“[The Bridgerton Press Tour] Is Like Being On Some Sort Of Hallucinogenic Drug”: Luke Thompson Is Next In Line  

Seven years into the talk-of-the-Ton Bridgerton saga, the British actor is next up through the cultural touchstone’s revolving door of leading men. As his free-spirited, bohemian Benedict Bridgerton finally encounters love after four seasons of graceful wandering, the 37-year-old is poised to command the spotlight that accompanies centre stage. He reflects on the journey there with castmate and Season 3 lead, Nicola Coughlan.

Luke Thompson logs on six minutes early for his date with fellow Bridgerton castmate and friend, Irish actor Nicola Coughlan. He had warned her he’d be 10 minutes tardy to this particular appointment. “Classic me,” he laughs. “I tell people I’ll be late, and then I’m on time.” A quiet mark of a British stickler for politeness, perhaps? It’s a match for the Regency-era etiquette of the character, Benedict Bridgerton, that Thompson’s been embodying onscreen for four seasons now. And it’s all the more impressive when you consider, more than ever, he likely needs a moment to recalibrate before leaping into yet another interview amid the largest press tour of his career. He’s composed despite the whirlwind – call it main character energy.

For the past seven years, shoulder to shoulder with some of the defining acting voices of his generation – Coughlan, Luke Newton, Jonathan Bailey, Phoebe Dynevor, Claudia Jessie, to name but a few – Thompson has helped Netflix and Shondaland transport audiences to early 19th-century London in Bridgerton. Inspired by Julia Quinn’s novels of the same name, the television mammoth has become one of the most triumphant period romances of our era, all thanks to its sugar-dusted, corset-loosening, dangerously addictive plotlines. 

It sees eight fictional siblings, from a storied aristocratic clan, become immersed in the glittering whirl of the social season, flitting through drawing rooms and grand ballrooms, navigating rivalry, reputation, and the ever-elusive promise of love. Breath-taking costumes and lavish visuals collide with intricately-woven subplots, reflections on class and aristocratic power, and pop hits rendered in classical strings – where else could Billie Eilish feel so Regency? – forming a decadent backdrop to each of the three seasons so far. At the heart of it all is a changing cast of leading men and women, each stepping into the spotlight for one season, as they embark on that all-important pursuit for love.

After Regé-Jean Page’s Simon Basset captured Phoebe Dynevor’s Daphne’s heart in Season 1, Jonathan Bailey’s Lord Anthony Bridgerton succumbed to the fevered ardour of Simone Ashley’s Kate Sharma in Season 2. In 2024’s instalment, Luke Newton’s Colin Bridgerton finally found his match in Coughlan’s Penelope Featherington. But in the latest chapter, arriving on Netflix on January 29th, it’s the turn of the family’s black sheep.

There have been years of self-discovery, romantic escapades, and gentle rebellion against the status quo for Benedict, whether drifting through underground art-world circles, navigating a fluid love life or a mounting unease with the Ton’s rigid rules. However, now he is finally ready to surrender to love in all its glory – and Thompson is primed to claim centre stage.

As he navigates the final leg of the season four press tour, Thompson sits down with Coughlan, joining from a back room at the National Theatre during a break from her run in The Playboy of the Western World – coincidentally on her 39th birthday – for a catch-up. From theatre mishaps and the paradoxes of fame to Thompson’s spirited journey with fellow Season 4 lead Yerin Ha, it’s a reminder that few cut to the heart of a story quite like Lady Whistledown.

Nicola Coughlan: Hello! Miss you! 

Luke Thompson: Miss you too. I’m trying to work out when was the last time I saw you.

NC: Potentially on set. When did we even wrap? Was it May? Seems like a quick Bridgerton turnaround in a way.

LT: Yes, compared to what we usually have. But then we haven’t had global disasters to contend with. 

NC: Exactly. I was thinking about Season 2 the other day and how hard that was to film. Do you remember?

LT: It was miserable. 

NC: In Season 1, we got loads of time to socialise, and in Season 2, we couldn’t leave our houses because we had infinite testers to come.

LT: Ruth [Gemmell] had to be sent home twice. She didn’t even have Covid, I don’t think. But it was that early stage where, even if you were around someone who might have Covid, you had to go home. And she came back, and the same day she was sent home again. 

NC: I got caught in that time when an unnamed person did come to set with COVID, and it took most of the main cast out. Were you in that group?

LT: No, I was lucky. I remember that day.

