This morning, the high society buzz was on when Luke Thompson’s Benedict Bridgerton was announced as the male lead of Bridgerton season four.
Netflix revealed that the second Bridgerton sibling will be getting married in the next season, following the love story between Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) in season three.
According to the synopsis, season four “focuses on free-spirited second son Benedict. Although both his older and younger brothers are happily married, Benedict is reluctant to settle down.” However, when he meets a mysterious Lady in Silver at Violet Bridgerton’s (Ruth Gemmell) masquerade ball, everything changes — and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Colin couldn’t be prouder.
Julia Quinn’s book An Offer from a Gentleman — the third in her series — will serve as the basis for Benedict’s arc as he pursues (spoiler alert!) Sophie Beckett. As described in the book, she never dreamed of sneaking into the famous masquerade ball because she had been relegated to being a maid by her stepmother. There, in Benedict’s arms, she felt like royalty, but that could only last until midnight.
“Since that magical night, a dazzling vision in silver has made Benedict pay no attention to anyone else—except perhaps this charming and strangely familiar beauty dressed as a maid whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most unpleasant situation,” the description continues. “He has vowed to find and marry his mystery girl, but this breathtakingly beautiful maid makes him weak with desire. But if he gives his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance at a fairytale love?”
On September 11, Netflix announced that it had cast Yerin Ha as Sophie Beckett, who will be called Sophie Baek in the TV adaptation of the novel.
“What attracted me to Sophie was that she immediately had obstacles — things that she constantly had to overcome,” Ha told Tudum. “Whether it was fighting around social status or trying to hide her feelings for Benedict.”
The Halo actress, who is Korean and originally from Australia, explained that she felt more connected to Sophie because showrunner Jess Brownell gave her character the Korean surname Baek, out of respect for her culture.
“A name is the first bit of identity you share with the world, and that’s why changing your name can be so powerful,” Ha said. “Making Sophie’s name fit someone who looks like me is really empowering. All the credit goes to Jess Brownell, our showrunner.”
She added, “It was a really great way for me to feel like the role was right for me, rather than me having to fit a certain mold. It was amazing that it could do that just psychologically. So it meant a lot to me that Jess did that.”
In another conversation with Tudum, Thompson explained that season four is more of a “real, old-school fairy tale” in terms of its romance “and the actual reality of the world.”
“And both are true,” he continued. “You have to hold both—the romance and the reality—in your hands. In the best version, ‘true love’ happens in the middle of that.”
As the fourth season explores the Lady in Silver and the masquerade, there are aspects of it that feel like a “twist on Cinderella,” the actor noted, adding, “You remember being told those stories as a kid—the magic and the romance of them. It’s really fun to have that interwoven into the world that we know about Bridgerton … It’s a great story, but I hope it’s also really relatable.”
As the season officially enters production in mid-September, Netflix shared the first look at Thompson’s Benedict with Ha’s Sophie.
The streaming service also revealed a few more casting announcements, including Katie Leung, best known for her role as Cho Chang in the Harry Potter series. Leung will play Lady Araminta Gun, a twice-married and twice-widowed mother of two daughters who debuts on the marriage exchange. Michelle Mao and Isabella Wei will play Araminta’s daughters, and familiar faces Emma Naomi (Alice Mondrich) and Hugh Sachs (Brimsley) are set to star.
While Benedict will be the focus of season four, the other siblings have busy love lives as well. Colin and Penelope welcomed their first child; Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and John Stirling (Victor Alli) are heading to Scotland to start a new life together; Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony have sailed to India to welcome their first child; and Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon (Regé-Jean Page) now have at least one child. Not to mention, Violet and Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis) have begun a potential relationship of their own in season three.
Coughlan told E! News on Oct. 10 that she likes
