The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly) - The Hollywood Reporter Awards Special

Bridgerton

Showrunner Chris Van Dusen applied what he learned from growing up in Shondaland to creating Netflix’s record-breaking drama series: ‘We wanted to take everything people love about a period piece and make it fresh and unexpected’

- BY MIKEY O’CONNELL

“We wanted to take everything people love about a period piece and make it fresh and unexpected,” says showrunner Chris Van Dusen, who applied what he learned from growing up in Shondaland to creating Netflix’s record-breaking drama series.

In January, Netflix announced that Bridgerton was watched by 82 million households — nearly half of the 200 million it reaches across the globe. In the span of one month, a pastel-colored, sexually charged period drama from creator Chris Van Dusen and power producer Shonda Rhimes had become the most watched series in the history of the dominant streamer. Not content with just commercial success, Bridgerton quickly inserted itself into the awards conversati­on. Now, with 12 Emmy nomination­s, the best drama contender will see if its admittedly wide fan base includes enough TV Academy voters. Van Dusen, deep in work on the Regency drama’s second season, spoke with THR about the best advice he’s ever received from Rhimes, taking cues from a soakingwet Colin Firth in the BBC’s iconic Pride and Prejudice adaptation and offering his endorsemen­t to future employers of Regé-Jean Page, Bridgerton’s Emmynomina­ted leading man who departed the series after its first season.

I don’t want to add to the pressure, but how are you handling the burden of following up that first season?

The second season is written, and we’re in the middle of production right now. We had to pause for COVID concerns, but we’re getting back to it, and it’s going well. I was based in the U.K. with my family for all of season one. Because [postproduc­tion] is now based in Los Angeles, I brought my family back here and I’m going back and forth between L.A. and the U.K. It is a little different going [into it than] that first season now that it’s kind of a worldwide phenomenon. There are a lot more eyes and a lot more scrutiny, but I’ve always said this show comes with a healthy kind of pressure. Being inspired by these eight delicious romance novels, which already have a passionate fan following, the pressure is really baked in.

Having the source material, I’d imagine, alleviates some of the pressure because there’s at least some expectatio­n of using it as a blueprint.

That’s true. With this adaptation, we did take a lot of liberties. We say we’re inspired by the books, [but] we don’t follow them word for word. We know we have characters who are new and original to the series who don’t appear in the books, and we’re exploring other themes and love stories. I’ve always wanted the series to be about a world, a society — as opposed to just this one family in 19th century Regency London.

In terms of that genre, did you have any particular­ly strong inspiratio­n points?

I’ve always loved the period genre. There’s that 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice adaptation with Colin Firth, with him coming out of the lake and his white shirt. I remember watching that a lot, and that was inspiring in developing the show. Looking at these period pieces, they’re often considered a little more traditiona­l and a little more conservati­ve. I’ve always wanted to see a period piece that went further, that pushes boundaries and challenges

“I think people were grateful for the intensity of the romantic aspects of Bridgerton; I’m not sure how grateful I was to watch it for myself. It was overwhelmi­ng. But I think people were looking to be overwhelme­d. My family doesn’t want to be overwhelme­d by my backside, specifical­ly, too often, but they’ll take it on this occasion because everyone seems to be terribly happy.” REGÉ-JEAN PAGE

the very idea of what a period piece can really be. So we didn’t want Bridgerton to exist in just one particular box. We wanted to take everything people love about a period piece and make it something fresh and unexpected.

The color-conscious casting, given the time period, is obviously really revolution­ary. But you also have an interestin­g first on your hands, with an openly gay actor, Jonathan Bailey, playing the romantic lead of your second season. Were there any conversati­ons about that?

That just happened. Johnny came in to read for the role, and I absolutely fell in love with him. I thought he was the perfect Anthony Bridgerton, and that’s really how his casting came to be.

We didn’t really speak about anything else. He was just perfect for the part.

What’s the best advice you’ve gotten from Shonda Rhimes?

I’ve worked in Shondaland for 17 years. I grew up in Shondaland, and I worked across most of the shows.

One thing she always told me was to think of the worst possible situation that you can put your character in — and put them in it. Don’t be afraid to do that. Literally think of the worstcase scenario. Write to that and figure out a way to get that character out of it. That is something that’s always in my head when I’m breaking story.

If another showrunner or filmmaker called you as a job reference for RegéJean Page, how would you describe him?

It was really such a privilege to work with Regé. He was incredible. We had a lot of conversati­ons about Simon and Simon’s backstory in the beginning and throughout the process. He was really involved. And he’s also just so charming. He’s set to continue traveling the world right now in some really amazing way, so I’m really excited for him. I hope I get the privilege of being able to work with him again.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

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 ??  ?? REGÉ-JEAN PAGE
Lead Actor
REGÉ-JEAN PAGE Lead Actor
 ??  ?? JULIE ANNE ROBINSON
Director
JULIE ANNE ROBINSON Director
 ??  ?? Van Dusen
Van Dusen
 ??  ?? From left: Nicola Coughlan, Polly Walker, Harriet Cains and Bessie Carter star on Netflix’s Bridgerton.
From left: Nicola Coughlan, Polly Walker, Harriet Cains and Bessie Carter star on Netflix’s Bridgerton.
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