Bridgerton's Luke Newton Jokes He Wasn't Prepared 'for Stripping Down Naked' on Set with Nicola Coughlan (Exclusive)

The 31-year-old actor, who plays Colin Bridgerton on the hit Netflix series, and his on-screen love Nicola Coughlan, who portrays Penelope Featherington, opened up to PEOPLE about the intimate scenes between their characters in the upcoming third season.

"The intimacy stuff feels very real," Coughlan, 37, shares. "It feels very grounded in two people that are not trying to sort of, that they're awkward in front of one another, this and that, and all of a sudden they become like Lotharios in the bedroom and whatever, they get to be intimate together in a very real and beautiful way, and I think that's what makes it so affecting." 

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"In those intimate moments, they find moments to laugh and you see them figuring it out and doing it together, and I love it," she adds.

As for Newton, he knew that fans were anticipating Colin and Penelope's friends-to-love romance, which is detailed in the fourth Bridgerton book, Romancing Mister Bridgerton.

"I think there's always been that underlying sort of question mark with these two characters," he explains. "And people have obviously wanted them to get to the point that we're getting to now, so I guess it was always in the back of our minds."

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"You kind of play that in previous seasons and in previous scenes, but you can't really prepare for stripping down naked in front of your friends," he jokingly adds.

Coughlan previously teased that things got heated during the steamy scenes between her and Newton. She shared that they broke a piece of furniture while filming a sex scene, and found the filming process "really funny."

"We would be like, in between scenes, and they were like, 'Do you wanna get up and put your clothes on?' We're like, 'We'll just chill here.' Like, in under the blankets," she recalled during an interview on SiriusXM Hits 1 in April. "But then we have the advantage of knowing each other for years."

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The first part of Bridgerton season 3 premieres on May 16, and part 2 drops on June 13. Seasons 1 and 2 of Bridgerton — as well as its spinoff, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story — are now streaming on Netflix.