Photo: Nick Wall/Netflix; Karwai Tang/WireImage
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Netflix’sQueen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
They both command attention when they’re in a room, hold their head high and steal scenes with their respective, nuanced performances.
But believe it or not, the two actors who portrayedLady Agatha Danburyin Netflix’sQueen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story— Arsema Thomas and Adjoa Andoh — never practiced mirroring each other’s mannerisms and speech beforehand.
Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury.Liam Daniel/Netflix
It was during their first Zoom call with the British star, who made Lady Danbury a fan favorite in the first two seasons ofBridgerton, that Thomas discovered the similarities they had in real life.
“The mannerisms were just there organically. I don’t know if it’s cultural because she’s Ghanian and I am Nigerian. Those parts of us come from our fathers, so that maybe manifests in a similar way,” she continues. “I don’t know but the mannerisms were something that we didn’t have to speak about at all.”
Golda Rosheuvel (center) as Queen Charlotte and her unruly sons. The new Netflix series tells the character’s backstory and how she came to marry, and fall in love, with King George III.Liam Daniel/Netflix
It’s hard to believe thatQueen Charlotte’s Lady Danbury is Thomas’s first major role. The Atlanta-born actor only graduated from drama school last year. Bearing that in mind, it’s understandable why the fan of executive producerShonda Rhimessays the experience of filming theBridgertonprequel was “surreal.”
“It was one of the greatest privileges I think I’ve ever been able to have to date,” Thomas says, adding, “Every day I felt as though this could not possibly be my life. I never thought I would actually be able to achieve what I wanted to achieve. So, to be waking up, going to sets, getting into hair and makeup, going through my lines for the day… I mean, I had to keep busy just so that I would keep myself cemented to the earth.”
Scroll through Twitter and it’s clear that one aspect of Lady Danbury that has captured fans' attention from the moment Thomas first appears on the screen is the aristocrat’s sex life. Viewers are introduced to the younger version of the character staring into space as her older husband Lord Danbury (Cyril Nri) vigorously makes love to her.
There’s no pleasure in her disassociated face and the fact that she leapt into a hot steaming bath afterwards speaks volumes. Though filmed for comedic effect,the sex scenestill required intimacy coaches.
“They were really amazing because both Cyril and I were coming into this space very new in a way,” Thomas says. “Cyril spoke about never having been in a space where there was an intimacy coordinator, so how refreshing that was.”
Actor Cyril Nri – pictured here with Arsema Thomas – plays Lord Danbury.Liam Daniel/Netflix
“And me, I went to drama school during the pandemic, so I studied drama with all of us six feet apart. So, I’ve never even been that close to anyone. She was able to break everything down in such a way that made it disarming and so comfortable, using bite size pieces,” she notes.
Thomas adds, “It was great because it was her top priority that we were comfortable, which meant that we could just act and have fun with the scene because she would be there to come in and check to make sure that nothing changed in any of our minds.”
Thomas says, “I think in that moment, she is finally being able to do what she wants. As a woman, she has never been able to make a decision that has been truly for herself. She says it in her speech, ‘I was 3 years old when my parents promised me.’ That means all her life, Agatha has not been Agatha. She has been Herman Danbury’s wife.”
From Left to Right: Lady Ledger (Katie Brayben), Violet Ledger (Connie Jenkins-Greig) and Lord Ledger (Keir Charles).Nick Wall/Netflix
Thomas notes the dalliance with Lord Ledger is the first time the character frees “herself from what society thinks of her” and “what she thinks of herself.”
“She is now able to embrace what she wants fully and is finally understanding what that is,” she continues.
It all contributes to thedevelopment of the older Lady Danbury, the savvy widow thatBridgertonfans love. Asked to describe her in three words, Thomas simply says, “Revolutionary, strategic, loving.”
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Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Storyis now streaming on Netflix.
source: people.com
