Mylchreest (Young King George), Arsema Thomas (Young Agatha Danbury), Freddie Dennis (Reynolds), and Sam Clemmett (Young Brimsley) to find out how the series came together.
1. Both Sam and Corey auditioned to play King George. Sam even auditioned for about five characters over the course of Bridgerton — including Colin Bridgerton. He was actually offered a small part in Bridgerton, but his agent suggested that he turn it down to await something bigger.
Sam began, “I think Brimsley was the fourth or fifth character that I’ve read for. So I’ve read for a whole selection of people from the beginning of Bridgerton and they kept bringing me back. Then this audition came around, and I hadn’t had a particularly good day, and I was due to do the tape. I just went out for some food and I came back. After loads and loads of Mexican food and margaritas, I went ‘Okay, I’ll just do the tape at 10 p.m.’ I sent it off, and then here we are!”
2. When Arsema first auditioned, she had never seen Bridgerton and didn’t know who Lady Danbury was — but there were mannerisms that she “naturally” shared with Adjoa.
“Even when we initially met, I was like, I feel like I know you. I’ve met you before. We have the same bookshelf of books. I know we already come from the same foundation of being women who want to be part of the revolution in an active way. Which meant that like there was this passion that we just both share that we kind of effortlessly put into the character, but it was daunting originally,” she recalled.”
3. Arsema pretended to be English throughout the audition process to the point where the producers didn’t know that she was American. A phase where she put on a British accent while in college proved to be helpful.
“When I was in my bachelor’s degree, I was going through a weird period in my life where I just wanted to have a change — instead of cutting my hair, I just kept up a British accent for four years of my undergraduate degree. I was thinking to myself, this might be helpful one day! That in conjunction with an amazing dialect coach, drama school training, and living in London two years prior, were all very helpful,” she explained.
4. Freddie lied during production and said that he didn’t know how to ride a horse, but he actually did. He joked that him on a horse was “the best 15 seconds of the whole show.”
When asked if he knew how to ride a horse before the show, Freddie turned to Sam and said, “You’re going to love this. So yeah, I actually have ridden a horse before. I don’t even know why I did this, but I told the instructors that I had never ridden a horse. And they, as a result of them me saying that, stroked my ego and said, ‘You are the best first-time rider we’ve taught.’ I was too scared to tell everyone that I knew exactly what I was doing.”
5. Queen Charlotte and Bridgerton Season 3 were filmed simultaneously last year, meaning that Golda’s work on Queen Charlotte deepened her understanding of the part for Bridgerton.
“In Bridgerton, I did a lot of backstory with the character, who her children were, and what her relationship was with George at that point. But then to have Shonda actually write 13 children and for them to be physically in front of you, that’s a real gem of layer to then take on to the next Bridgerton,” she explained. “Although the two are separate, they are very much married in the connection that I have with the physical and the imagination.”
6. Much of Queen Charlotte was filmed on location, which Freddie called “one of the best things about filming.”
Sam continued, “We have a studio in London, which was I suppose our base, but for a lot of it we went all around the country — Blenheim Palace, Wilton House, Bath, Bristol, all over.”
7. Golda hopped on a call with the actors who play Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgerton during the filming of Season 2 to have a “really beautiful conversation about older women.”
Golda recalled, “In the middle of filming Season 2 of Bridgerton, we got on a call — there was a few of us on the call — but myself, Adjoa, and Ruth had a really beautiful conversation about older women and how to portray that friendship and us older actresses — and how that storyline was going to go along next to the origin story. It was really nice to have that conversation, but it was a definite pinch me moment. “
