Bridgerton Showrunner Discusses Pitching the Michaela Stirling Swap and Julia Quinn’s Approval of Francesca’s Book Change
On when she began pitching Michaela versus Michael
Showrunner Jess Brownell shared, “The reveal of Michaela versus Michael, from the books, is something that I’ve been pitching from season one of the show. My approach to telling a queer story on Bridgerton has been to look to the books for thematic cues. I didn’t want to just insert a queer character for queer character’s sake. I want to tell a story that accurately reflects a queer experience, and the first time I read Francesca’s book, I really identified with it as a queer woman. Maybe not in the way Julia Quinn intended,” she told Teen Vogue.
She continued, “Her book is very much about [Francesca] feeling different, and not really knowing why. In the book, I think it has a lot to do with her just being an introvert, but as a queer woman, a lot of my queer experience, and I think a lot of my friends’ [experiences have] been about that sense of feeling different, and navigating what that means.”
She added, “My hope is that watching this season, people see how we’re telling a piece of that story, even starting in episode one of season three with Francesca, in terms of all of the debutantes having always imagined what they wanted their husbands to be like. Francesca realizes, ‘I’ve never thought about that, actually. Why is that?’ It was a thread we were playing with.”
She continued, “There’s also a lot of research and thought historically about the choice of changing Michael to Michaela. I think it was important for me in planning a queer story to think about how we might be able to tell a happily ever after and show queer joy, which we don’t always get to see in period pieces. There are some good examples from history, without giving too much away, of women like Francesca, who are able to carve out happily ever afters. How much do I say at this point? Well, that’s all I’ll say. I can’t say much more without giving away plot.”
If she expects backlash and if Julia Quinn knew
Jess then was asked if she thinks about backlash from fans before proceeding with major changes to the books.
She responded, “I do think about it. I think something that has been a real growth point for me, stepping into the showrunner role, is that I’ve always been a people pleaser, and someone who wants to give everyone what they want — but in this job, you have to make difficult decisions. The fact of the matter is, the fan base is not a monolith, and you’re never going to please every single side of the fan base.”
She then said Julia Quinn gave her blessing for the change.
She added, “In, for example, deciding to tell a queer story with Francesca, I spoke with Julia Quinn, I got her blessing. We talked about the fact that with almost any single book, there would be a side of the fandom that would be disheartened to see their favorite characters changed. I don’t think that there is any book that wouldn’t happen with, so for me, again, it came back to story, and it came back to character. Because Francesca’s book resonated [with me] in the way that it did, it felt like a natural adaptation.”
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