India Amarteifio quickly won over audiences with her captivating performance as Queen Charlotte in the Bridgerton spin-off series. Whether she was showcasing her comedic timing – like when Charlotte hilariously tried to climb a wall in her restrictive wedding dress – or delivering a deeply emotional scene with her on-screen husband George, promising to love him through his difficulties, the Netflix actress completely drew viewers into her character’s story.
The actor is eager to take on another role, and this time, he’s diving into a gripping, suspenseful, and intense world with the new BBC thriller, The Rapture.
The show is full of surprises, and it’s hard to tell who the ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ are,” Amarteifio explained to Digital Spy. “Everyone is a little bit unpredictable, so you’re constantly questioning who to trust.”
According to Amarteifio, the new series The Rapture looks set to become instantly popular, particularly for fans of thrillers.
The actor said fans who enjoy thrilling stories will love this film.
Based on Liz Jensen’s popular novel, the BBC describes The Rapture as a thrilling and suspenseful story full of danger.
What to Read Next
As a heatwave grips the city and protests fill the streets, forensic psychologist Gabs Fox, played by Ruth Madeley, begins her work at a secure psychiatric hospital. There she encounters Bethany Krall, a seventeen-year-old patient portrayed by Amarteifio.
Bethany is in prison for her mother’s murder, but insists she didn’t do it. She’s also distanced from her father, Leonard (played by Sam Hazeldine), who leads a powerful religious group. Bethany confides in Gabs that she has psychic abilities and can see the future, leaving Gabs to question whether to believe her. If Bethany is innocent, the question remains: who really killed her mother?
Despite being a dark and disturbing film, The Rapture surprisingly touches on the climate crisis – a particularly relevant point given this conversation happened during a very hot heatwave.
As temperatures in the UK climbed into the mid-30s Celsius, actor Ncuti Amarteifio jokingly told Digital Spy, “I’m hot. Really, really hot.”
The actor was keenly aware of the situation’s irony, and emphasized how much she cared about the show’s underlying messages.
Amarteifio believes climate change isn’t a distant threat – it’s happening now. He emphasized its urgency, stating that ignoring the problem will only make things worse.
It’s important to remember that life continues all around us, even as we talk. We’re experiencing this heatwave right now, but people are still facing all of life’s events – births, deaths, and everything in between. Everyone has their own beliefs and faith, which plays a role in their daily lives, and ultimately, we’re all connected by these shared human experiences.
Even though The Rapture tackles important issues, it prioritizes being entertaining. As Amarteifio explained, the five-part series directly addresses topics like faith and climate anxiety, but these themes are often subtle. They aren’t presented in an obvious way, but are always present throughout the story.
“We’re always really sweaty. We’re always really hot.”
“I know how to isolate different parts of my body to make myself look slightly unhinged.”
Bethany, who appears tough on the surface, is actually struggling with serious and painful problems that go far beyond just being uncomfortable. Her harsh demeanor is a result of the difficult experiences she’s faced.
Amarteifio explained a bit about her character, saying she believes the character is fundamentally kind-hearted, but has been negatively influenced by traditional medical practices. She jokingly suggested the character might benefit from a more holistic or spiritual healer.
Bethany is a teenager dealing with a lot at once: the changes of puberty, intense grief, and feeling powerless. Grief doesn’t follow a straight path, and she’s struggling to understand her emotions and cope with the loss of a parent throughout the series.
Playing Bethany was both challenging and rewarding for Amarteifio. The Queen Charlotte star explained that while she enjoyed portraying a character so different from the Regency queen and unlike any role she’d taken on before, dealing with Bethany’s strong emotions and difficult inner life was especially hard.
Honestly, getting into that headspace for two and a half months was tough. I’m usually a pretty optimistic person, but as an actor, you really have to be able to feel what your character feels. I think I really absorbed all the energy of the role, and it definitely affected me.
I was okay for the first four weeks,” she said. “Everything felt fresh and I was still enthusiastic. But then the long nights, night shoots, and lack of sleep started to take their toll. You’re constantly forced to revisit difficult emotions and put yourself in a tough headspace.
While filming The Rapture, Amarteifio found it crucial to stay connected to everyday life. She spent time on a family farm, which she greatly enjoyed, and appreciated the chance to talk with the kind people there after work. Simply being around animals – horses and cows – helped her disconnect from the intensity of filming and remind herself that what she was experiencing wasn’t real life, allowing her to feel grounded and okay.
“Just remembering life outside of filming was really important.”
“It was one of the only times I felt like I could really physically transform.”
Although the part was demanding, playing Bethany allowed Amarteifio to use her physical abilities, drawing on the skills she developed as a dancer.
