Bridgerton Repeats A Weirdly Specific Harry Potter Story Detail

Bridgerton repeats a rather odd detail from Harry Potter with actor Freddie Stroma. The two series are almost as different as can be, but they have at least one notable thing in common: they both take place in the United Kingdom and were, therefore, cast with primarily British actors to play primarily British characters. It’s no surprise, then, that at least one actor would appear in both franchises.

Stroma appears in both Bridgerton season 1 and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In Bridgerton, he’s the chivalrous and charming Prince Friedrich and in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Stroma plays Cormac McLaggen – a self-absorbed and handsy Gryffindor who competes with Ron for both the position of Keeper on the Quidditch team and the affections of Hermione Granger. But despite being two very different characters, they have something specific in common in addition to the fact that they are both played by Stroma.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Cormac McLaggen pursues Hermione and is unsuccessful (since Hermione thinks he’s “vile”) until Hermione unexpectedly asks him to be her date at Professor Slughorn’s dinner party. However, Hermione had an ulterior motive. During the party, she admits to Harry that she only asked Cormac because it would “annoy Ron the most.” Hermione is only using Cormac to make her real love interest jealous and this plot point is repeated in Bridgerton.

In Bridgerton, Daphne Bridgerton, the young and naïve heroine, stumbles into a love affair with the emotionally unavailable Simon, the Duke of Hastings, after they secretly band together to keep the gossip-hungry Lady Whistledown at bay. The two become friends and then friendship becomes a passionate desire, but since Simon is determined to never marry or reproduce, Daphne’s brother, Anthony, tells him to do the honorable thing – break up with Daphne and leave town.

Simon then prepares to leave London without offering Daphne a satisfactory explanation and Daphne quickly reacts by entering a relationship with the handsome, courteous, and powerful Prince Friedrich. But it’s clear that Daphne is not legitimately interested in marrying him and, in the end, Daphne’s engagement to Prince Friedrich has the intended effect of driving Simon into madness with jealousy. After an intense argument over Simon’s departure and Daphne’s engagement, the two share a passionate kiss that all but forces Simon and Daphne into an unstable marriage when they are caught by Daphne’s brother, Anthony.

Because Prince Friedrich is such a kind and sincere character in Bridgerton, Daphne’s use of their engagement comes off as cruel and selfish. But in Harry Potter, Cormac McLaggen is so insufferable and pompous that it’s hard to feel sympathy for him when Hermione dodges him at the party and Harry causes him to vomit on Snape’s shoes. Nonetheless, the two characters are indeed played by the same actor and have the same love-triangle trope in common where they are nothing more than a pawn in another character’s game.

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