My Lady Jane's Emily Bader Says 'Brooding' Edward Bluemel Instantly Had the 'Snark and Charm' to Play Her Love Interest (Exclusive) (2024)

Emily Bader couldn't have asked for a better partner to fall in love with on the screen – even when he was spending half the day as a horse.

The actress, 27, who leads Prime Video's My Lady Jane — a rock-n-roll retelling of the tragic tale of Lady Jane Grey, who was beheaded in 16th-century England after just nine days on the throne — tells PEOPLE that she knew "right away" that Edward Bluemel was going to be her Guildford.

"I was cast first and then very quickly we started doing chemistry reads," Bader says of the casting process in the spring of 2022. "I think we read with maybe five different guys, but I read with Edward first, and he was in Nova Scotia somewhere. In the countryside, probably [doing] something with a blouse — he loves to wear blouses — and yeah, you never know who they're going to go with, but I had a feeling."

"He just has that sort of snark and charm to him that I think fits the character well, and [he's] a bit brooding," she continues. "It was really exciting."

In the Prime Video version, which was adapted from the novel by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand and Jodi Meadows, Jane Grey is not beheaded as she was in real-life, but rather, "the damsel in distress saves herself," per the official synopsis.

"The character is just sort of a dream. She's described as Blondie meets Elizabeth Bennet. She's a rock and roll and badass and hardcore and cool," Bader says.

The eight-episode series sees Jane ascend the throne after the death of her cousin and best friend, King Edward (Jordan Peters), navigating the ample targets on her back, including from his sister Princess Mary (Kate O'Flynn), all while she's falling madly in love with Guildford. Her arranged marriage to him also results in another set of complications: he's secretly an Ethian – one of a group of societally-shunned humans who can magically shape-shift into animals. (In his case, a horse.)

Bader says that having such a "complex female heroine" at the helm "in this world that is so fantastical, where we're doing something as insane and silly and amazing as changing the division in a society where people turn into animals" was a no-brainer kind of role. "How do you say no to that? It’s awesome."

After she was cast, she "cried for a week and a half" and then had three weeks to prepare before jetting off to London, where she spent the next nine months filming the series, which premiered on June 27.

"I think it's caught a little bit of fire and people really get it, and that's really cool because it's so different. It's camp and super self-aware. And shows like that, there's not too many of them right now," the Fresh Kills actress says, referring to the sarcastic, raunchy narrator that anchors the show and its strictly rock-n-roll soundtrack, which consists entirely of female covers of classic songs that Bader says "adds to the female perspective" of the series.

"So I think you never really know: Are all the references going to land? Are people going to get it and love it? And so far people are, which is the most gratifying thing."

The response to her and Bluemel's character's love story has been particularly satisfying.

"You're doing a show that's romantic. You want people to buy into that," she says of their portrayal, adding that fans' love of her and Bluemel, 31, together "means that we did a good job."

"Everyone is hardcore shipping Janeford, which I'm all for, because that is the heart of the show at the end of the day. It is really a love story and it's the story of these two people saving each other."

The role was also daunting on account of the accent she had to pull off. "I was worried that people might be kind of turned off by the fact that they cast an American to play a British character. But, no, I think, so far, we pulled it off," she says, adding that "the goal" is for viewers to not realize she's actually from California.

Bader reveals that she "stayed in accent from when I touched down until maybe six months into shooting when I got a little bit more comfortable," and credits her "badass" dialect coach for helping her feel "confident enough to be able to freely just play and not worry about it."

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The season 1 finale episode left off with a clear set-up for a potential second season, and while Prime Video hasn't confirmed a renewal yet, Bader says that "hopefully we'll see what happens" next with Jane and Guildford.

"I imagine that there's got to be some tension, because Jane is very strong-willed and she's not going to necessarily put their relationship to the forefront of her priorities if something that is as dire as the survival of her family is on the line. So I would imagine they would have maybe some conflict, but I think they're made for each other."

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My Lady Jane is now streaming on Prime Video.