In today’s most unsurprising news, Bridgerton, one of Netflix’s biggest original hits of all time, has been renewed for a second season.
As the first season followed the plot of the first book in Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” series, so to the second season will follow the second book, The Viscount Who Loved Me. This means Anthony Bridgerton, played by Jonathan Bailey, will be the focus of season two. Season two is expected to go into production this spring, though I am with Daphne herself, Phoebe Dynevor, in wondering how they will shoot a show with such a big cast and crew—and so many intimate scenes—under COVID protocols. Although one thing working in season two’s favor is that a lot of it is set at the Bridgerton country house, so they could do a lot outdoors, which may help? Outside is better, right? With space? Or is it worse because you could be breathing virus air? I honestly don’t know anymore.
There are two big questions for a second season of Bridgerton: 1) who will play Kate Sheffield, Anthony’s love interest, and 2) will Regé-Jean Page be back? To the first question, my fantasy casting is Gemma Chan. She’s way too prominent at this point, but she has that combination of perfect poise and sly wittiness that would fit Kate to a T. Kate is clever and sharp-witted, like Eloise, but self-contained like Daphne. She needs to be played by an actress that can split that difference and deliver both perfect social cordiality and withering set-downs when Anthony gets high-handed. I am SUPER into Kate casting and will be watching for news like Lady Whistledown scanning a ballroom for impropriety and scandalous goings-on. Kate Sheffield is my absolute favorite of the Bridgerton wives, I just hope they cast someone who can drop a perfect curtsy AND soul-crushing shade. (Secondary question, who will play Kate’s beautiful, intellectual sister Edwina, and tertiary question, will they go through the door they opened in season one and let Benedict be, at the very least, bi-curious?)
As for the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Hastings, there is no word on how involved Simon and Daphne will be, now that they are happily married. Of the duke and duchess’s return, showrunner Chris Van Dusen said, “…in my mind they will always be Bridgertons and I think they will always be part of the show.” They do pop up in The Viscount Who Loved Me, but not very much. Given the Regé-Jean Page thirst, though, I have to imagine Van Dusen will be looking for ways to beef up Simon’s part and have him more involved in the second season. They made Anthony a much bigger character in Simon’s story than he is in the books, so it’s only fair that Simon gets to be more involved in Anthony’s story. In the meantime, you can catch Page in Sylvie’s Love on Amazon Prime or in the first couple seasons of For The People on ABC. Or just browse his Insta, where he is 100% quenching the thirst.
