'Bridgerton' star Nicola Coughlan dishes on season 4 and its 'different types of love stories'
"Bridgerton" star Nicola Coughlan is teasing what to expect during the popular series' upcoming fourth season.
In an interview Wednesday with "Good Morning America" at the 2024 Time 100 Next Gala in New York City, Coughlan, who portrays Penelope Featherington in the regency era-inspired show, said her character is now "happily married" to Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton).
"It's very fun to be playing like a happily married person with a very cute baby," she said. "It feels like they went through all their strife last time."
"So they get to come back and just be in love and have the best time together," she added.
The show, which focuses on specific "Bridgerton" characters' storylines each season, followed Colin and Penelope's friends-to-lovers romance in season 3. The third season also exposed Penelope's secret identity as Lady Whistledown, the anonymous writer who details the gossip of the ton in a pamphlet, and how that exposed secret played out in her relationship with Colin.
Next season, the storyline of Colin's brother Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) will be explored. In September, it was revealed that his love interest, Sophie Baek, will be portrayed by Yerin Ha.
Coughlan didn't reveal much about what to expect, but said that Thompson and Ha are "hard at work being our leads this time."
"They're doing an amazing, amazing job," Coughlan added.
In addition to Benedict Bridgerton's romance, season 4 will also explore a new love story. In season 3, fans got a glimpse of Bridgerton sibling Francesca's (Hannah Dodd) story and were surprised when they saw the show suggesting she might fall in love with a woman, Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), in the seasons to come.
"I know as a cast, we've been really craving a queer storyline and that representation is so, so important," Coughlan said about Francesca's storyline. "I just know that it's going to be done so well by Hannah and Masali. They're going to do an incredible job. Whenever their time comes, they're going to be ready, and they're going to knock it out of the park."
The change with Francesca's story -- which is told in author Julia Quinn's sixth "Bridgerton" novel, "When He Was Wicked" -- was met with some criticism among fans. But Quinn addressed the change in an Instagram post in June, saying that after getting more information from showrunner Jess Brownell about Francesca's updated storyline, she was "confident" about how Francesca's story would be depicted.
"It will be the most emotional and heart-wrenching story of the show, just like When He Was Wicked has always been the true tear-jerker of the Bridgerton book series," Quinn said.
Coughlan added that she admires the series for focusing on a wide range of love stories.
"I love 'Bridgerton' because it's a show that tells all different types of love stories," she said. "So everyone should feel represented in it."
