If you're looking for a new show to binge, Netflix' Bridgerton is your ticket.
The Shonda Rhimes-produced period piece follows the Bridgerton family as they navigate finding love during the Regency era. Cue lots of drama, romance, and steamy scenes.
Still thirsting for more? Come learn these 10+ behind-the-scenes facts that fans should know.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
Author Julia Quinn created several books centered around the Bridgerton family.
Since the books are so popular, showrunner Chris Van Dusen felt the pressure to adapt them the right way.
Everything this famed producer and showrunner touches turns to gold: Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, and now, Bridgerton.
She was actually the one who gave showrunner Chris Van Dusen a copy of the eight-book Bridgerton series three years ago.
"With Bridgerton, I wanted to take everything I loved about a period show and turn it into something fresh, topical and relatable," he told Shondaland.
They engaged in six weeks of diligent prep, ranging from costume fittings to etiquette classes.
There were also horse riding and piano lessons. "I was like, ‘Oh, okay. This is kind of crazy,’” Dynevor told Harper's Bazaar.
She was clearly perfect for the job!
"When I auditioned for the show, I didn't have any full scripts, [and] I hadn't read the books. I got offered the job after that one audition, which was so unexpected," she told Entertainment Weekly.
Yes, she is the voice of Lady Whistledown. When it came to choosing who would voice the character, Van Dusen said that Andrews was top of the list.
Andrews recorded all of her parts from her home in the Hamptons.
"Everything that you think Julie Andrews is, she is," the showrunner told Oprah Magazine.
This means that most of the cast has yet to meet Julie in real life. While there was a plan for Julie to visit the set, it never worked out due to the coronavirus pandemic.
How crazy is this?! This was the scene where Simon explains to Queen Charlotte that he loves Daphne.
The corsets, for example, were all made by Mark Erksine, a famous corset maker.
In addition to this, Phoebe Dynevor had "104 dresses" in Season 1 of Bridgerton, which she said made things "overwhelming."
The actress documented the process on her Instagram.
Based on how long it took, no wonder she didn't want to join the pairing-up season!
Say whaaat? The show had an intimacy coordinator for those sex scenes.
"Those scenes were heavily choreographed, much like an action sequence, like 'Your hand goes here, your leg goes there.' They were all really, really rehearsed," Van Dusen told E! News.
A central piece of this racial equality was having Queen Charlotte (Golda Resheuval) be biracial.
"We want modern audiences to relate to the story and to see themselves on screen,” Van Dusen told Shondaland.
She only discovered it once she did some digging into fan forums on the book. After learning this, she asked the showrunner, who confirmed that it was true.
"It means that she's this crazy active listener all the time," she told EW.
"She's the most low-status character in any room, but she's the most high-status as well, like she controls all of London society while being looked down on as this total wallflower."
This meant that those horses pulling the carriages weren't real.
It was actually crew members who would move it. Page joked that this was quite strenuous on the crew when they wanted to go faster.
Trouble is, she had to wear heels since she's a lot shorter than the rest of the cast.
While heels made her eye-level to them, she gave up after she kept falling and even stabbed Claudia Jessie, who plays Eloise, in the hand when she did.
She told Harper's Bazaar:
"We just spent so much time with our choreographer, Jack Murphy, and loads of time in the studio — just me, Regé, and Jack sort of getting the moves right and dancing and dancing to this modern, fun music. And we just got time to play and sort of form a connection."
This ended up being very beneficial, as Phoebe told Harper's Bazaar that it made the actors really comfortable once they began filming.
Jonathan didn't have any time for pleasantries, it was right to work! He said that during this scene, he got to know the makeup department on an intimate level.
"They had to de-shine my bottom," Bailey embarrassingly admitted during an interview.
Bridgerton is supposed to be set in the Regency era (1795-1837).
While the style of dress is in the same ballpark, for show purposes they made the gowns more ornate as well as introduced a more modern color scheme.
You can visit the gardens but sadly the actual maze is zoned off from the public.
I guess they must have gotten tired of constantly having to rescue lost guests.
In the final scene of the first episode, Simon and Daphne have their first dance at the ball.
In reality, it wasn't night time at all but rather very early in the morning. How early you ask? It was only 4 AM.
"I saw Julie [Andrews'] face, and then I saw Shonda and I saw Whistledown, and it was like too much information at once, so I just burst into tears," Nicola said during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
In the beginning, the horses were supposedly calm and well-behaved. But then as soon as they heard the cry for "action!" they became incredibly difficult to work with.
They almost begin moonwalking backward, as you can see from this video.
