Kathryn Drysdale: ‘There are a lot of racy scenes you didn’t see’
It’s the series that has turned period drama on its head and it’s given everyone something to smile about this January. In its first two weeks on Netflix, Bridgerton was streamed by an incredible 63 million households across the globe, making it the streaming platform’s fifth most successful show ever. But what has this instantaneous success meant for the stars of the show, most of whom have become household names almost overnight?
“It is so unreal for us all right now – we’re all trying to keep our feet firmly grounded,” says Kathryn Drysdale, the Wigan-born actress who plays society milliner extraordinaire Genevieve Delacroix.
At 39, Drysdale is no stranger to the spotlight, having starred in films including St Trinian’s and Vanity Fair, as well as hit comedy series The Windsors and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps – but she admits the Bridgerton effect has been on a different scale. “It’s been thrilling to see the show blow up, and I’m so glad it’s brought so much enjoyment to people around the world at a time when there’s a lot of darkness. We’ve craved colour, we’ve needed romance, dancing, vibrancy, we’ve needed human connection. It’s escapism at its best.”
About that “human connection”… There is a lot of it on the show. The most risqué moments in British period drama up until now have been Mr Darcy getting his shirt wet in a lake and Poldark scything in a corn field. Bridgerton – or “Binge-ton”, as Drysdale dubs it – ups the ante somewhat. There have been romps against a tree, sex-capades on a ladder and even a rather sticky sub-plot about a particular method of birth control.
We’re treated to repeated sightings of Anthony Bridgerton’s (Jonathan Bailey) and the Duke of Hastings’s (Regé-Jean Page) posteriors and, if anything, there’s more male nudity than female on show. Though Drysdale won’t be drawn on reports that the men have bottom make-up artists (“I need to pay more attention…” she laughs), she will admit that “there are a lot of racy scenes you didn’t get to see”.
While Page and on-screen love interest Daphne (Phoebe Dyvenor) have the lion’s share of the love-making, Drysdale gets to engage in a threesome with Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and another woman. It’s the kind of rakish Regency party that rarely turns up in Sunday night dramas. So what’s it like filming such intimate scenes?
“Things have changed in the last couple of years since the introduction of the intimacy coordinators on set,” Drysdale says. “There are slots on the schedule for the intimacy rehearsals, and it’s like a dance rehearsal, very relaxed, fully clothed, in a nice warm room. By the time you go on set, it’s like choreography: ‘Oh, this is the bit where I put my hand there and then he turns his head’.”
The stories about Bridgerton may have been mainly about the sex scenes, but the series also marks a turning point in the making of period dramas. With the exception of a couple of recent Dickens adaptations, most have remained resolutely white. But Bridgerton, based on the books by Julia Quinn, is produced by Shonda Rhimes, who has made diverse casting her calling card. “It’s very important to her that the audience see themselves reflected on screen,” says Drysdale, who is herself mixed race and was adopted at a week old. “And these people really did exist in history, and there’s been a bit of white-washing when it comes to British history.
“Bridgerton has proved diversity does work in a period drama. It shows there is a seat at the table for everybody and paves the way for other productions to be braver in their decision-making. People are thirsty to see themselves represented. Now I know there will be more opportunities for me as an actress in period drama because it’s been done and it’s successful.”
Drysdale says she has ended up on the cutting room floor before because of her colour. “I once played an old lady in a comedy sketch set during the Second World War, and the producer erased me from the sketch as he didn’t want the audience to be offended by the fact there was a black old lady who wouldn’t have existed in that era. My argument was, I would have existed. It shocked me he wasn’t aware of that, or he was frightened of what the audience’s response would be. But things are changing, thank goodness.”
There has been debate about Bridgerton’s “colour-blind” casting policy – a term used to describe casting where race is not specified or mentioned – but as Drysdale says: “This production is not colour-blind, it’s colour-conscious. We’re not playing white or colourless characters. I am definitely playing a mixed-race modiste” – and one with a faked French accent at that.
It’s a far cry from the American accent she perfected playing Meghan Markle in Channel 4’s long-running spoof, The Windsors. “When I auditioned for the part, the only thing we knew [about Meghan] was that she had this blog called The Tig. I spent a lot of time devouring that and her Instagram. But I wasn’t trying to play the real Meghan Markle – it’s a satire, we’re not doing The Crown. I wanted to make her like an American Disney princess, mixed in with wellness Meghan, spiritual Meghan and charitable Meghan.”
Having immersed herself in the Duchess of Sussex’s character, did Drysdale have any sympathy for the way she felt she was treated in the UK? “I’m not one for bullying, for sure, so it’s always quite a delicate process when we are in the rehearsal rooms of how far we satirise the Meghan character. The producers have always been careful about how she is portrayed. We don’t poke fun too much.”
Drysdale hints there may be more to come from The Windsors, and with another seven Bridgerton novels waiting to be adapted, she should find herself in employment for the foreseeable. But her period drama success has already opened other doors, too. “We’re all being sent more scripts and being seen for more things than we normally would have. To have more choice is wonderful,” she says.
Right now, the 63 million of us who binged on series one are desperate for the next instalment. It has been confirmed that season two will being filming in the spring, with the action focusing this time on Lord Anthony Bridgerton and his love life. It will be a different experience for the cast; this first series was completed before the pandemic.
But for Drysdale, nothing can damped her excitement. “It will be a big relief to see everyone again, and a lot of fun – and awesome to explore Genevieve further.”
