Bessie Carter: Daughter of acting royalty denies ‘nepo baby’ label

Despite having two of Britain’s acting royalty as parents, Bridgerton darling Bessie Carter denies being a “nepo baby”.

Despite having two of Britain’s acting royalty as parents, Bridgerton darling Bessie Carter denies being a “nepo baby”.

Daughter of Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter, the 31-year-old insists she has earned success on merit.

“My parents have never given me a handout,” Carter told Confidential.

“I’ve never got any job or opportunity through them. I’ve actively never asked for that and they’ve actively never given me that.

“It’s like a silent agreement between us.”

Carter says the label never went to her head, especially after being accepted into Guildhall School of Music Drama.

“It was a school that my mum hadn’t gone to, my dad hadn’t gone to, so that very much felt like my own thing, and they didn’t know who my parents were.

Actress Bessie Carter is playing Nancy Mitford in the new TV series Outrageous. She is also the daughter of actors Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton.

“I sort of knew that I’d got in off my own talent, so it gave me a good confidence boost to begin my career with.”

Her career rose to global fame with her role as Bridgerton’s Prudence Featherington and now continues with the lead role of Nancy Mitford in Outrageous, a new BritBox series based on Mary Lovell’s The Mitford Girls.

“I felt so thrilled to be part of a show that had six women at the front,” Carter said.

“I was like, I can’t really think of a show apart from Harlots and that’s about prostitutes with that many women leads.

Dame Imelda Staunton (C) poses with her husband Jim Carter (R) and daughter Bessie Carter (L)

“So I felt the feminist in me was like, woo, yeah … and it was really exciting to be given the chance to play lead. I hadn’t yet done that on screen.”

Carter admits Nancy is a rich, layered character, “confident while being vulnerable”, “funny while being really insecure” and one she found satisfying to portray.

Actress Bessie Carter is playing Nancy Mitford in the new TV series Outrageous.

Actress Bessie Carter (L) is playing Nancy Mitford in the new TV series Outrageous.

She also narrates the series, breaking the fourth wall, which she said was a new challenge.

“Looking me down the barrel of the lens is so hard … you can see your own reflection. So you have to obviously imagine it’s someone, otherwise you just feel like you’re going absolutely batshit.”

She called Bridgerton “a fairy tale wedding cake explosion” and loved playing Prudence, who was “misunderstood, a bit stupid”.

“With Bridgerton, you’d film for two days, then have two weeks off. With Outrageous, I was in every day. It builds a different kind of stamina.”

Carter is now on stage with her real-life mum in a three-month West End run, playing mother and daughter.