Even though Netflix’s Bridgerton is an ensemble effort, the main storyline of Season 1 focuses on the love story between Daphne and Simon. Their meet-cute drives the plot from the first episode and their marriage on which events turn. But the course of true love doesn’t always run smooth. At one point, Daphne looks like she might trade up from the Duke of Hastings to a full blown Prince, the nephew of Queen Charlotte herself. But who plays Prince Friedrich in Bridgerton? He should look familiar.
Prince Friedrich is played by British actor Freddie Stroma, who started his career as a teen actor in the long-running primetime medical drama Casualty. (Much like American daytime soaps, Casualty is one of those places lots of up-and-coming actors pass through, including fellow actor Regé-Jean Page.)
Stroma’s first significant role was in Harry Potter. He was cast as Gryffindor student Cormac McLaggen. McLaggen is the Slug Club and Ron’s main competition for the position of Keeper on the Quidditch team. He’s also one of the most snobbish and egotistical Hogwarts characters who isn’t a Slytherin.
Stroma played the role for the three final Harry Potter films, Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1, and Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
Landing the Potter role led to getting cast in TV roles, including Unreal, Lifetime’s fictionalized look at reality television, which was a critical darling during its four-season run.
But the most prominent TV series Stroma landed on was one that rivaled his Potter role. In 2016, he was cast in Game of Thrones Season 6, playing Dickon Tarly. As Sam’s more socially acceptable younger brother, Stroma’s appearance in "Blood of My Blood" was a sympathetic reversal of the egotistical McLaggen. But with Sam and Gilly taking off by episode’s end, it was the only time fans got to see him. The part was recast for Season 7 with Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy) as Dickon for the character’s big war scenes.
Since then, Stroma has landed a few lead roles, including playing H.G. Wells in ABC’s short-lived Time After Time. As for where playing a prince will take him, that remains to be seen. Fans hope Prince Friedrich will return in Bridgerton Season 2, but no announcements have been made as to whether he will return from Prussia for another season.
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