Pop culture is full of dynamic duos whose influence will live on for generations: Bert and Ernie, Oprah and Gayle, Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
Yet anyone who’s had the privilege to see them together live, as they did when discussing the making of Inside Bridgerton recently in Los Angeles, would certainly add another pair of powerful pals to the list of all-time greats: Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers.
Executive producers, longtime collaborators, and friends Rhimes and Beers, showing up everywhere from Good Morning America to CBS Mornings, have been making the rounds as of late to spread the word about Inside Bridgerton, their newly released book chock-full of photos, anecdotes, and a seemingly endless amount of behind-the-scenes goodies about the smash Netflix series.
But it’s not just what these two producing powerhouses say in offering details about the book that are just so intoxicating, but also how they say it — which is to say with such charm and humor, you low-key want to beg to join them for a boozy brunch.
Bridgerton fans in Los Angeles got to witness their dynamic firsthand recently when the producing pair took part in a talk for Live Talks Los Angeles. With Shondaland alum Katie Lowes moderating, Rhimes and Beers wowed and wooed a packed audience with insight, candor, and at times, ROTFL humor. Take, for example, the story of how Bridgerton came to be, one of many anecdotes in the book that Rhimes and Beers tell with perfect comedic timing.
“So, I’m sick,” Rhimes said of how Bridgerton started — a story that is, again, also in Inside Bridgerton. “And I’m in a hotel room. I don’t have anything to read, and I’m sick of watching the same shows over and over. And there’s a book in the hotel room,” Rhimes said, referencing Julia Quinn’s The Duke and I. “I don’t read romance novels. [But] I finish the book, get up out of bed — remember, I’m sick — I get dressed, go out, and buy the second book. I came back talking about these books. And Betsy thought …”
“She was sick,” Beers quipped, to roars from the audience. “She was running a fever. Probably should be hospitalized. I was dismissive. And then I read the book and saw exactly what you were talking about.”
And so it went for about an hour, with Rhimes and Beers regaling attendees with juicy stories, revealing why they fit together like a pre-scandal Eloise and Penelope.
Rhimes and Beers went on to explain that the central reason for creating Inside Bridgerton was to highlight the thousands of artisans, craftspeople, and specialists who bring the show to life with their unique expertise — to give fans a comprehensive and VIP view into Bridgerton’s many, many moving parts. Yet being the bewitching besties they are, they couldn’t help but share the stories in ways that were almost as entertaining as the series itself. Here were some of Rhimes’ and Beers’ best moments:
Shonda & Betsy on Bridgerton’s clothes … and wigs
Beers noted how the very first person hired to bring Bridgerton to life was costume designer Ellen Mirojnick. “Because we all sort of knew that at the core of this vision …”
“... was clothes!” Rhimes said. “Seriously. This show is really about this grandeur — this amazingness — and the fashions had a lot to do with that. Ellen created a look for our show … fashion that’s heightened and glamorous. Every single costume was handmade for the show.”
Of particular interest to both of them? The nightgowns.
“I’ve gotta be honest,” Beers said. “The first time I saw one of Ellen’s nightgowns, I called you. It was amazing. So yeah, I’m big on the nightwear.”
“If I could steal anything [from the set],” Rhimes said later, “it would be all of Queen Charlotte’s wigs. I would wear them to work.”
On the importance of honoring the behind-the-scenes craftspeople of Bridgerton
On how they selected the perfect cast
“The casting process was fun,” Rhimes said. “There were tons of actors that we didn’t know from London who were brought in to read. And our thing is, we’re never gonna put George Clooney in our show. We want to take people and make them stars,” she said to applause. “We want to elevate them.”
As it turns out, there was at least one actor Rhimes and Beers knew — though not as well as they thought. “We cast Regé-Jean Page,” Rhimes says of season one’s Duke of Hastings. “He had been in one of our shows before — [ABC’s] For the People. When he came in for the meeting and sat down and talked, I didn’t know he was British. I was just like, ‘Oh, my God, this accent’s really good.’”
Beers: “That’s so funny.”
On Bridgerton’s music
Lowes asked how Rhimes and Beers found composer Kris Bowers, and how they settled on the idea of reimagining pop music through a classical lens.
“He did an amazing job,” Beers said, adding that Bowers had worked on For the People and, more recently, Inventing Anna. “We had been passionate about his music for a really long time. He’s incredibly collaborative. He’s inventive. He found ways of using instrumentation and different modulation to give [the classical music] a more propulsive and kind of contemporary feel. He’s a genius.”
With Bowers, they found ways to create what Rhimes and Beers call “needle drops” — those OMG song moments that are a part of every Shondaland show, from Grey’s Anatomy to Scandal to, of course, Bridgerton.
“He’s a genius,” Rhimes concurred.
On just how many people make the world of Bridgerton possible
On getting the historical details right
Lowes dug into how Inside Bridgerton explains the role historian Hannah Greig had in ensuring that details on the series line up with the real customs and traditions of the day. For the most part, anyway.
As Rhimes explained, she might be the most obsessed with details, for better or worse. “I spent so much time immersing myself in trying to learn everything Regency, I turned into this, like, bonkers person who would look at edits and call people like, ‘Oh! Penelope is walking unassisted with no chaperone! She has no chaperone!’”
“Like, the most intense Regency police you have ever met in your life,” a deadpan Beers said in response. “We get this cut; I believe it was one of the Sharmas, riding a horse …”
“Kate!” Rhimes said, remnants of her very real shock still present in her tone. “And she’s just riding … like a plain, old hooker!” The audience screamed, laughing. “In Regency period, they’re all supposed to ride sidesaddle like ladies. And they filmed it with her riding astride the horse. There’s a million reasons why it happened creatively, or, you know, maybe Kate [Simone Ashley] was more comfortable riding that way. But I remember being scandalized. Scandalized! I wouldn’t let it go.”
Said Beers, “You were convinced every single person who watched it would have the same reaction.”
“Everyone’s going to think she’s not a virgin and a wanton woman!” Rhimes said.
“They’re going to have to put her out to pasture,” Beers added.
On season three
As the talk winded down, Lowes tried to pull her “friend card” to get intel on Bridgerton season three, which of course is, for now, top-secret information. But Lowes, bless her heart, tried her best. Do you have any secrets you could share? she asked.
Rhimes: “No! ... Okay, what we can tell you is that season three is going to be just as exciting as seasons one and two. There will be romance. And we will obviously address the Penelopes of it all.”
Not missing a beat, Beers said, “They will probably be wearing corsets.”
Malcolm Venable is a Senior Staff Writer at Shondaland. Follow him on Twitter @malcolmvenable.
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