Prudank — aka Prudence Featherington and Harry Dankworth — is gaining some steam, and with their hilarious antics, it’s easy to see why.

When James Phoon auditioned for Bridgerton, he wasn’t sure it was for the hit Netflix show, but he sort of guessed that it was. He had a character description, he knew he’d be married to a woman of the ton who was better off than he was, and Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers were listed as executive producers. Still, even when he was offered the role of Harry Dankworth, he was a bit in the dark about it all.

“When I went in to a costume fitting, the first person I met out of anyone was one of the amazing [assistant] designers on the show, Dougie [Hawkes],” says Phoon. “Dougie [is the one who told me] I was married to Prudence Featherington!”

Bessie Carter, who has played the eldest Featherington daughter since season one, agrees that almost everyone in the cast’s first taste of the world of Bridgerton was in the costume fittings. Even back in the beginning.

“At our first fitting for season one, we really didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into,” she says. “They had this look book, and Ellen Mirojnick, the designer from season one, would show us the artwork, and it’d be paintings from the [Regency era] and high fashion from now. And we were like, ‘What?!’ Because we thought we were just in a period drama, but it was Shonda Rhimes, so maybe it might be a bit modern and fun. And then, you’d see it in the fitting, and it was this first sort of glimpse into really what this was all about.”

Conveniently, this works as an apt metaphor for the introduction of the marriage of Harry and Prudence. They hardly know each other, were married in between seasons off-screen, and are thrown into the deep end of trying to figure each other out, figure out their status in the ton, and figure out how to produce an heir — the latter of which proves much more confusing than anyone, especially Portia Featherington (Polly Walker), had thought.

One of Carter’s first professional acting experiences was in 2007, when she was 14, with her parents (The Crown’s Imelda Staunton and Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter) on a small BBC series. But as an adult, she’s forged an impressive stage and screen career of her own, starring in BBC’s Howards End (2017) and ITV’s Beecham House (2019).

Phoon began his career in the theater, making his debut as an understudy in Lord of the Flies at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2015. He went on to perform in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the West End and starred as the titular Peter Pan in Gary Owen’s stage production of the classic in 2019. It wasn’t until 2022 that he made his first major screen appearance, in the BBC horror-comedy Wreck, and shortly after landed the role in Bridgerton.

Here, we talk to the pair about joining forces in season three, about getting their very own ball, the birth of #Prudank, filming the first funny sex scene in Bridgerton, and so much more.

Behind ‘Bridgerton’ — What’s New With the Featheringtons?
by Shondaland US

VALENTINA VALENTINI: Bessie, you’ve been here since the beginning. James, you’ve just joined. Did you have to help him get up to speed at all, Bessie?

JAMES PHOON: [Nods silently.]

BESSIE CARTER: [Laughs.] No, not at all. It was so nice to have fresh energy coming in. The dynamic just naturally shifted because instead of the two sisters — Prudence and Philipa — last year it became three with Albion Finch, and then this season there were four of us on those sofas in the living room. And James was amazing. He turned up with such joyous, positive energy — he just fit right in.

JP: It’s because I was a superfan of you all. I loved the show. I still love the show.

So, I came with that.

VV: Okay, but why were you nodding your head yes before?

JP: Well, because, like you said, they’ve all been together for years by this point. They just knew each other so well and had this family unit already formed. Before I joined, I was nervous that they’d have this really close bond and I’d be the new person trying to fit in. But the Featherington family was just so good at bringing me in to everything. Like, naturally you talk about things that happened two years ago, and they’d always explain it to me and let me in on why it was funny or something.

VV: That’s so nice to hear that they’re not cliquey people in real life! Now, tell us all a little bit about Harry Dankworth. We don’t know him that well. What makes him tick?

JP: Harry is someone who’s described as being dimwitted, but I think he just gives a lot of his brain space to a sense of wonder. He is always looking outwards and has a lot of love to give, a lot of positivity to put into the world, and is always trying to make the best of the situation that he’s in. He and Prudence have had a lovely [off-screen] wedding, but when we meet him, they don’t necessarily know each other that well. They’re sort of trying to figure out how they’ll make this marriage thing work. Honestly, it’s just been nice to live in Harry’s world for a while because on either side of this show, I was playing someone who was a bit of a bitch and quite guarded. Whereas Harry is so open to everything, and is so happy to be there, and wants to be everyone’s best friend, and loves the idea of love. He’s a good guy.

BC: And they matched him with Prudence! That is hilarious.

VV: Yes, dearest, sour, grumpy Prudence. Has she changed much since we met her?

