‘Bridgerton’: This Was the Hardest Sex Scene to Film

When you think of season 1 of Bridgerton, it’s hard not to think about those scenes. You know which ones we are talking about. Set in a period that typically likes to leave more to the imagination, the Netflix show brought the heat and didn’t shy away from filming some risque scenes. As has been widely revealed, the show filmed with an intimacy coordinator to make sure everyone was safe and comfortable during those scenes. But even with an intimacy coordinator at the helm, one scene was particularly hard to film.

The chemistry between Daphne and Simon

Season 1 focused on Daphne Bridgerton and The Duke of Hastings, Simon Basset’s relationship so, the casting had to be perfect. Regé-Jean Page was set as Simon from the beginning.

“Shonda always always wanted Regé,”  director Julie Anne Robinson told Deadline. “The person I am proudest of casting is Phoebe (Dynevor) because we did see A LOT of people for that role. I saw her on tape. and I was just taken by her because she is so captivating,” Robinson said.

What cinched the job for Dynevor was her chemistry with Page.

“We managed to have this magical audition process with Shonda [Rhimes] there where we put them together and I was able to direct them,” Robinson said.”Regé was already pre-decided but Phoebe came in and read. She was fantastic and got the role.”

Coordinating sex scenes

The sex scenes took a lot of work to make sure they were authentic but not too over the top. To make sure everyone was comfortable Lizzy Talbot was hired as an intimacy coordinator.

“I would rehearse with the actors, we would talk through the scene in detail, and we would decide what story was that the scene was telling,” Robinson said. “Then Lizzy, who I trust immensely, went away, and it was almost like a stunt rehearsal. I would be doing dance sequence in the room next door, they would be doing an intimacy rehearsal. Lizzy would say, ‘Hey we are ready, we’ve got something to show you’. I would go in, I would look at what they did, and I would be specific about changes that I wanted just in the same way as I would be with a fight sequence and a stunt coordinator.”

For Robinson, including these scenes and doing them well was paramount to telling the story correctly.

“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.”

Which scene was the hardest to film?

Fans of the show probably won’t be surprised to find out that the hardest sex scene to film was one of the most popular.

“Shooting the honeymoon montage was tricky because that was shot all over the country, in a room here and a room there,” Robinson told the outlet.

On top of having to film in multiple locations, the actors had to take the delicacy of the old homes they filmed in into account.

“When you go into a country house, there is far less flexibility than you can ever imagine, you can’t move the bed, you can’t move the painting, you can’t move the wardrobe, and you have to be quite delicate with the furniture,” Robinson said.

Somehow, despite all of that, the montage still remains one of the most memorable in the show.