Latest news with #BessieCarter
Daily Mail
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Bridgerton star Bessie Carter reveals hidden health condition - after hitting back at 'nepo baby' claims
Actress Bessie Carter has revealed she suffers with breathing difficulties after sharing an Instagram reel of her using a nebulizer. The Bridgerton star, 31, said she first became aware that she wasn't breathing properly having squeezed into a tight-fit corset during rehearsals for a West End show last year. With Bessie in high-demand as an actress after the success of Bridgerton, in which she plays Prudence Featherington, her Instagram post on Thursday revealed she has since turned to a nebulizer to combat the problem. Typically used by those that suffer with conditions such as asthma or bronchitis, the apparatus makes breathing easier by delivering medication in the form of mist to the lungs. Sharing a selfie of herself with the nebulizer in her mouth to her Instagram stories, the 31-year-old captioned the post: 'Reality'. The TV star is currently starring alongside her mother Imelda Staunton for the first time in the West End show Mrs Warren's Profession. During a recent podcast the Bridgerton actor spoke about her breathing issue more extensively, including the moment she realised it was a problem. She said: 'The show we did at the National last year, I had to have extra help from the voice person to get my ribs moving, because I am so used to holding my ribs in because of wanting that thin waist, which again is so internalised and so subconscious, I don't' even know I am holding it in.' It comes after Bessie - whose dad is Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter - hit back against claims she is a 'nepo baby' during an interview with The Independent. Despite her parents huge successes in the world of acting, Bessie insisted she has worked for career and 'doesn't really care' about the term 'nepo baby' being used. 'I have a lot of drive to make stuff happen myself, instead of waiting for the phone to ring,' she said. 'Some people might use that phrase (nepo baby), but I don't really care. I believe in myself and my trajectory being what it is, and I've never used my parents, ever, to get any work.' Supporting Bessie was her mother, with Imelda adding: 'There seem to be about 22 million more actors now. During the time of Maggie [Smith] and Robert Stephens [the late parents of the actor Toby Stephens], you could count actors with that level of celebrity on one hand. 'Now it's not unusual for children to have parents who are also actors, simply because there are so many of them.' Bessie did however admit that she's taken inspiration from her parents and their successful careers, heaping praise onto the pair. The 31-year-old's latest endeavour sees her star as Nancy Mitford in the new six-episode series Outrageous, which follows the lives of the Mitford sisters and is based on Mary S Lovell's biography. After the show's release yesterday, Bessie and her castmates celebrated at the Sea Containers hotel. with the actress put up in a luxury suite with panoramic views across London.
Times
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Outrageous review — fun and political games with 1930s poshos the Mitfords
'Mosley all back on, then?' Bessie Carter's Nancy asks her sister Diana (Joanna Vanderham) over what seems to be the gazillionth slug of drawing room tea in Outrageous (U&Drama), Sarah Williams's six-part adaptation of Mary Lovell's biographical study The Mitford Girls. 'Can't quite stomach all that Blackshirt thing,' Nancy adds. 'All that marching about and saluting the leader.' It's slightly surprising that, for all our continued fascination with this eccentric, privileged family, the small screen hasn't so far delivered a truly memorable account of their antics, nor indeed a truly compelling dramatisation of Nancy's own brilliant books (the BBC's 2001 stab at Love in a Cold Climate and its 2021 take on The Pursuit of Love were just about OK). But, dash and bother, here they are again with all their nursery room nicknames and skittish chatter about the politics of 1930s Europe and … well, it was much better than I was expecting.
Cosmopolitan
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Who were the Mitford sisters? The unbelievable true story behind Outrageous
You've probably seen lots of people talking about the new drama series outrageous airing this week. Coming to UKTV's in the UK and BritBox in North America, the TV series tells the story of six different sisters in the 1930s, who refused to play by the rules, often resulting in betrayal, scandal, heartache, and even imprisonment. It stars Bridgerton's Bessie Carter as Nancy Mitford, the eldest of the Mitford siblings, Anna Chancellor as matriarch Sydney Bowles Mitford, James Purefoy as David Freeman-Mitford, and Joanna Vanderham as Diana Mitford, and is based on the very real, and often controversial Mitford family. During the 1930s, the six sisters attracted widespread attention for their fashionable and provocative lifestyles, as well as for their public political divisions between communism and fascism. So, who exactly were the Mitford family? Read on for everything you need to know as Outrageous airs. The Mitford family is an aristocratic British family, who became particularly well known during the 1930s due to the six Mitford sisters - daughters of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife, Sydney Bowles whom he married in 1904. Sydney was the daughter of publisher and politician Thomas Gibson Bowles, and David was the second son of Bertram, Lord Redesdale. The couple had seven children - six girls and one boy - and their family homes were Asthall Manor and Swinbrook in Oxfordshire. Played by: Bessie Carter Born 28th November 1904, Nancy was the oldest of the Mitford children. She was a writer and a keen eye observer of the upper class. She married Peter Rodd, whom she subsequently divorced, and had a longstanding relationship with French politician and statesman Gaston Palewski. Her work includes semi-biographical novels The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. Played by: Isobel Jesper Jones Dubbed 'woman' by her siblings, Pamela Mitford (born in 1907), married and later divorced millionaire physicist Derek Jackson. Unlike her sisters, she preferred the countryside, and spent most of the 1960s in the stables of Italy, living with the horsewoman Giuditta Tommasi. Played by: Joanna Vanderham Possibly the most scandalous of the Mitford pack, Diana (born in 1910), married aristocrat and writer Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne, in 1929. In 1933, she left him for British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, whom she married in 1936. Together, they had two sons, Alexander and Max Mosley. The couple was interned at Holloway Prison from May 1940 until November 1943. Played by: Shannon Watson Known as 'Bobo' or 'Boud' by her siblings, Unity's friendship with Adolf Hitler was well-publicised. She shot herself in the head after Britain declared war on Germany. She survived, but suffered permanent brain damage. She died of pneumococcal meningitis in 1948. Played by: Zoe Brough The rebel of the family, 'Decca' ran off to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War, before planting her roots in America. After losing her first husband in World War II, she reinvented herself as a passionate writer and committed communist. Her groundbreaking book, The American Way of Death, exposed the funeral industry. Played by: Orla Hill The youngest of the family, Deborah was nicknamed 'Nine' by Nancy, which was half an insult, half affection. She married the future Duke of Devonshire and lived a pretty quiet life at Chatsworth House, which she transformed into an empire. Unlike her sisters, she wasn't one for the limelight and kept out of the headlines. Played by: Toby Regbo The only son of the Mitford family, Tom was born in 1909 and studied at Eton. Here, he had an affair with James Lees-Milne. He later had a relationship with troubled dancer Tilly Losch, who was married at the time to British poet, Edward James. According to Jessica's letters, Thomas supported British fascism and was posted to the Burma campaign after he had refused to fight in Europe. He died in action. Outrageous airs on UKTV's free streaming service U and U&DRAMA on Thursday 19th June, and on BritBox in North America on 18th June.
