For a big show like Bridgerton, the audition
process is definitely something you would find fascinating as you get to know how every
one of the main cast landed their roles and what they did to get it perfectly right!
The first procedure for the actors auditioning for a project like Bridgerton is that they aren't
allowed to know the show's official name until it's been finalized. And for Bridgerton, many of
the cast had no clue but knew it was a Shondaland production, and Luke Thompson was also in the
dark when he was auditioning for Benedict. But that doesn't mean he wasn't prepared. During his
audition, Luke was made to read for two scenes, which he recorded in a tape and sent to the
casting director, Kelly Valentine Hendry. He was mainly made to read the scene between himself
and Eloise having a conversation on the swing. After sending in the tapes for his audition, Luke
met the assistant casting director, Cole Edwards, to read for another role. And surprisingly to
Luke, that was all he needed to do before landing a role in Bridgerton. According to the actor, he
got a call in 4 weeks from his agent bearing the good news. This audition process still surprises
Luke as he thought it would be more complex and require a lot of script readings before he got the
part. The thing is, Luke's past experiences hadn't been rosy, as he sent hundreds of tapes and had
about 3% success in landing the roles after that. Luckily, Luke had already conquered stage
acting before making it big in Bridgerton. He had spent ten years in the theater and won a
few awards before finally featuring in a popular TV show. Luke has acted in many Shakespeare
plays and has been a significant part of the West End theater. One thing that gives him an
advantage in script reading and auditioning is that he quickly learns his lines. The actor said,
"Learning lines is more accessible on the move; I'll be walking down the street and run into
someone while reciting at full throttle." So, this technique made the casting directors realize
he could portray Benedict in the Regency era in a way modern viewers would enjoy. But that's not
the only skill Luke has. Born in Southampton, Luke lived most of his life in France, which
means speaking French is another upper hand he has during auditions, as being bilingual is a big
deal in the film industry. And Luke doesn't just know how to speak; he also has the perfect accent.
Now, getting the role is one thing; preparing for the character of Benedict was another crazy
experience Luke had to put himself through to fit into the show. And these preparations are all
different for the cast. However, Luke started by studying some materials on the Regency era before
making his preparations more physical. As the show advanced to a second season, Luke began to work
more with his trainer to get his physique more attractive. Funnily enough, this training also
made his bottom scenes look even better. It's no longer news that Benedict is one of the wild
Bridgerton brothers with plenty of lady friends in the show, with whom he sometimes gets steamy,
so being fit was necessary. The actor added more reasons he needed to work on his body, saying,
"Well, just all those sorts of scenes. You're in a romance show, so it's part of the deal." So, it
was challenging to become Benedict Bridgerton as Luke had to go through different workout routines
like squatting and lunges. He was so dedicated to this that he became pale while at it and almost
threw up. Preparing for Benedict was so crazy that Luke said he preferred being an ordinary
actor to working out to be super attractive. Aside from the problematic aspect of preparing
for the role, Bridgerton has a thing for an easy audition process, and Simone Ashley also went
through a delightful experience to land her role. For Simone, she didn't even need to do much before
making an impression on the casting directors. So, while she was working on the set of Sex Education,
her agency made her know that Bridgerton's casting team was considering her for a role in the show,
which made her send in her audition tapes reading a few lines. And two weeks after that, Simone got
another call congratulating her on winning the part of a female lead in season 2. But then, since
she was told the casting news was still a secret, she had to keep it low. At the time, everyone was
talking about Bridgerton 1, and her costars on that set were also discussing it, but she had to
pretend she knew nothing about what would happen next not to ruin the surprise. Things moved
on pretty fast from there. In about 10 days of getting the role, Simone started preparing
to portray Kate. She met with Jonathan Bailey, who plays Anthony, for their chemistry reading,
and it was also very successful. Soon after, she met all the executives working at
Bridgerton, including Shonda Rhimes, and everyone could see Kate through her.
However, unlike Luke, who went through hard workout sessions to portray Benedict, Simone
had things relatively easy as she instantly connected with Jonathan. Simone's role as Kate was
mainly about bringing out the realistic romantic energy shared between herself and Anthony and her
sisterly love for Edwina despite her feelings. Although Simone and Jonathan were strangers
to each other, they made it work instantly. Simone said, "There was no real time to hang out,
but we managed to sneak off for a drink together one day when we were filming on location. We've
always had each other's backs from the start; it's a partnership." Luckily for them both, they
had a crazy chemistry that could be felt on set, which made Simone settle quickly into her
character. Also, many new cast members would have felt intimidated joining an already
set-up show, such as Bridgerton as the main lead of season 2, but Simone didn't
let that stand in her way. In her words, she already knew how to deal with such pressure.
