Bridgerton star Sam Phillips has spoken out on an awkward moment he shared on set with on-screen love interest Nicola Coughlan.
Bridgerton’s Lord Debling actor Sam Phillips, 40, has recounted an embarrassing mishap from filming Netflix’s hit series with co-star Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope Featherington.
The captivating storyline in the first half of the show’s season 3 sees Lord Debling being one of the top suitors for Penelope’s affections, as the couple court at numerous social events.
Audiences will recall the dramatic and comical scene where Lord Debling heroically saves Penelope from a rogue hot air balloon.
In a captivating sequence, Debling leaps to shield his ladylove from danger while her other admirer Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) anchors the ballooning mass coming towards her.
Regardless of the romantic sentiment of the scene, Sam has since revealed that shooting it was far from poetic.
In conversation with the Australian TV broadcast The Project, alongside fellow performer Jessie Madsen who plays Cressida Cowper, he confessed the filming process to be “very unsmooth”.
Narrating the event he stated: “I had to do a scene where I had to dive in for the hot air balloon scene. Most of the time I looked like I was getting her in a wrestling headlock.”
The star joked about the unexpected challenges during filming, saying: “We had to do it about six or seven times, maybe more. I was just surprised at how unsmooth I looked, basically.”
Nicola previously shared with Teen Vogue her experience on the “wild” hot air balloon scene that turned out to be quite demanding for the actors.
She revealed: “Initially it was scripted not as intensely as it was. It came in Penelope’s direction, and Lord Debling was going to whisk her away.
“But then they were like, ‘No, we’re going to make this a full stunt.’
Reacting to the escalated scene requirements, she exclaimed: “I was like, ‘You are kidding me! ‘ And we had to head off and do full stunt rehearsals for it. I had to throw myself onto a crash mat.”
She recounted a particularly intense moment with co-star Sam Phillips, saying: “Sam Phillips fully rugby tackled me, at one point, he went in so hardcore that his coat stuck to my wig and we were attached to one another.”
