‘Bridgerton’: Phoebe Dynevor Reveals Daphne Suffers From This Common Disorder

There were a few breakout characters on season 1 of Bridgerton. Penelope Featherington, Eloise Bridgerton, and Anthony Bridgerton all had their shining moments but of course, the real star of season 1 was Daphne Bridgerton. Not only did she come into her own right before viewers’ eyes, but she figured out how to speak up for herself and go after what she wanted. Phoebe Dynevor did an amazing job bringing Daphne to life. She used their shared issues to connect with the character.

Daphne’s arc on ‘Bridgerton’

When Bridgerton first opens, Daphne is getting ready for her debut on the London social scene. At the beginning of the season, she is only worried about finding an advantageous match for her family and someone to love and take care of her. As the season goes on, Daphne becomes more aware of how important love is in a union. She eventually even passes up the offer to marry a Prince because her heart is elsewhere.

But even after Daphne marries the Duke of Hastings, her story arc still isn’t done. While married, she has a sexual awakening and begins to put her needs first.

Her sexual growth was very intentional throughout the season.

“I was very proud of that because all that anybody talks about is the sex — undesirably by the way — but for me as a director, it was a storytelling challenge because it was about something but you couldn’t talk about and you couldn’t see, it was very delicate, and each scene had to tell a story,” director Julie Anne Robinson told Deadline of showcasing Daphne’s sexuality. “We achieved that; to get the nuances of those scenes right was my challenge as a director, and I was proud of the result.”

The scenes were meant to sort of mirror Daphne’s growth.

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“I think that it’s impossible to talk about female gaze without exploring issues of sex and power,” Robinson said. “So I was very interested in Daphne’s journey in the episodes, and seeing something that is normally told through one set of eyes, seeing it through another set of eyes.”

Phoebe used anxiety to connect with Daphne

When Dynevor landed the role of Daphne, she had to think about how she wanted to bring her to life and how she could connect with the character.

“I really played with the idea of her having anxiety,” Dynevor told Glamour. “It was something that connected me to her because I also have anxiety. I wanted to bring everything that was bubbling inside that she couldn’t show. She’s portraying something very different on the outside at all times from what she’s feeling inside. It’s a challenge to be able to express that in a way that obviously no one else can see. It was a lot about the inner workings of what she’s feeling and going through.”

Dynevor even suffered with anxiety during filming.

“I was feeling the pressure of playing that role and being the lead,” she said. “It was interesting because I could use that real feeling and put it into the character. But, yeah, I’m glad you picked up on that because so often you see…in a lot of the Regency stuff we’ve seen in the past, we see a very composed woman. There’s not much sexuality there. It’s very much the male gaze. I wanted to make her feel modern and have sexual desires, as women do, and have a lot going on that isn’t surface level.”