Regarding Kate's other responsibility as a sister, Simone only had a little time to catch up with
Charithra Chandran as they were filming during the Covid restrictions. But then, they got to share
the same makeup truck on set, and even though they had limited conversations, Simone was able
to observe Charithra and learn more about her, which worked out well. Simone said watching
Charithra prepared her to play the role of a big sister and also get to admire her strength. Also,
both Simone and Charithra originate from South India. They also got to share the same accent
coach, and their shared culture helped Simone step up as Kate did for Edwina in the show.
Funnily enough, Nicola Coughlan also had it easy to become Penelope during her audition
process, as she needed only one audition. So, during the process, Nicola met with the casting
director's assistant to do her reading instead of sending in a tape like others did. However, even
though Nicola thought she did an excellent job, she became worried because she knew it was for a
big show. The actress said, "But I knew it was a Shondaland show for Netflix. And thought, 'This
is going to be months of auditions. It's going to be so protracted and terrifying; you’ll meet
the execs, get to the table read, and then get fired!' You hear all these horror stories. So, I
certainly didn't expect anything from that first audition.'" With Nicola thinking the audition
process would take a long and stressful journey, she was shocked to discover she had been given the
role two weeks after her first audition. And the news was undoubtedly too good to be true for her.
Nicola was made to know that her character, Penelope, will have a love interest, Colin, and
the actress was very interested in knowing who would portray her lover in the show. To become
introduced to her story and prepare for her role, Nicola went to get Romancing Mr. Bridgerton and
read it. Later on, she started asking questions about who would play Colin, and there was a mix-up
at first with her thinking it was Luke Thompson, so she started researching him. However, she
was corrected and told Luke had been cast to play Benedict while Luke Newton, who was in
Disney, would be portraying Colin. And again, Nicola took to Instagram to search for Newton
and sent him a DM, and their friendship started even before they got on the set of Bridgerton.
The actress was so excited to meet Newton that she even told him a spoiler that she's Lady
Whistledown, which Newton was surprised to hear because, unlike Nicola, he hadn't read
the Bridgerton books. Nicola also added that she didn't want to think much of the future
while preparing for her role when she said, "It was weird to think, God, one day I might be
doing this really intense romantic season with him. It's hard to fathom it, but at that point,
we didn't know if that was ever going to happen." Nicola said she didn't want to raise her
hopes because only the first season was greenlighted then, and she had no idea if it
would ever get to her part. Interestingly, Nicola didn't have to prepare much for their
spicy roles because she had enough time to become very friendly with Newton. But that wasn't
all Nicola did to prepare for her Bridgerton role. While filming for Bridgerton, Nicola was
also on the set of another show, Big Mood, which made it a very stressful experience for her.
To cope with fitting into two different roles around the same time, Nicola decided to take
her mental health seriously by going to the gym and attending therapy once a week. She also
made sure to settle into her role as Penelope by taking a relaxation day where she would get
a massage. She explained how she coped with the stress that comes with Penelope, saying, "I
was like, self-care is what I need to invest my money and my time in because it's so demanding
to shoot something like that. And I was like, if I'm not in the best state I can be, it
will drain me out. It's draining anyhow." Although Nicola had a straightforward audition
despite the stress that came with it later, Newton initially auditioned to play the Duke
of Hastings, which is surprising. By now, Bridgerton viewers can't see the actor differently
from Colin, whom he plays. And Bridgerton could have taken a different path if he got cast
for the role of the Duke of Hastings after applying. Unfortunately for Newton, the role
later went to Regé-Jean Page. Luke narrated how that later turned around for him, saying,
"Eventually, they said they thought I was more suited to Colin. I came out of the audition
and felt I'd done everything possible. Then I got the call, and they said I'd been booked!"
Newton wasn't too disappointed when he couldn't get Simon's role, as he fell in love with
Colin as soon as he read the script. After reading what Colin was all about, Newton
hoped that the casting directors wouldn't change their minds as the role stuck out to
him. And luckily for Newton and the fans, he had no issues with holding on to Colin, as it
would have been weird if that part had gone to another actor. Like many past audition processes,
Luke also had an easy one because he didn't even need to do a second reading before they were
convinced he would do just fine as Colin. And after he got cast, he immediately connected
with Nicola, which helped the chemistry between their characters. Also, Newton didn't have
to work too hard on that because conversing with Nicola was natural and exciting. As they
started preparing to film, they would get tea breaks together, practice their lines, and chat,
and they quickly developed their friendship from there and insisted on having their makeup done
next to each other for even more perfect bonding. Funnily enough, Newton started feeling pressured
when season 3 approached as he needed even more preparations for his unique season with
Penelope. And he decided to go to Jonathan, who helped him settle into his main character's
vibe. From season 2, Newton paid more attention to how Jonathan played his role as the lead and
sought out his advice, which is very obvious in how Newton nailed his role in Polin's season.
