‘Bridgerton’ Star Adjoa Andoh on Lady Danbury & Kate’s Kindred Season 2 Connection
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 2 of Bridgerton.]
Anyone who watches Netflix‘s Shondaland hit Bridgerton knows that Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) is the baddest around.
Playing an integral role behind the love matches in both Season 1 and Season 2, Lady Danbury knows a thing or two about speaking her truth and getting those around her to do the same. One of the most crucial connections in Season 2 occurs between her and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), who she takes into her home alongside Kate’s mother Lady Mary (Shelley Conn) and Kate’s sister Edwina (Charithra Chandran).
(Credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix)
A bold and outspoken individual herself, Kate finds a kindred spirit in Lady Danbury, which Andoh was excited to explore. At first, they can’t seem to see eye-to-eye about how to secure Edwina a match, but their push-pull dynamic eventually creates a strong bond.
“I always think when you get a little grit in a relationship, that’s where you get the pearl that comes at the end of it,” Andoh tells TV Insider. “And so for me, I think that Lady Danbury sees a lot of herself in Kate, that sense of responsibility, of trying to work out what strategy’s going to help me achieve my goal.”
“Kate has it all mapped out,” Andoh acknowledges. But unlike Lady Danbury, Kate’s experience in the ton is nonexistent. Lady Danbury has the perspective of someone who has lived. “Lady Danbury is saying to Kate, ‘We are on the same team. We both want to achieve the same aim, which is for Edwina to find a match that will bring her security and joy and help her to thrive in this social world.'”
(Credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix)
Lady Danbury works to extinguish some of Kate’s fire for the sake of her family’s future. Andoh says her character “wants to school Kate because she wants her to achieve her aim.” That aim came under fire when Lady Mary’s parents paid Lady Danbury and the Sharmas a visit, and it’s one of the biggest reasons that Lady Danbury feels for Kate.
“She really has Kate’s back, but I think there are times when she wants to take her by her shoulders and shake her and go, ‘Slow down,'” Andoh says with a laugh. “I think she loves the fact that Kate wins at Pall Mall, that she can ride a horse. That’s the kind of fabulous young woman that she loves.”
One lesson that Lady Danbury found to be most essential when taking Kate under her wing was, “she wants [Kate] to understand, life is not about endless self-sacrifice, that is not the way to a happy life,” Andoh says. And as people who tuned into Season 2 know, this kind of thinking eventually leads Kate into the arms of Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) who initially chased after Edwina before he could no longer deny his affection for her.
Hopefully, viewers will gain a new perspective on Lady Danbury as she appears in Bridgerton‘s Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) spinoff. The series will feature Lady Danbury at various points in her life including as a young woman like Kate. Unlike Kate who joins the ton as an “old maid,” Lady Danbury “was already at court,” Andoh says by the time Queen Charlotte arrived.
“She is the Queen’s friend,” Andoh says of Lady Danbury, who took Charlotte under her wing in court when she arrived as a young bride. “Whatever it is the queen needs, Lady Danbury will be there for her.” But it isn’t just about friendship either; Andoh acknowledges her character’s respect for tradition. “She honors that hierarchy dynamic.”
And just as Lady Danbury honors that hierarchy, as viewers we can’t help but honor her for being one of the ton’s best. Stay tuned for more from Andoh with upcoming seasons of Bridgerton and the Queen Charlotte spinoff on Netflix.
Bridgerton, Season 2, Streaming now, Netflix
