Top-rated show Queen Charlotte’s eponymous lead, & co-star, on their global ‘Tudum’ moment
India Ria Amarteifio and Corey Mylchreest in 'Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story'
As per all (Netflix) accounts, the romantic period drama, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, premièred at number one, pretty much across the world, including India, when it dropped online in May, 2023.
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And, we’re from India. Therefore, can’t resist, soon as we meet the show’s eponymous lead actor, India Amarteifio: “Hey, is there a story behind your name?”
India is quick to respond, “I wish there was. My parents had never been to India. And, apparently, when I came out, my mom said, that’s an Indian!” Which still doesn’t quite explain the global star’s name, that has naturally piqued our interest.
Unless you consider, “My mom is a big fan of R&B music, and there is an artiste called India Arene, so maybe it had something to do with it. But I know a lot has to do with the country. I should ask her that.” That she’ll actually call her mom to check, makes this conversation special to us, already.
Corey Mylchreest and India Ria Amarteifio at Netflix’s Tudum event in Sao Paulo
What zaps us further still are the two British-born actors, themselves—Corey Mylchreest, in particular, who plays King George III in Queen Charlotte. If you’ve sat through the first-rate series, you’d know the pictures of gravitas, in the midst of turmoil, they play on the show.
Seated beside us, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to participate in Netflix’s global fan-event, Tudum, Corey—adorably fidgeting, fixing his posture before the camera—could pass for any other frat-boy, who’d rather Netflix & chill, ideally with India! It’s kinda surreal to mentally adjust to this, during the interview.
“Gen Z, oh, he hates that [term],” India suggests for Corey, as we imply how difficult it must’ve been to get into the frame of mind, of young people, alright—but from another era in a relationship drama. Coming from a world of dating apps, and hook-up culture—dealing with child-bearing and consummation on screen, instead. India was also in Sex Education (2019), for heaven’s sake.
“I’d love to be a millennial, but I am a Gen Z,” Corey sighs, and adds, “Sorry, this is going to be an incredibly boring answer. I don’t think there are generations [defined] in terms of dating apps or hook-up culture. And it wasn’t the difficult [gap] to bridge.”
“That wasn’t at the core of the [on-screen] relationship. Making it about other things—the duty, the pressures they’re fighting [against].”
India helps him out: “[The show is] a lot more emotionally driven, and we are emotional people. Exploring love, which is not a straight road—it contains multitudes. It was quite refreshing to play characters in a culture that has no phones, or people seeking social hype; no pretences.” “No social media clout,” Corey chimes in.
The aspect that matches their onscreen chemistry, though, is how Corey still looks in awe of India, in life—directing his answers at her, for approval, heaping praise on her, specifically for how she aced the younger version of actor Golda Rosheauvel (from Bridgerton; also in Queen Charlotte).
“There’ll be those who won’t agree, but,” she sweetly butts in, pointing out how she was precisely instructed by the “creative team, to take nothing from the actor playing the older version. I have probably subconsciously imbibed some of Golda, watching her as a fan, on Bridgerton.” Their character graph, over decades, shows.
To speak in journalese, if it wasn’t for an exclusive conversation, albeit a quick one, with India herself—we may not have watched Queen Charlotte of Bridgerton, ourselves!
For one, it’s a spin-off/prequel to Bridgerton—a series about London soirees, mating/wedding season, singles/suitors; all the modern, updated Jane Austen stuff, based on Julia Quinn’s novels. A wildly popular fiction genre, yes. Yet, not everybody’s cup of light, syrupy tea.
Nothing quite prepares you then for Queen Charlotte, also scripted by Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy), mixing fact with fiction, that is so much more ‘history’ than ‘society’.
It depressingly deals with mental health [of King George III] that Corey says he had to get right, with research, from books, papers, doctors: “The job is to get as specific as possible, and to give your heart to [the subject], and give the man, a voice.”
It’s not soap-opera, but just as mass-culture, still—you can tell, going by the Queen Charlotte pavilion, next to Squid Games and Stranger Things, at the Tudum ‘spoiler night’, Netflix’s own Comic-Con, in Sao Paulo, where fans gather around replicas of Queen Charlotte’s palace, orange orchards, and the Man Fridays Brimsley, Reynolds, ushering you in!
At its base, it’s the story of how black lives matter, with a queen of colour, taking charge. Was Queen Charlotte, really black? While that changes British imperial history altogether, it’s open to historical debate. [White] Helen Mirren, for instance, played Queen Charlotte in the film, The Madness of King George (1994).
India says, “Having studied history in school, I never knew that this was even a possibility—it’s not surprising to me either, that blacks have been erased from history.”
“It’s a question that Rhonda deals with brilliantly in the script—what if the British Queen had an African bloodline? So, not just a woman [in power], but a black woman. Would it change how society ran?
What she shows is as relevant to society today.”
Speaking of societies, lastly—not that India needs hosting, we can’t help but invite her to the country she’s named after. She’s still never been: “It’s terrible. I have to go. I just have to go!”
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