Ruby Barker’s Hellacious ‘Bridgerton’ Experience Underscores How the Shondaland Show Let Marina Thompson Down

Bridgerton is the Netflix show I watch whenever I want to escape my own troubles. Its candy-colored costumes, steamy sex scenes, and commitment to happily ever afters is always there for me when my own life is becoming too much. Which is why I wasn’t just disturbed, but enraged, to learn how the Shondaland series let one of its own down. Bridgerton actress Ruby Barker recently opened up on Oxford University’s The LOAF podcast about how she experienced “two psychotic breaks” after playing Marina Thompson in Season 1 of the hit Netflix series. Barker not only blames the mental torment of playing the troubled Marina on her crisis, but claims she was abandoned by production and pressured to promote the show while being unwell.

“Not a single person from Netflix, not a single person from Shondaland, since I have had two psychotic breaks from that show, have even contacted me or even emailed me to ask me if I’m OK or ask me if I would benefit from any sort of aftercare or support,” she said. “Nobody.”

While Barker herself has been quick to clarify in social media comments that she holds no resentment towards the Bridgerton crew or her co-stars, she is still pointing a finger at production. And honestly? Barker has a strong case to make that both Netflix and Shondaland let her down.

Marina Thompson is a minor character from Julia Quinn Bridgerton‘s novels whose sole purpose is to meet a tragic end to clear the way for one of the pretty, rich Bridgerton sibling’s happy ending. Not only that, but Bridgerton Season 1 beefed up Marina’s role in the saga to essentially torture the character even more, setting up a longer arc where Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) is not only the architect of Marina’s unhappiness, but the eventual benefactor of it, too.

“During the filming, I was deteriorating,” Barker said on The LOAF. “It was a really tormenting place for me to be because my character was very alienated, very ostracized, on her own under these horrible circumstances.”

Knowing the nature of Marina’s storyline and where it would eventually have to lead Barker as a performer, Netflix and Shondaland should have taken extra care to take care of her. Especially considering what Marina’s fate is…

**HUGE spoilers for Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton novels, ergo spoilers for Bridgerton on Netflix ahead!**

Don’t want to know what happens to Marina Thompson in Bridgerton? Look away! I’m warning you! IT’S BAD!

Marina Thompson is first mentioned in the prologue to Julia Quinn’s fifth Bridgerton book, To Sir Phillip, With Love. We learn she is a distant cousin of the Bridgertons — not Featheringtons — prone to depressive thoughts. She had originally fallen in love with Sir George Crane and they had intended to marry. Instead, Sir George died fighting in Spain, leaving a pregnant Marina in the lurch. As we see in Bridgerton Season 1, Sir George’s younger brother Sir Phillip Crane (Chris Fuller) comes to Marina’s aid and marries her. But it is not a love match.

In the beginning of To Sir Phillip, With Love, Marina is so consumed with suicidal ideation, she attempts to drown herself. Sir Phillip rescues her in time, but she still dies a few days later of an illness she catches in the process. Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) writes Sir Phillip a letter of condolence that turns into an epistolary romance crescendoing with them deciding to get married.

We don’t know if Bridgerton‘s version of Eloise will wind up happily ever after with Sir Phillip Crane, but if so, it can only happen after the abrupt death of Marina. Bridgerton‘s production team should have taken more care with Barker’s mental health because they knew she was playing a character associated with suicidal ideation. Worse, they should have been aware of how Marina’s Season 1 storyline was rife with additional emotional challenges.

In Bridgerton Season 1, Marina is a poor “relation” who is welcomed into the Featherington house during the season so she can make a good match in London. Lord Featherington (Ben Miller) owes Marina’s father money, which explains the kindly favor. However, Marina is an immediate hit amongst the gentlemen of the ‘ton, specifically drawing the affections of the kind, rich, and handsome Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). What Colin doesn’t know is that Marina is secretly pregnant and desperate to find a husband before her condition is public. A besotted Colin eagerly proposes, unaware of her subterfuge.

While Marina’s close friend Penelope wants nothing more than for Marina to be happy, she is also secretly in love with Colin. Penelope uses her alter ego, Lady Whistledown, to reveal Marina’s pregnancy, ending the engagement and ruining her friend in the process. Penelope believes she’s merely protecting Colin from betrayal…but is she? How much of her machinations sprung from jealousy? Nicola Coughlan herself told Decider back in 2020, “The one person Marina can’t have is Colin, according to Penelope. Even though Penelope doesn’t really have the right to decide that, she thinks she does.”

Barker revealed on The LOAF that she was first hospitalized only one week after wrapping work on Bridgerton Season 1 in 2019. Her year-long stay was “covered up” and “kept on the down-low” in anticipation of the show’s 2020 premiere.

“My Instagram following was going up, I had all of these engagements to do, my life was changing drastically overnight and yet there was still no support,” she said. “And there still hasn’t been any support for that time. I was trying really, really hard to just sort of act like this is fine, this is okay, I’m okay, I can work.”

Barker would eventually return to work on Bridgerton for an episode in Season 2 wherein a married Marina reunites with Colin and encourages him to notice Penelope.

When Decider talked to Luke Newton about the scenes in 2022, he spoke about how visiting Marina would help Colin move forward as a character. It wasn’t necessarily about Marina.

“I think it was good for Colin to put that [romance] to bed. It does mean that he’s kind of blocked off any romantic thoughts moving forward, so he’s kind of put that whole side of his life to a pause because I think he knew that he was rushing into things previously,” Newton said. “But [that visit] has kind of sparked an interest in finding his next ambition, his next purpose, what he wants to do, becoming a man.”

I find Barker’s story to be especially disturbing because it shows a complete disregard for the weight of mental illness. If Bridgerton‘s production was this callous to the mental health struggles of its own talent, it doesn’t bode well for how Marina’s future storyline could be tackled. Marina was already the sacrificial lamb who must suffer so four of the show’s other characters can find true love; Ruby Barker’s experiences flag just how little Bridgerton thinks of the character or the talented woman who brought her to life.

Bridgerton Season 3 is supposed to be the story of how Penelope Featherington finally wins the love of Colin Bridgerton. In the books, Colin is aghast to learn Penelope is Lady Whistledown purely because of the optics (and his own fragile male ego). What Penelope did to destroy Marina and Colin’s engagement is far more egregious. Will show Colin be able to forgive Penelope for blowing up his first love’s life? For ruining his first stab at happiness? And if so, what does that say about what Netflix’s Bridgerton is willing to do to secure happily ever afters for its favorite characters?

Both Ruby Barker and Marina Thompson deserve better from Bridgerton, and Barker is right to call Netflix and Shondaland out.

If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988.