Bridgerton Season 3 Catches up With the Featheringtons

Bridgerton Season 3 spends a lot more time in the Featherington household. Shondaland broke down what’s been up with Penelope’s family in the first part of the latest season. In a video, Nicola Coughlan laid out how Bridgerton fans have gotten a chance to peek behind the curtain at what makes Portia Featherington click. This season and the previous entry have gone to great lengths to develop Penelope’s mother. Now, viewers have a greater appreciation for what Polly Walker has brought to the role of the Featherington matriarch. She might not always be the most even-handed, but her girls’ best interests are always at heart. Its a detail in the scripts and on-camera that Coughlan never loses sight of. 

“This season, I think the Featheringtons, obviously, are more front and center. But, I think you knd of peel back the layers and see why they are the way they are,” Coughlan explained. “Has it always been like this? What’s driving them?… People can look at Portia Featherington and go, ‘Oh, she’s just this Mom who wants to push her daughters.’ But, you realize the responsibility she had in that time. It was her job to get them married, so that they would be taken care of.”

“Whistledown wasn’t born out of nowhere, I think there’s a lot of Portia Featherington in Whistledown,” the star added. “There’s a lot of Portia in Penelope’s ambitiousness, and her drive, and her focus towards doing what she wants to do.”

Bridgerton Season 3 Spotlights Penelope’s Glow-Up

This season, Bridgerton allows Nicola Coughlan’s heroine the spotlight. Season 3 is a rallying call for wallflowers everywhere. So, with all that new scrutiny in the Ton, it’s only right that Penelope Featherington gets a massive makeover. Portia has been so clear about Pen’s prospects, and the young lady is looking to change that. Netflix’s TUDUM covered the wardrobe and makeup changes that made the Lady Whistledown author the talk of the Ton. Clearly, the changes have worked in both the fictional universe and our own. Fans have loved the transformation of her character for Season 3.

Nicola Coughlan began, “This is great. It needs to go from this to the big change, ’cause that’s gonna be fun for the audience, for it to look like a different person.” The actress noted the differences between her first couple of years on the show and now. “It was so different to how she was before ’cause it was all rosy cheeks and fresh,” Coughlan recalled, “It really helped the character. She has to grow in confidence. And it helped me grow in confidence, to feel good in costumes. It was great.”

Costume designer John Glaser would add, “She starts out in her clothes from Season 1 and Season 2. We could’ve done it slowly, but we quickly changed her silhouette, changed her color palette,” the designer added.

Have you warmed to the Featheringtons in Bridgerton Season 3? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!