Oprah Daily: I’m such a huge Bridgerton fan, and the book is as lush and gorgeous as the show itself. It brings a new dimension and perspective to how all this evolved. Why did you feel that you wanted to create a book around this program?
Shonda Rhimes: Betsy and I have spent so much time talking about the artistry and what went into making the show, and how amazing all of that work was. And we would marvel at the magnitude of costumes, the intricacy of the choreography, or all of these things. We were so excited about it and to highlight all the people who made this possible.
It really does give you a sense of what a collaborative effort it was. I particularly appreciated that working with editors is something you really enjoy. Betsy said it is one of Shonda’s genius points and a skill that doesn’t get all the glory. I wondered if you could talk a little bit about that editing process and why that’s such an essential aspect of storytelling.
SR: Betsy and I both think the editing process is the rewrite process. So much magic is made in the editing room in terms of how a story is told, how it’s paced, what’s going on. Editors have eyes for things that we never see, of making beauty on the page come alive. I love working with editors for that reason. Betsy is excited about the musical part of working with editors, too.
Betsy Beers: Absolutely; if you’ve done your job, a viewer can watch the finished product and say, “Oh, this all feels like it was there from the beginning.” And so many of the elements, including, obviously, the score, or source, are things that emerge during the process of, as Shonda said, this sort of the final rewrite that you go through in editing. It is also amazing to watch the talented people who work in post craft and finesse the show that you end up seeing. And our incredible composer, by the way, Kris Bowers, who’s just…
SR: …incredible.
BB: The music he created for the show is a wonderful combination of being rooted in a classicism but with a modernity, which is so refreshing. What he’s done is magic.
The whole show is creative, and singular, well done across the board. You’re sitting in the final stages of the storytelling process...
SR: There is a magical sense of completion when you realize the finished product. Betsy and I have been there, from when it was just a book to the script process, all the way through. It has been an amazing journey for us.
BB: To the point about the editing process in an article or a story, what’s so exciting to me is the unexpected things that emerge from one idea. It is an incredible period of discovery, which I learned to love it all over again in a different way.
Exactly. What struck me about this book is that it sort of commemorates the journey from the hotel room, Shonda, where you were not feeling well and you had this book. You’re not typically drawn to romances—at what point in the story did you think, I’ve really got something here?
SR: There aren't many books that I devoured as quickly as I did the first book. When I finished, I couldn’t believe it was over and asked, “Are there more?” I found out there were more. Nobody was adapting romance novels. So it took me a while to get there, but it didn't take time to know that those books were special, and I was obsessed with them. I remember driving Betsy crazy talking about them.
BB: She did; she actually did. And I thought she was nuts.
And you were definitely not a romance reader, right, Betsy?
BB: Correct. I went through a period many, many, many years ago when I read more contemporary ones, but I hadn’t read one in a long period of time, and as she started describing the books to me, all of a sudden, the penny dropped. And I thought, Oh my gosh, she’s so right. Because there’s something endlessly fascinating about this person who lives in a period where society determines one thing, and she’s created an entire family, hopefully with the desire to marry for love. She has all these kids. Which means there’s so many children to find love, which is a great idea for a show. The books are delightful, smart, and witty. It feels much more contemporary in a lot of ways.
SR: These are books about Regency England, women wearing corsets, but I still see myself in the characters, which is very important to feeling like a story that we can make in Shondaland.
What was the process of expanding that universe in the way that you did? At the beginning of the book, you make some allusions to Jane Austen and why doing the Bridgerton books are more interesting and were less constrained than Austen’s characters are or that she was at that time. It led me to think about strong women and feminism that are sort of infused into this project.
BB: I’m gonna say I love Jane Austen and the Regency world that had already been portrayed. What really interesting for me was that the Bridgerton books were an aspect of Regency society I’ve never experienced before. And it was a window into what life was like in London. It covers the London upper class and differences in provincial life versus city life. Relationships, the formal aspect of the marriage mart and challenges of being a woman and raising children during that era.
We talked a lot about digging into the realities of the kinds of constraints that exist and are different. Characters with the same identity experience different struggles. You can have an opera singer who has to find a man to support her. Then Violet Bridgerton, who’s desperately trying to make sure that her children marry for love. There is Eloise, who doesn’t want to adhere to the rules. Daphne, who is trying to be the best she can. They all go through the process of discovering how to best express themselves and who they need to be, I guess. That’s a really inarticulate way of putting it, but yes.
You express a lot of love in the book for Penelope, justifiably so. Season 3 will be in large part devoted to developing her character even further—is that correct? Or am I not allowed to ask?
SR: Well, we’re not really gonna talk about season 3, because we’re both highly against spoilers, but we’re also afraid of giving spoilers.
BB: I’m terrified of it because I have stuck my foot in my mouth a couple times. Not doing it again.
Well, I do want to go back to Penelope. Could say a little something about her character?
SR: I have been in love with Penelope from the beginning simply because she’s a writer. The idea that there’s this brilliant, vicious little voice floating through their world and it’s the person that everybody would least assume it is, was interesting to me. I loved her creativity, and the idea that she had craftsmanship, was leading a double life and had found a way, in a world in which women aren’t allowed to have a career and make their own money.
BB: And she’s such a great observer of what’s around her. Some of my favorite scenes are of Penelope just listening. Taking it in and putting it on out there. She’s delightful.
You tell a great story in this book, and viewers are just going to eat it up.
SR: We hope so. We think it’s the perfect holiday gift.
BB: We do. It looks very, very good when you open it.
Leigh Haber is Vice President, Books, Oprah Daily and O Quarterly. She is also Director of Oprah's Book Club.