NC: I had two weeks on my own. I went insane.

LT: I hope we never have to do it again. 

NC: I thought of you the other day for the weirdest reason. 

LT: Come on, then.

NC: I’m doing a play at the minute. And we had a showstop the other night. And I don’t know if you remember, because when you do a play, every performance sort of melts into one, but do you recall what happened when Rupert Young and I came to see you in A Little Life?

LT: There was a showstop. As far as I remember, because I was in the dressing room. It was really interesting, actually, because [A Little Life] is quite an upsetting play, which had a lot of graphic descriptions and depictions of abuse, so I think people were already a little tense in the audience. But the thing that was weird was that the showstopper would happen almost always at the same point.  And not necessarily at a shocking point, but it was always a certain point where I was in the dressing room, and when you came and saw, it was that moment again. It was strange because we heard a cough, and thought, ‘Alright, there’s just someone coughing’, and then they kept coughing. And, you know, when you’re an actor, [if it happens] a couple of times you let it go, but after a while, you’re like, ‘Please, can this person leave?’ Because it also encourages everyone else to start coughing.

NC: It’s bizarre how distracting coughing is. But this was excessive coughing.

LT: It was excessive coughing. And then I think what effectively happened, we were told later, is that basically, it wasn’t someone coughing, it was someone vomiting. They were vomiting in the circle, and the circle is very steep, so they’re vomiting over the top of the person in front of them, who then started vomiting as well. Like a vomiting human centipede.

NC: Exactly. My friend was over this morning, because today is actually my birthday. That’s how much I like you. I’m doing this on my birthday. 

LT: Are you serious? Happy Birthday! I’m honoured.

NC: Thank you very much. There are few people I would do it for, but you are one of them. [Laughs] But my friend works at the National [Theatre], and she said that it’s really common and that a woman was at the Dorfman, which is the smallest theatre in this building, and was vomiting into her hand. And [my friend] was an usher, so she went over and said, ‘Hi, do you want to step out?’ And the woman was like, ‘No, I’m fine.’ [Laughs] You’re actually not fine. You’re really not fine. But it was bizarre. Okay, sorry. Went on a complete tangent. 

LT: Would you ever want to do your own chat show? 

NC: Not really, [laughs]. I don’t really enjoy interviewing people, and I only do it for people that I either really like or I’mreally impressed by. I think you probably think the same as this, but being an actor, the fun of it is the bit of not having to reveal all of yourself.

LT: Totally.

NC: I look at pop stars all the time, and I think, ‘Jesus, that’s too much.’ I wouldn’t want to give all of that. You do really well in not having social media. Has there ever been a point at which you’ve been tempted to get it?

LT: I’ve had moments where I’ve been like, ‘Oh, am I shooting myself in the foot here?’ or ‘Am I missing a part of the experience?’ And to be honest, I remember when Bridgerton first came out, during Covid, social media was the only access to the success of the show. So, of course, you know, I went on and had a look at stuff. But, in terms of having a regular account, I’ve occasionally thought about it. I know everyone says that it is addictive and all that. But if I had social media, I would be on it for six hours, seven hours a day, and I would waste my life away. There’s something about the setup of it that is so addictive. I just couldn’t do it. It’s not worth the hassle.

NC: I think you’re probably right, and it also means that you are experiencing the success of Bridgerton in a completely different way from most of us. I feel really smug that [the show] worked out. We were some of the first people cast in the show. It was me, you, Harriet Cains, Claudia Jessie, Phoebe Dynevor…

LT: And Johnny. 

NC: Yes! Johnny Bailey was there. I think it was just that group that day, which is quite a small group, and we were sitting across from each other in this rehearsal studio. And I told you, ‘I think this job is going to change your life.’

LT: Yes, I remember you saying that.

NC: Did you believe me at the time, or were you, like, ‘This girl’s crazy?’

LT: Not at all. I think I was aware of what it could be. And I think the producers and the team behind it felt very confident about it. [It felt like] a big deal. But I think there was a point when [the show] dropped where I think I’d just done a Zoom call or something, maybe it was an interview, and I put my laptop down, and I think one of the questions had been, like, ‘What’s it like having millions of people watching it?’ And it really sank in for the first time. And it was quite a scary thought, weirdly. And I sort of blocked it out, because it can just completely capsize. I feel like, actually, now more than ever, the enjoyment of the show is part of the job. That scale of press tours, the sharing of the work, it’s all so immense. And I think, actually, there is a lot of richness to be found there. One of the journeys of doing this show is realising there is actually a lot of wealth and fun and enjoyment in being able to watch people enjoy it. To actually see it happen in front of you.

