Bridgerton season 3 part 1 has officially landed on Netflix, and now that all of the fans have already watched and potentially rewatched all four episodes ahead of part 2’s release in June, it’s time to learn about all of the behind-the-scenes details that went into Colin and Penelope’s romantic journey. As revealed by the cast, another fan-favorite TV couple influenced one of Polin’s liplocks.
During a sit-down video interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bridgerton costars Nicola Coughlan, Luke Newton, and Claudia Jessie were asked what their favorite friends-to-lovers movies were. While Coughlan stuck to the movies prompt and said When Harry Met Sally, Newtown and Jessie each went with two of the most popular sitcom couples of all time.
Jessie name-checked Nick and Jess from New Girl, which led to the reveal that the kiss between Zooey Deschanel and Jake Johnson’s characters helped inspire a yet-to-be-seen kiss between Colin and Penelope. Jessie explained that she and Coughlan count the season 2 Nick and Jess kiss as their favorite on-screen kiss. They’re not wrong! It’s a good one.
Newton also revealed that he and Coughlan had a group chat discussing their first Polin kiss, as well as other kisses yet to be kissed in season 3 part 2, and Nick and Jess’ first kiss was shared. Coughlan said they swapped inspiration for Colin and Penelope’s intimate moments, but New Girl’s monumental kiss wasn’t exactly the right inspiration for Polin’s first kiss. However, there seems to be a steamier kiss coming up — even after the carriage scene!
As for his favorite friends to lovers pairing, Newton claimed everybody’s favorite will-they-or-won’t-they sitcom couple, Ross and Rachel from Friends. Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer’s characters might be the most famous sitcom couple ever, along with The Office’s Jim and Pam. It’s no wonder Newton finds similarities between Ross and Rachel and Colin and Pen.
“I’ve said it before, but Ross and Rachel because I think they replicate how, like — well, they don’t replicate, we replicate — how Colin and Pen just never, it never works out at the right time. They’re constantly missing each other, and there’s obstacles in the way.”
– Luke Newton
In all fairness, Ross and Rachel might have missed each other a few more times than Colin and Penelope, but their love stories do mirror each other. Ross pined for Rachel as Penelope pined for Colin, and it took time for Rachel and Colin to catch up and feel the same way. And when they finally did feel the same way, Ross and Penelope were both in other relationships. But all’s well that ends well!
