Before starring as Francesca Bridgerton in Season 3, Hannah Dodd originally auditioned for Daphne Bridgerton.
Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story are two of the biggest TV shows. And alongside having some of the sexiest and most romantic storylines, the cast is also beloved by fans.
While each actor seems like they were born to play the characters they ended up portraying, a lot of the cast initially auditioned for a totally different role.
So, here are 11 Bridgerton universe actors who auditioned for one role, but ended up being cast in another:
1. First, Luke Newton revealed he originally auditioned for the role of Simon Basset in Season 1 before he landed the role of Colin Bridgerton.
In an interview with The Morning Show, Luke explained, “In the breakdown, there was only a few parts that were going out. It was really scaled back. It was just one scene you were allowed to look at. So I think everyone kind of auditioned for different bits.”
2. Golda Rosheuvel, who has now played Queen Charlotte in Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, first auditioned for Lady Danbury.
She told Oprah Mag, “I first auditioned for Lady Danbury. But it went to the marvelous, marvelous Adjoa Andoh, who is a dear friend. Then they came back and said, ‘Would you attend a self-taping for Queen Charlotte?'”
3. Before landing the role of Anthony Bridgerton, Jonathan Bailey almost played Simon Basset in Season 1.
In an interview with Oprah Mag, Jonathan said, “It wasn’t until I was talking to the production company and Chris Van Dusen, the showrunner, and at the end of the meeting we’d spoken about family, and men in society, and women in society, and our own personal experiences. And they said, ‘Have you thought about Anthony? We’re gonna send you some scripts to read because we think you might be an Anthony.'”
4. Hannah Dodd was originally in the running to play Daphne Bridgerton before she eventually took over the role of Francesca Bridgerton in Season 3.
When the audition for Francesca came around, with Hannah ultimately replacing Ruby Stokes, it was very top-secret, and she didn’t know what show or character she was exactly auditioning for.
In an interview with Shondaland, Hannah added, “I auditioned for season one, so when I did a taped audition again for season three, I’d grown to love the show as a fan. But I didn’t know I was auditioning for Bridgerton at the time. It was just one scene; literally, no idea what it was for.”
5. Before starring as Eloise Bridgerton, Claudia Jessie auditioned for the role of Penelope Featherington.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Claudia explained, “Cole Edwards, the casting director, was like, ‘Claudia could read for these two parts. She can come away and pick which one she wants to read for.’ So I was like, ‘Cool — Penelope, I’ll just go for it.’ Then they offered me Eloise.”
Looking back, Claudia said it would be weird to have to kiss Luke Newton because “he is my brother.”
6. Charithra Chandran initially auditioned for the role of Kate Sharma before ultimately playing Kate’s younger sister Edwina Sharma.
In an interview with Shondaland, Charithra said, “I was in the makeup chair on the other job; I got a call from my agent telling me that they wanted to see me again for Bridgerton, but as the youngest sister. I told him I wanted to think about it; I didn’t want to do it as a consolation prize because I wanted to be able to candidly feel passionate about the character rather than just desperately wanting to be on the show. Which I obviously did!”
She continued, saying, “So, I read the book again, and I heard what they had planned for Edwina, and I thought that, actually, this is a very important story to be told because so many young women across the world, particularly brown women, are in Edwina’s situation.”
7. Phoebe Dynevor auditioned for two different roles before she was brought in to audition for Daphne Bridgerton. While Phoebe didn’t specify which role, Bridgerton casting director Kelly Valentine Hendry said they did think of her for the role of Cressida Cowper.
In an interview with Backstage, Phoebe explained how she was eventually called in to do a chemistry read with Regé-Jean Page, who had already been cast, and then she was offered the role of Daphne.
In terms of Phoebe’s audition trajectory, Kelly told Shondaland, “When we saw Phoebe early on, we definitely noticed her, and she was someone we loved. But was she Daphne? Possibly, but let’s keep on going. I mean, that’s just the nature of casting. At some point, we wondered if she was Cressida, but after we saw hundreds of possible Daphnes, we kept on coming back to Phoebe.”
8. Before landing the role of Violet Bridgerton, Ruth Gemmell auditioned for a different role: Lady Araminta Cowper.
In an interview with Shondaland, Ruth joked that Violet was a step up, saying, “I’ve got a bigger house now. And lots more frocks. More children.”
9. Sam Clemmett, who went on to star as young Brimsley in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, first auditioned for the role of Colin Bridgerton.
In an interview with Bustle, Sam revealed that after Luke was cast as Colin, he was even offered a small role in Season 2, but his agent advised him to wait for a bigger role. He recalled, “So kudos to my agent for doing some of the best agent-ing he’s ever done. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been Brimsley.”
10. Before landing the role of Theo Sharpe in Season 2, Calam Lynch initially went out for the role of Benedict Bridgerton AND Colin Bridgerton.
In an interview with Shondaland about the audition process, Calam said, “I was excited and thought it looked really cool but, of course, got a call from my agent saying [playing Colin or Benedict] hadn’t gone my way but that they liked me. Then, months later, I got this email, and it was about the second season, and it all happened super-quick.”
11. And finally, Freddie Dennis, who played Reynolds in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, auditioned for “three different roles” on the show, including King George.
In an interview with the Oxford School of Drama, Freddie explained, “So I got the tape for King George, who’s the main character, and then didn’t hear anything back. And I kind of thought, obviously, they didn’t want me. Then a tape came through for Brimsley, who’s another one of the main characters. I did that tape. And then they asked me to tape for Reynolds, who was the guy I eventually got, but it was just a self-tape and an online recall.”
