Bridgerton’s Ruth Gemmell admitted she cried over her character Violet Bridgerton’s sex scene in season 4.
In the latest installment of the hit Netflix drama, Bridgerton matriarch Violet finds herself at the center of her own love story with Lord Marcus Anderson (played by Daniel Francis). Midway through the season, the pair meet for a rendezvous in Violet’s boudoir as things heat up between them.
The scene came as a surprise to Gemmell, 58, because it’s usually her on-screen children who are in Bridgerton’s steamier scenes.
“I think I was a little bit shocked. I was in a costume fitting, and I realized I was being fitted for something I had no idea was going to happen. I went home and cried,” she said in a recent interview with Belgium’s Ciné-Télé-Revue.
Gemmell continued, “Thankfully, we tackled this one in a slightly different way to the kids of the show, because I don’t think anyone would want to watch that really,” joking that there was a lot of “low lighting” used to film the scene.
While the British actress had initial reservations about Violet’s tryst with Lord Anderson, she felt it was important to show that life does go on after losing a loved one. In the series, Violet is a widow following the death of her husband, Edmund.
“We don’t die after a certain age, so I think it’s quite nice to kind of represent that,” Gemmell said. “I think that’s important.”
“It’s really lovely to see young love and love for the first time, but it’s also very important and lovely to see somebody who has loved and lost and grieved and comes with a myriad of baggage,” she continued. “Because everyone can identify with that and I think that’s important to show.”
The latest season of Bridgerton largely focuses on the romance between Violet’s second son, Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), and maid Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), who got their happy ending in the season 4 finale.
As is Bridgerton tradition, each season focuses on a different sibling’s love story, with seasons 5 and 6 set to focus on Eloise (Claudia Jessie) and Francesca (Hannah Dodd), though what order they’ll take the lead is yet to be confirmed.
Ha, meanwhile, hopes to return as Sophie in season 5.
“I would love to film as much as possible,” Ha, 28, told Us Weekly exclusively in February.
“I mean, it’s Bridgerton. I’m new and I don’t have years under my belt. So I’m still fresh and I’m still ready to go. I am eager,” she added.
