Bridgerton or bust! Nearly three months after announcing his departure from the hit series, Regé-Jean Page is raking in awards show acclaim.
Emmys 2021: See the Complete List of Nominations
Nominations for the 2021 Emmy Awards were announced on Tuesday, July 13, and the 31-year-old actor earned a nod for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings. He’s up against Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us), Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country), Josh O’Connor (The Crown), Billy Porter (Pose) and Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason).
The Shondaland series was recognized in the Outstanding Drama category, but Page was the only star to earn an individual nomination.
In April, fans were devastated after learning the For the People alum would not be returning for Bridgerton‘s highly anticipated second season. Page went into detail about his shocking decision soon after, revealing that he always knew his time on the series would be brief.
“It’s a one-season arc. It’s going to have a beginning, middle, end – give us a year,” he told Variety in April of early conversations about his role. “[I thought] ‘That’s interesting,’ because then it felt like a limited series. I get to come in, I get to contribute my bit, and then the Bridgerton family rolls on.”
The U.K. native turned down $50,000 per episode upon choosing not to reprise his character, according to The Hollywood Reporter. One month after his exit made headlines, Page compared the transition to a high school graduation.
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“You’re afraid of the unknown, thinking, ‘Oh, my God, I’m never going to make friends as good as the ones I have,’ and then you do,” he told Variety in May. “The thing that has always appealed to me most about this career is getting to encounter and interact with the unexpected.”
Bridgerton debuted in December 2020 and quickly became a fan favorite, garnering 82 million streamers around the globe. Season 2 of the series based on Julia Quinn‘s novels was confirmed in January and is set to follow the eldest Bridgerton brother, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), on his quest to find love.
Though her fictional husband won’t be joining her in the upcoming episodes, Phoebe Dynevor is returning as Daphne Bridgerton. Page’s exit may have come as a major surprise to viewers, but the 26-year-old Younger alum was prepared for the bombshell to drop.
“I had a bit of a heads up, so I knew,” she said in May on the “Variety Awards Circuit Podcast,” discussing how she’s “passing the baton” to Bailey for the next chapter. “But yeah, I guess it is a spanner. But again, the show centers around the Bridgertons, and there are eight books. And I think maybe the fans of the books were more aware of that happening than the fans of the show. Because I think the fans of the books know that every episode is about a different sibling.”
Ready for More? Everything We Know About Season 2 of ‘Bridgerton’
The release date for season 2 has yet to be announced, but filming kicked off in April with a host of new stars. Two months later, Dynevor told The Wrap that Page will “definitely be referred to a lot” in the new installment.
“I think every season is just going to be really different and magical in its own way,” she noted. “And that’s honestly what I think is so brilliant about what Shonda [Rhimes] and Chris [Van Dusen] have created. There’s not many TV series that do that, that focus on different characters every season. But I think every season is going to have its own magic, which is great.”
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