‘Queen Charlotte’ Actor Corey Mylchreest Opens Up About The Challenges That Came With Filming Intense Mental Health Scenes For ‘Bridgerton’ Spinoff
05.05.2023 - 19:29
/ etcanada.com
Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers from “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story”.
“Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story”, now streaming on Netflix, tackles King George III’s mental health struggle, and actor Corey Mylchreest — who portrays the young royal in the drama — has now spoken out about filming such scenes.
The “Bridgerton” spinoff tells the origin story of a young Charlotte (India Amarteifio) and her arranged marriage to George.
In real life, the King was never specifically diagnosed with a mental illness, but it’s been reported that he suffered multiple bouts of quite severe mental illness during his time on the throne.
“The series in itself is like a different beast,” Mylchreest told Variety of the spinoff. “It feels like ‘Bridgerton’ but it has maybe darker moments to it, and it’s a little bit grittier. So it feels like its own thing.”
READ MORE: ‘Queen Charlotte’: Shonda Rhimes, Cast On ‘Bridgerton’ Prequel Not Shying Away From Race
He added of George’s mental illness, “As a show, we don’t diagnose him, but as an actor, I simply had to make a decision. Otherwise, the work is going to be nonspecific, and it can be offensive. I did a lot of research and I had an idea of what it was, learning about his childhood and how that can affect stuff.”
As well as working closely with director Tom Verica, Mylchreest also spoke with a specialist about what can trigger certain behaviour.
The actor continued, “It’s a gift as an actor, because it’s such a challenge but it doesn’t afford you anything other than permission to go 100 percent.
“If you don’t commit fully, then you’re going to almost offend the honour of the character — both that Shonda [Rhimes] has written, and the real guy that I fell in