- 23 hours ago
Join the cast of 'Bridgerton' as they take Vanity Fair behind the scenes of the filming of the Season 4.
Season 4 of Bridgerton is available to stream exclusively on Netflix
Season 4 of Bridgerton is available to stream exclusively on Netflix
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Being on set is such a huge group effort.
00:03It is astounding the amount of people that it takes to make this thing.
00:06And so to just be able to witness it up close, it's a really privileged position.
00:10It's quite nice to have experienced the madness and go through that journey
00:14and then be able to take a step back and really appreciate it
00:17and see all the hard work that everyone's doing
00:19and to watch Luke and Yeren explore this crazy journey.
00:22It was really daunting joining the world of Bridgerton and I was pissing myself.
00:27Can I say that word? Okay, I'm pissing myself.
00:29It feels so long ago since we did the first season.
00:32The thought that we're on four is mind-blowing.
00:35Hi, I'm Luke Thompson.
00:36Hi, I'm Yeren Ha.
00:37Come with us for a day of shooting Bridgerton season four.
00:55Today's date.
00:56As in in real life.
00:57I actually have no idea.
00:58What is the, what, what, um...
00:59Today's date.
01:00Fuck.
01:01What's today's date?
01:02I don't even know what day it is, but it's Thursday.
01:042025.
01:05That's good.
01:06It's the first.
01:07No, it's not the first of May, is it?
01:08Second.
01:09First of June.
01:10Wait, first.
01:11Pinch punch first of the month.
01:13Is it the first?
01:14Fantastic.
01:16First of May.
01:17That's great.
01:18I don't know what date is anymore.
01:20May.
01:21Oh no, I was really coming in this year being like, I am not going to look like I did
01:25last
01:25time.
01:25And I look exactly the same.
01:28Shit.
01:28We have been shooting since September.
01:31I feel like I've been here for some time.
01:33We have been shooting the series for probably about nine months now.
01:37Home stretch.
01:38It really does take as long as everyone thinks.
01:41Episode.
01:42Yeah.
01:43Oh, because we've come back.
01:45So this is five.
01:48This is episode five.
01:49So we're about halfway through what will be the start of the second section of the show.
01:57We are filming Hyacinth's recital slash Bridgerton recital.
02:02Which is one of my favorite scenes of the season, actually.
02:04We started the Hyacinth recital yesterday and we'll shoot it for about four days.
02:10We are close to the end of our schedule.
02:11We lost one of our locations, so we had to come back and we got to build this amazing set
02:15behind me.
02:16We have four scenes to shoot within this room and a ton of tiny conversations happening
02:21and looks and all kinds of things.
02:22There are about 5,000 people in this scene, at least in my mind.
02:25The hardest thing about filming this scene is that there are about 18 principal actors
02:29and about 51 to 60 supporting actors.
02:37I try to get here early when I'm directing and just walk the set myself and walk in the
02:41feet and the steps of everybody that I'm going to be directing so that I believe whatever
02:45I'm asking them to do.
02:46Once I block the scene, then we show the crew and then we start setting up cameras.
02:50It's just a lot of moving parts and a lot of music and a lot of dancing.
02:54The challenge for a director is there are so many stories within the scene that have to
02:58be told.
02:59It's planning what your shots are, how it's all going to tie together, getting the actors
03:03all ready and prepared, keeping the actors focused because they screw around a lot.
03:06Always a challenge.
03:08You know, there's so many elements that come together, lighting and multiple aspects of
03:12hair and makeup and costumes.
03:14So bringing all those things to the forefront and having everything sync up, it takes a
03:17large village to make that happen.
03:19This is my first episode of Bridgerton and it has been absolutely incredible.
03:23Every single part of this process, every crew member, every cast member has felt like
03:26home.
03:27The buzz is real.
03:28We've got these dancers in, we've got these arrangements of these cool songs and Hyacinth's
03:31so cute.
03:32She's just so sweet.
03:33She's not old enough to go to a ball.
03:35Basically, she planned a recital so that all her friends her age can come and dance for
03:39everyone.
03:40She's kind of hoping to meet the love of her life.
03:42Spoiler, she doesn't find love.
03:44Although I must say, I'm rather thirsty after such activity.
03:47As am I.
03:49I shall fed some lemonade.
