It's Official: Marina Not Returning to Bridgerton Season 3

Summary

• Ruby Barker told fans back in April that she would not be reprising her role as Marina Crane, and now she has explained why.
• The actress experienced major mental health issues while filming Bridgerton but is much better now.
• Her character's arc is too tragic in the books for the actress to play it on screen.

In April this year, Ruby Barker, who portrayed Marina Crane (née Thompson) in Seasons 1 and 2 of Netflix's flagship show Bridgerton, revealed on her Instagram that she would not be reprising the role.

Now, the actress has gone into more detail about why she's left Briderton in a new interview for Digital Spy.

Mental Health Issues

'I wouldn't return to Bridgerton because A) it wouldn't be my choice and B) When I did Bridgerton – obviously this is very much in the public knowledge and stuff like that – I had a mental health crisis,' Barker said in the interview.

The actress has spoken a lot lately about her condition, which made her experiences on the set of Bridgerton difficult to deal with, making it impossible for her to return to the series.

'Whilst I was having the most amazing and most important experience in my professional life, my health was deteriorating so, so much, so, so quickly,' she explained. 'It wasn't just a manageable bout of – I don't know – depression or anxiety or anything like that. I was seriously, seriously unwell.'

Fortunately, Ruby got better after she was done with the romance show. She is an active member of mental health charities and does her best to help others deal with what she's been through.

However, reprising the role of Marina on Bridgerton would essentially mean reliving the past trauma, especially seeing how Marin's arc mirrors Ruby's own experience so closely.

Tragic Ending in the Books

In the original book series by Julia Quinn, Marina has a much smaller role than in the show, and her arc ends in tragedy. She struggles with postpartum depression after the birth of her twins and eventually commits suicide.

That sets up the arc of her widower, Phillip, who finds solace in correspondence with Eloise Bridgerton and eventually falls in love with her. Having Ruby Barker play out this tragic arc on screen would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

'Marina, my character on that show, really struggles with her mental health. That's her story arc,' the actress explained. 'She's got a very, very tragic end. I doubt – I highly, highly doubt – that the creators of the show would ask for me, given my history and what happened to me alongside playing that role, for me to come back and finish that storyline. It's not going to happen. I've done my bit.'

Luckily, the actress today can get help and much better care than her character in the Regency era.

The only question that remains is whether the showrunners will cast someone else as Marina or whether they'll have her die off-screen. What do you think?

Sources: Instagram, Digital Spy.