When it comes to recent cultural phenomena, Bridgerton is a hard one to ignore. The Netflix series is not only one of the streamer’s most-watched original shows, but has spawned cookbooks, Halloween costumes, a William Sonoma tableware collection and Allure Bridal’s officially licensed line of wedding dresses. In many North American cities, including Toronto, you can attend the Candlelight: Best of Bridgerton on Strings concert and when the new season drops on Jan. 29, it’s time to gorge on – I mean, daintily dip into – a pint of Jeni’s Bridgerton ​​Queen Charlotte Sponge Cake ice cream while catching up with the gossip in the Ton.

In the rarified kingdom of Shondaland – a lineup of ground-breakingly diverse soapy dramas like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder created by queen of TV Shonda Rhimes – Bridgerton is currently the jewel in the crown. Rhimes has her finger on the cultural pulse, whipping up catchphrases, moments and vibes, whether it’s “dancing it out” on Grey’s, “red wine and popcorn” on Scandal or Lady Whistledown snark in Bridgerton.

Then there’s her knack for launching stars. That whole first-season cast of Grey’s Anatomy caught fire, with Canada’s indie darling Sandra Oh riding her Cristina Yang success all the way to Hollywood’s A-list. Kerry Washington’s swagger was cemented when Rhimes cast her as the leader of Scandal’s gladiators – making her the first Black woman to headline a network drama since the ’70s. And no one will forget the instant stardom thrust upon Bridgerton’s season 1 breakout duke and duchess, Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor – only to be followed up by season 2’s Jonathan Bailey, who thanks to his turn as Viscount Bridgerton, was anointed 2025’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” People magazine’s first openly gay pick.

But Rhimes does not only prime actors for overnight success, she also revolutionizes genres. By mashing up British period-piece dramas with mass paperback romance novels (in this case, bestselling author Julia Quinn’s eight-book series), she’s given us Bridgerton‘s lords and ladies of marriageable age twirling each other around one ballroom after another – to classical reworkings of hits by Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift – as foreplay to television’s steamiest sex scenes (well, at least before that other romance book adaptation, Heated Rivalry, came on the scene). 

But Dearest Gentle Reader, let me assure you this isn’t just a dumbed-down and sped-up formula to woo Gen Zers. Sure, this season will see another 20-something Bridgerton sibling – second-son Benedict (Luke Thompson) – fall for the one person he can’t have. But a secondary later-in-love storyline is the real draw. Considering the series is full of wise and fabulous older characters with just as fabulous older actresses playing them – including Golda Rosheuvel’s Queen Charlotte and Adjoa Andoh’s Lady Danbury – it’s about time that we see a boundary-pushing affair for one of the more mature characters. And fans won’t be surprised to know that it’s Lady Violet – the matriarch of the Bridgerton fam, played by Ruth Gemmell – who’s heating up the boudoir. Last season, we watched her fight her attraction to her best friend’s brother, Lord Anderson (Daniel Francis), by distracting herself with the consuming goal of marrying off her eight unwieldy sons and daughters – so far, she’s guided three into the arms of a suitable match. 

Zoomer recently sat down with Gemmell and found it hard not to be impressed. While the 58-year-old has no children of her own, she plays the Bridgerton octomom with great authority. And though the series revels in the thrill of gossip, Gemmell knows well enough not to shed any light on the lives and loves of her younger castmates. That’s not to say she keeps all her cards close to her chest. To us, she opened up about her own sexy storyline – and her past onscreen romance with another Regency-era heartthrob.

Zoomer: If it was up to us, you’d be the breakout star of this season. Are you ready for your big moment, centrefold photoshoots and swooning attention from rabid Bridgerton fans?

Ruth Gemmell: Oh, I don’t think that’s going to happen. No, I don’t worry about it. I don’t think that will come my way, but I can bask in the glory of all my children. That’s absolutely fine.

Z: Has the cast been teasing Jonathan, the Sexiest Man Alive, about his new title.

RG: No! [Laughs] I think we’re just so pleased to see him when he has a day on our set. He’s so busy, and then occasionally he pops in for something, and it’s just lovely to have him back. I keep losing children along the way, but those family scenes when we all get together are our favourites. It’s mayhem and the filming lasts forever because we just mess around.

Z: This isn’t your first time seeing your co-stars deal with instant, overwhelming stardom. You played the love interest of Colin Firth’s football-mad character in the 1997 British rom-com Fever Pitch, not long after his much-discussed turn in Pride and Prejudice. What was that like?

