After two seasons of playing the younger-brother sidekick to his elder siblings Daphne and Anthony, Colin Bridgerton — and actor Luke Newton — is officially stepping into the spotlight as the romantic hero of "Bridgerton" season 3, which hits Netflix with its first four episodes on May 16. (The final four installments will follow nearly a month later on June 13.)
And to fully prepare for all of the attention that will come as the show follows Colin's friends-to-lovers relationship with Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) in the new episodes, Newton sought the counsel of some familiar faces: Regé-Jean Page, who portrayed Simon Basset, aka the Duke of Hastings, in the first "Bridgerton" season, and Jonathan Bailey, who led season 2 as the eldest Bridgerton son, Anthony.
In a recent interview with InStyle, Newton shared the advice that both Page and Bailey offered him ahead of the season 3 premiere, saying that Page instructed the 31-year-old Brit to take a “big holiday before all the madness starts.”
“[Regé] sort of grabbed me, gave me a big hug and was like, ‘Are you ready for this, bro?’" Newton told the outlet, adding of Bailey: "Johnny's been there kind of the whole way for me."
"We talk all the time, and it was really nice in season 2 seeing how he conducted himself on set knowing that I'd be next," Newton said of his onscreen sibling. “It's been four years in this role. I'd never led a show before, and it feels like I sort of grew up on this show now. It was nice to see someone do it so well.”
Like previous editions of the Regency-era period drama, the third season follows a sibling of the eponymous Bridgerton family as they navigate love and heartbreak in the London Ton. However, this season will differ from its predecessors, in that it won't follow the order of author Julia Quinn's "Bridgerton" novel series, on which the Netflix series is based. Instead of focusing on book 3's romantic hero Benedict Bridgerton, season 3 will tell the story from book 4 — the "slow burn" romance between BFFs Colin and Penelope after years of friendship and unrequited love.
Newton clearly feels close to his "Bridgerton" castmates like Page and Bailey, a real-life connection that was very beneficial when it came to portraying the burgeoning spark between Colin and Penelope. He details how his "fast friends" comradery with frequent scene partner Nicola Coughlan greatly aided their "POLIN" performances, especially those furniture-breaking intimate scenes.
“As soon as we met on season 1, we just hit it off straight away," he shared with InStyle, adding: "She knew a lot more about the rest of the books than I did...She was like, ‘You know, I'm Whistledown.’ And I was like, ‘What? I haven't got to that yet!’”
Tom's Guide will keep you posted on all POLIN-related intel on the upcoming third season of "Bridgerton." In the meantime, you can revisit Regé-Jean Page and Jonathan Bailey's turns as romantic hero by rewatching the first two seasons of the series on Netflix.
