By Marisa Laudadio
8:00am PDT, Apr 24, 2024
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With season 3 of "Bridgerton" less than a month away, Netflix is starting to celebrate the new leads who are bringing "Polin" — the portmanteau for Penelope and Colin — to life.
Join us as we take a look at some of the best photos of the "Polin" actors and their new "Bridgerton" showrunner kicking off the new season — which debuts its first four episodes on May 16 and its second four eps on June 13 — with a special event in Australia…
Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan — who play Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington on the hit Netflix series "Bridgerton" — attended the "Bridgerton" season 3 launch event on the grounds of Milton Park Country House in Bowral, Australia, on April 21, 2024. Their characters are the leads in season 3.
"Their story really speaks to me — the unrequited crush, the wallflower-underdog coming off the wall. That speaks to high school Jess," season 3 showrunner Jess Brownell told Vanity Fair in April. "I liked that the Penelope and Colin story lends itself so well to rom-com tropes because it's a friends-to-lovers story. There's more playfulness and familiarity to the story and that allows us to lean into awkward banter and play up the humor a little bit more."
Keep reading for more photos from the fun and insight into season 3…
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Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton — who play Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton on the hit Netflix series "Bridgerton" — attended the season 3 launch event on the grounds of Milton Park Country House in Bowral, Australia, on April 21, 2024. Their characters are the leads in season 3.
"I felt so lucky that I got to do my first season show-running with Nicola and Luke," Jess Brownell — who's the new showrunner for season 3 of "Bridgerton" following a tenure of more than 15 years working behind the scenes at Shondaland — told Vanity Fair in April. "They were both so warm and so collaborative, and know their characters so well. I'm writing an ensemble of 25-plus characters, so I did look to them to go deeper on their characters."
"Nicola, as an actress, has a real effervescence and strength that she brings to the character. Even though Penelope really got dumped on quite a bit at the end of season 2, she enters this season a woman who's going to make the best of a bad situation, and a lot of that is informed by what Nicola brings to the role," she continued.
"As far as Luke [goes], his character this season has to undergo a pretty major persona change that mostly happens off-camera in between seasons. Last season, he was this awkward coming-of-age guy who hadn't quite found his place in the world, and all of a sudden, he's back with this swagger and confidence. Luke just really nailed it, figured out how to also imbue that performance with depth. Because obviously, if you're denying a certain part of who you really are and coming back with a whole new persona, there's still parts of you that are under the surface," the showrunner added.
MORE: See all the best new photos from "Bridgerton" season 3
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Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan — who play Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington on "Bridgerton" — were joined by showrunner Jess Brownell at the hit Netflix series' season 3 launch event on the grounds of Milton Park Country House in Bowral, Australia, on April 21, 2024.
Season 3 showrunner Jess Brownwll, a seasoned "Bridgerton" writer, knows what she's doing with Penelope and Colin. "In season 1, I got the opportunity to write a lot of the Daphne [Phoebe Dynevor] and Simon [Rege-Jean Page] scenes. [Seasons 1 and 2 showrunner] Chris [Van Dusen] also looked to me for a lot of the early intimacy scenes, which were scary to write, at first, because I didn't know how far we were going. So there was some awkwardness there," Jess admitted in an April interview with Vanity Fair. "But at this point, now that we know what we're doing, writing those intimacy scenes is second nature…"
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Luke Newton, who plays Colin Bridgerton on "Bridgerton," arrived at the hit Netflix series' season 3 launch event on the grounds of Milton Park Country House in Bowral, Australia, on April 21, 2024.
"Our intimacy coordinator, Lizzy Talbot, is really incredible, and we led with what Nicola [Coughlan] and Luke were comfortable with," season 3 showrunner Jsss Brownell told Vanity Fair of season 3. "But story-wise, we did feel like it was important to see Penelope stepping into her power and to see Colin stepping into his sensitivity. They have parallel but opposite tracks, in some ways, this season, and intimacy is the perfect place to express both of those arcs."
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Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope Featherington on "Bridgerton," arrived at the hit Netflix series' season 3 launch event on the grounds of Milton Park Country House in Bowral, Australia, on April 21, 2024.
Season 3 will air in two parts: The first four episodes drop on May 16, 2024, and the second set of four eps premiere on June 13, 2024.
"We didn't initially plan for there to be a break in the middle. Netflix approached us about splitting the season in two. It's something I think they're trying out across their platform, and it worked out perfectly, actually," season 3 showrunner Jess brownell told Vanity Fair. "We had a natural break at the end of episode 4. I'm sure it's going to be frustrating for some fans, but it's nice to have that break to take it all in and speculate about what's to come, build momentum before the second part comes out."
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Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan — who play Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington on the hit Netflix series "Bridgerton" — were joined by Miss Universe Australia 2018 Francesca Hung, a model and presenter, and "Bridgerton" showrunner Jess Brownell at the hit Netflix series' season 3 launch event on the grounds of Milton Park Country House in Bowral, Australia, on April 21, 2024.
There's one particular moment in season 3 that new "Bridgerton" showrunner Jess Brownell is especially excited for fans to see.
"There is a set piece in episode 5 in which all of our major characters are together, and that was a really fun one to film because it's so rare that we get everyone in the same place at the same time," she shared with Vanity Fair. "So that was really a summer camp day. I'll just say the word charades, and people will know what it is when they see it."
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Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan — who play Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington on the hit Netflix series "Bridgerton" — were joined by showrunner Jess Brownell at the hit Netflix series' season 3 launch event on the grounds of Milton Park Country House in Bowral, Australia, on April 21, 2024.
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Luke Newton, who plays Colin Bridgerton on "Bridgerton," arrived at the hit Netflix series' season 3 launch event on the grounds of Milton Park Country House in Bowral, Australia, on April 21, 2024.
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Miss Universe Australia 2018 Francesca Hung, a model and presenter, interviewed Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan — who play Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington on the hit Netflix series "Bridgerton" — and showrunner Jess Brownell at the hit Netflix series' season 3 launch event on the grounds of Milton Park Country House in Bowral, Australia, on April 21, 2024.
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Luke Newton, who plays Colin Bridgerton on "Bridgerton," arrived at the hit Netflix series' season 3 launch event on the grounds of Milton Park Country House in Bowral, Australia, on April 21, 2024.
