“Bridgerton”'s Production Designer Has to Make Sure Furniture on Set Can 'Stand Up to' Show's Steamy 'Intimate Scenes'
Production designer Alison Gartshore teased, "There's quite a lot of intimate scenes throughout the series"
Extra attention is paid to the Bridgerton set furniture thanks to the show's steamy nature.
Production designer Alison Gartshore, who has worked on the hit Netflix Regency drama since 2020, revealed in an interview with Architectural Digest that they test the set pieces for the show’s intimate scenes.
In the clip, Gartshore said the process starts when the team is "reading the scripts."
"Obviously, if you know Bridgerton, you’ll know that there's quite a lot of intimate scenes throughout the series," she teased while touring the Bridgerton family residence. "Not to give you any spoilers, but we always have to make sure that where we have those intimacy scenes that the furniture will stand up to the job, shall we say."
The new season of the Shonda Rhimes-produced series follows the long-awaited love story of Penelope and Colin, which plays out in Julia Quinn's fourth Bridgerton novel, Romancing Mister Bridgerton.
At the start of the season, Penelope has drifted apart from the Bridgerton kin after hearing him say that he would "never dream" of courting her. Newly back from his travels, Colin attempts to win Penelope back by mentoring her in finding a husband.
Actors Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan, who play Colin and Penelope respectively, have opened up about filming their intimate scenes — with Coughlan revealing that they broke a piece of furniture on set.
Related: What Happened in Bridgerton Season 2? A Full Recap of the Drama Ahead of Season 3
“Yeah, hell yeah we did,” Coughlan, 37, said at the season 3 launch event in Australia when asked to confirm reports of the furniture damage.
Her on-screen love interest Newton teased another challenge he faced while filming. The actor told PEOPLE exclusively that “you can't really prepare for stripping down naked in front of your friends.”
In a 2023 interview with PEOPLE, production designer David Ingram opened up about how intimacy scenes were filmed in the Bridgerton spin-off Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, which follows the titular queen’s marriage to King George of England.
Related: Bridgerton Author Julia Quinn Reveals Season 4 Love Story Has Already Been Chosen (Exclusive)
Ingram revealed that while a bulk of the show was shot on location, the bedroom scenes often had to shot in a nearby studio due to the restrictions of the older homes.
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"In a lot of these stately homes, you can't have the intimacy scenes in the beds. You can't touch the beds. You can't move the beds," said Ingram. "We were building bedroom scenes and back-of-the-house sets on the [sound]stage.”
The first part of Bridgerton season 3 premieres on May 16, and part 2 drops on June 13. Seasons 1 and 2 of Bridgerton — as well as Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story — are now streaming on Netflix.
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