* Bridgerton season 1 spoilers below! *
We got the shock of our lives when Nicola Coughlan pulled back her hood and revealed that Lady Whistledown was none other than Penelope Featherington at the end of Bridgerton season one!
We'll be keeping our eyes on Penelope when the hit costume drama returns to Netflix for Bridgerton season 2 later this month, but how long will she be able to keep her secret?
Nicola gives us a taste of what's coming up for Penelope, whether she gets closer to her dream man Colin Bridgerton and the decision to reveal her true identity...
Nicola Coughlan on Penelope's story in season 2...
"Season 2 is like Penelope’s Britney Spears era: she’s not a girl, not yet a woman. She’s definitely moved on but she’s not quite there yet. Following the big reveal at the end of last season, you start to see a lot more of the Whistledown side of her seep into her everyday life. We start seeing Penelope and Whistledown come together, and that’s been so much fun to play because it’s almost been like playing two completely different roles. I don’t think it’s going to be what people expect."
Last season ended with the big reveal that Lady Whistledown is actually Penelope. How did you first find out about that big reveal?
"I found out that Penelope was Lady Whistledown in an unexpected and strange way. I was on an online fan forum, because I just wanted to absorb as much information about Penelope as quickly as possible once I got the role. And I was in such shock, I couldn’t believe it.
"To get cast in this show in the first place is so exciting, but to learn it was an even better part, and that they would entrust me with that role, was so, so exciting. We didn’t know whether it was going to be revealed at the end of season 1 — we actually recorded it months after we recorded everything else because they couldn’t make up their minds whether or not to reveal it — but then I got a call from Chris Van Dusen, our showrunner, saying, 'We feel like it makes sense to reveal it because of where we want to take Penelope in season 2.'
"I think you’ll see the reason why, and it’s much more fun now. I always feel like shows that have secret identities in them, if you keep it going for too long, it never pays off. I think it was the smartest thing to let the audience in on the secret early because it’s going to be so much fun for them to watch Penelope now, knowing that she has to sneak around."
Why do you think Penelope created this alter ego for herself?
"Penelope’s very much an outsider in her family. She can really compartmentalize. She takes things and goes, 'Okay, won’t deal with that right away,' and puts it on a shelf. I think she’d love to be outspoken in the way that Eloise is but it’s just not her nature. She is, I think, a really classic writer; that’s what a lot of writers are like. Sometimes you meet someone who’s written the wildest thing, but they’re the most reserved person in the room. And you think, 'How did all those characters come out of you?'
"I also think she’s been used to observing her whole life. She’s in the room, but no one looks at her and no one talks to her. There’s a Matilda element to her as well, like, 'I’ll get revenge on you by being clever'. But Penelope can’t keep stacking that shelf full of things, because it’s eventually going to topple over."
What can you tell us about what we’ll see in Penelope and Eloise Brigerton’s (Claudia Jessie) friendship this season?
"It’s been really fun because Eloise debuts into society this season, and I was always very excited for that to happen because Penelope had no friends at the balls last season. She was lonely a lot of the time. Funnily enough, that can be quite lonely to film because you’re just sort of standing on your own for hours and days at a time. But with Eloise at the balls now, it’s also become difficult for Penelope because she’s a woman running a business based on collecting the gossip — that’s what she has to do. But Eloise is magnetized to Pen all the time.
"So it’s fun having the challenge of Penelope loving Eloise but also knowing she’s in her way a bit. You get to see them have a lot of fun and also go out into society and sort of whisper about everyone. They think they’re the two cleverest girls in the room, which they probably are. They like to sit there and judge, so that’s been really fun. It’s definitely a rollercoaster of emotions this season. Claudia and I do not like when Penelope and Eloise fight, we’re massive babies about it, but I think theirs is a true friendship. It can’t be sunshine and roses all the time."
Why do you think Penelope has chosen not to tell Eloise that she’s Lady Whistledown?
"I think Penelope’s so used to keeping her secrets. I feel like it’s something she’s done since she was very little because she’s such an outsider. Philippa and Prudence, her sisters, have one another. Her mum’s very caught up in society. Her dad is gone now, but he was a very absent, distant figure. I think she’s very used to closing off everything in herself and not really sharing. And that’s also why she gets so much fun out of Eloise, because Eloise is so open in a way she isn’t, and doesn’t know how to be. Whistledown just lives in a different part of her brain. But you’ll really see her struggle with that this season, and you see the secret eating away at her — which it should, by the way! Just to separate myself from the character. Every time Penelope lies to Eloise, I’m like, 'That’s terrible, that’s terrible!'"
There’s a little bit of a cat and mouse game between Penelope and Queen Charlotte this season, as she tries to unmask Lady Whistledown’s true identity. Can you tell us a bit about that?
"Queen Charlotte is very determined to take Whistledown down. In this world, it sometimes feels in a way like Whistledown has more power than Queen Charlotte herself. Queen Charlotte should be the one setting the trends and telling everyone what’s what, but Whistledown steps in instead. And that’s such a slap in the face to the queen, so she is very determined to take this girl down. But it’s not as easy to find Lady Whistledown as Queen Charlotte would like."
What can you tell us about Penelope’s love life in season 2?
"Penelope’s love life is as complicated and one-sided as ever. Her relationship with Colin Bridgerton has progressed from season 1 because they’ve become pen pals while Colin’s been traveling. Because Penelope’s a writer, I think she finds it much easier to express herself in that way. I think she’s more her true self around Colin than she is around anyone else. Even more so than Eloise, in a weird way. But her feelings for Colin are obviously up here, and his are sort of down there, and they’re not quite meeting in the middle. But she’s a one-man woman, very much."
The Bridgerton ball scenes have now become so iconic. What goes into crafting these big events?
"The ball scenes are truly epic, and there’s an epic amount of work that goes into making them. It takes way longer than people think, because you’re getting hundreds of people ready and there are weeks of planning that go into the wigs alone.
"One dress I wore this season was individually beaded, and it weighed a ton. I had to run up the stairs in one scene and they were like, 'Can you go a bit quicker?' and I was like, 'Physically, no, I cannot.' The choreography is amazing. Sean 'Jack' Murphy, our choreographer, is the world’s nicest man, and he uses a lot of modern music.
"So we dance to modern music in the session, and then they put their Regency twist on it. Jack approaches the dance very much as another part of storytelling. I didn’t think I was going to get a dance this year so when I got a dance I was very thrilled, as was my mum. She kept asking every time she’d ring me on a lunch break, 'Did you dance at the ball?' And when I eventually did she was really happy."
Bridgerton season 2 arrives on Netflix on Friday, March 25.
