‘Bridgerton’ Star, 31, Compares Her Netflix Socialite to Her Role in BritBox’s ‘Outrageous’

Bessie Carter is no stranger to period pieces. She became a fan-favorite on the show Bridgerton as Prudence Featherington, the older sister of Nicola Coughlan‘s Penelope. But she has since gone on to star in the new BritBox series Outrageous in which she plays the real-life Nancy Mitford. The Mitford sisters were known for their connections to politics and mysterious organizations. Now, fans will get to understand Nancy a bit more through the new series. To help promote it, Carter spoke with PEOPLE about her work in both Bridgerton and Outrageous.

According to Carter, despite the two shows being period pieces, she says that “they’re so different. They’re completely different characters.” But there are comparisons between them for her; Carter thinks that the two women are both “really fun to play for different reasons.” She went on to explain why she loves them both. “The Prudence snobbery, I suppose, is fun to play because you are never like that. So you get a chance to be. ‘Imagine if I got to say stuff like this,'” she said.

For Nancy, she felt a connection with her. “But then Nancy was actually quite an interesting challenge because I felt quite close to her in many ways. The way that she reacts to things and the way that her heart – she’s sort of romantic.” But even though she related more to Nancy than to Prudence, that didn’t mean that Carter had an easy time with it. “[It’s] sometimes a bit more vulnerable to play, because it’s closer to you. So you have to trust that it’s enough, what you’re doing. You don’t need to add any more to it.”

Bessie Carter Knew a “Weird Amount” About the Infamous Sister

A portrait image of the cast of BritBox's Outrageous — Image via BritBox

When it came to playing Nancy Mitford, Carter told PEOPLE that she “knew a weird amount about” the writer. “Throughout my life, I’ve been connected to Nancy Mitford,” she said. “I went to the same school as her. I was born in the hospital she worked at during the war, and I narrated her audiobook four years before getting the part. So I knew a lot about her.” To her, she said that the role was “weirdly meant to be” and that’s how she ended up in Outrageous. “It was one of those scripts that I read and I knew exactly how to do it – without sounding arrogant. I was like, ‘I know her mind,'” she said. “So it felt weirdly kismet.”

You can see Carter in the BritBox series Outrageous.