Should Bridgerton Really Recast Regé-Jean Page's Duke?
It's up for debate whether Regé-Jean Page's Duke of Hastings Simon Basset should be recast in Bridgerton or not. In season 1, Simon marries Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dyvenor) and had an otherwise satisfying one-season character arc. As is the case with Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels, each season focuses primarily on one of the Bridgerton siblings. Daphne makes only a brief season 2 appearance because of the story centering around Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) as per the second novel, The Viscount Who Loved Me. For this reason, Simon's season 2 absence wasn't out of place.
In season 1, Simon went to London during the social season to settle his deceased father's affairs and was adamantly against finding a wife. When Daphne tries to avoid a courtship with Nigel Berbrooke (Jamie Beamish), Simon offers to pretend to be with Daphne and prevent a scandal between her and Nigel. Naturally, by the end of Bridgerton season 1, Daphne and Simon became close enough to be married and have a baby boy.
Related: Bridgerton Season 2 Recasting Would've Avoided A Major Character Issue
Regé-Jean Page made it known that he wouldn't mind it if his Duke of Hastings role was recast. If Bridgerton was to continue its book-per-season trajectory, there are still seven more seasons to go for the Duke to potentially make an appearance. Were Page to be recast, it wouldn't even be the first time for Bridgerton to do so. Ruby Stokes will step down as Francesca Bridgerton going forward, with the role going to Hannah Dodd of Eternals. With that said, Bridgerton launched Page into recognition and got him involved in bigger projects like Netflix's The Gray Man and an upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie.Furthermore, despite Page's apparent blessing,
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