Luke Newton Pranks Nicola Coughlan on 'Bridgerton' Set, Gets "Payback"
Masterfully done.
Luke Newton pranked his Bridgerton costar Nicola Coughlan in the spirit of revenge.
Newton, who plays Colin Bridgerton to Coughlan's Penelope Featherington, posted a video on Instagram of himself pulling off the stunt on the set of the show.
As Coughlan was walking into what appears to be a makeup trailer, Newton jumped up from under a chair yelling, causing the actress to scream wildly and jog out of there. He then cried, "Payback!"
"Her little legs couldn’t move fast enough! Please dub that with the Scooby Doo running sound," commented one fan.
Newton posted the video as part of a gallery marking the 10-day countdown before we get to see Bridgerton season 3 part 2.
Coughlan made her own "Polin" post, writing, "10 days till part two but who’s counting?"
The reason Newton's jump-scare setup was "payback" is because of a prank Coughlan had previously played on him, which she admitted to in an interview a few weeks ago.
"I had found out a few years previous that Luke used to be in a boy band, and I just thought it was the best thing ever," the Derry Girls star told People in a joint interview with Newton. "I had for years wanted to do this prank on him where he comes in to do a dance and instead of the music for the show playing, it would be his song from his boy band, but it took so much planning, it was insane."
Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington and Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton, standing outdoors at a festival, in Bridgerton season 3.
The actress planned it all with the cast and crew, and recalled her costar's confused face when he first realized what was happening.
"It was so strange because I could feel it like a weird energy," Newton said. "I could feel that there was like, people were looking at me over their shoulder and I was like, are people nervous about me doing this dance? Because I'm absolutely fine, we'll get through it."
He added, "And then all of a sudden I hear it because I had a piece in my ear first, I just had the tick, tick, tick, and I was like, it really sounds like... And then it was blasting on the speakers and all the dancers…"
Coughlan jumped in, "All the dancers started going, everyone's there cheering."
Newton as Colin and Coughlan as Penelope in Bridgerton season 3.
It sounds like the Irish actress isn't totally used to pranking people, because she admitted, "I feel like I've never been more nervous on set, not even for a sex scene. I was like, if this goes wrong…"
But it doesn't sound like Newton took it badly at all, and even though he sought "payback," it was all in good fun. Basically, offscreen Polin is almost as adorable as on-screen Polin—but sadly, no, they are not dating.
The next episodes of Bridgerton will air on Netflix starting June 13.
