‘Bridgerton’ matriarchs give Atlanta a royal welcome

Golda Rosheuvel, known as Queen Charlotte on Netflix’s hit drama “Bridgerton,” swept into Atlanta’s Four Seasons Hotel Tuesday like a modern monarch, wearing an elaborate hairstyle designed to look like three square-shaped headpieces and a matching 3D padded puffer jacket and pants.

Adjoa Andoh, who plays her best friend Lady Danbury, followed behind, dressed in a chic leather moto jacket layered over a white button-down shirt and navy blue high-waisted wide-leg trousers.

For “Bridgerton” viewers used to seeing the two women in opulent 18th-century outfits, their modern personas could be jarring, but also a reminder that each has their own distinct, very 21st-century style.

Fashion is just one ingredient that turned “Bridgerton” into a Netflix phenomenon when it debuted in late 2020 during the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by the Regency romance novel series of the same name, creator Shonda Rhimes crafted irresistible escapist fare packed with crackling dialogue, heated pairings and grandiose set pieces.

The first four episodes of “Bridgerton” Season 4 premiered last week, with the final four coming Feb. 26. Netflix has sent Andoh and Rosheuvel to multiple cities stateside to promote the series, including two days in Atlanta capped by a stop at SCAD TVfest Wednesday evening in Midtown Atlanta. The series remains a strong performer for Netflix.

The pair sat with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday at the Four Seasons, sipping hot chocolate. Here are some highlights of the conversation:

Credit: RODNEY HO/AJC

Credit: RODNEY HO/AJC

Their take on the Season 4 storyline focused on Benedict Bridgerton falling in love with Sophie Baek, a maid:

Andoh: “This is the first season we’ve addressed class like ‘Upstairs, Downstairs,’ (the 1970s BBC drama seen on PBS in the United States). It’s a new departure. In the U.K., we focus on class more than America. The Cinderella story is kind of perfect. Can you love across the tracks?”

Rosheuvel: “There’s a corridor in the Bridgerton household and a door that leads downstairs where the staff works. For the last three seasons, you’ve only seen the door. This is the first season you follow the housekeeper Mrs. Wilson down those stairs and see what the workers are doing. They work those shots beautifully.”

Credit: LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX

How the 2023 prequel “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” primed fans for the tensions between Queen Charlotte and Lady Danbury in Season 4:

Andoh: “The fan base knows every nook and cranny of every storyline. That’s kind of lucky. We know when we play these scenes the fans are completely on board. They understand the depth of the ask when Lady Danbury tells the Queen she needs to step away for a minute and visit her homeland of Sierra Leone. She and Charlotte had become allies decades earlier. As we saw in the prequel, Danbury gave Charlotte knowledge on how to play the royal game. Charlotte gave Danbury status so she could stay there after her husband died. They then played the game together for 30-plus years and thrived.”

Why Lady Danbury wants to take a break from the court:

Andoh: “Think back to Season 3. Her brother suddenly came back. She now has to think about the family she had buried out of her mind so she could keep going forward in England. He calls her by her given name. There’s this whole other world she doesn’t really know. So at the start of Season 4, she has this itch to know what life was like in Sierra Leone. It’s like a big blank. It’s hard to move forward in life with blanks.”

Why Queen Charlotte says no to the initial request so huffily:

Rosheuvel: “My initial instinct is fear, the fear of being alone, the fear of having to face the world without my best friend, without my confidant. She is terrified so she uses the queen card, she uses the status card. ‘You are in service to me so you cannot go.’”

Andoh: “So I say, ‘If you are the Queen and I am merely your subject, you lose my friendship.’”

On the scene where the Queen breaks down in tears and hugs Lady Danbury:

Andoh: “We love that scene. We were able to have this central moment and investigate that. As artists, it was really exciting.”

Rosheuvel: “The Queen doesn’t know what would happen if she lets Lady Danbury go. She might not come back. It’s important to show her vulnerability. It would have been easy to stay two-dimensional: her quick lines, the wit, the costumes. That’s great, but to really draw back and see the private emotions of this woman is really, really important to add to the complexity, the grounding, the representation Shonda has beautifully written.”

Andoh: “There is this reputational thing that Black women are strong. But sometimes they’re exhausted. Sometimes they’re anxious. Sometimes they’re vulnerable. They’re mighty women but they’re human beings as well.”

On Adjoa and Rosheuvel’s off-camera friendship:

Adjoa: “We live around the corner from each other.”

Golda: “She comes to see my plays. We go walk in the park.”

Adjoa: “We both live in South London which is packed with thesps!”