Yahoo News Go Behind the Scenes of 'Bridgerton' with Jessica Madsen
It might be easy for viewers to jeer Cressida Cowper in the third season of Bridgerton. After all, the debutante isn’t particularly kind to her enemies (including, notably, Penelope Featherington) or even her friends (Eloise Bridgerton, in particular). And in the second half of the season, she manages to dig quite a hole for herself, and attempts to drag other members of the ton down into it with her. But for Jessica Madsen, who plays Cressida, these rough edges were part of what made her so exciting.
“When I got the part, I was thrilled,” Madsen says. “In the first two seasons, we see her as the kind of mean girl, and this season we get to delve into what she is the way that she is. We see her on a journey: she opens up and we notice a true version of who she is through her friendship with Eloise… and then she puts her armor back on and is really fending for herself. In the second half of the season, she’s wondering, how do I get out of this now?”
Here, Madsen opens her camera roll to T&C to share a behind-the-scenes look at Bridgerton, and the moments that didn’t make it on screen.
"We were filming what I think was episode four, I think I might be wrong with the hot air balloon. And we were all in Painshill Park [in Surrey,] and we had to drive all the way up to the end of the park to turn around so that we could go back to base. We all thought it would be funny to act dead to see if any of the crew would laugh and to see how long we could hold it. It was a really long drive back, but we actually managed to do it. And as we drove past everyone, they did find it hilarious."
"I love this dress so much. I felt very jazzed up, so I wanted to take a photo. I believe this is what Cressida wears on her way to meet the Queen. Off screen, I'm much more likely to throw on sweats and not put on any makeup. Still, I've begged a million times to keep one of her dresses, but so far it's always been a no."
"I'm obsessed with the Grinch. Here we are on our last day before Christmas break, and our wonderful security guy dressed up as the Grinch. I was so thrilled, I just couldn't believe it."
"This is Poetry for Neanderthals. It's a game where you have to articulate as simply as you possibly can and answer questions. If you start including the and and or anything too fancy, you get hit. We play a lot of games when we're all together, we've got a lot of time in between setups and this was a fun game to play, even if I was terrible."
"Here is my absolute favorite photo. It's of me and Claudia Jessie, and I feel like Nicola Coughlan took it. From looking at my hair, you can tell we're shooting the engagement party. But what really does it for me is that the picture sums up our love. I love Claudia so much, she's honestly the most amazing human being and the most amazing actor to work with. We feel like two little kids when we're together; we're mental together."
"These are my hair pieces, the ones we put on top of the wig, and they're still being developed here, but they always sit on Grace [Gorman, the hairstylist]'s table. She had them sat up there and I thought they looked really funny. The middle mannequin head has a frown, which is appropriately Cressida. On Bridgerton, the hair and the costumes are the biggest gift. The minute they're on, I'm like, okay, here we go!"
"This was a night shoot in the north of England, and we were just sort of lying down where we could, which we like to do when we get the chance. It's probably around three or four in the morning and e were still going strong. Harriet Cains and Lorn Macdonald are the funniest pair, and I adore them both so much."
"It's a neck corset. I saw the whole progression of it being designed and it was amazing to put on my neck. It doesn't suck in my neck like a corset around your waist, so I'm not in any pain. But it's gorgeous. I think it's one of my favorite pieces I get to wear."
"It was Halloween, and that's Grace up in the window with her hat. I don't know why she's wearing a birthday party hat, but it was early in the morning and this little dragon was outside our bus. Our bus was very good with decorations—lots of Christmas stuff and birthdays. The Halloween dragon was my favorite."
"Here we have the Cressida hairpiece board, with of lots of different Grace designs. You can actually tell everybody's board when you walk in; that's Lady Featherington or that's Prudence. These are definitely Cressida Cowper's... Everyone's got a look which is uniquely theirs."
"I can't remember what time it was, but it was very early and I was on my way into work. The sky over Uxbridge Studios looked really pretty, and it isn't necessarily the most beautiful area, but I took a photo because it looked gorgeous in the morning."
"That's Grace wearing one of my wigs on her head. My hair and makeup took around two hours. They were pretty quick because they had everything prepped before and then they just popped my wig on and then they combined half of my hair into the wig to blend it. They're speedy gals."
"This is another look at Painshill Park. I grew up nearby, so it's a real happy place for me. You can see the crystal cave here, which is a cave made of crystals. We shoot just over to the left, that's where we filmed the balloon race. I love it there."
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