The star of the racy Regency drama reveals five secrets from the set
1
This second series centres around my character Anthony and the love triangle he’s in with sisters Kate and Edwina Sharma (Simone Ashley and Charithra Chandran). As I’m in so many scenes, I made sure I was taking care of myself. I ate well, got loads of sleep and got really fit.
2 After being a rake in the last season, Anthony is determined to marry not for love but because it’s what he needs to do. Edwina is perfect, but his heart falls into Kate’s hands. You see the journey he goes on through the clothes he wears — he starts off in darker colours but by the end of the series he’s in lighter shades.
3For the love scenes we worked with an intimacy coach who helped safeguard us. After lots of discussion we signed an agreement consenting to which bits of skin we were going to show in each scene, where we would be touched and how. It was like a choreographed dance.
4
I got into the habit of listening to the audiobook before going to bed. It gave me a greater sense of who Anthony is. There are nuances and complexities in the book that couldn’t all be included in the TV series, and these allowed me to get into the character before I’d read all the scripts. But listening and filming did mean that sometimes I didn’t know when I was awake and when I was asleep!
5
From horse riding to fencing to dancing, I really felt like I was learning all the time — as if I was in a Regency finishing school. I didn’t get to dance at all last season, but this year I was lucky enough to work with our choreographer. The dances are really thought about and themed.