‘Bridgerton’: Breaking Down Polin’s First Kiss With Nicola Coughlan
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1.]
It’s been a long time coming—Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton’s (Luke Newton) first kiss, that is. Bridgerton’s latest loves spent the first two seasons in the friend zone only to quickly flip the script just two episodes into Season 3.
While Bridgerton set up the friends-to-lovers arc from the very beginning, Season 3 made way for the story to break free when Colin offers to help his “very good friend” learn the ways of wooing through various courting lessons so she can find a husband.
But when their scheme is blown up after Eloise (Claudia Jessie) blabs at a ball, Penelope feels hopeless about her prospects, leading to one big ask from her bestie. Reasoning that she could die tomorrow and remain un-kissed, Penelope pleads with Colin to change that status, leading to a surprisingly sweet and poignant first kiss for the couple.
Liam Daniel/Netflix
It arguably sets Colin on an emotional collision course as he immediately sees Penelope in a new light. But how did it all come together? When it came to preparing for the pivotal sequence, director Tricia Brock tells TV Insider, “There’s only so much you can do until you do it.”
“You don’t really want to rehearse a scene like that into the ground because you want to keep that spark and the spontaneity,” she says.
“So in rehearsals, they never kissed,” Brock reveals of Coughlan and Newton’s pre-shoot prep. Instead, she explains, “For lighting purposes, they would get their heads closer together. So when it happened during the take, it was the first time.”
“I bore witness to it, and it was so moving and so exciting,” Brock adds affectionately.
Laurence Cendrowicz/Netflix
While the kiss may have been Penelope and Colin’s first, Brock admits that the scene required more than one take. “I think [it took] about three, maybe four [takes],” she says. “And I always checked in with them. How did they feel about it? Did they want to try anything else? And they both felt great. So we moved on because I really felt like we had it.”
As for Coughlan, the scene marked a pivotal moment in Penelope’s confidence journey and Season 3 transformation. When we asked the star what ensemble best represents the changes Penelope is going through, Coughlan was quick to say, “There’s one that I’m really attached to, and it’s the dress that [she] wears when they have their first kiss.”
The gown was one of the first Coughlan tried on, but as the star puts it, “When I say I tried it on in my first fitting, it literally wasn’t a dress. It was reams of fabric tied around me, layered up to give this beautiful shimmering effect.”
“And I got tears in my eyes,” Coughlan recalls, “which sounds very silly. It’s just a piece of fabric, but it meant so much about her and who she was becoming and how she’s always seen herself and wanted to present herself to the world.”
And just like the fans are sure to, Coughlan says, “I love that first kiss. I think it’s a beautiful moment. So I am very attached to that dress.”
Bridgerton, Season 3, Part 1, Streaming now, Netflix
Bridgerton, Season 3, Part 2 Premiere, Thursday, June 13, Netflix