The script for 'Bridgerton' included a fake ending so the cast wouldn't know who Lady Whistledown was
- Golda Rosheuvel said the "Bridgerton" cast didn't know who Lady Whistledown was during filming.
- The actress, who plays Queen Charlotte, said they were given scripts with the wrong endings.
- Warning: Major spoilers for season one of "Bridgerton" ahead.
Golda Rosheuvel, who plays Queen Charlotte on Netflix's drama "Bridgerton," said the cast was just as surprised as viewers to learn the true identity of the mysterious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown.
During a recent episode of "The Netflix Afterparty" with David Spade, London Hughes, and Fortune Feimster, the actress revealed that the cast members were given scripts with incorrect endings in an attempt to conceal the character behind Whistledown.
"We never got the right endings in the scripts, so none of the cast really knew," she explained.
"Bridgerton" is an adaptation of Julia Quinn's bestselling book series, and season one closely follows the first book, "The Duke and I."
However, it does incorporate storylines from later in the series - including Whistledown's big reveal.
In the final moments of the season, viewers learn that Whistledown is none other than Penelope Featherington. But in the books, she's not unmasked until the fourth installation, "Romancing Mister Bridgerton."
So unless the cast members were at least four books into Quinn's series or conducted their own research, they didn't have any insight into showrunner Chris Van Dusen's plans for Whistledown's identity.
"If they hadn't read the books, none of the cast knew," Rosheuvel said.
Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope on the show, said that she found out her character is Whistledown through an online forum after she secured her role.
"I wanted to know as much as I could about the books and the characters. I was reading the books but I couldn't get all the information quick enough, so I literally found out on Reddit or something," she said on "The Netflix Afterparty."
The Irish actress wasn't sure if the other cast members knew Penelope is behind the society pages, so she said she "had to keep it secret" when they filmed the ending.
Still, Coughlan said she wasn't convinced it was true until she watched the episodes.
"When I got the episodes and was watching, I was like, 'Is it actually gonna be me?'" she recalled. "And then the hood came down and I was like, 'Phew. Okay. It is.'"
Read more: 'Bridgerton' star Nicola Coughlan pushes back on critics who slammed the show's diverse cast
During a December interview with Entertainment Weekly, Coughlan said she was allowed to tell her costars about Whistledown's identity but only did so if they asked.
"Sometimes people would say, 'I wonder who Whistledown is?' And I'd go, 'Do you want to know?'" she said. "I wouldn't spoil it for anybody who didn't, but then it was so fun seeing people's reactions."
Coughlan continued, "It's been funny because it's become a real-life secret for me, having to not tell people."
- Read more:
- 17 moments that gave away Lady Whistledown's identity on season 1 of 'Bridgerton'
- Here's where every major character ended up on the season 1 finale of 'Bridgerton'
- 23 details you might have missed on season one of 'Bridgerton'
- Fans noticed there are modern yellow lines on a road in 'Bridgerton' even though cars didn't exist yet in 1813