Shonda Rhimes thrilled to include South Asian women in Bridgerton

Shonda Rhimes is excited to feature a South Asian family in the second season of Bridgerton.

The new series of the Regency-era Netflix show will feature Simone Ashley as new female lead Kate Sharma, with Charithra Chandran to play her sister Edwina.

Reflecting on the casting decisions, Rhimes insisted it is time to have more people of South Asian descent represented in Hollywood.

"Making the Sharmas of South Asian descent was actually a very simple choice. I wanted to feel like the world we were living in was as three-dimensional as possible, and I wanted to feel like the representation was as three-dimensional as possible, too," she said in a press interview for Netflix. "Finding South Asian women with darker skin and making sure that they were represented on screen authentically and truthfully feels like something that we haven't seen nearly enough of. I felt like it was time for us to make sure that we were seeing as much as possible."

Rhimes went on to note that her entire creative team was supportive of her desire to explore multiculturalism onscreen.

"I wanted to make sure that if you are watching Bridgerton from another country, you're not thinking to yourself, 'Well, this has nothing to do with me.' Well, absolutely it has something to do with you. The humanity in every character should feel universal," the TV producer continued.

Season two of Bridgerton was released on Friday.