BC: I think the big change is, circumstantially, she’s been married in between seasons. And we understand that Lady Portia has been, as ever, a very hardworking mama who has finally secured Prudence a match because of my lack of success on the marriage mart year after year. Harry Dankworth is slightly beneath them, which I think does wound Prudence’s pride somewhat. And we’re used to seeing her in a very haughty manner, thinking she’s above everyone else, really trying to be like her mom and emulate her mom’s qualities to be better than her sisters. And then when this lovely, loving puppy arrives, who is so sweet and kind and affectionate, it’s hopefully very funny to watch Prudence just not know how to manage that.

NETFLIX
James Phoon as Harry Dankworth and Bessie Carter as Prudence Featherington in the third season of Bridgerton.

VV: It is so funny, and one of my favorite storylines to watch this season has been the Featherington sisters’ adjustments to marriage. But she does soften, doesn’t she?

BC: I think she starts the season very much trying to remain in her status and haughtiness, and slowly over the course of this year, you definitely see a change as she slowly lets him in. Even with the affection — you know, the Featheringtons are not a loving family. So, after growing up in a loveless home, then to have this abundance of love from this guy, is sort of the best thing to have happened to her. You do really see them — and I loved finding this with you, James — become allies and partners in crime. He’s filled that spot that she probably misses from her Philipa when she got married to Finch. Harry sort of steps in and becomes that confidant. And by the end, they do really find a vulnerable, affectionate relationship.

VV: I mean, she literally holds him away from her when he goes in for a kiss. The physical stuff like that, was that in the script, or was that something you two found together or found with the director?

BC: Genuinely, it was something that I started doing because I actually didn’t know how to deal with it. Because in the show, I’m not touched, ever. I think in the first one or two times, it was in the script, but then we really took that quite far. And I remember speaking to [showrunner] Jess Brownell about that and discussing how Prudence doesn’t know how to handle affection, and the easiest way to show that is like that. They’re not a tactile family. And I think that’s something we just found together, wasn’t it?

JP: Yeah. And I think as well, coming in to these roles and not having worked together before, there was a natural awkwardness of me, like, trying to stroke your hair or me trying to touch you, and you sort of, like, really not knowing what to do about that. It was quite fun to play with those moments. And there’s so much room within the script to play with those little things. But ultimately, Harry Dankworth wants to be the perfect husband. I think he probably comes from quite a loving home and has been mollycoddled. He wants to do that for his wife, but he doesn’t know how to get there or doesn’t understand that she’s not there yet, at the beginning. So, his love is a bit suffocating, I think.

VV: Do you agree with that, Bessie?

BC: I think what works so well for the comedy of it all is that they are so different. You wouldn’t necessarily put them together, because their personalities don’t match, but that’s the room for growth, and what is funny is to watch them come together. Also, the fact that Albion and Philipa are so lovely-dovey and very comfortable with each other, which is also very silly; I think Prudence is trying to almost be really grown up about it. Really grown up and yet knows nothing about what’s expected of a wife. But then, you see a real vulnerability, an innocence and a naivety in her, and you see them almost become their age as a young couple trying to find their way in the world when they drop the pretense of being proper in the ton. And I think that’s the key to their loving marriage.

Sex is awkward, and sex is vulnerable. Especially in those days, where we didn’t have television or films or friends or education about it. So, I think it was important to play the truth of that whilst knowing deep inside that it is really funny.

VV: Speaking of a loving marriage, the Featherington girls’ lack of sexual knowledge is so funny to watch this season. Was it fun to play it too?

BC: It is funny, but it’s also really interesting to think how would these women have been taught what sex is if their mother isn’t telling them? We did press with Polly [Walker], and she was saying that she didn’t know how else they would’ve known, but that they should have. She thought maybe a maid would tell them, or Mrs. Varley [Lorraine Ashbourne] or their husbands. So, there’s an expectation that the men would know — but why would the men know? Unless they’d been taken to gentlemen’s clubs and or been with sex workers. Like the Bridgerton boys. But Harry is a country lad; this is maybe his first proper time living in London. So, how are any of us to know about sex? It was funny to play, and it was really funny to work out what would be the most serious way in which to play it. But honestly, we just felt incredibly grateful that we got to do the first funny sex scene in Bridgerton.

VV: That is a good point! The sex scenes are all pretty serious and romantic, aren’t they?

BC: The show is heralded as this steamy, sexy, hot, romantic thing. And I was like, “Yeah! We get to do the comedy version!” Working that out together with Tricia [Brock], who directed us in that episode, and the intimacy coordinator, and with you, James, was so fun. We needed to work out how to make it realistic so it doesn’t suffer truth but also make it funny. Sex is awkward, and sex is vulnerable. Especially in those days, where we didn’t have television or films or friends or education about it. So, I think it was important to play the truth of that whilst knowing deep inside that it is really funny.

