Whistledown has the power to make and break lives, exposing secrets of high society in her scandal sheet.
Voiced byJulie Andrewsas a cheeky narrator for much of the Shondaland series, Whistledown is unmasked in the finale.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How early did you know the truth about Penelope and Lady Whistledown?
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I got offered the job after that one audition, which was so unexpected.
And I thought, “What?!”
But then I didn’t know, because it’s an adaptation, so that’s not guaranteed.
They could have changed that.
He said, “Yeah, you are.”
But for me to know that was really important, because it changes everything about her.
It means that she’s this crazy active listener all the time.
It hugely informed how I played the part.
Also, it was really fun when people didn’t know, and they wanted to know.
So did your costars not know?
Did you have to keep it a secret from them?
And I’d go, “Do you want to know?”
They go, “Penelope?!”
“I know, right?
Isn’t it crazy?”
What do you think Penelope’s motivation for this is?
See, that’s the fascinating thing about her.
Real life is not Disney, where there’s the goodies and the baddies.
Penelope is all the things.
She is really sweet, but then she’s super-conniving, and she obviously has learned to keep secrets.
I have to look at her family dynamic.
She’s such the outsider in that family.
Also because she’s been bullied essentially her whole life, she tried to find an outlet.
It’s a release for her.
What was your reaction when you discovered Julie Andrews would be voicing your inner thoughts?
I lost it completely.
It’s a big thing to take in, honestly.
Did knowing that influence your performance?
Partly, yeah, because Julie Andrew’s voice is iconic; we all just know it from childhood.
Julie Andrews is this sublime being that’s above everybody else.
Julie Andrews is the God of Bridgerton, essentially.
So it was the perfect choice, and really informed a lot of what I did.
How difficult was it for her to decide to betray Marina (Ruby Barker) and expose her?
Do you think it was a decision made rashly or impulsively in some ways?
So when I got the script, and she did it, I couldn’t believe it.
I was so shocked.
It’s so bad."
And Claudia said, “She’s a child.
She’s 17, and that’s not like a 17-year-old nowadays.
So if we do get a season 2, what do you think or hope might come there?
Is Penelope going to keep carrying that torch?
Is he really that blind?
She’s so innocent when we first meet her.
And there’s such a power imbalance with her and Colin.
I’m totally over it.”
I don’t think that she would be, but I’d quite like to see how that works.
Do you think there were times where she was tempted to tell her?
It’s such a terrible betrayal, because she’s writing about Eloise’s family.
Penelope, on a certain level, is quite obsessed with the Bridgertons.
Penelope can’t endlessly shove everything down and keep the secret; it will at some point come out.
Well, they are best friends.
On the surface, Eloise seems far more enamored with the boldness and freedom of Whistledown than Penelope does.
She’s just fascinating to play, because it’s never what you see on the surface.
You and Claudia have such amazing chemistry as friends.
Did that arise naturally on set?
It honestly really did.
Claudia is one of the kindest, nicest people you could ever come across.
You meet her and you instantly want to hang out with her.
I ended up being the first one cast inBridgerton.
I started reading the books, so I was like, “Who’s Colin going to be?
Who’s Portia Featherington going to be?
Who’s Eloise?”
Eloise is the love of Penelope’s life, aside from Colin.
It’s this beautiful friendship.
I’d love to see how their friendship progresses.
And that’s the most important friendship within the books as well, so it’s a special thing.
We usually have a really narrow definition of who we get to see in love stories.
It’s definitely a feature in the books.
Like, how her sisters speak to her about her body is really unkind.
Whereas Penelope is complex, and smart, and funny and daring, and duplicitous.
But it’s good.
Actors are just playing human beings, and human beings look like a million different things.
Who dislikes the color yellow more, you or Penelope?
Penelope definitely dislikes it more.
I don’t dislike it.
I actually found myself buying yellow clothes.
They’re all works of art."
You’re like Cinderella’s stepsisters almost.
Well, they did call us the Regency Kardashians.
There’s the three daughters, and then the pushy mom.
That’s what they called us on set.
