A Day On the Set of Bridgerton's Season 3 Finale | Vanity Fair

this scam we've been shooting since Monday it is now Wednesday the ball dayss are always like the big big days on set I knew how demanding it was going to be that I was going to be in almost every day and then you're filming for like 12 hours shall I have a vodka no there's no time have a cup of tea go to bed and do it on repeat Hello I'm Luke Newton come and join me shooting a day on Bridgeton today's date is the 22nd of today's date be December right now hell knows January the 83rd today's dat is the 22nd of February 2023 we're filming the scene number I believe it might be scene 33 part 5 we are filming episode 8 which is the final episode of season 3 and we are currently at the butterfly ball it is the butterfly ball do you want to say that oh yeah that's a great answer yeah thanks that's terrible I know all of my lines we have been filming since July almost the full year since I was 12 and I'm now 46 and as you can tell I'm dealing with it incredibly well it's the final ball like the final final ball it's in typically over the top featherington fashion there's a lot of pieces to cover and we've got like 40 cast maybe like 150 supporting actors and then all the crew so the ball days are always like the big big days on set my day begins with a little morning cry and then I get to work someone brings me a coffee it's outrageous the way I get treated actually in the way that it's brilliant quick breakfast get into the chair hair and make up get dressed or go to block first then come back and get dressed I got up at half six I'm in hair and makeup for about 3 hours it takes a million years because I'm in a coret and then I go and see one of my best mates who's my makeup eyes she's very good this is not me I look like a foot you can't see it cuz I'm wearing my blunt stones at the moment my proper boots this is a wig I have this much hair in real life and this is tight across my arms this one's quite loose but usually my arms can go like and then I can't give them any higher than that and then eventually you get called to set and then we start bloody acting I hope I can say bloody cuz I've said it twice now my day will end when I get home at uh about half 104 to 11: shall I have a vodka no there's no time have a cup of tea go to bed and do it on repeat this scene we've been shooting I think since Monday it is now Wednesday since God was the boy we've been filming this scene we 4 days here the challenge of course is having everybody in here and actors complaining when they're not in scenes why they have to be in the background but this is this is pretty bolome what it is this is like ultimate jenger on steroids you have about eight scenes held within the frame of one ball we could be having a scene and behind us we have the rest of the tunner here we're shooting on me the tun is doing this way if we shoot something from another point we have to get you and me in the background so you have to see everything in 360° in 4D all the time for for Tom Vera who's directing it's the ultimate crazy mind game once I had the script I started shot listing qued kind of where all of our actors are so if I can isolate a character off or be over a character and work them into editing later on I have to break all that down I think the hardest thing about shooting these sequences is that we can jump in at different parts of the ball for example today we've jumped in towards the end yesterday we started sort of earlier we have three cameras going we don't normally have three cameras going but we need it for this because the amount of coverage that we need to put together the 'll come together yes a real collaborative effort from all departments really it's a totally different experience filming this series as a supporting character to a lead character I knew how demanding it was going to be that I was going to be in almost every day I think I knew I had to really just get my head in it these times can be quite challenging because there's a lot of waiting around conservation of energy is very very important knowing when to to bring the fun and then also when to just key into what's happening we have to very much support the other actors it feels like a one big fan having everyone in you have the Bridgeton the feron lady d the queen when as someone who deals with uh crippling social anxiety mostly it's just the overwhelming amount of people in a space that's the hardest bit for me and that's a really selfish answer but the crew deal with it really well I prepare well in advance I'm working with a production designer with our DP we kind of see what our parameters are what's amazing about being at these balls is seeing the amount of De detail that's gone into every element of the design whether it's the food the room whether it's the costumes whether it's the hair whether it's the makeup you can really see that the team have come together to create something beautiful on a colossal scale I had an idea for a visual effects roof so we're putting a glass Dome on this which is not here and then we talked about the stage and I wanted a little raay stage in the middle of the room the queen enters and then pen ultimately reveals her moment here and I wanted her to be up on the stage a little bit so atically metaphorically it's about her stepping into the light and finding her voice we thought about the floor treatment and the fact that from an overhead shot it would look a bit like an optical illusion it gives her gravitas but at the same time she's sort of caged by The Columns that surround her but she's Breaking Free and that all plays into that final speech really we looked at the featherington characters and what we've done in the past for them it's a real explosion of color this one isn't it it's Regency pumped up but it's also for the featherington it's pumped up as well because they've got this in yourf face bold color palette we can tweak the knob up to number 11 really cuz