But the crazy thing about auditioning for a show like Bridgerton is that an actor might
want a role and get another part entirely. So, it wasn't only Colin who wished to play the
role of Simon; Jonathan Bailey also applied to play the character. However, he was already
being considered to portray the Duke of Hasting before meeting with the production company and
former showrunner, Chris Van Dusen, where they spoke on different interesting topics. And when
they were done, they told him to consider Anthony instead because he sounded like a good fit for
the role. So, they sent him some scripts to familiarize him with Anthony, which Jonathan was
happy to do. The actor said, "Ultimately, it's really exciting when you're told the character
you should be thinking about. Because no one wants to go and see Hamlet played by someone who
wants to play Hamlet. They saw something in me, and they were like, 'Go on, you can do it.'"
All Jonathan had to do was prepare for the love triangle in which his character is
involved, and he made sure to connect with Simone and Charithra about it. To get into
his failed romantic persona with Edwina, Jonathan first made friends with Charithra by
sending her a good luck DM via Instagram. That message was uplifting for Charithra, who initially
auditioned to play Kate, and it also helped their chemistry reading preparation for their scenes.
It was a different case for Kate as Jonathan knew he had to connect with Kate, especially for their
intense love story. Simone and Jonathan had two chemistry readings, one when they first met and
another in episode 4 at the Aubrey Hall's library. If you couldn't imagine anyone else playing the
Duke of Hastings as we have in our other video about actors that could get recast for the role,
then you definitely would find it strange to know that Golda Rosheuvel, who plays Queen Charlotte,
also auditioned for a different role at first. So, like Newton and Jonathan, Golda read for Lady
Danbury, which would have been insane and changed how the show turned out if she had gotten
it. Golda said, "I first auditioned for Lady Danbury. But it went to the marvelous, marvelous
Adjoa Andoh, who is a dear friend." But then it took a different turn, according to Golda.
Golda's wife, Shireen Mula, helped her film the audition tape, which lasted between 30 to
45 minutes. And what's even more exciting is that she sent in the first tape because it was
easy for her to read. And a few weeks later, Golda had already received the good news.
For Claudia Jessie, who plays Eloise, her audition process was pretty simple, too. And
it's such a good thing for the cast as Claudia revealed that auditioning for the show is the
best she has ever had since the start of her career. The actress still remembers the exact date
her career took a different turn with Bridgerton, which was on the 4th of April, 2019. Like
Nicola, Claudia also had her audition with the casting director, Cole. She said the
audition process was easy, fun, and enjoyable. However, due to previous terrible experiences
while awaiting feedback, Claudia decided to let go of the show or anything that could remind
her she had recently auditioned and move on with her life. Shortly after that, Claudia got
a call that she had landed her Bridgerton role, which was very quick and surprising.
Then, to prepare for the role, the actress began reading the books to learn
more about her character and the story. Also, she worked extra hard at learning her lines and
mastering the art on set. As a woman in her 30s, Claudia realized she had to bring up some
childishness to portray the 17-year-old Eloise correctly. And ever since she got her role,
Claudia hasn't stopped appreciating everyone who made it possible. Even when she returned to the
show for season 2, the actress shed tears after trying out her gorgeous costumes, saying
she felt privileged to wear the outfits. Although most Bridgerton cast got their
roles quickly and on the first try, Hannah Dodd had to try harder. Before season
1 was released, Hannah Dodd auditioned for Bridgerton but didn't make it after getting to the
final round. Sadly for her, the show was a hit, and Hannah returned to her part-time cleaning
job. But her story finally turned around after she learned she could join the series as Francesca for
season 3 after the former actress for the role, Ruby Stokes, went ahead to lead another show. She
couldn't quite believe it the first time she saw the set of Bridgerton. The actress said, "I felt
like a competition winner being taken around the set. I thought I'd stepped into my TV screen."
Also, it took a while before Hannah could get introduced to other Bridgerton cast because
many of them weren't present when her first scene was shot. The first person Hannah became
close to on set was Claudia, which was natural since their characters are sisters in the show.
They bonded well while preparing at 4 am to do their hair and makeup. Then, Hannah became close
to Newton, too, as the two got competitive over their dancing choreographies, and Hannah knew
she was in the right place. Also, Francesca has some intense steamy scenes, and she started
preparing for that from day one with a spicy act coordinator because the fans started warning
her about them as soon as she got the role. Interestingly, Hannah's life has changed since
she became Francesca as she got a little flat in Southeast London, but preparing for her
Bridgerton role has messed up her regular schedule. According to Hannah, landing the
Francesca role has taken most of her time as she barely had the time to settle into her new
flat with no curtains, her TV still on the floor, and no table to take her coffee. But it's
all been worth it because it's Bridgerton! Bridgerton was relaxed with the audition process
because they had a straightforward list of people they wanted before handing it over to the casting
director. The list says they needed the best actors and actresses, not big names familiar
to everyone. So, the casting director, Kelly, started looking into theaters and had a lot
of opportunities to pick the right choices rather than being limited to famous
names. Since this casting happened, Bridgerton has made the cast into those
big names, and it doesn't get any better!
