Dame Julie Andrews, 86, has shocked Bridgerton fans with a startling confession about her voiceover role on the famed British Regency series.
Andrews is the iconic voice behind the mystery Lady Whistledown character on the period drama series where she narrates the show through the secret alias.
In a recent interview with the US’ Today Show, Andrews candidly admitted that despite her regular voiceover role, she had in fact never met any of the Bridgerton cast members.
Nonetheless, Andrews had nothing but positive things to say about the cast as she praised them as “terrific” while making the surprise admission.
“Shonda Rhimes [Bridgerton’s producer] and the whole gang…They’re terrific. It’s a a joy and I’m thrilled that they asked me [to voiceover],” Andrews said.
“But I’ve never met the company in person.”
Andrews revealed she records her lines from an entirely seperate location to the cast.
“Of course, I see them on the show sometimes. But I do all my own recording far far away from them,” Andrews admitted.
It’s no secret that the voice of Lady Whistledown has become a much-loved and appreciated part of the Bridgerton series, especially with Andrews’ natural talent for an impeccable posh, English accent which she used perfectly for the scandalous role.
Last month it was revealed that the upcoming season 3 of Bridgerton would skip ahead from the order of the romance novels by Julie Quinn – to tell the story of Penelope Featherington, played by Nicola Coughlan, and Colin Bridgerton, played by Luke Newton.
Andrews has done extensive voice work over the course of her successful acting and voice career, including animation voice work for famed children’s movies including Despicable Me (2010), Despicable Me 3 (2017), Shrek 2 (2014), Shrek Forever After (2010) and Shrek the Third (2007).
Andrews was recently awarded with the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award in honour of a decades-long career that included classic films such as Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.
It was first revealed that the Mary Poppins alum would be given the Achievement Award back in 2019 but had been postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I’m enormously honoured that AFI chose me,” the actress told Los Angeles Times.
“It is a little bit stunning. It makes me hugely aware that there was a large volume of work. When you’re in it, you’re so busy doing the work that you don’t take stock of what you’ve done.
“And when someone else does, you marvel: ‘Wow, that’s a lot.”
During her acceptance speech, Andrews remarked how the evening gave her “great clarity on how many people are involved with making movies”.
“What a huge collaborative effort it takes to bring film to the screen. My husband Blake [Edwards] never liked when people referred to filmmaking as the business or an industry. He insisted that film was an art form and should always be called that. And I know that is exactly the way the AFI feels also,” Andrews said.