This post contains SPOILERS for Bridgerton
Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope Featherington, found out she was Lady Whistledown from online fan forums. The Shondaland show follows the Bridgerton clan in Regency-era London as they navigate high society in search of their perfect match. Following their every move is the omniscient Lady Whitsledown, a Gossip Girl-like character who reports the latest scandals and pairings of Grosvenor Square in a newsletter she releases throughout the show.
Naturally, everyone is obsessed with Whistledown's reports, from the aloof Eloise all the way to the Queen. Somewhere in between is Penelope Featherington, the youngest Featherington, who is oft overlooked by her mother in favor of her siblings. Penelope's relationship with Eloise Bridgerton is a highlight of the show, as is her pining for Colin Bridgerton. Interestingly enough, Penelope and Eloise initially set out to discover the identity of Lady Whistledown together.
If only Eloise knew the truth. It is revealed at the end of the season that Penelope is, in fact, Lady Whistledown and Coughlan found out she would playing one of the most important characters of the show from an online forum. In an interview with Variety, Coughlan shared her audition experience, saying she was unsure if she would get the part. She prepared as much as she could for the audition, planning to read up on her character before her callback. Instead, Coughlan immediately got the part and, in her research, found out that she would be playing Lady Whistledown herself.
When I went for the first audition, I only had a couple of days to prepare; I didn’t have time to read the books or do anything like that. I just thought, “I’ll give this a go and if I get a second call, then I’ll read everything.” But that didn’t happen, I just got the job. So then it was like, “I’d better read these books and figure out who this character is.” I also went to a lot of the fan forums online, because these books have been out for 20 years. People adore them and have such a connection to them. Penelope is really close to their hearts. It was on a forum that I realized she was Lady Whistledown. When I saw it, I thought, “No, no, no, no, that can’t be right.” I kept re-reading it, because it didn’t make sense: [I’m] being given this amazing role in a Shondaland-Netflix show, and it’s that role. It’s quite mind-blowing.
The reveal of Penelope as Lady Whistledown was quite shocking. It comes rather early in the series, especially compared to its most obvious counterpart. The aforementioned Gossip Girl revealed the identity of its titular character during its series finale. The mystery was maintained throughout the entire show, with various characters throughout the show's run attempting to find out the blogger's true identity. Bridgerton season 1 has a similar plot - Eloise Bridgerton makes it her mission to unmask Lady Whistledown.
Eventually, though, her sentiments change into wanting to protect the writer's secret identity, lest she ruin the gossip queen's enterprise. Funnily enough, Eloise ends up protecting her closest friend. In the season finale, Eloise leaves her sister's ball when she finds out about the Queen's plot to expose Lady Whistledown, warning off Whistledown's carriage before it can be stopped by one of the queen's henchmen. If only Eloise knew that she was protecting the secret identity of her closest friend. Now that Lady Whistldown's identity has been exposed to viewers, Bridgerton season 2 will have a lot of questions to answer and Penelope is sure to have an even larger role.
Source: Variety