'Bridgerton changed landscape of what is and isn't allowed'

Nicola Coughlan is leading the third season of the Regency era series after staying in the shadows as Penelope Featherington

- BEDIKA

Audiences are crying out for representation and ‘Bridgerton’ has done just that by changing the landscape of what is and isn’t allowed on screen, said actor Nicola Coughlan, who is leading the third season of the Regency era series after staying in the shadows as Penelope Featherington.

Coughlan’s co-lead Luke Newton, who plays Colin Bridgerton, agreed that the hit ‘Netflix’ period romance has made huge strides in inclusion, its colour blind casting a much-discussed topic of conversation for viewers across the globe.

“The success of the show is proof that it’s what people wanted and that’s a really nice place to sit in and know each season that the choices that are made behind the show are going to be supported by the majority of people,” Newton told PTI in an interview.

Coughlan, whose crush on the third Bridgerton sibling Colin has been explored in this season, said that she is proud of the way the show has become a cultural phenomenon.

“The show has genuinely changed the landscape for what is and isn’t allowed in period dramas and what should be on screen. I feel there is a post-Bridgerton period drama world and a pre-Bridgerton period drama world. Also, this is what the audience clearly wanted. I think there are people that can sit in offices and go, ‘No, they just want a white person to do this, this and this’. You’re like, ‘No, they don’t’. Audiences are crying out for representation and joy and just to be included,” Coughlan told PTI in the interview.