Corey Mylchreest —PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX
The first time we wrote about Netflix’s acclaimed series “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story”—which has a 94-percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes—we couldn’t thoroughly discuss some of its “more delicate” themes because of their spoiler elements.
These included the show’s depiction of King George III’s (Corey Mylchreest) rapidly deteriorating mental health or Corey’s “intimate” and “racier” moments with India Amarteifio, who plays Charlotte in the show.
Now that we can look at the show with some distance, we’re revisiting our interview with Corey about sex, nudity and other “titillating” topics.
Asked about how he and India got comfortable with each other while doing their provocative scenes, Corey shared, “It felt a bit strange initially. I’ve never done that kind of scene before… well, neither of us had done scenes like those going into it. But ‘Bridgerton’ is such a well-oiled machine by now, particularly in terms of making sure that the actors are safe and comfortable doing them.
“Tom Verica, our director, was brilliant, and [writer-producer] Shonda Rhimes has such a brilliant policy that overrides everything… so we were all good on that front. And then, we had Lizzie Talbot and Lucy Fennell, who were our brilliant intimacy coordinators on set. So all the difficult work was done for us.
Necessary
“Then, there’s Shonda’s script, where every scene felt necessary. There was purpose behind everything that we said and did. It’s almost similar to a dance, stunt or fight scene… everything is choreographed, and every little movement has meaning and definition.
“But then again, we as actors also just had to take a leap of faith—and that was where the trust and bond we forged together kicked in. And with India as my scene partner, I couldn’t have asked for a better person to do that with.”
Noting how difficult it must have been for Corey to “figure out” his ill character—who suffered from deteriorating mental illness—we asked him at which point in the filming of this series did he start to feel comfortable inhabiting King George.
“What a great question… wow,” the dashing actor quipped. “There’s one episode in particular that focuses more on the king’s story, and this was filmed in three blocks, with two episodes per block. And so, it was kind of the beginning of block two, because I was in the shoot every day and all day—and almost everything, every scene was very, very intense!
“I remember clocking in on set at one point, and I had my headphones on. And I thought, ‘I’ve now been in an emotionally vulnerable space for so long with these people, with the crew, with my fellow castmates, and Tom… and I remember looking at them and feeling like they were all part of George’s subconscious! It was really weird thinking about it that way.
‘We were all George’
“It doesn’t make that much sense now, but I remember that it felt very much like my imagination, and my subconscious had shifted. So that was a real lesson for me as an actor: Just do the f*ckin’ thing over and over and over again, and do it differently every time. Then, allow yourself to open up to that experience by remembering feeling very much like we were all George!
“I think that comes from a willingness to go to that place and also feeling like everybody welcomes what you’re going through within a very wholesome, safe and encouraging environment.
“So yeah, I would say about a third of the way—that was when I finally felt ‘comfortable’ living under George’s skin.” INQ