Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials’ follows an investigation into the murder of Gerry Wade, whose dead body is found the morning after he attended a lavish party. From the looks of it, the death seems to be a suicide, and is officially ruled as such. However, Wade’s friend, Lady Eileen Brent, aka Bundle, refuses to accept this explanation. When the cops won’t do their job, she decides to look into the death on her own, which leads her down a treacherous path full of dangerous people. Bundle remains at the center of the conflict and delivers a sharp and quick-witted heroine whose desire to find truth and get justice changes the course of her life. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Fictional Bundle Comes from the Mind of the Queen of Crime
Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent is a fictional character who appears in the murder mystery novels, ‘The Seven Dials Mystery’ and ‘The Secret of Chimneys’ by Agatha Christie. While Christie is best-known for creating the iconic sleuths, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, Bundle remains one of her youngest detectives who has to rise to the occasion after a murder that happens in her own house. In the many novels that she wrote, Christie confessed that she drew from the people around her, including herself, to create the characters in her novel. While she never specified an inspiration behind Bundle, it is believed that the Queen of Crime created the young Lady Brent in her own image.
In the story, Bundle proves herself to be the kind of woman who cannot be boxed in by anyone. She refuses to be told what she can or cannot do and keeps pushing the boundaries around her to prove that she is grossly underestimated by others. Christie is known to have had the same verve, especially in her early years. Apart from finding success as an author, she was known to take up hobbies that weren’t necessarily approved of for women. For instance, she is one of the first British women to surf standing up on the board. She also travelled extensively and showed a keen interest in archaeology, often accompanying her husband on his field projects.
Considering how Christie liked to dance to her own tune, it is fair to assume that when she started writing the misadventures of a young woman traversing the upper-class society circles, she looked unto herself to infuse her heroine with the qualities of chasing adventure and refusing to get boxed in. For Mia McKenna-Bruce, Bundle being a woman ahead of her time was a major draw for playing the role. At the time, she had been actively looking to play the roles that would strike a chord with her while also having the substance to add to the important conversations about the world. Bundle happened to be just that. She wanted the character’s strength and unyielding spirit of rebellion to reel the audience into her intriguing world.
Mia McKenna-Bruce Tapped Into Her Inner Bundle to Play the Amateur Sleuth
In adapting ‘The Seven Dials Mystery’ for TV, the show’s creators had to make certain changes, but the most important one they made was to make Bundle the heart of the story. In the quest for finding the murderer, they didn’t want the viewers to forget about the victims, so a deeper connection was forged between Bundle and Gerry, with her grief bringing the necessary emotional weight to the story. Another key factor that Mia McKenna-Bruce saw has a core to Bundle’s character was her genuine love and care for the people around her. While she loves the thrill of it, she isn’t solving the mystery just to chase that exhilaration. She truly does care about what happened to Gerry, and later Ronnie, and when the time comes, she is ready to do whatever it takes to get justice, no matter the personal cost.
The actress also found the character’s ability to connect with people to be one of the key similarities she shares with her. “Bundle has a really glorious way of, even though she’s really strong in her pursuit [of the truth], she’s never putting other people down. She’s always encouraging people to be a part of it with her. That’s something that I’d love to hold onto going forward,” she said. She also leaned into co-star and veteran actor Helena Bonham Carter’s insight into the dynamic between Bundle and her mother. Their complex dynamic allowed her to tap into a different, more motherly side of the character.
McKenna-Bruce also liked the idea of being able to play an aristocrat, something that she hadn’t done before, especially in a period drama, and being able to see the world from a different lens. She was so dedicated to the role that, haflway through filming, when she broke her foot, having tripped on a carpet on set, she continued filming. In an interesting turn of events, her sister, who is her spitting image, stepped in to act as her body double. With this, the actress exhibited her love and dedication for the character, making her a deeply likable protagonist that the audience can relate to and root for.
Read More: Is the Seven Dials Nightclub a Real Place? Are Chimneys and Wyvern Abbey Real Places?
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