The season 1 star gave his blessing for Bridgerton to recast Duke Simon Basset in future seasons
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PHOTO: JEFF SPICER/GETTY
Regé-Jean Page has moved on from Bridgerton — so much so that he hasn’t gotten around to watching the second season!
“I haven’t caught it. I haven’t caught up on it,” he told Variety of the latest batch of episodes, which centered on the tortured — and sensual — love story between Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley).
Page, 34, announced he was stepping away from his role as Duke Simon Basset ahead of season 2. The first season focused mainly on Simon’s love story with Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), though future installments will feature a different Bridgerton sibling’s romance each season.
Up next is Colin (Luke Newton), whose more-than-friendly love for longtime pal Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) has been growing since season 1.
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Page and “Bridgerton” costar Phoebe Dynevor. DAVID M. BENETT/GETTY
While Dynevor, 27, reprised her role as Daphne for appearances in season 2, Page was notably absent. He gave his approval for a proper recasting of his founding role, should Netflix choose to revive Simon through another actor.
“They’re free to do as they like,” he said with a laugh.
While promoting his role in Netflix’s The Gray Man, Page compared Simon to his latest character, an antagonist named Denny Carmichael.
“[Creator] Shonda [Rhimes] and I had a wonderful conversation at the end of season 1. We were quite happy with how we’d stuck the landing on that one. I’m still proud of how we stuck the landing on that one,” he said.
“I’ve had a lot of conversations on this [The Gray Man] junket of folks saying ‘Simon was such a lovely gentleman, and now you’re playing this super bad character,'” he recalled, adding, “I think we did so well on that redemptive arch, people forget that Simon was kind of horrific.”
Said Page, “He was the best example of a regency f—boy that any of us have come across.”
Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas in Action-Packed Trailer for Netflix’s The Gray Man
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Regé-Jean Page as Simon, the Duke of Hastings, and Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne Bridgerton. NETFLIX
Page left the conversation with a note on Simon’s existence — or lack of it — in the Bridgerton universe. “You really do have to be brave about ending stories like that,” he concluded.
The series has already been renewed for seasons 3 and 4. Series showrunner Jess Brownwell confirmed to Variety that the third season will stray from the pattern of Julia Quinn books in order to put Penelope and Colin in the forefront.
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