JP: Also, like, what a bizarre turn of events. Did you ever think that you would be filmed having sex while Julie Andrews narrates what you are doing?

BC: [Laughs.] You’re watching Princess Diaries when you’re 14, and you’re like, “One day, Mummy!”

JP: I used to watch Mary Poppins all the time growing up!

BC: Actually, someone asked me the other day in an interview what my family will make of me when they’re watching me having a sex scene. And I was like, “It’s going to be fun because it’s fun and it’s funny!” I mean, I have so much respect for everyone who has had to do very genuine sex scenes. That’s why the intimacy coordinators are so great because you work it out with them so it’s not like having sex; it’s like your character having sex, and you make very specific choices about that. Counting breaths and choreographed moments, like a dance. It was really cool to experience that.

VV: Now, Prudence goes through something in the last two episodes where she clearly needs her mother to pay more attention to her. Or something is going on. What is it?

BC: Prudence starts to see her mom’s attention go towards Penelope. And the place in which Prudence normally would sit in her mother’s eyes has shifted. And she actually feels sad about that. She needs validation from her mother. That’s what she’s been trying for since season one, and it failed in season one with Jack Featherington. Not that that was her fault. So now, she’s finally married, and she’s really trying to get it right, and she’s trying to get pregnant. She’s succeeding in some of those areas, and yet her mother is looking at the little sister, who Prudence is like, “Why are you giving Penelope attention when all I’ve been doing is trying and getting things right, and all she’s been doing is disobeying you and going against your orders, and yet you are rewarding her?!” Jess and I chatted about how it was really important for me to add even more of that than was in the script. It was important to see the human side of Prudence, to see the vulnerable child, the child who just wants the mother’s love. But also, at the same time, she starts getting it from her husband. You see her sort of realize that it’s not just needed from her mom and that she can find it from other people.

VV: How has it been navigating the juggernaut that is the Bridgerverse? Have you gotten mobbed on the streets yet?

BC: Prudank! Have you seen Prudank happening online now?!

JP: We’re on board. We’re pushing it hard.

BC: We are campaigning for Prudank. Someone in Canada has made bracelets with “Prudank” on them, and they are sending it to my PR team. It’s a whole thing! But it was a weird ride with Bridgerton because of it premiering during Covid. But this show is for the fans, it’s for the ones who’ve loved the books, and it’s really nice knowing that we are, hopefully, satisfying them. But it is mainly online, but the internet isn’t real. It’s not a tangible place, which is something I believe fervently. So, it’s wonderful to have that support online, but in real life, it is a job, and I’m taking other jobs too. I’m so grateful towards this show, and I hope the fans love it, but it is our job.

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JP: I am an actor because I love stories. I have always loved the cinema and watching TV; I love the theater too. As a kid, that escapism of being in those worlds for an hour or two hours, that was my life. I was that person who would be drawing my favorite character or imagining what they were doing when they’re off-scene during a storyline. I really identify with those people that have ownership over a show and claim that story as their own, and want to flesh it out and dedicate their time to create things that they’ve been inspired from the show to make. I totally get where that comes from.

VV: Now, the Dankworth/Finch ball — you all get your own ball, which is pretty exciting. That’s sort of like you’ve made it, as far as the ton is considered.

BC: I’m pretty sure I texted you, James, and was like, “We’ve got a ball!” But originally, we didn’t have a dance at our own ball because the rules in those days were that you wouldn’t dance at your own ball. I spoke to Jess and was like, “Are we abiding by the rules of the day in the show?” So, she spoke to the choreographer, Jack Murphy, who is amazing, and they gave us a dance! And it’s to an iconic song: Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” But going from season one — when the sisters were always making fools of themselves, getting everything wrong, getting the etiquette wrong, not being asked to dance — to end season three with us having our own ball where nothing goes wrong and it’s so stylish was just amazing. The end of their journey in this season is a really satisfying thing.

JP: It makes sense for those characters as well. Even if we do follow the rules in Bridgerton that you don’t dance at your own ball, like, this is their time, and they love it. To end this season with their moment of pure joy where they’ve achieved what they want to achieve and they’re happy, they’ve figured out who they are at this point and they’re able to take each other’s hand and show off who they are to the ton, it’s a really special moment. And with that song, it just fits those characters so perfectly who have been outside this for so long and don’t always quite understand what’s going wrong — why Prudence couldn’t find a husband, or why Harry is an outsider and the other men don’t take him too seriously. It’s so nice to have that full-circle moment bookended by this beautiful dance.