If you’re refreshing 2025 Netflix release dates for updates on the Bridgerton Season 4 premiere, you might find your heart longing, but I did just read a hilarious story about filming the prior season that has me wanting to repeat the whole series all over again on my Netflix subscription. In honor of the Shondaland production company turning 20 years old, the show’s Season 2 & 3 hair and makeup designer, Erika Ökvist, told an amazing story about the time one of Queen Charlotte’s wigs had to be soundproofed.
Like many fans, one of my favorite parts of Bridgerton is seeing all the great Queen Charlotte moments, and her bombastic wigs have just gotten grander as the series has gone on. But apparently one wig led to a unique issue on set. I’m talking about the one in Season 3, Episode 4 with moving motorized swans circling a lake. Take a look:
It’s obviously gorgeous, and so, so extravagant. Here’s what Erika Ökvist told Entertainment Weekly about the wig before getting into the technical difficulties they had with it:
I did the technical prototype with the clockwork going around, but there wasn't really a scene where that wig fit in season 2. And then when we came into season 3, I read the script and I was like, ‘Oh! It's going to be perfect for this because she's sitting quite still.’
The amazing Queen Charlotte wig makes an appearance while she is watching a dance performance in the same episode where Penelope and Colin end up getting hot and heavy in a horse-drawn carriage. In order to construct the wig, the hair expert sourced a 3-D printed clockwork and placed four transparent swans on top to create the effect on her wig. It was battery-powered in non-battery times, but hey, sometimes a little time period cheating is worth it.
While this wig was actually more lightweight than a lot of Queen Charlotte’s wigs, it did pose an issue for production when Golda Rosheuvel put it on for the scene. As Ökvist continued:
With the swan swimming around, there was a sound issue. I had to soundproof the swimming so that the sound man would still befriend me at the end of that scene. And that's something you wouldn't have thought about. I had to put sponges and stuff inside of it to sort of buff it up so that you couldn't hear the click, click, click. And she could still have it on whilst doing dialogue.
How funny is that? As Ökvist also shared, they don’t put the wigs on Rosheuvel until she arrives on location because they are too tall to fit in a car. So, it wasn’t until they went to film the scene that the issue was found. And Ökvist was quite clever putting sponges in the wig to quiet those hair swans. I can imagine at the time it was quite frustrating and hilarious for the cast and crew. Here’s the wig up close:
While some fans might claim Bridgerton isn’t horny enough, it’s definitely got wigs upon wigs! While we imagine what other wild things will be on Queen Charlotte’s head next time, you can check out the first look for Season 4.
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