‘Black Sails’ Star Hannah New Joins Cast Of 'Bridgerton' Season 3

Actress Hannah New is the last famous face to join the cast of the hit Netflix series, "Bridgerton," ahead of its third season.

On Friday morning, Deadline reported that New, who is best known for appearing in the Starz series "Black Series," will be joining the series as Lady Tilley Arnold, a widow with a fiery personality.

Approximately one month ago, on September 13, New shared a selfie on Instagram from her hometown of London to tease an exciting new project, which many fans now believe to be "Bridgerton" given this morning's announcement.

"Good morning London!" she wrote in the caption. "Back in my birthplace for a very exciting new project which I cannot wait to tell you about when I’m allowed to 🤫 Despite loving living a quiet rural life these days, London still does give me those butterflies in my tummy of possibility, creativity, challenge!"

Deadline revealed that she will be playing Lady Tilley Arnold. Although Arnold was widowed at a young age, she still has a fair amount of privilege and power as she runs her former husband's estate. She is said to enjoy both financial independence and "sexual freedom," which has fans believing that she may serve as a love interest for an already established character.

Although showrunner Chris Van Dusen was at the helm for the first two scenes, Jess Brownell will be taking over as showrunner for the show's third season. The first episode will be titled "Out of the Shadows," which most likely refers to Nicola Coughlan's character of Penelope Featherington taking center stage.

Fans of the books know that Penelope eventually marries Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), her childhood crush, although fans are eager to see how she is able to balance her romantic intentions while maintaining her notorious alter-ego, Lady Whistledown.

At the end of season 2, Penelope heard Colin say that he would never "dream" of courting her. As a result, Penelope decides to move on and find a husband who will respect her independence so she can maintain her Lady Whistledown identity in private. However, when Colin returns from his summer travels, he is upset that Penelope suddenly wants nothing more to do with him. As he tries to earn back her friendship, he attempts to boost Penelope's confidence and help her find the "perfect" husband.

In addition to Hannah New, Daniel Francis, Sam Phillips, and James Phoon have also joined the cast as supporting characters. Hannah Dodd will also be taking over the role of Francesca Bridgerton.

In an Instagram post on June 23, almost one month before season 3 started officially filming, Nicola Coughlan posted a photo of her season one hairstyle along with the words: "But honestly like would you marry me with this sexy hair and the one really long weird bit?"

“Bridgerton Season One Throwback,” she wrote in the caption. “I used to lovingly call this look ‘The Hair Willy.’ Suffice to say she’s ready for the S3 glow up.”

Fans have noticed that Viscount Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) got a glow-up of his own when he became the romantic lead in season 2 opposite newcomer Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). Their story is expected to continue in season 3, with both Bailey and Ashley teasing the possibility of children in separate interviews.

Back in May, Deadline reported that Coughlan had revealed that she was officially the romantic lead of season 3 at Netflix’s FYSEE Space’s opening night ATAS panel.

“Like Lady Whistledown, I have been keeping a secret for quite some time and I can confirm to you all that season 3 is Colin and Penelope’s love story,” Coughlan said at the time. “I have kept that secret since two weeks into season 2. This is the first time I am saying it here.”

The following week, Coughlan appeared on E! News Daily Pop to answer questions about her upcoming love scenes. When asked if she was ready for her intimate scenes, the “Harlots” actress replied, “I’m gonna have to be!”

Although she admitted that it was “terrifying” to become the romantic lead of the season, she admitted that she’s “known for a really long time” that Penelope would eventually take her friendship with Colin to the next level.

Coughlan also confessed that she first learned that she would be the season 3 lead “like two weeks into filming season two, so I had a lot of time to adjust to it.”

However, that didn’t mean she was prepared to break the news. “But then, [Sunday] night, when they were like, 'The news is coming out. You can talk about it,' I was like, 'I don't want to. I'm too scared.' When I say it out [loud], it makes it real.”

No release date for "Bridgerton" season 3 has yet to be announced.