Phoebe Dynevor says she was “really naïve” about fame going into Netflix’s romantic drama “Bridgerton” – and her brief relationship with Pete Davidson – in a feature story for Elle’s October 2023 cover.
Dynevor says she was on the verge of giving up on her Hollywood aspirations and moving back to the U.K. when she was asked to read for the role of Daphne Basset in Shonda Rhimes’ adaptation of “Bridgerton.”
“I was really naïve. I don’t think there was a period of my life as an actress when I thought about fame,” Dynevor said in an interview conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. She noted her only goal at that time was to act without having to work other jobs. “And so I just didn’t expect it to change my world in the way that it did.”
Dynevor also said she had a lot to learn when it came to her relationship with “Saturday Night Live” alum Davidson, whom she dated for six months in 2021. By that time Davidson’s engagement with Ariana Grande was already a thing of the past, and he had already dated Kate Beckinsale, Margaret Qualley, Kaia Gerber and Olivia O’Brien — meaning whoever Davidson was dating at the moment had become a news item.
Dynevor was taken aback by the paparazzi that followed her.
“I didn’t think anyone would care,” Dynevor said. “There were lots of hard lessons I had to learn through basically just having a personal life. You realize, ‘Oh, I can’t live my life in the way that I used to. I have to keep my cards slightly closer to my chest.’”
Dynevor has since moved on from “Bridgerton,” a romance that follows a different regency-era couple each season. Looking ahead, the actor stars in Chloe Domont’s directorial debut “Fair Play,” an erotic thriller that takes place in a cutthroat hedge fund firm. The film is set to debut on October 13. She also stars in Jan Komasa’s upcoming thriller “Anniversary.”
