Fan Favorite ‘Bridgerton’ Alum Almost Quit Acting Before Getting Cast On Netflix’s Hit Drama
Bridgerton is the gift that keeps on giving. With each new season of the show, we’re introduced to more wildly talented rising stars, many of whom have now used their Bridgerton fame as a launchpad for building extensive filmographies, and one of the first to do it was Phoebe Dynevor. The moment Bridgerton kicked off its run on Netflix in December 2020, Dynevor became a household name. When her time on the show came to a close in 2022, she pivoted to feature filmmaking and since, has dished out quite a few winners across a variety of genres.
With Thrash now available to stream on Netflix and hype building for Dynevor’s upcoming films and shows, she took the time to visit the Collider Ladies Night studio to discuss how she’s whipped up such a diverse resume, and how she hopes to expand it even further in the future.
Phoebe Dynevor Was About to Quit Acting — Then She Booked ‘Bridgerton’
“I moved to LA, and I was living there for close to a year … and I didn’t book anything.”
Clearly, there’s a lot of good happening in Dynevor’s world right now, but all Collider Ladies Night conversations begin with the start of one’s journey pursuing their dreams and, in Dynevor’s case, the early days came with thoughts of quitting.
Dynevor’s first opportunity in the US was a series called Younger starring Sutton Foster. When her time on that show ended, she figured she’d put her visa to use and stay in the states to pursue work in Hollywood. She recalled:
“When I got Younger, I had to have a visa. So, I had this visa, and I was like, ‘Well, I could work, and maybe I’ll live in LA for a bit and see what happens.’ So I moved to LA, and I was living there for close to a year, going on auditions and trying to book something, and I didn’t book anything. I made a really great friend, Shireen, who I lived with, and we had a lot of fun, but I was just there trying to get a job.”
Unfortunately, the job never came, so she booked a flight to return home to the UK. However, that’s precisely when something hit. She would indeed wind up flying home, but not for the reason she planned. Dynevor explained:
“I did a self-tape out of LA for Bridgerton, which shot in the UK, and a few months later, I got a call saying, ‘Will you come and read with Regé-Jean at the Shondaland offices in LA?’ I went and read, and I booked a flight back home to leave LA. It’s a crazy story. Then I called my parents, and I said, ‘So I am still flying back home, but Netflix is flying me back home.’ So, that was a really crazy moment.”
Life After a Hit Netflix Series
‘Bridgerton’ was the break-out project, but ‘Fair Play’ was the career turning point.
After being the focus of Bridgerton Season 1, Dynevor’s role was scaled back in Season 2, and then she left the show entirely. While discussing her exit, Dynevor offered up her take:
“When the first season came out, they didn’t know what they needed to put in play. So we were like the ones that got away, I think, in a certain way. I can only speak for myself; I would always come back if I was asked.”
While fans will likely be calling for her return until the day it happens or until Bridgeton concludes, Dynevor has kept busy since. While many would dub Bridgerton her “breakout role,” Dynevor gives another project the honor of being a major turning point.
“The real turning point for me in my career was doing Fair Play. It really allowed me to know what I could do, and it was a really special, incredibly creatively fulfilling job for me. I think it kind of ruined things [laughs], because I was like, ‘This is the dream. This is the kind of project I want to be doing all the time.’ And of course, it’s very rare to have an experience like that. I mean, Chloe Domont, amazing, amazing director who’s gonna have this incredible career, and I just feel very lucky that I got to work with her on her first film. I just think I got really lucky with that film. Now I’m just endlessly searching for more of that whole feeling.”
Phoebe Dynevor Teases the ‘Beach Read’ Movie
The film will mark her first romance since ‘Bridgerton.’
That search led her to a film adaptation of a wildly popular New York Times bestseller. It was recently announced that Dynevor would headline the film version ofEmily Henry’sBeach Read, a romantic comedy about a romance novelist spending the summer at her late father’s beach house. While there, she reconnects with her college rival, Gus, and the two agree to take on a summer writing challenge — they’ll each attempt to write in the other’s genre in an effort to overcome their creative blocks.
When asked why Beach Read felt like an ideal next project, Dynevor launched into a list of positives:
“There are so many reasons why I’m very excited about this project. Yulin [Kuang], who wrote the script, adapted the script, and is directing. She’s amazing. Her knowledge of cinema and of romance is so impressive. She can name all the romance films that came out. Her knowledge of that genre is so impressive. And Emily Henry is obviously huge in the book world. But this book in particular, Beach Read, the characters are so well developed. They have such rich backstories.”
Another appealing aspect of jumping into Beach Read? It’ll finally bring Dynevor back into the romance genre. She continued:
“It’s always fun to go back into the romance world. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that. Well, since Bridgerton, really. So, it felt like all the pieces were in place to make a really beautiful romance film that, hopefully, everyone will see, and the people who love the book will enjoy, and also, we’ll get a new audience.”
While we wait for the Beach Read film, Dynevor has a vastly different kind of movie for us to enjoy — a shark film.
Phoebe Dynevor Says ‘Thrash’ Was Her “Worst Nightmare” — and Most Fun Challenge
Directed by The Trip’s Tommy Wirkola, Thrash is now available to stream on Netflix.
Dynevor wanted to make an action film and opted to jump right into the deep end of the genre.
Thrash sees a dangerous Category 5 hurricane approaching the US, and specifically heading straight for the town that Dynevor’s character, Lisa, is living in. She’s pregnant and alone when the levees break and the rushing water traps her in her car. As if those circumstances aren’t dire enough, this hurricane is so extreme that it brings a slew of bloodthirsty sharks to town.
“I was really looking forward to doing something action-packed. I had never really had that opportunity before. As I said before, I loved shark movies growing up. It was like a family thing that we used to watch, and so it was very fun to get an opportunity to play in one, particularly in this, with Adam McKay being involved and Tommy Wirkola directing. I love his films. It just felt very exciting to me.”
It’s a good thing that initial enthusiasm was there because Thrash would prove to be Dynevor’s most physically demanding movie yet. “Shooting in three wet suits and a belly in the middle of winter, it was challenging. It was a real challenge.” She continued:
“It was one of those things where, in my mind, I was like, ‘I would never work in water.’ I mean, I’ve shot rain scenes, and they’re difficult, you know? But yeah, being in a full body of water — I’m trying to think of all the scenes where something awful happens to my character, too. But it was a fun challenge.”
Dyneror laughed and added:
“I made incredible friends with a hot hose for this movie. The water couldn’t be heated because it was so cold that the steam would come off the top of the water, so Whitney [Peak] and I had a hot hose that we shared, and we’d just put it down our wet suits between takes.”
