Golda Rosheuvel has admitted that her wigs for Queen Charlotte were so heavy that she required a neck brace to avoid injury.
The actor portrays a fictional version of the British monarch in Bridgerton and its prequel series, Queen Charlotte, which was released on Netflix last week. (You can read The Independent’s four-star review here.)
As well as her sharp one-liners and her fixation on matchmaking for the people of Regency-era London, Queen Charlotte is known for her towering hairstyles.
In a recent panel interview, Rosheuvel responded to a question about the weight of her wigs for the show and confirmed that they caused substantial pressure on her head and neck.
“Yes, they are heavy. Very, very, very, very heavy,” she said on a panel at the Paley Center for Media in the US.
“Tom and the crew very kindly made me a neck brace,” Rosheuvel added, referring to the series’ director, Tom Verica. “Not all the time but some of the time I did have to use it.”
Rosheuvel, 53, had previously noted that the headpieces for this chapter in the Bridgerton story had been the heaviest yet.
So elaborate were Queen Charlotte’s looks for this prequel, Rosheuvel had to sit through a two-and-a-half hour transformation, she explained.
“That includes driving to set because the costume and the wig are too big to get changed in the trailer like everybody else does. So, there is a point where I have to be driven to set in a van. Sometimes I have to sit on the floor of said van because the wigs are too high.”
Rosheuvel also stated that she trains three hours a day in order to wear corsets on the show.
Queen Charlotte is set decades before the usual events of Bridgerton and focuses on the monarch’s younger years and the early stages of her marriage to King George III.
The series creator, Shonda Rhimes, recently responded to fans’ speculations on whether some plot lines were inspired by Meghan Markle’s entry into the British royal family.
