11 Fascinating Facts About Bridgerton’s Horse-Drawn Scenes Featuring Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton
As Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton turn up the heat in the carriage scene in Bridgerton Season 3, here are some interesting facts about the same.
After two years, Bridgerton has finally returned with steamy romances, frilly gowns and wigs, and wildly inventive pop anthem string covers. Part 1 of season 3 ended with a sensational carriage scene after Colin Bridgerton finally realizes his love for Penelope Featherington and makes an impromptu marriage proposal. Not only did they share passionate kisses, but Colin also gave her an electrifying ride back home.
As Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 approaches, the mood of the fans is set to see more of Penelope and Colin’s breathless scenes, however, the secret of Lady Whistledown’s identity looms over their marriage before it’s even begun. But let’s not get ahead of what’s to come. Here, we lay out 10 facts about the sizzling carriage scene featuring Pitbull’s song Give Me Everything, which we all know will never be heard the same way again.
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One of the hottest scenes of the entire Bridgerton timeline was the carriage scene which was filmed over three days. Luke Newton noted, “There was a different energy on set that day,” as everyone was excited to finally film a memorable moment from Julia Quinn’s book. Luke told Vanity Fair, “We were locked in a carriage together with cameras outside. So it felt kind of real. It did feel intimate. It’s very honest.”
Due to the limited space inside the carriage, it was impossible to fit a cameraperson inside it. Apparently, the camera was set up and Luke and Nicola were left alone to film the scene. Also, the director and crew watched the scene on monitors from outside. Nicola told Netflix’s Tudum, “We knew what we were doing and the general choreography of it. But it started to feel really long.”
Nicola opened up about the carriage scene during an appearance on Today Show admitting that there was a lot of trust between her and Luke to film it. She said, “We had so much control, we felt really empowered. We knew what points we had to hit, but it didn’t feel stilted or choreographed. We just were like, I trust you, you trust me, let’s do this. Let’s make it the best it can be.”
The scene was filmed on one of the many soundstages used for Bridgerton. To create the illusion of the carriage moving, several crew members were shaking it from the outside while the scene was being shot. Nicola said, “It was on a soundstage, actually. With a bunch of burly dudes shaking it on the outside.”
Nicola revealed to Today Show that during the filming, she and Luke didn’t hear the director yelling ‘cut’, so they just kept going. She explained, “So [the crew] were all looking at us in the monitors, being like, ‘What are they doing? What are they doing?’ And the director had to come over and be like, ‘WHAT WERE YOU DOING!? I told you to stop!’”
The now-viral moment when Colin fixes Penelope’s dress using only specific fingers after touching her was an improvisation by Luke during filming.
According to Luke, he and Nicola filmed the carriage scene in “multiple versions”, allowing them to try it out in “so many different ways.” He admitted, “Which made it nice to watch it back and see the final editing to find out which take they went with.” In this regard, Nicola mentioned to Shondaland that when she watched the carriage scene, she felt it “flows so well”, and appreciated director Andrew Ahn and the editors for combining different takes to create the final version.
Nicola made sure that Penelope gave appropriate consent for Colin to touch her. She wanted to show that even though Pen is a virgin, she is “aware of her body and where she wants him to touch her.” She told Vanity Fair, “It’s lovely because it’s so easy to see virgins on TV portrayed in a way that they’re, like, terrified and have no agency, but that’s not the case. The consent is managed so beautifully, and that’s down to the writing and the brilliant Lizzy Talbot, the intimacy coordinator because we want it to seem like it’s not teacher-student anymore. We’re in this together. It’s the first time that they completely see each other, and they’re on a level, and it’s like, “Let’s go.”
Nicola shared that years ago when she read Romancing Mister Bridgerton, the carriage scene moment that stood out was when Pen and Colin were laughing together. She described it as “really magic because that’s true intimacy.” She further revealed that she wanted to ensure that the same intimacy was conveyed in the adaptation as well.
Nicola also admitted that she was told to tone down the kissing a bit because “Penelope hasn’t kissed anyone before.” They wanted to “hold it back a little” for future scenes when Pen gets more experience. About this, Nicola explained to Shondaland, “Especially as grown adults, you forget. Like, we would be a little more confident than they would be. Even with a kiss, they would tell us that we seemed like we’ve kissed before. And I was like, ‘Not to brag, I totally have.’”
In Season 3, showrunner Jess Brownell chose a particular song out of all the songs, Give Me Everything by Pitbull. But when music supervisor Justin Kamps shared a playlist of string quartet covers of popular tunes, one track caught her attention. Jess described it to Vanity Fair as a “really sexy adaptation of the song. I never thought I would pick a Pitbull song for a sexy moment, but the build of it just works perfectly.”
Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 is streaming on Netflix and Part 2 will arrive on June 13.
