Not many people know the story of Lady Jane Grey and Guildford Dudley, but “My Lady Jane” is definitely working to change that. The two share a passionate love story in the series and, according to Emily Bader and Edward Bluemel, who bring the duo to life on-screen, making that passion believable meant not being “too precious” about certain intimate moments.
Prime Video’s new series, now streaming, tells the true story of Lady Jane Grey, who became Queen of England unexpectedly after her cousin Edward named her his heir when he died. Of course, this series deviates heavily from Jane’s true history in many, many ways.
One thing it stays true to though is the fact that Jane was married to Lord Guildford Dudley. In this series though, they more closely follow the enemies-to-lovers trope (even if there was immediate attraction on both sides). And, according to Bader, everyone wanted Jane and Guildford’s relationship to just feel real.
That was especially true during the “romantic and intimate scenes.”
“We didn’t want to be too precious about that part of a relationship,” Bader explained to TheWrap. “We wanted it to be fun and realistic and show what it means to fall in love as a real woman, when you get a little bit angry, and you say something that you don’t really mean but you kind of mean it and asking for forgiveness and all those things. But yeah, we just went for it.”
Bluemel readily agreed, noting that he and his costar largely built their on-screen relationship by following their instincts.
“I think that sort of clumsiness, and that is represented in some of the intimate scenes as well, I think is so important to their journey,” he said. “And like, for me and Emily, it’s hard to quantify what is chemistry, so I think sort of over-intellectualizing it can sometimes be a mistake. And instead, you just gotta just jump in and hope for the best, and I feel like it worked.”
Meanwhile, for “My Lady Jane” showrunners Meredith Glynn and Gemma Burgess, the key to writing Jane and Guildford’s relationship was “really sharp, fast banter.”
“We wanted banter to be their love language. We wanted it to be the way that they wanted it to be foreplay for them,” Glynn explained to TheWrap. “And we wanted them to hopefully join the pantheon of great couples like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, like Beatrice and Benedict. And with a little soupçon of screwball comedy.”
You can watch Bader, Bluemel and Glynn’s full thoughts on Jane and Guildford’s relationship in the video above.
“My Lady Jane” is now streaming on Prime.
