Bridgerton, the interview with the cast: between noblewomen of marriageable age, disputed dukes and an Afro queen

Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Bridgerton

It has been a particularly busy year so at Christmas we deserve a gift that makes us feel good. Luckily, Shonda Rhimes has thought of us and we’re safe. Lovers of costume dramas, intricate stories and possible loves (the hopeless ones let’s leave them behind together with 2020 …), we have to mind behind Grey’s Anatomy the making of Bridgerton, new Netflix series that will occupy these holidays and bring us back to memory Gossip Girl, but about two hundred years ahead. An off-screen voice, witty and meddlesome, remembers that no one really has any secrets at court and that the nobility is bored, they need shows and amorous spies, and dances, lots of dances. The Bridgerton family is the center of history during the British Regency Period and, in particular, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), eldest son and head of the family, Daphne (Phoebe Dyvenor), the daughter to be married, and Simon, Duke of Hastings (Regé Jean-Page), the most coveted and wealthiest bachelor, except for the appearance of a soon forgotten Prussian prince.

Comparisons with the stories told by Jane Austen are wasted, but this series is much more contemporary than you think, despite the clothing and the opportunities for socializing. From music to casting, from the relationship with the body to the discovery of sexuality, Bridgerton focuses on important issues in the current debate and it is something that Rhimes has already accustomed us to with his production company, Shondaland.

“It’s a show that represents the people who watch it” explains Regé Jean-Page, “because with historical dramas we have been accustomed to seeing events that are quite accurate or truthful from the point of view of history, but we are still talking about fiction and now it’s time to represent what was not seen, but it has always existed ». Among the strengths of Bridgerton there is choice of a cast not exclusively white. The goal has never been to show a typical day in England in the early nineteenth century, but our society today, which has already happened with other similar projects, such as The Great (very) freely inspired by Catherine of Russia. “You don’t need too much imagination: if we can follow a partially invented story without problems, we can also vary the cast and it doesn’t change anything from the point of view of the story, on the contrary we offer a vision of the world we are in now “ conclude Jean-Page.

The episodes of the series eat up quickly, waiting to see if we’re watching Pride and Prejudice O Blackmail of Love, or a middle ground of both. “I don’t think Simon is a Mr. Darcy but I leave this judgment to the public “ says Jean-Page, «you immediately notice a great amount of emotions, burning passions, very intense ups and downs. There is emotional intrigue ». However, the representation of a certain discomfort in relating to others, in living in the same rooms with a husband and a wife, in having to dance, talk, play or dress to be chosen by the other, is no less important. “I think social awkwardness is at the very heart of Bridgerton life,” says Bailey. “Anthony can’t be less at ease than we see him, he doesn’t like his place as a” man “of the house, a role that they have attached to him, and he doesn’t like what they ask him to do”, which is still noticeable. more with the second brother and a younger sister, Benedict and Eloise, always at a safe distance from any imposition that comes. Moreover, “Anthony Bridgerton has no idea what the women in his life have to endure, he’s clumsy, lives in a rather abusive relationship and probably doesn’t know why he’s dissatisfied “ adds Bailey as Dyvenor explains that “My character has to look like the perfect woman, she’s also told by her sister, but she’s in a shop window, an aquarium. It’s all a performance ». We understand from the scratches and cuts on the backs and arms highlighted by the camera, from the blisters due to the corsets and in the meantime we have to talk about feathers and boyfriends. It is the sea in which the protagonists sail, discuss frivolous things while facing their sincere fears, such as being victims that no one believes until a male speaks out loud.

There is more than one familiar element to this storyline. “This TV series could help change the idea of ​​masculinity»Presses Jean-Page. “The way we talk about it seems appropriate to me and the thing that makes my character attractive is not the violence or his darkness, but his way of loving and being moved. He is loved when he becomes sincere, opens up to confrontation and listens, not when he demonstrates his strength or arrogance. Sharing feelings makes him a strong character and not a weak one ». In fact, there is an imperfect but honest couple on the screen. The Duke suffers from stuttering but must prove himself impeccable, and Daphne, on one of the most important evenings of her life, chooses a blue dress in the middle of a prom with candy pink debutantes. A simple but timely way to overturn the idea that the protagonist is the “princess to be rescued”. All the characters around Daphne and Simon are small or big tricks to tell what can be unhinged, but there are not only happy endings, as evidenced by Marina Thompson’s storyline and the constant invisibility cloak on Penelope Featherington, which does not if she wears yellow, they always remain on the importance of clothes, as the only chance to finally be noticed in the midst of a crowd of peacocks and dandies. “I would like to say that there is a female gaze, a feminine gaze, launched on the bodies, on the problems of girls, on the discovery of Daphne’s sex and on friendship,” Dyvenor emphasizes. It’s a love story after all, and you have to discover it piece by piece.

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