Telegraph
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Nazi-obsessed Mitford sisters ‘were modern and progressive'
The Mitford sisters have been described as 'modern and progressive women' by an actress playing one of them in an upcoming series. Bessie Carter, who has appeared in Bridgerton, plays Nancy, the eldest Mitford sister, in the historical drama Outrageous, which airs next week. She said the sisters – two of whom had a fascination with Nazism – 'refused to conform'. She told the Radio Times: 'They were definitely women who didn't want to just do the debutante balls. They wanted to work and to exercise their brains. 'The Mitfords were modern women, they were really progressive. They always asked, 'Why can't I do that?'' The six sisters – Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah – were born to Lord and Lady Redesdale and experienced an upbringing steeped in eccentricity. They were constantly in the headlines, and Unity in particular scandalised British society by her closeness with Adolf Hitler. She was known as the 'English girlfriend' of the Fuhrer and fawned over the man who threatened her country's liberty. In January, the discovery of the 1930s socialite's long-lost diaries revealed the extent of her infatuation. The diaries appear to show that Unity, whose father was a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill's wife Clementine, met Hitler almost 140 times – sometimes alone, raising the prospect of a sexual relationship between the pair. Diana also scandalised society when she left her husband, the Guinness heir, to marry Sir Oswald Mosley, the British fascist leader with whom she had been having an affair. Threat to national security She was imprisoned at Holloway prison during the Second World War for being considered a danger to national security. The family's exploits have inspired books and films and will now be depicted in Outrageous. Carter added of the six women who will be portrayed: 'What we do in the show is look at those early years when they're about to step out into the world and make their mark. 'They're refusing to conform to what was expected of them at the time, which was to be wives and mothers.' She explained: 'Outrageous is looking at these six sisters and wondering how long a family will hold together. And at what point do you have to confront hard truths and face your differences? 'That's relevant today, isn't it? We probably all have a family member who politically is in a different place. How do we deal with that?' Joanna Vanderham, who plays Diana in the new show, added: 'Nancy told on Diana. She informed Churchill that Diana was a threat to national security and had her imprisoned. Who does that to their own sister?' She said: 'The Mitfords were mad! I feel that people will go, 'That wouldn't have happened.' Then they'll Google it and realise it did. The Mitfords were outrageous. The title is absolutely justified.'
Perth Now
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Bessie Carter 'doesn't care' she's accused of being a nepo baby
Bessie Carter doesn't consider herself to be a 'nepo baby'. The 31-year-old actress - who is the daughter of actors Dame Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter - has brushed off suggestions that she's a so-called 'nepo baby', insisting she's not used her parents' fame and success to further her career. Speaking to The Independent, Bessie explained: "I have a lot of drive to make stuff happen myself, instead of waiting for the phone to ring." The actress - who plays Prudence Featherington on the hit Netflix series 'Bridgerton' - insists that she's worked hard for her success. She reflected: "Some people might use that phrase (nepo baby), but I don't really care. I believe in myself and my trajectory being what it is, and I've never used my parents, ever, to get any work." Despite this, Bessie still enjoys working in the same industry as her mother. She said: "It's really nice when I'm in hair and makeup and the makeup artist says, 'I worked with your mum.' Who wouldn't like that?" Imelda has enjoyed a hugely successful career, starring on stage and screen for decades. But Bessie only became truly aware of her mother's success when she was cast in the 'Harry Potter' film franchise. The actress shared: "Like most children, I grew up reading them and going to the bookshops at midnight, so that was quite exciting." Meanwhile, Bessie believes the timing of 'Bridgerton's release was one of the keys to its success. The hit TV show - which is set during the Regency era in England - was released in December 2020, following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Bessie noted that fans were quick to attach themselves to the programme. The actress - who has starred on the show alongside the likes of Jonathan Bailey and Nicola Coughlan - told the BBC: "It was December 2020, and I believe the world was ready to escape into something that was joyous, hopeful, and had a happy ending. And so ... that's the honest answer. "I just think it was a delightful thing to look at, and hopefully a bit funny and a bit romantic."
