An amusing thing when watching period drama Bridgerton is hearing the witty writings of Lady Whistledown, via a voiceover.
The gossip mistress of the Regency England is all too willing to spill the dirty details of the high society crowd in 1813 London through her scandal sheets.
And voicing this unseen character is none other than actress Julie Andrews (The Sound Of Music, Mary Poppins) whose distinct voice is immediately recognisable even if you missed the news of her casting.
The series showrunner, Chris Van Dusen told StarLifestyle during a video interview that he doesn’t know how the production got Andrews to come onboard the project.
He said: “To be honest, we never expected in a million years that we would end up with Julie Andrews as our narrator.
“She was at the top of our list. We offered her the part.
“We sent her the scripts, she ended up reading the scripts and loving the scripts. And she said yes," he explained
“We did our sessions virtually with this kind of Zoom setup. And, it was just so fun.”
The series was shot in Britain, whereas the 85-year-old did her voiceovers from a studio in New York.
Van Dusen, who oversaw the recordings from Los Angeles, mentioned: “She relishes in saying, you know, the cheeky things. And she gets to say the most scathing things as Lady Whistledown.
“And that's really one thing that I'm so excited for audiences to hear – the words coming out of Julie Andrews’ mouth as Lady Whistledown.”
In an interview with magazine Parade, Andrews described the narrator as “a tartar, and a bit of a naughty woman.”
Bridgerton is based on Julia Quinn’s popular romance novels, which centres around the wealthy families in 19th century Britain.
Although it’s a historical drama, the eight-part Netflix series incorporates a lot of modern elements.
It stars Phoebe Dynevor, Rege-Jean Page, Jonathan Bailey and Nicola Coughlan.
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