Take a first look at Netflix’s Bridgerton spinoff series centered on the rise and love life of a young Queen Charlotte: Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is coming soon! The limited series will also focus on young Violet Bridgerton and Lady Danbury. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is set to premiere on May 4, 2023.
Logline
Centered on Queen Charlotte’s rise to prominence and power, this Bridgerton-verse prequel tells the story of how the young Queen’s marriage to King George sparked both a great love story and a societal shift, creating the world of the Ton inherited by the characters in Bridgerton.
Cast & character description
- Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte), Adjoa Andoh (Lady Agatha Danbury) and Ruth Gemmell (Lady Violet Bridgerton) reprise their roles from Bridgerton in this series.
- India Amarteifio (Line of Duty) plays Young Queen Charlotte. Betrothed to the mysterious King of England against her will, Charlotte arrives in London only to realize she was not exactly what the royals were expecting. As she learns to navigate the palace, the ‘ton and her unpredictable husband, she grows into one of Europe’s most unforgettable monarchs.
- Michelle Fairley (Gangs of London) plays Princess Augusta. Determined to maintain her family’s power, the Dowager Princess does what it takes to secure her son’s place as monarch amidst a changing, modernizing Britain.
- Corey Mylchreest (Sandman) plays Young King George. Handsome, charismatic, and a bit of a mystery, George has always bowed to the restraints placed on him as the Crown. Until now. Having to share his space, and bed, with his new wife forces George to face his hidden demons head on.
- Arsema Thomas plays Young Agatha Danbury. Under the thumb of a much older husband, Agatha uses Charlotte’s arrival to find her own way into society. With keen knowledge of the once divided social scene and the intricacies of marriage, Agatha becomes a guiding light for the new Queen, all while finding her own voice and power we’ll soon recognize as Bridgerton’s iconic Lady Danbury.
- Rounding out the cast are Sam Clemmett (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – West End and Broadway, The War Below) who plays Young Brimsley. Richard Cunningham (The Witcher) plays Lord Bute. Tunji Kasim (Nancy Drew) plays Adolphus. Rob Maloney (Casualty) plays the Royal Doctor. Cyril Nri (Cucumber) plays Lord Danbury. Hugh Sachs (Bridgerton Seasons 1 & 2) plays Brimsley (older).
June 9 UPDATE
- Katie Brayben and Keir Charles will play recurring characters Vivian Ledger and Lord Ledger, respectively.
July 7 UPDATE
- Connie Jenkins-Greig will play the recurring character of Young Violet Ledger – the daughter of Vivian and Lord Ledger. She’s been described as a kind and inquisitive teenager who has not yet entered the marriage mart … or famously become a Bridgerton.
Production
Showrunner/Executive Producer/Writer: Shonda Rhimes
Director/Executive Producer: Tom Verica
Executive Producer: Betsy Beers
The spinoff will reveal more on Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury and Lady Violet’s friendship!
As you all remember, there was a scene in season 2 where King George showed up during a meeting the Queen was having with the Sharmas, Lady Violet and Lady Danbury. Lady Violet and Lady Danbury have been friends with the Queen for such a long time, and it showed in that scene, as Golda Rosheuvel said herself.
“I’ve got my two best friends in the room, Ladies Danbury and Violet. I’ve got these unknown entities in the Sharmas. And there’s a wedding that’s not happening for the Diamond that I chose,” Rosheuvel explains. “Then the husband comes in. How do all of these emotional stories collide when this thing happens? In the first take, I just focused on my best mates. The King comes in, and that emotion hits me. I know that they’ve seen him behave like this before, and I know that they know what’s going on because I’ve told them. They’re my mates. They are like family.”
But the spinoff will explore more of that friendship, as Adjoa Andoh says while recalling a scene in season 2 with Danbury and Violet laughing their hearts out.
“Lady Bridgerton has to deal with eight children and who’s marrying whom, and she kind of keeps a tight lid on everything,” Andoh says. “It’s all kind of controlled. And Lady Danbury thinks she knows everything until the wheels fall off, and she hides away in a room. These women have a long-time friendship. What are they going to do? It is a ‘laugh or cry’ moment. In an honest and safe way, they just laugh. There’s something really touching about seeing people who think they’re in control just surrender.”
“You need to strategize,” Andoh says of her character’s agility and grace amid the Ton. “These courts are not cuddly, friendly places. They’re rabid, and you have to survive. Lady Danbury has gotten to a position of comfort and safety and status because she learned to play the game, and you will see how.”
Golda Rosheuvel Promises The Queen’s Spin-Off Will Have the Same “Passion and Drama”
“It’s definitely gonna have all the passion and the drama,” she told hosts Justin Sylvester and Loni Love in an exclusive interview. “You’re going to see young Queen Charlotte, young Lady Danbury, young Violet [Bridgerton], young Brimsley. It’s gonna be in the world of Bridgerton, so you’re gonna see how they got to where they are now.”
Rosheuvel will reprise her role as the Queen of England in the new series along with Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh and Ruth Gemmell as Lady Danbury and Lady Bridgerton, respectively. Actress India Amarteifio will play Queen Charlotte in her younger years alongside several new cast members.
Something Rosheuvel’s younger counterpart will have to get used to: Queen Charlotte’s extravagant hairstyles, as she revealed that her season one looks were far heavier than season two’s.
“Some of them are heavy,” Rosheuvel shared. “Season two, I got to be more collaborative with Erica, who is our amazing makeup and hair design. We talked nearly every single day about what we were gonna do.”
The Netflix star didn’t want to stop having “those works of art appear in the show,” so part of her collaboration with hair and makeup involved brainstorming better ways to help her “sustain a day’s filming.”
“We talked about different materials that we could use to kind of make the framing inside the wigs that you see,” she shared, “to use different materials that were lighter than the ones we originally used.”
“I would say on a bad day—which is a good day because it’s a ball,” she said, “it would take about two and a half hours.”
The neck pain was worth it in the end, as Rosheuvel loves being a part of Shonda Rhimes‘ Shondaland, calling it “an amazing world to live in.”
“It’s positive, it’s really friendly, it’s a family, it’s really supportive. There’s so, so, so much love in that world,” she shared. “I’m really, really grateful to be a part of it.”
Part of that “amazing world” comes from the show’s diverse cast of characters, something the actress finds very important to see on TV.
“We want modern stories, stories that reflect the world that we’re living in today. We want diversity, we want inclusion,” she said. “And I think you can see from the popularity and the success of the show globally that this is what people want in their storytelling nowadays.”
Photos from the first table read
Are you excited about Bridgerton ‘s spinoff centered on Queen Charlotte?
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Source: Netflix
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