The actor explained that her dance training continues to be beneficial, even though she doesn’t currently dance professionally. She shared that this early experience with movement provides a strong base for all her work, and she especially enjoyed the physical aspects of playing the character Bethany. She also mentioned having sustained an injury earlier in her career.
I really enjoyed being able to use my physical abilities in this role. It involved a lot of stunts, running, and physically demanding movements, which allowed me to transform my body in a way I hadn’t before. It was great to fully utilize my physicality as an actor.
I thought, ‘Great, I have some ideas for how to create a unique appearance and physically express a character who’s a little off-kilter,’ which was really enjoyable. I consciously changed my posture and movement throughout the show, and while it was challenging, I loved doing it.
Playing Bethany allowed Amarteifio to showcase her talent and establish herself as an actress, moving beyond being known just for her work in Queen Charlotte.
I feel like I constantly need to show people that I’m capable of more than just playing Queen Charlotte,” she explained.
I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity and the part I got – I’ll always owe a huge thanks to Shonda Rhimes and Netflix. I really love them and everything about that show, but when you’re part of something so massive, it’s like people only see you as that character, you know?
The actor shared that she felt pressure to live up to expectations after her role in Queen Charlotte. She wanted fans who had supported her work to see she was capable of more than just one successful performance and wasn’t a one-hit wonder, proving she could consistently deliver strong acting.
My main concern was people disliking it and wishing I’d just continue doing historical dramas.
Bethany saw Amarteifio as a great opportunity after Queen Charlotte – a chance to challenge herself and demonstrate her acting abilities.
Amarteifio was drawn to the role of Bethany because it was unlike anything she’d played before. She appreciated that Bethany wasn’t a typical rebellious teenager. “It required a completely different approach and a different set of skills – it was more about thinking and understanding than just being ‘cool,'” she said.
“Having someone like Ruth on set was imperative for my mental health.”
Amarteifio was especially excited to work with Ruth Madeley, having been a fan of hers since seeing her performance in the movie Don’t Take My Baby when she was younger.
I have a strong memory of watching that with my mom when I was a young teenager, and the story really resonated with me at the time.
I immediately felt this was a powerful story, and the actors did an incredible job bringing it to life. I especially noticed Madeley’s commitment to her role and how deeply her performance resonated with me.
When it came to The Rapture, Amarteifio said: “I felt really safe in the knowledge that she could deliver. Whatever happened, it was going to be a great performance and delivery from her, and I was going to feel affected and I would be able to do my job.”
Amarteifio opened up about what it was like to work with her BBC co-star.
Working with Ruth was crucial for my well-being while filming,” Amarteifio explained, describing the emotional toll of the role. “Her energy and positivity were a huge lift, especially since I often felt drained or had spent the entire day isolated in a dark studio in Wales.
I heard Ruth’s voice across the studio, and it immediately gave me a boost of energy. Honestly, it really motivated me to keep going, especially when I was starting to feel tired towards the end.
As our conversation ended, the discussion shifted to how much Amarteifio connected with and felt for her character, Bethany.
After finishing the role, she explained she cried for almost a week. When she’s acting, she doesn’t feel pity for the character because she fully becomes them. She focuses on truthfully portraying the story, and it feels like a completely separate experience.
After finishing filming, Amarteifio became deeply connected to her character, sharing that she felt heartbroken for her and physically exhausted from the role. She said she just wanted to comfort the character and make sure she was okay.
Amarteifio explained that viewers might not immediately see Bethany’s kind and understanding side, but she asked people not to make quick judgments about her or any of the characters.
She explained that she dislikes how quickly people tend to categorize others, often labeling them as simply ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ She emphasized that the series allows viewers to truly connect with Bethany’s complex journey, witnessing her navigate grief, trauma, confusion, and the challenges of adolescence. It’s a realistic portrayal of a teenager’s emotional and mental development, highlighting the fact that everyone experiences both good and bad times and makes mistakes along the way.
She went on to say that many of us could relate to her story – she personally did, especially when she was a teenager. As we get older, we realize life isn’t always simple; things are often more complicated than they seem.
I hope the audience feels like they’ve seen a real person honestly dealing with life’s challenges.
The Rapture is available to watch now on BBC One.
Check out our Streaming Guide to quickly find out where you can watch all your favorite shows and movies.
Okay, so the new edition of the Living Legends magazine about BTS is finally out! As a huge ARMY, I’m definitely grabbing a copy – you can find it at newsstands or order it online. It’s supposed to be the ultimate fan guide, and I can’t wait to check it out!
2026-07-27 19:27