NC: Do you know that we have one of the biggest rewatch rates on Netflix? I think that’s a really special thing, because anyone can watch a show one time, but the fact that people want to revisit these characters, that’s a really beautiful thing. It’s kind of amazing that we’re part of that. How long have you been on the press tour now, and how is it feeling? 

LT: We started in early December, then we had the Christmas break, and we’re starting up now again and going until the end of February. It’s such a massive, all-encompassing experience, isn’t it? People ask me now, ‘How are you finding it?’ And I’m always slightly at a loss for words. It’s like being on some sort of hallucinogenic drug. You get these huge highs of like, ‘Oh my god, this is amazing.’ And then suddenly you have moments of like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ 

NC: Totally.

LT: I think it’s the performance element of it. A press tour now is, essentially, a three-month marathon performance art, an extended version of the show. And for someone like me, it puts me in a place where I’m not naturally or instinctively at home. I think one of the reasons why I started acting in the first place is [because] I don’t really like being myself. I can be myself with the people I know and love in my life. But, publicly, I think the reason why I found acting so compulsive to do is because it’s a perfect way to simultaneously reveal and hide yourself. 

NC: I completely agree. 

LT: I know that you can say, ‘Oh, but you’re sort of playing a version of yourself when you’re on a press tour.’ But, fundamentally, it is still you, and it’s much more difficult to feel that boundary. And I think, weirdly, the boundary for me, going back to what we were saying about the success of it all, and trying to deal with that success, is that if you can really hold on to that boundary between you as a person and then you as an actor, as much as possible, it actually enables you to enjoy the attention you get for what it is. There’s something about seeing people in the street who, if they recognise me, [I just think], ‘They’re seeing the show.’ It can feel less aggressive.

NC: It’s the world of the show. I guess people coming to see the play here, I’m like, ‘I think they want to feel that Bridgerton world.’ It’s not necessarily about me specifically. It’s just like feeling that that’s tangible and real.

LT: And holding on to that makes it so much more fun to be in your own life, and then alongside that, really enjoy the attention. You know, all actors want attention. You want people to listen to you.

NC: It’s this ridiculous juxtaposition that I totally get as well. But it was so lovely to see you film [this season]. I think that’s a beautiful thing about the show. It’s so unusual that it’s different leads every time. People ask me, ‘Did you give him advice?’ I’m like, ‘He’s been doing it for as long as we’ve been doing it. He doesn’t need advice from anyone.’ But leading the show is a very different experience, isn’t it?

LT: It’s like standing on top of a tall building. I obviously was in and out before. And, you know, you get to know the team a little bit, but when you’re in every day, you watch that communal effort of filming all the time. You’re so much more aware of it. And, weirdly, you feel so much more part of it.

NC: And your season was the longest one to film, nine months rather than eight, which is a huge chunk. And for people who don’t know, outside of that, we have costume fittings and dance rehearsals… It’s so all-encompassing. Did you enjoy how all-encompassing it was, or did you find it challenging?

LT: Mentally, I love being busy, and I love being used. And in a strange kind of way, if you’ve got four scenes in a day, you can’t worry about any of them, because there’s too much to worry about. So you actually end up just sort of giving in to it. And I just loved it.

NC: It’s really magic, because you’re so supported, aren’t you? I definitely felt like a much better actor having finished it. 

LT: Yes, because you learn so much. I think for me, it was more like, sometimes your body gives up. But yes, you’re very supported. And also, it’s a show that there’s such a confident, clear [feeling] that I really was just very happy during that period.

NC: And you seemed it, you had such an ease about you. I remember Luke and I saying to you at the premiere, we knew for a long time it was you next, but it was secret. But I remember us just being like, ‘Are you ready for all of this?’ But also, I don’t mean like, ‘This will end’, but it is weird that [the leading spot] is your thing for a bit, and then you pass it on. How do you feel about that?

LT: No, totally, we’ll see what happens in terms of next seasons but obviously I’d love to still be part of the show…

NC: I think that’s a pretty safe bet. 

LT: But it does feel like, for the last six years, I’ve sort of been in this sense of being before this moment and now suddenly be after this moment. And that’s kind of lovely in a way, because, you know, it’s always nice to change it up and do different things. It’s about holding and letting go, isn’t it? 

