Luke Newton knows Netflix's Bridgerton has been building to this moment for two seasons.
At long last, Penelope Featherington (played by Nicola Coughlan) and his character Colin Bridgerton will fall in love in the hit Regency drama. It's the friends-to-lovers trope of your dreams in Bridgerton season 3, the season where this slow burn romance finally hits its, well, climax. It'll be worth the wait, Newton tells Teen Vogue during a visit to our offices this past winter. Fans have been hyping up this season's central couple for months — and on May 16, the first four episodes (Part 1) officially arrived to bring these two friends into the romantic relationship of their lives.
As Bridgerton lore goes, Penelope and Colin have been friends for years and watched each other grow up; somewhere along the way, however, Pen caught feelings. And it's taken ages for Colin to get the memo. Luckily this season promises sweet relief, and Newton shared all the crucial details with us.
Below, Teen Vogue sat down with Newton to chat all things Bridgerton season 3, from his chemistry with Coughlan to Colin's growth as a character — and what it was like collaborating with a new showrunner. And don't fret, when you're done with Part 1, the next four episodes (Part 2) will drop on June 13.
Teen Vogue: Obviously you and Nicola are taking center stage this time, and I know that past leading men have given advice to the next one. How has that been for you? Have you talked to Jonathan Bailey about it?
Luke Newton: Honestly, I was in communication with Jonny throughout the whole shoot, really, just getting some guidance on how to deal, cope with day-to-day things, whatever it was. He's so experienced and just sort of takes everything in his stride anyway, but to see him navigate his way through season two the way that he did and the way that he carried himself on set — he had such good leadership skills, but also was very sensitive to anyone who needed anything and was just so giving. I really wanted to try and do my own version of that, because he's also got lots of energy. [It] felt like he was in my corner… I'm loving to see everything he goes off into now and gets involved with.
TV: He's having an incredible year. But I love that he's still, I think, emotionally invested in Bridgerton.
LN: Totally, yeah. I think we really have that, especially within the Bridgerton family. There really is a real sense of loyalty there. I've seen the first episode now, and it's so nice to see his storyline with Simone and them both come back and see their story after [it] has sort of resolved, which is really a beautiful thing to see. You don't often see that in a series.
TV: I'm assuming it's a little different because Regé was not around for season two, but you've also now done this for three seasons, so you've known this moment was coming for some time. Did that make it better or worse?
LN: I think better. I wouldn't change the experience at all. I think what was a real treat was knowing throughout season two, that I was going next. They had said that Nic and I were going to do season three. If they'd told me at the end of two, I would've gone, "Oh, I kind of just lived in my own bubble and did my own experience," but I was really taking notes and paying attention to what was coming next. I was really grateful, actually, that I knew.
Nicola and I had talked about it for such a long time, since we met like four years ago now, knowing that we would eventually get to this point in the show, and then it actually happened. We still now message each other when we're about to do something, days like today, and we're just like, "We actually have done it?" It's crazy to think that we were so content in our little bubble of being part of the ensemble and having our own little storyline, and that we'd go off in the corner. To take center stage has been, yeah, incredible.
TV: The fandom is intense, as you know. Are you worried about that at all, or are you focusing on the positives right now?
LN: I think my experience of it so far has just been overwhelmingly positive. There's just so much joy around the show, and people resonate with [these] characters. That's a beautiful thing about the show is that they really can sort of cater to everyone. Everyone relates to some sort of storyline, whether it's that friendship-to-lovers like this or other tropes that we've had in previous seasons. It doesn't really scare me because I think every fan of the show that I've ever met has been so warm and open and just wants to have a minute of your time to be able to tell you what they think of it.
TV: I'm so glad to hear that. What about the diversion from the books, because this is now going out of order. Did the showrunners or anybody talk to you about why they chose to do it that way?
LN: Yeah. I think we'd focused quite a lot on Colin and Penelope's story from season one, from the very front scene.
TV: For sure. The groundwork has been there.
LN: I think it just would've been almost a stretch to drag that out over another whole season without investing more time into it and having their story star. Also, if we had stuck to the order, I imagine, it's kind of nice to give Benedict a bit more time to explore all the themes that his character is exploring before he gets to his love story.
But I'm just excited to see what Nicola and I have to do now, because you have that moment of when you finish your story, but knowing that there's a continuation and wondering what's going to happen. We have sort of floated a few ideas around with [the showrunner] Jess because we still catch up, and I'm really excited to now dive into what happens at the end.
TV: How has the transition from Chris Van Dusen to Jess Brownell, the new showrunner, been?
LN: I think it felt quite seamless, really. From my perspective, Jess starting as showrunner was the first time that I've led the show, so it was the first time that I've had that much interaction with the showrunner. It felt so collaborative. She was so open to suggestions of ideas, whether it was Nicola and I just saying, "I'd love to say this. I've been wanting to say this three years. I'd love to throw that in." She had such attention to detail. She threw in so many lines that were from the books.
TV: Some of the show notes from this season are like, "Colin comes back from more travels with even more swagger this time." Talk to me about that and the development of his character.
LN: He's had the real sort of bachelor traveler experience, and he genuinely comes back feeling like a different person with a different level of confidence. I feel like in between season one and two, there was kind of a bit of pretense there — whereas now, he comes back and he is a man. I wanted to really portray that in his return. It wasn't only that he was portraying it, but he believed it as well and there was genuine change. From then on, it's about him working out still wanting to keep those true and kind and caring qualities of himself with that extra level of confidence and purpose and finding out what he wants to do.
