Here's a shock for Bridgerton fans: The songs the actors dance to while filming those ballroom scenes aren't necessarily the same ones that end up in the show.
"It'll work perfectly for filming on set," Bridgerton music supervisor Justin Kamps explained in an interview with E! News. "And then when it comes to working on the episode in post [production], suddenly, it becomes a totally different song."
In fact, Justin said that Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" is the only song to make it from filming to the episode's release. Otherwise, the background music is often turned into something "wildly different," he said.
It's all part of a months-long process that begins with the scripts. The music team scans the episodes for opportunities to include a string cover or a ballroom dance, the latter of which choreographer Jack Murphy is in charge of. They then try to find a song that is the "right feel" or tempo for the scene, a task that is easier said than done.
Justin said the cast will get the dances down and film these "intricate" ballroom dances but when they start editing, it simply doesn't match his and creator Chris Van Dusen's vision.
And that's where composer Kris Bowers comes in. According to Justin, he typically uses pre-existing string covers from bands like Vitamin String Quartet, but they occasionally ask Kris to create his own rendition of "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" and Madonna's "Material Girl."
"What he does with the score, he knocks it out of the park every time," Justin shared. "And that really gives us an opportunity, when Kris is handling the cover, to really craft it exactly to the scene and exactly to the sequence in a way that our creator Chris Van Dusen and everyone on the band really loves."
When they choose songs that have already been covered, Justin sets out to find something that would suit the Regency Era—even though Bridgerton is set in a fictional world. "I'm trying to, as much as I can, filter out things that maybe wouldn't make sense for the period," he explained, adding, "It's not like they're going to have an electric keyboard at one of the Queen's balls."
It's a job that Justin takes seriously as someone who is a bonafide music lover. He passionately about finding the right cover, particularly of Alanis Morissette's "You Oughtta Know," saying, "That's what I love about these string quartet covers is that you can take this amazing badass song and turn it into something gorgeous and luscious and something completely different."
And though it's not his goal, Justin said that one of the biggest compliments is when someone doesn't recognize a song, explaining, "That kind of lets me know that our goal of making the string covers feel like they could have fit in that time period is working."
Bridgerton season two is streaming now on Netflix.