NC: Yes, hold on tightly, let go lightly. I think when you’re there doing it, you’re like, ‘I’m gonna give this everything.’ And I think when you throw everything into it, you don’t really have regrets. Do you have the temptation of what to do next? 

LT: I was thinking about this the other day, I feel like in theatre land, I have got to a point where I feel like I can choose a bit more the things that I want to do and the things that interest me. So I’d love to [continue] doing stuff that interests me. I’ve been very lucky to get to often do work that I can stand behind. When I watched Season 4, I was like, ‘Oh, this press tour will be easy, because I’m fully behind this.’ I think everyone has done amazingly. It’s a great piece of work, and I’m proud of it.

NC: Honestly, and the chemistry between you and Yerin [Ha] is beautiful. I think my biggest hope for you going into it was that you two would get on and have a good time. And it was so clear that you did. And not to be cheesy, but that’s the most important thing, that you have a good working relationship with your [lead partner], [because] you spent such a long time together. The older I get, I don’t know if you feel the same, but I really want to have a good time at work. It doesn’t mean you can’t do challenging work or a difficult subject matter or anything like that, but I don’t want to feel drained or upset.

LT: It’s so much less draining when you feel it has meaning. I think that’s my gold standard. I’d like to carry on being lucky enough to do things that feel meaningful to me and, hopefully, meaningful to other people. 

NC: Can we do a play together?

LT: I’d love to do a play. How are you finding going back to the theatre after doing Bridgerton? How long has it been since your last play?

NC: Longer than I wanted it to be, but that’s partly been because of Bridgerton, because there was no space between filming [the first seasons], Derry Girls and Big Mood. So, since 2018, which was scary. And then I also think post-Bridgerton, coming back and being in a play, you’re not getting judged on the same level. You’re not an anonymous actor anymore. So I was a bit terrified. But it’s funny, I had someone at the stage door quite disappointed, being like, ‘You were nothing like your character in Bridgerton.’ I was like, ‘I really hope I wasn’t, because I wouldn’t be very good if that was the case.’ But it’s incredible. I love it. 

LT: From last time you were on stage, do you feel like a different actor?

NC: Hugely. I’d never been a lead of a show before doing Season 3. And the workload, how much you have to carry yourself and just be ready… Also, I think there is a pressure to being the lead that’s different. You kind of set the tone.And we’ve both been on projects where the leads don’t behave well, and that can really trickle down. There’s a responsibility [to being the lead], it sets a tone on set. It’s wild how much it does. So now I know that responsibility, and also, you’ve got to put the work in in a different way. Do you have a thing from Season 4 that you’re like, ‘I didn’t know that before. I have that now, and I can bring that with me?’

LT: Weirdly, it’s that idea of standing at the centre of the structure. There [might be] a part of you that wants to stay on the side and dance around, but you have to hold as much as possible. Your job [as the lead] is to hold things together a little bit. It’s funny, I’m always sort of slightly mystified by how the world outside the actual story and within the story sort of talk to each other. But in a way, the whole Benedict storyline is about someone uncomfortable being at the centre of his own life. Someone uncomfortable with putting some sort of stake down, and being like, ‘This is who I am, and also this is what I want’. And I think he spent three seasons tiptoeing around the edge, and now he’s been asked to stand at the centre, and that’s not his comfort zone. So I guess maybe in some strange kind of way that sort of rubbed off on me as well, as an actor. It’s a very privileged position, and it’s not a burden, but it is a responsibility. 

NC: I feel exactly the same. And everyone is fully behind you. That’s the lovely thing about this show, which makes for a lovely kind of egalitarian environment. We’ve been doing this for such a long time; it will be our seventh year this year.But there’s something about the lead shifting that means it just carries on and has its own new life. And we all just want to see our friends step into that moment.

LT: I know. It’s really lovely. I’ve said previously, I think there is so much stuff out there now, there is so much content.There’s so much competing for people’s attention. And to be in something that commands the attention of people in this day and age is incredible. We’re so lucky to be watched by so many people.

NC: I’m really excited for you. I finished the season the other day, and it’s just gorgeous. I don’t feel like I get to say I’m proud of you because you are my peer, but I’m really proud of you.

LT: Of course, you get to say that, it’s lovely. Thank you.

NC: Very proud of you. You deserve it all. Love you, pal. 

LT: Love you. 

Bridgerton Season 4 Part 1 releases on Netflix January 29th, and Part 2 on February 26th.