we're in the world of Bridgeton first thing we wanted to do was take Penelope away from the Regency line we wanted to move a little bit into the future and we wanted to definitely give her a waistline that was done by georg's innovation of 1950s waspies and wonder it has the feel of rency but it's fantasy we come up with any any silhouette we like any period that we like that looks good on the actor and for the character with Penelope George gave her a nice 1950s Marilyn Maro shape she still looks Regency she still looks period but it's a subtle change that people that love her character will think it's a huge change when we have her initial transformation at the B Seasons ball she came out with quite a strong color the whole ball ends up going really badly for her so her color palette goes straight down this is her coming back out at the end so we've got strong color again we always like to go out with a bang and working with John who's the costume designer end to really do that and because he does that I am allowed with both the hair and the makeup to go pretty moody I would say I think it feels a little bit like a cabaret we got quite strong colors even some of the men has got makeup with Penelope my inspiration was a very old glamorous Hollywood Rita Hayworth definitely and then I think a little bit of Jessica Rabbit actually iconic we got the red lips as well for her speaking out to everybody and telling everyone that she is Lady whistle the butterflies the visual effect element that requires a lot of kind of conceiving ahead of times that's what a lot of these actors here are reacting to which nobody knows what it's going to look like yet so my biggest surprise will be once we kind of layer in that last piece I think a lot of this season pel be realizing she can no longer sort of separate her two identities who she truly is and lady whistledown that they're one and the same person and in order for her to live her truth and and for people to really accept her she has to accept that within herself and present herself to society so she takes a sort of terrifying move to write to the queen and tell her you know I am lady whistle down and I want a chance to explain myself so she sort of comes up in front of all these people which is something Penelope would never normally do and say this is why I did what I did and you can accept me or not but this is what's happened so it's like a huge moment for her hello all or should I say dearest gentle readers pel speaking her truth is probably the most fabulous thing we all have our own internal narratives going and if she's made the internal narrative one of my voice is never heard and I have to stay in the background and the only way I get heard is when I write as this sort of fake version of me lady whistle down when she owns her own narrative and goes I am that powerful and frontf footed woman within the body of this shy retiring person that Society is made she owns the truth of all of who she is as a notion philosophically that's what we all want to do we want go this is who I am I'm not going to have to fake it because Society doesn't like me being who I am I'm just going to own who I am I'm giving myself Goosebumps marvelous no one has ever taken any part of me seriously I only realize now how common that feeling must be to be a young lady to whom no one listens I don't know that there's ever been a two-page monologue in this show that's a lot of words to say Al together and also for the character someone like Penelope would find it so intimidating to stand up in front of of 200 people I wrote about all of you because I was captivated by you living your lives so out in the open and in writing about all of you I suddenly felt as if I had a life I had power it felt like a really momentous thing and you're seeing Eloise in the audience and seeing lady featherington and the queen being there and she speaks to lady danb for the first time on screen I'm sure that osen they've spoken but Adra and I were saying it's so funny in three seasons we've never had a conversation you knew it was me I suspect it you are not the only Lady of the Town who can keep us secret something in Julia Quinn's books is that lady d and panelope be a really good friend so it's really nice to have that I hope it's only the start of that relationship that would be very fun pen ever since I found out you are whistled down I have done everything I can to try to separate you from her Colin and Penelope meets towards the end of the ball and they're both on different pages at this point it's quite an emotional scene there's lots of honest feelings it's a really beautiful moment towards the end of the story Luke and I have had that advantage of having worked with one another for two seasons previously so having that groundw work there was really beautiful to come in and build on we spoke today about you know filming episode 8 as opposed to episode one we're like it's been eight months so it's such an intense process but I think the best thing has been having Luke as a partner within it and you know having someone that's as invested in the characters and gives as much time and Care makes it just like a fantastic process I love you you're a very good man Mr Bridget I Love You Bridget has such a big world I feel like we're custodians of the Bridgeton love story for a time and we'll pass it on to the next people but I take the responsibility seriously and I know these books have been beloved for like 20 odd years so I want to you know honor them as much as I can and get it right for the fans I've got to go you see all these people going in I'm being called back to video Village so I got to go direct to see got enough time with everybody morning [Applause] [Music] morning wrap her up thank you and sorry I'm so tired delete this

Channel: Vanity Fair

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Id: iNWqRwSxL0k

Length: 11min 14sec (674 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 13 2024