‘My Lady Jane’ star Emily Bader on how the risky show became an ‘off the rails’ hit: I’m ‘in shock’
She’s no plain Jane.
Emily Bader, the star of the Prime Video historical fantasy romp “My Lady Jane,” said that she and the rest of the cast have been watching TikToks as the hit show has gone viral on social media.
“It’s been a surreal experience for me. I’ve never been part of something that’s had a mass appeal. It’s been pretty amazing. I think I might be still in shock,” Bader, 27, told The Post.
Now streaming, “My Lady Jane,” which follows Lady Jane Grey (Bader), is set in the 16th century. In real life, she briefly held the English throne for nine days, before she was executed. Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth both ruled after her.
In the show, her story gets a more fictional spin. Her family pushes her into marrying Lord Guildford Dudley (Edward Bluemel) — who happens to be a shape-shifter that can turn into a horse. As his father says on-screen, “It’s a horse by day, man by night thing.”
Viewers have flocked to TikTok and Twitter to post their reactions to the show — especially their surprise and delight at the horse twist.
“We have a group chat with everyone from the show. I think some fan fictions may have been sent. It’s so fun every day to go on TikTok or Twitter,” said Bader, adding that her mom has sent her fan art.
“That’s just the craziest thing … Someone is taking time to draw us! It’s very cool.”
Bader wasn’t aware of the horse part of the plot when she first auditioned, and learning about it felt like, “This giant bomb goes off,” she said.
“Like, ‘Oh my God, it’s not only fantastical and a twisting of history — it’s a true fantasy.’ I’m a huge fantasy lover … So, I think it’s great.”
But, she added, “I think that was one of the riskier parts of the show. But now that it’s out there and people are loving it, it’s a nice surprise.”
Some fans have been comparing “My Lady Jane” to “Bridgerton.”
“I love the comparison. It’s a great show, and I think there are similarities in the sexy corset drama,” Bader said. “I do think this show goes off the rails. It doesn’t take itself too seriously..It’s sort of harking back to a different time of filmmaking, like ‘The Princess Bride’ and that camp sort of British humor.”
Bader found her chemistry with Bluemel right away.
“We didn’t know each other before the project. We met during a stunt rehearsal, and pretty quickly broke the ice beating each other up. And we’ve just become best friends, basically. It’s always nice to be able to tackle those scenes that could be scary and tricky with someone you trust, and just have fun telling that story.”
For some moments, such as a scene when Jane and Guildford pretend to consummate their marriage in front of a crowd by hiding under a sheet and rubbing their feet together, she said that some cast members’s faces “turned purple” due to laughter.
“It’s so funny. They had us get pedicures for that [scene]. They were like ‘it’s going to be a lot of feet. We need to make sure you don’t have crazy-looking feet.’ I was like, ‘What is this scene going to look like?!’ It’s pretty hard not to laugh … under the covers, we were definitely holding our mouths closed, cracking up.”
About whether there will be a Season 2, Bader said, “Look, I freakin’ hope so, because this is an actor’s dream. Fingers crossed. I have no information … [if there was a Season 2]. I think it’s time for Jane to rally and come into her power fully.”
If more episodes are on the horizon, she hopes Jane will be “a little bit of badass” — and get to wear pants.
She quipped: “Pants would be great.”