TV: Talk to me about the experience of being on set now, having finished three seasons. I'm sure the cast feels like your family, in a lot of ways. I do think that comes through in a lot of your cast interviews, which I think is another reason why the cast has such a big, passionate following. What has that evolution been like from the beginning to now?
LN: I always think, I don't know how casting has done it. I don't know how they've brought together a group of actors that can portray the characters in a truthful way and do a really great job in the show but also just as humans, just get on so well and connect... We feel weirdly connected to each other, like we are sort of siblings. I feel very grateful to be a part of that, especially in my audition process, auditioning for different parts. And Colin wasn't my first role that I jumped in for.
TV: Oh, what was the first role you read for?
LN: Originally, I read for the Duke, for Simon. I imagine that it was probably the first few roles that they were casting, maybe Simon was the first role that they cast, and then when I read Colin, I was obviously like, "This is a bit of me." It's like, I love to be able to do the sort of funnier moments and the more compassionate moments. But yeah, I think sharing that experience with such a big ensemble, we're just growing and growing. In the first season, we had 100 cast members in total.
TV: You mentioned that you're excited to see where Colin and Pen's story goes in future seasons. So you're committed? You're like, around?
LN: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I feel very invested in the show… like I said before, I just love the people. I love my job. I love my role in the show, so I can't see myself going anywhere. I just want to finish the stories off. I would say there's still stuff to get sorted in season four, so yeah, that's why I'm there.
TV: Are there other projects that you're currently working on or that you want to do in between?
LN: I've been working on bits in between. There's definitely a few things I'm going to squeeze in before we go again, I imagine, because that's always in my mind, of like slotting things in and finding something… I was doing a play in London [last year] and I also did an animated film, which was really fun. I got to sing again as well, which [it] has been a number of years.
TV: Are you a singer?
LN: I trained in musical theater, so I sung and trained in that. When I got the offer for that, I was like, "I'm down." I haven't sung in a number of years, so that was really fun. I've just been diving into trying to just try out everything, now that I've got the opportunities to.
TV: So you've done West End, would you like to do Broadway one day?
LN: Absolutely. It is a bucket list thing for me. It always has been. Even before being in the West End, I still feel like Broadway was up there as something, as a Brit, as particularly a musical theater performer, Broadway… it just hits the spot. I'd love to originate a role.
TV: We talked a little bit about your relationship with the other cast members. Of course, you and Nic's relationship has to be taken to another level this season. People love Bridgerton for the steamy scenes. Talk to me about filming those and what that was like for you, having been friends with her for so long now.
LN: Having shot scenes both with Nicola and with actors that I would perhaps meet on the day, I think a lot of people would think it's better not to know the person, but I actually think having a really solid friendship with someone and trusting someone is a lot easier. … We could support each other in whatever way each other needed on set and also just have a laugh about it. Ultimately, we're just on set, and playing around and having fun, and playing these two characters that are just softly in love, and it's great. I'm really glad that we got to share it together. It was like having a really close friend as you’re going through something that’s maybe quite daunting.
TV: Is there anything about Colin that you feel like has yet to come through, or maybe that people don't ask you in interviews that you've kind of built for yourself?
LN: Yeah, what I'm really excited for in this season is- almost in the entire last season, he was sort of lacking purpose and couldn't really find what he wanted to do, and then his solution to that is always just run away, go on travels. This time, whilst he's been away, he's found something that he's really passionate about that he wants to do. And also, he's found something that draws him back home and I hope will keep him there. It makes him feel like he doesn't need to do that and run away. There's a real strong arc of him discovering who he is, even though it appears like he has when he's just arrived, if that makes sense. He arrives back as this grown man with swagger and confidence, and everyone is talking about him. But actually-
TV: He's still figuring it out.
LN: There's a little bit more to be done before he finds who he really is.
TV: That's another element of it. It's like, does he really not know how Pen feels about him?
LN: Yeah, not at this point. At the end of season two, I think, yeah, there's that weird third child thing that he's got going on, where he has no responsibility, so he overthinks everything and thinks his problems are like, "My lack of purpose is the most important thing in the world." And it's like, "You have a purpose. It's right in front of you. And she adores you, but you've just got to notice it." But it's so fun getting to that, you know? It's like the Ross and Rachel. You've got to wait and be patient.
TV: There's a strong streak of powerful, independent women in Bridgerton. Pen, obviously, being right up there. How do you think about that dynamic? Because it is Regency era.
LN: There's a really strong storyline with that, actually. I know I've just touched on Colin's new pursuits that he starts within the show, and there's a real sort of power dynamic shift between the two of them, which was so much fun to play. And I think it's the first time that we've sort of seen that within a couple in the show. We've seen, throughout most of the previous seasons, Colin kind of have the control of the relationship because he's unaware of feelings and feels like he's had maybe slightly more life experience. I mean, it appears that way, although she's this successful businesswoman. It's really fun to dive into the power change of that and see how they sort of navigate their friendship and relationship through that.
TV: I really look forward to that. It's going to be good. We talked a little bit about the steamy scenes. Does it make you feel uncomfortable to think being a leading man of this show means, to a lot of people, you will be a sex object?
LN: I don't think that I will be. I try not to even think about that because then I think of the people that are closest to me, like my Nan watching, and I don't want to go down that route. I think, actually, Nicola has asked for a version of the show without the steamy scenes for her family. So I think I'll jump on that and say, "If I can get that for my Nan, that would be great." Because I can't bear to think of her watching.