With filming already underway for Bridgerton’s hotly-anticipated second season, we might have expected an end to all of the exciting casting news. But it turns out Netflix had yet another surprise in store for fans of its Regency drama, announcing Rupert Evans as Edmund Bridgerton via Twitter.
In a style that has become typical for these announcements, the tweet is written in the voice of Lady Whistledown, the show’s salacious gossip columnist. The missive describes Edmund as “the loving and devoted husband of Violet Bridgerton and an endlessly patient and kind father who takes special pride in guiding his eldest son Anthony through life.”
Evans joins other previously announced additions to the Season 2 cast, including Simone Ashley as love interest Kate Sharma, Charithra Chandran as her sister Edwina Sharma, Shelly Conn as her mother Mary Sharma, Calam Lynch as printer’s assistant Theo Sharpe, and Rupert Young high society newcomer Jack. Much of the Season 1 cast is expected to return, though notably not breakout star Regé-Jean Page, who it was announced will not feature in Season 2 (though executive producer Shonda Rhimes did suggest that a cameo may be in the cards).
This particular bit of casting news may come as a particular surprise to fans of Season 1, who know that the Bridgerton family patriarch died ten years prior to the events of the series. But flashbacks are not unheard of in the series — Simon, Duke of Hastings had several to explain his past, including his own deceased father. As the show shifts its focus to Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony Bridgerton for Season 2, it makes sense that his own backstory might be explored in more depth. Moreover, the upcoming season adapts the second of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton books, The Viscount Who Loved Me, which does indeed include such flashbacks.
Those flashbacks can go a long way to complicating Anthony’s attitudes regarding family — particularly given the exemplary lovebirds his parents were. We’ve already seen the way his sense of responsibility to his family can motivate him to do the right thing, so perhaps some key memories of his dearly departed father are just what he needs to shake him out of his loveless dissolution.
Season 2 of Bridgerton is filming now. The series has already been renewed through Season 4. Season 1 is streaming now on Netflix.
Dearest readers, Rupert Evans joins the cast of @bridgerton as Edmund Bridgerton, the loving and devoted husband of Violet Bridgerton and an endlessly patient and kind father who takes special pride in guiding his eldest son Anthony through life. pic.twitter.com/2ajkDipvZS
— Netflix Queue (@netflixqueue) May 28, 2021
via Collider