03:50Someone offering you a lemonade is like the sign of love.
03:52I'm like, oh, I really need lemonade.
03:54And then he ends up drinking the lemonade himself.
03:57It's fine.
03:57It's literally fine.
03:58And then I realize he's not the look of my life.
04:00She's got high standards.
04:01There is a part in the script where it says we're with our girls and I'm giving her a
04:05descent down the stairs.
04:06I want to give her that moment to shine and to kind of take in her ball.
04:09She's been really aching for this moment to find her true love.
04:12So I'm really excited to kind of give us a peek at what that might look like when we get
04:15it in a couple of years.
04:16But it's a different thing when the camera's on you.
04:19It feels like a different added pressure.
04:21You realize like, oh my gosh, we actually have to get this right now.
04:23So the first dance, which we're filming today and we filmed yesterday, a bit slower.
04:27It's the chaperone dance.
04:28It's to Billie Eilish.
04:29It's kind of a slower beat.
04:30But the dance I'm filming tomorrow with Gregory in it is to Charlie XCX.
04:35And it's literally like an endurance test.
04:37Music interlude.
04:46I keep waking up, like not being able to walk because my calves are like pounding.
04:50Also, the weather decided to be the hottest it's been all year.
04:53Very sweaty, which is great.
04:55What has been the hardest aspect of filming today's scene?
04:58Wearing my Spanx because they've ceased spanking.
05:00I'm just going to make that click because I've worn them for nearly nine months.
05:03So they're starting to roll up.
05:05But it's so hot today that I have to have them on.
05:07Otherwise, I'm going to get some sort of blister.
05:12They shouldn't be allowed to speak to me.
05:17Today is Benedict and Violet's confrontation scene.
05:19And it was honestly the most jarring part of the script for me.
05:23I felt so bad for her.
05:24And I felt like we were seeing a new color on him.
05:26So we'll be shooting that on the stairwell.
05:28And we'll get to see him in a new element of kind of speaking up for himself and putting his
05:31chest out a little bit.
05:32And we'll see Violet kind of taking a step back.
05:35We've seen that a little bit with Hanson in the past.
05:37But then I think this feels different coming from someone like Benedict.
05:39Whatever is going on between the two of you, it is not appropriate.
05:43Mother, before you chastise me, might I inquire what you were doing with Lord Anderson?
05:48You are betting a man who is not your husband with your children sleeping down the hallway.
05:52That is none of my business, but nor is mine yours.
05:56I think Sophie feels very conflicted about Benedict's attention in this scene because she likes feeling scene.
06:03But I think at this stage in Sophie's arc, she still doesn't feel completely worthy of it.
06:08And also, he did ask her just prior to this episode to be his mistress.
06:13Be my mistress.
06:14And I think that was a little bit of a slap in the face for her because I think she
06:18still has her morals and her values.
06:20So it is this kind of internal struggle and inner conflict that she's dealing with.
06:24But she still loves him and desires him.
06:26Yeah, it's hard, but she likes the attention.
06:28And who doesn't?
06:31Benedict has been pursuing Sophie.
06:34And Violet has seized on that and has doubts about his intentions.
06:38And so it's trying to step in.
06:39But at the same time, Benedict has spotted something's going on with Violet.
06:43He sort of throws that back in her face.
06:45Which is fair in some ways and a bit unfair in others because her husband did die a few years
06:50ago now.
06:52I'm trying to stop him pursuing Sophie.
06:55I realise that they like each other.
06:58I clearly don't know to what extent, but I need him to leave her alone.
07:02And I confront him about this.
07:04And he confronts me about my relationship with Anderson, which is a little bit of a shock.
07:10So this last season, it was the flirtation, it was the beginning of the interest between Violet and Anderson.
07:16Now we've been intimate and we've really developed a real love for each other, at least from Anderson's perspective.
07:23I think he's using it to shut me up over what's going on in his life.
07:28If it's none of his business, so therefore it's none of my business.
07:31I don't know if he particularly is scandalised by it, but I think it in society would be scandalised by
07:37it if it was public.
07:38When I watched Luke work this year, I feel like he was just always supposed to do this and was
07:43supposed to lead this show.
07:44Like he's so good at it.
07:45He's got the perfect professional personality to thrive in this environment.
07:49Myself and Luke have been in the show since day one.
