Jack Murphy (choreographer)
Jack Murphy is a choreographer and movement director whose screen work includes the Netflix period drama series Bridgerton, its spin-off Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, and Doctor Who. He has received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming.
Career
Training and theatre
Murphy trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art from 1985 to 1988 and received the Alec Clunes Memorial Prize. His early stage work included performances at Theatre Royal Stratford East, the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and the Royal National Theatre. While appearing in The Mountain Giants at the National Theatre, he was invited to assist the theatre’s head of movement and retrain in movement direction, movement teaching and choreography.[1]
His retraining included study with movement directors Jane Gibson and Trish Arnold and with the historical branch of the Royal Academy of Dance. He also studied social and historical dance.[1][2][3]
His movement-direction credits at the National Theatre included Three Sisters,[4] Treasure Island and 3 Winters, while his work at the Almeida Theatre included Mary Stuart.[1] Murphy has described movement direction as the physical realization of a director’s intentions, including in dramatic works that contain no dance.[3]
Screen work
Murphy's screen credits included the films The Young Victoria, Vanity Fair, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and Brighton Rock.[1][3]
He worked as choreographer and movement director on Bridgerton and its spin-off, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Murphy joined Bridgerton for its first season and continued as the series choreographer through its fourth season.[2][5][6]
For the series, Murphy developed period dances and adapted movement to individual characters and relationships. He choreographed quadrilles, country dances, waltzes and cotillions, approaching each sequence through its dramatic circumstances rather than treating the choreography separately from the story.[2] Actor Freddie Stroma said that Murphy taught the cast period dance and adapted the dance styles to suit the characters.[7]
For Doctor Who, Murphy choreographed the Regency ball in "Rogue" and the musical sequence in "The Devil's Chord". For the ball, he combined Regency configurations with modern elements and ballroom and Latin American dance, working with director Ben Chessell on camera placement for the large ensemble.[8] His work on "There’s Always a Twist" earned him one of three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming. He received two nominations in 2025, for Bridgerton and Doctor Who, and another in 2026 for Bridgerton.[9][6]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "An interview with Jack Murphy". Theatre Royal Stratford East. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Ziv, Stav (9 May 2024). "How Jack Murphy Helps Actors Move with Intention on 'Bridgerton'". Dance Magazine. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Nolan, Mia Brabham (6 June 2024). "Choreographer Jack Murphy Explains How Rage Runs Deep in a 'Bridgerton' Ball". Shondaland. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ "Three Sisters – Learning Guide" (PDF). National Theatre. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ "The Waltz Is the Backbone of 'Bridgerton'". The New York Times. 4 February 2026. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming – 2026". Television Academy. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ Radloff, Jessica (26 December 2020). "Bridgerton on Netflix: All the Behind-the-Scenes Moments You Need to See". Glamour. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ "How do you choreograph a Doctor Who episode?". Doctor Who. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ "Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming – 2025". Television Academy. Retrieved 28 July 2026.