TV & Movies
Bridgerton Stars Explained Why Season 2’s Big Wedding Made Them So Emotional
Fans weren’t the only ones who were in their feelings.
Spoilers ahead for Bridgerton Season 2. Angst was the unofficial theme of Bridgerton’s second season, and perhaps no sequence is a better example of that than the wedding in Episode 6, “The Choice.” As the love triangle between Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), Kate (Simone Ashley), and Edwina (Charithra Chandran) reaches a defining moment, there’s no escaping the emotional whirlwind — and even the actors felt that while shooting the scenes. Bridgerton stars looked back at the experience in a “Making a Scene” video for Shondaland on April 29, and they revealed that it was just as intense for them to film as it was for viewers to watch.
Getting into the right mindset, it turns out, was easy. The scale of the occasion, from the incredible location to the actors’ Regency finery, made Anthony and Edwina’s wedding day feel real to them. Shelley Conn, who plays Lady Mary Sharma, recalled feeling that “you could just give yourself over to the day.” As she escorted Chandran down the aisle, she felt like she was actually giving her onscreen daughter away. “There was something about walking down the aisle with Charithra and seeing Johnny at the altar and just thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, they’re about to get married,’” she said.
For Ashley and Bailey, the journey down the aisle was a unique experience, too. “I remember particularly me and Johnny were saying how vulnerable and scary it felt walking down that aisle,” Ashley said. “It felt like a real wedding. With everyone watching you, you feel incredibly exposed.” But, again, that helped. She was able to let go and just be “in the moment.”
Bailey described being “overwhelmed” and explained that “the service sort of played out as it would.” In fact, he said most of the actors never saw Chandran in her wedding dress until it was time for her to meet him at the altar for the first time on camera. It all came together for “an amazing moment” — one he’ll “never forget.”
The bride herself, though, mostly remembers feeling “so grateful” to have the scenes that she did. The fact that they were “showing the growth in Edwina” meant a lot to Chandran, and she even called Bridgerton creator and showrunner Chris Van Dusen to thank him. Her character’s journey in the TV series was different than in its source material, The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn, but it seems like she wholeheartedly approves of the changes.
Season 2 — especially Episode 6 — may have wrecked us all emotionally at times, but there’s no denying that Kate and Anthony’s love story was captivating. Bridgerton’s second chapter is now Netflix’s most popular English-language TV series ever, after taking the top slot from Season 1, as Variety reported in April. Fans are desperate for more, and while Van Dusen is handing off showrunner duties to writer and producer Jess Brownell for Seasons 3 and 4, he’s confident she’ll “continue the magic.” That magic may include making us all feel too much, but we’ll still take as many Bridgerton family weddings as we can get, whether they end in a kiss or chaos.
