'Bridgerton' star Luke Newton says the cast would do a choreographed dance routine to 'We Are Family' on set 'to bring everyone's energy levels back up'
- The "Bridgerton" season two cast learned a choreographed dance to Sister Sledge's "We Are Family."
- Jonathan Bailey suggested the more modern routine to "bring everyone's energy levels back up."
Warning: This article contains spoilers for "Bridgerton" season two.
The "Bridgerton" cast mixed up their quadrille and country dance lessons on the season-two set with a choreographed routine to Sister Sledge's 1979 song "We Are Family," Luke Newton recently told Insider.
Many of the Regency romance series' regulars gathered to learn a group number for the Bridgertons' ball-that-wasn't (none of the invitees, except for Lady Danbury and the Sharmas, showed up to the family's scandalized home) in episode seven, titled "Harmony."
"Sometimes after lunch, energy can dip a bit," Newton told Insider during an interview with Insider ahead of the second season's premiere on March 25.
To keep morale from dipping, the cast momentarily stepped outside of the Regency era.
"It was Jonathan Bailey who asked the choreographer, Jack Murphy, if we could have a more modern dance that we could do on set," said the 29-year-old actor, who plays Colin Bridgerton.
"We wanted something that we could just put on. So we had Sister Sledge's 'We Are Family,' the song, and we had a little routine that we'd bust out to bring everyone's energy levels back up," he added.
Rarely are so many members of the Netflix series' ensemble cast in one place during filming, which is mostly set in a studio north of London, Newton explained. So he relished the opportunity to spend behind-the-scenes time with the larger group.
"We had a rehearsal room booked, and it's quite nice to rock up in your cities, not in your 'Bridgerton' gear and rehearse with everyone," the actor explained.
In the scene, Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) is prepared to call off her gathering after walking into an empty foyer. Before she can dismiss the string trio, her eldest son Anthony Bridgerton (Bailey) cuts in to invite his youngest sibling, Hyacinth Bridgerton (Florence Hunt) down for a "lively" country dance.
Soon, the entire group joins in, and what was initially a disappointing evening turns around.
According to episode-seven director Cheryl Dunye, Murphy worked hard to make sure the actors were genuinely enjoying themselves while learning and filming the number.
"He was like, 'Cheryl, I want them to have fun, make sure they're having fun!' We worked it out to keep them spirited, let them go, just let them dance like the wind and laugh and keep it really natural," Dunye told Insider. "That was authentic joy between them."
After Newton watched the scene's final edit, he said he was "chuffed." It brought him back to the day he and his cast members performed the dance on the "Bridgerton" set.
"I'm so happy with how that scene has turned out. It comes across exactly how it felt on the day," Newton told Insider, continuing, "There are no smoking mirrors. It felt beautiful to shoot it and it looks exactly how it felt."