Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan has spoken about backlash surrounding her character Penelope Featherington in season 2 of the Netflix show, saying that she thinks fans are going to be "really angry" with her by the final episode. Spoilers below.
The second series of everyone's favourite show just landed on Netflix and it's pretty much all we've been thinking about for the last two days. Bridgerton season 2 sees the return of our favourite regency-era characters, along with the introduction of some brand new ones.
The show's second instalment follows Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Ashley Simone) as their relationship develops from conflict and hate into steamy textbook Bridgerton love.
However, surrounding the pair there are a multitude of other dramatic and scandalous goings on, this is Bridgerton after all. One of which, according to show star Nicola Coughlan, is likely to have fans hating her character Penelope Featherington, by the end of the season.
In a recent interview in which Coughlan was asked about the scene during the final episode in which Penelope and best friend Eloise (Claudia Jessie) have an argument, and explained what she thinks it means for the character.
"That scene was really difficult to film," she told Digital Spy. "I think Claudia and I always felt like you know that Penelope is deceiving a lot of people but the worst deception is really to her best friend, because she is lying to her face all the time."
Coughlan continued, "She's gathering information from her all the time. So it's a terrible betrayal. And then, instead of just really owning up to her wrong, she bites back. But I think you know, it makes sense if you think about the family she was raised in. That's how she's seen people talk to one another."
She also added that she appreciates being on a show that is willing to explore these themes, especially with its female characters.
"It's interesting, because I think it's part of the reason I like being on a Shondaland show is they're not afraid to have women do unlikable things. They don't always have to be perfect angels who never get anything wrong. They're allowed to make mistakes and be flawed... But yeah, I feel like people are gonna be really angry with her at the end of this series."
Bridgerton seasons 1 and 2 are available on Netflix now.
