Yes, Bridgerton‘s Victor Alli has seen those angsty Francesca and John videos set to Taylor Swift‘s most heartbreaking songs.
“I’ve seen a lot of videos and been tagged in a lot of posts,” Alli exclusively told Us Weekly about the overwhelming response to him joining the show as John Stirling. “And [with those] Taylor Swift lyrics — my publicist actually sent me a picture of John and Francesca with those Taylor Swift lyrics.”
Bridgerton fans who’ve read Julia Quinn‘s books that inspired the series have been really in their feelings when it comes to Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and John’s season 3 love story.
Due to [spoiler alert!] John’s death in Francesca’s novel, When He Was Wicked, many viewers have already started to create fan videos that foreshadow the sad end for the fictional couple using songs such as “The Prophecy” and “loml” from The Tortured Poets Department.
“[Some of Taylor’s lyrics] are so similar to their story. [But] it’s like, ‘Just let the scenes happen.’ I’m just like, ‘I don’t wanna start grieving John already,'” Alli joked about the fans hinting at John’s fate before it’s happened on screen. “Everyone’s like, ‘He’s dead already.'”
Season 3 of the hit Netflix series, which started streaming earlier this month, appeared to be laying the groundwork for Francesca’s bittersweet union with John by introducing Alli in the fan-favorite role. According to When He Was Wicked, Francesca’s relationship with John comes to an end due to a sudden death. His title was passed on to his cousin Michael Stirling, who is Francesca’s next love interest.
Alli understands that fans who know what is in store for John are prematurely mourning the character because of how well Bridgerton introduced the character — and explored his sweet courtship with Francesca.
“It is nice that people are invested. It’s nice that people know the story and it’s nice that people care. That was part of what [showrunner] Jess [Brownell] wanted. She really wanted the fans to be invested in John and Francesca,” Alli explained to Us. “So that when [John] does eventually go, it will be so, so hard and really tough. It’ll be really sad actually because I know that I’m gonna obviously leave Bridgerton eventually.”
John’s tragic future is such a spoiler that Alli’s casting wasn’t even announced until the first batch of episodes dropped. Instead of basking in the success of his new role, Alli initially recalled having to go through great lengths to hide his association with the show.
“I had some friends who found out and asked me. I denied it. I denied it hard,” he recalled about set photos surfacing of him with Dodd. “It was funny because when the pictures came out and it was obviously me, I had to say ‘No.'” People are like, ‘It just looks like you.’ I was like, ‘That’s crazy. I’ve got a doppelgänger. I’d love to meet him.’ I’ve never had to do that. I’ve never had to have that experience. It was quite surreal. But I just found it funny as well.”
The story line for his character is such an open secret that even Alli’s costars poked fun at the book spoilers on set.
“Everyone knows what’s gonna happen and everyone knows my fate. There’ll be moments where I’ll be doing a scene and Luke might just be like, ‘Well, it’s fine. You’re gonna die anyway,'” Alli quipped. “So it was just really, really funny.”
Despite knowing where John’s story goes, Alli made an effort not to let it influence his work on season 3.
“I didn’t allow it to shape my performance. It’s part of the story and of course that happens in the future and what will be will be. But I guess you don’t anticipate it,” he noted. “Everything I did was just in the moment as opposed to, ‘Oh, gosh, I’m gonna die soon.’ It was more in the moment and living in the now.”
Alli also credited the secrecy around his role for making his time filming Bridgerton so much easier.
“There’s just no pressure. When you’re joining a TV show as successful as this one, there’s this pressure that you’ve got to live up to the expectation of people who love the show. But it was nice to do it and not worry about all that noise,” he shared with Us. “It was nice to not have to worry about that. I was the only one in the cast that didn’t feel as much pressure.”
The first half of Bridgerton season 3 is currently streaming on Netflix. The remaining episodes drop on Thursday, June 13.