RG: There was quite a big focus on him at that time. And I remember being asked then in an interview for a funny anecdote about working with him. I told the interviewer – well, it’s not actually very funny, but it was funny at the time – about a bedroom scene we were doing and that while the lighting was being adjusted, he was trying to explain the football fixtures list to me. And I have no interest whatsoever in sport, let alone football. And I sort of glazed over, and we kind of became our characters. After I told this story to a journalist, the headline in the paper says, “Ruth Gemmell gets into bed with Mr. Darcy and promptly falls asleep.” This was at the height of him and Mr. Darcyism. So I was mortified. I was very apologetic to him.

Z: Almost 30 years later, you have a new bedroom scene to talk about in the upcoming season of Bridgerton. You’ve said in the past that if the writers give you a love story that: “I don’t want to get my ass out for anyone.” So did you?

RG: No, I certainly did not. I got away with murder on that one. I’m quite pleased.

Z: But you do show up in some breathtakingly sexy – and time-period appropriate – lingerie …

RG: That’s probably the most comfortable wardrobe I’ve had on the show simply because I wore it for the least amount of time. [Laughs] But yes, that particular corset was extraordinary and really stunning. 

Z: What do you appreciate about this storyline?

RG: I think it’s important to recognize that half of our audience is probably my age. So, it’s nice to have that reflected. It’s nice for people to identify with that. And, you know, we’re not dead. It’s quite normal. And yes, young love is beautiful to watch. But there is something that comes with experience and wisdom and age and loss and history. It’s nice to kind of see that reflected. When you love and you lose, you become vulnerable again. When you are in the throes of first love, you’re so open. That’s how you get hurt, I think. And most of us my age, we’ve all done that. And so it’s quite interesting to then come back to the idea of a relationship or love with a vulnerability that shows a wealth of history – baggage is interesting. 

Z: I don’t think anyone on a TV series has expressed such authentic sexual anxiety to a suitor in the way that Violet does when she says, “I have had eight children with this body, and I am different now. All of me is different. How will that be?”

RG: Yeah, maybe not. That’s true. It’s dealing with motherhood versus sexuality. I think this woman, and this is something I identify with – although not personally – but this woman has thrown all her energies into her children. And my mother did something very similar. I’m one of five, and she focused very much on her children. And there comes a point, especially for Violet, where she’s watched three children marry for love. And it’s like having a mirror put up in front of her. And she can see what’s missing and what she misses from her younger life, before [her husband] Edmund passed away. And I think that awakens in her something that she can’t put to bed, literally, until she’s put to bed. 

Z: Do you draw from your mother in other ways for this character?

RG: She’s written in a very giving and loving and caring way, which is how I remember my mother and how I remember my childhood and our upbringing. And she was very wise. And she was the kind of woman who would say very little and would rarely get cross. But if she did, you would know it. You would be mortified.

Z: In the new season, you and Luke [who plays Benedict] have great mother-son chemistry, very relaxed with bursts of banter.

RG: Yes, but I’m still a bit arsy with him. I’m an overbearing mother. I suppose because we’ve been working together now for a while and this is the fourth season, there is a familiarity with each other in a way that has been developed over time. And we get to have these one-on-one scenes as opposed to being in a ballroom with lots of people, which gives us the chance to play. It’s like being on stage with someone – and he’s a joy to work with.

Z: It’s even in your body language during those scenes, how you sprawl in a chair when you’re talking with him.

RG: The show is written with the idea that the Bridgertons lounge around, unlike the sort of the societal rules for most families in that period. I remember that when we first started, we had lessons about deportment and etiquette and all of that kind of stuff. And then they literally told us to ignore it. Which was kind of lovely considering in the U.K., it’s sort of part of our DNA, that period drama kind of thing. It was quite nice and refreshing to sort of ignore it. But then they put us in costumes that make it really hard to lounge around – to slouch. But we do try. We just slouch in a really kind of stiff way. 

Z: That sounds difficult.

RG: It’s even harder going to the toilet, frankly. You end up not drinking so you don’t have to go.

Z: I guess there are downsides to being in Shondaland. But what are the perks? Do you get invited to the Grey’s Anatomy Christmas party?

RG: No, I’ve not actually had that privilege. That might be something I could ask for.

 

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