Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson teases Benedict exploring his sexuality: ‘He has a lovely openness’
Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton (Netflix)
Bridgerton star Luke Thompson has teased that the popular Netflix period drama might explore the sexuality of his character, Benedict Bridgerton, in future seasons.
The regency drama was accused of queerbaiting viewers after highlighting gay sex in its trailer but avoiding queer storylines in the first season.
Indeed, middle brother Benedict was seen befriending queer, bohemian artist Henry Granville (Julian Ovenden), and then subsequently catching him having an affair with a man.
However, the pair’s friendship did not appear in the second season of the Bridgerton, which featured delivered even less in terms of LGBT+ storyline.
Bridgerton featured a queer sex scene in its teaser trailer. (Netflix)
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about his character’s sexuality and future plot lines, Luke Thompson stated: “Benedict has such a lovely openness and fluidity about him generally, and that’s really, really fun to play because it could go anywhere.
“What I would say is that we’re only in season one and just getting into season two.
“People get very excited and they want everything to be explored in the first few seasons and every corner of sexuality, gender.”
The actor continued: “Obviously, there’s a way to go, so we’ll see what happens with Benedict, but we’re only on season two, so there’s lots of space for him to explore all sorts of things.”
“As a final note, the only thing I would say is I tend not think in terms of hoping too much because an actor’s job is to fully step inside the character’s shoes. If I had an opinion on that, I would be one foot in and one foot out.”
He added: “It’s very important for me to be two feet in, and that the writer is a bit of a god in the sense that they’re controlling your destiny. I just need to go on the journey that they put me on.
“I would certainly love him to retain that because it’s such a lovely quality, that fluidity and openness, but beyond that, I don’t know.”
Indeed, Bridgerton fans are both feet in on Benedict having “a gay love story”.
falling down the benedict having a gay love story in season 3 rabbit hole…like that would actually be so excellent
— kate (@carmysyd) March 30, 2022
you guys don’t understand how hard i’m campaigning for lgbt benedict like i will lay down my life if it means i get to see a full season of 1800s gay people pic.twitter.com/C6fqbo1MZc— sandy (@satosgs) March 29, 2022
benedict is GAY and i truly believe that— sprolden advocate (@fakebeIieve) March 30, 2022
three episodes int bridgerton season 2 and eloise & benedict still have no gay storyline i feel like im waiting for something that’s not gonna happen pic.twitter.com/5ndasZWzPH— fucca (@dianaprinec) March 25, 2022
However, showrunner Chris Van Dusen previously told TV Line recently that Benedict and Henry’s friendship dynamic was more about a lesson in “tolerance” than it was about a potential romance.
Bridgerton, set in 1813, quickly became a hit when its first season was released on Netflix on 25 December, 2020, with the second season also delighting fans this month.