07:52So Luke's had the same experience that I have.
07:54And now he's just stepping into the lead a year later.
07:57He's a pro. He doesn't need any advice. He's just like plain sailing.
08:02It's been six years since I've been on this job, which is mad.
08:06It was one of my first ever jobs. It's been really magical.
08:09So it's been like five years, six years since 2019. Can I count? Maybe. Who knows?
08:14I get away with murder on this job. Don't need to ride a horse. Don't need to dance.
08:17Don't need to do any piano forte or that stitchy mabobs. Nothing.
08:21I have been on Bridgerton since I was 11, since 2019.
08:25She feels like she was so young. I mean, she was young.
08:27I met her when she was 11 years old and I'm so protective of her and Will.
08:31But I also think I'm probably a terrible influence.
08:33So these are my longest days I've ever done because before I could only be on set for eight hours.
08:38But now they can help me as long as they want.
08:40So I'm really learning what it is to be the true actor on Bridgerton.
08:44We knew Florence when she was this tall. And now I think she's taller than me now.
08:48She's running around with Gregory playing tag, you know, in the first season.
08:52And now here she is, you know, getting ready for what this world is.
08:55She really is fantastic. Her comic timing.
08:57Every time we have kind of a new scene that we're all excited to see what she's going to do
09:00with it,
09:01she's hitting it out of the park.
09:02And it's exciting to see someone who has really kind of grown, not only as a person, but as an
09:06actor.
09:06We've grown up with them.
09:08So in a way, it's almost like mirroring what Hyacinth is going through of becoming a young lady.
09:14Ruth feels exactly like Violet does. It's really lovely to see.
09:17I feel like as an actor, it's one of the most special experiences anyone could have asked for.
09:21To live a character and grow up with the character.
09:23It's like an alternative personality almost.
09:25Just feel very fortunate to have had that experience.
09:28The thing I find most exciting about season four is seeing downstairs.
09:32The maids, the footmen, the staff.
09:35The sort of engine of the Bridgerton house.
09:37And how, like, love can transcend those boundaries, which is what Benedict and Sophie show.
09:42Something new for us is playing the kind of class difference.
09:45In this particular time period, there was a lot of rules that you didn't.
09:49And so that's created really nice barriers and obstacles for our storytelling.
09:53But really for them, where they are in society, to kind of come to that area where they can be
09:57together.
09:58And that challenging journey that they have.
10:00We're getting to know the sort of lifestyle of these people and of Footman John.
10:05Like, the daily grind.
10:07The daily drama that kind of is pretty incessant when it comes to John, Footman John.
10:13He's constantly being hauled over here, hauled over there, whipping up a carriage, getting someone out of trouble.
10:17But we're also seeing the more sensitive side of him.
10:20I think he aspires to be part of the Bridgerton, you know, clan.
10:23And he wants to fall in love himself.
10:26So we're starting to see a little bit of that.
10:27Sophie Beck, who is a new maid in the Bridgerton house.
10:31There's been a little bit of flirtatious tension, I suppose, between Benedict and Sophie.
10:36Yaron has been just a tremendous addition to our world in this process.
10:39It's always exciting looking for that chemistry with our new group.
10:43Luke, we've known as Benedict since day one.
10:45So to have someone new in the mix, there's been this excitement.
10:48The mechanism that works with this show is discovering this new couple and what is their chemistry.
10:53Where do they find each other?
10:54And these iconic scenes from the books that we were able to film has kind of exceeded what our expectations
10:59were.
10:59Bridgerton's, like, unique in that sense that it does each time revolve around a new set of people.
11:06And obviously, I know them all because I've been here for six years.
11:10And it's quite exciting to be a cheerleader because you're sort of like, wow!
11:13Everyone's like, you can do this as a man.
11:15I think the reason people love Bridgerton is because they love romance, right?
11:18And getting to see how each, like, sibling sort of faces that and deals with intimacy and love with their
11:24own unique way.
11:26Like, the way Anthony did it is very different to how Benedict has done it and is doing it.
11:30And the way Daphne did it was different to Colin.
11:33And I think we'll continue to see that.
11:35I guess just love is sort of, love's everything, isn't it?
11:37Oh, God, don't end on that.
11:39You can't end with me saying love is everything.
11:41I'll die.
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