Nicola Coughlan, who stars as Penelope in the Netflix smash, told Tudum, “I feel like if you see Penelope fawning over this boy for another season, you’ll be like, ‘Get it together! Come on, move on and get over it!’ [Season 3 showrunner] Jess [Brownell] has talked to Luke and [me] through the season, and I think people are going to be really obsessed. I think book fans are going to be happy.” Coughlan also gave some insight on the inevitable sex scenes that Season 3 of Bridgerton will bring, promising that the fans of the books “will be pleased” when they see her and Luke Newton’s characters finally get busy. “I have shot sex scenes before, but not in the Bridgerton way. It’s really funny because Luke [Newton] and I have known each other now three years. In the beginning we used to joke about [the inevitability of one together] all the time,” she said. “Now it’s no longer a hypothetical bit of comedy. “I couldn’t ask for a better partner to go into this with, and I have such trust in Luke and I hope he has it in me to go forward on it.” Newton said he was thrilled with the upcoming onscreen romance, which fans have affectionately dubbed “Polin.” “I love Polin! There’s so much love for that relationship, which brings its pressures because there are people that are really excited about this story to come to the forefront, but also it really warms me.” he said, adding that he enjoys scrolling through the “#Polin” hashtag. Remember, at the end of Season 2, Penelope hears Colin tell his pals that he’d never think to court her. That stung, but Newton says that he doesn’t think Colin was deliberately cruel and was simply just making an offhand drunken remark at a party—and that he doesn’t just not want to court Penelope, but that he simply isn’t ready for a relationship whatsoever. “Maybe that’s Colin’s excuse: He’s not looking for [love] at all. If he was actively out there constantly looking for the right person, and she’s right in front of him, you’d be even more frustrated,” he said. “Maybe he needs to focus on love and romance, rather than his business pursuits or his desire to travel.” He adds, “I’m hoping that he has sort of a more sensitive side to him. I love that we are exploring a relationship that so many people have had, where you form a friendship and you get to know each other down to the core. Then it sparks something from there.” As far as Polin’s dynamic as a pairing, Coughlan, like Newton before her, compares them to the world’s most infamous on-again-off-again-will-they-or-won’t-they onscreen couple: Ross and Rachel from Friends. “But Penelope is the Ross,” Coughlan says. “She’s the one secretly harboring the love for him.” Next, find out everything there is to know about Bridgerton Season 3!
