India Amarteifio revealed that she was not used to watching dramas because they lacked ethnic diversity.
The 21-year-old actress will play Queen Charlotte in the Bridgerton prequel series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
The Netflix spin-off will chart Charlotte’s rise to power and her pivotal marriage to King George III.
Speaking to The Telegraph, India said, ‘I wasn’t used to watching dramas. I’m half black and white. My family seems like a lot of different people. I didn’t see myself as an actress so I never felt the need to watch her.
She explained that she now “loves” the period drama because of its increased acting, and credited Bridgerton franchise’s Shonda Rhimes.
Underrepresented: India Amarteifio reveals she hasn’t been used to watching dramas for a while because they lack racial diversity
Spin-off: The 21-year-old actress will play Queen Charlotte in the Bridgerton prequel series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
She said, “Shonda Rhimes is at the forefront of this movement of including people in genres that didn’t exist before — people weren’t writing shows for people of color to be in period fashion.”
India added that historical accuracy was not essential to the series saying, ‘This was my first lead, it was a lot of pressure. But I read an interview by Golda (Rochevel) in which she said Queen Charlotte at Bridgerton is not based on facts. She is a historical person, but this is not a documentary, it is a fictional world in which there are real people.
The streaming service has announced that the series will debut on May 4, and will be “centered on Queen Charlotte’s rise to prominence and power.”
The description continues: ‘This prequel to Bridgerton’s poetry tells the story of how the young queen’s marriage to King George sparked a great romance and societal transformation, creating the toon world the characters inherited in Bridgerton’.
India is possibly the first mixed-heritage British monarch to play the role as she is believed to be of German and African descent.
A source revealed that the producers may have taken notice of the spin-off series, after Brigerton’s second season fell short of the sinister heights of the first season.
In one scene, a wall is said to have been reinforced. In another scene, viewers will see the banging of the headboards.
There were fears that the energetic love scene featuring the young king, played by India, would be so energetic that it could literally bring the house down.
She changed her mind: She explained that she now ‘loves’ the period drama due to her increased acting and credited Bridgerton franchise showrunner Shonda Rhimes (pictured)
Talking to the sunThe insider said, “There’s a young cast for the prequel and the sex scenes filming them. It is sure to please Bridgerton fans who complain about the lack of sex scenes in the second series.
In one story, there will be a headboard banging hard against a wall. It will be more peppy than anything from the first series.
It comes after the next series of Bridgerton plunged into chaos after bosses thought some of the storylines had gone “too dark”.
Sources working on the Netflix bonkbuster show say some of the scripts need to be rewritten as Shonda Rhimes, the show’s producer, wants to give viewers more fun.
Understandably, there were concerns about the sex plot line.
And last year it was reported that Rhimes had joined forces with another executive producer, Jess Brownell.
A source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Shooting has been delayed due to the screenwriter being unhappy with its direction.
We’ve been told he needs to have fun again, so there are changes, which of course means delays. One thing is for sure, though, the production team wants to make it right for Bridgerton fans so they’ll enjoy it as much as in the past.
There are some elements that Shonda is not satisfied with so he wants to change them. Some of them became very dark.
It was announced in 2021 that there would be a third and fourth series of Bridgerton following the success of the first two. The show is based on the series of romance novels by American author Julia Quinn.
Last year, actress Simon Ashley, who portrays Kate Sharma, told how she was “very happy when reading the script”. When I receive them, I have a cheerful smile on my face.
She also said that the third series was about to get “extremely steamy” and added that it would be “central to ramp up”.
The new series will be based on the fourth book in the series, called Romancing Mister Bridgerton, and will follow the budding romance between Penelope – played by Nicola Coughlan – and Colin Bridgerton.
The couple will embark on a journey that will see them go from friends to lovers.
Jonathan Bailey will also reprise his role as Anthony, Claudia Jessie will return as Eloise, Luke Thompson as Benedict and Ruth Gemmell as Mrs. Violet Bridgerton
