Based on An Offer From a Gentleman, season four of Bridgerton sees Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) fall for a mysterious Lady in Silver at his mother’s masquerade ball. However, she is really Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), the maid of Araminta Gun (Katie Leung) and her daughters Rosamund (Michelle Mao) and Posy (Isabella Wei).
The addition of not just one, but four East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) actresses, has raised the show’s profile regarding its approach to colour-blind casting. It has also highlighted that ESEA characters can be showcased in period drama. And yet, the new family offers more than just diversity, but also additional depth regarding family relationships.
I had a chance to sit down with Leung and Wei about being on the show, playing mahjong and what audiences can learn from their characters.
Isabella Wei on Posy’s Message: “Don’t Conform”
“I think for Posy, it’s, you know, don’t conform to what people want you to be. No matter how awkward or strange people think that you will be, because you’ll find people who appreciate you, and if they don’t, you’re just not looking in the right place,” Wei said about the message she hopes audiences will take away from her character.
Wei’s words struck a chord. As the mostly ignored daughter, she is denied a chance to shine alongside her sister Rosamund, whom Araminta evidently favours. This dismissiveness from her mother sees her awkwardness threaten to bury her compassion, but she finds her inner strength through her rapport with Sophie.
Katie Leung on Empathy for Lady Araminta
Touching on Araminta’s distrustful nature, Leung comments: “Having a kind of scarcity mindset, thinking that everybody’s out to get you, this kind of cynicism, is not going to bode well.”
Leung talked about trying to understand her character and yet knowing how important it is to grow beyond the cynicism.
“I was always trying to find reasons to kind of empathise with her, and I get it, she’s been betrayed and all these things, but ultimately, you need to have forgiveness. Otherwise, like, yeah, no one’s going to be on your side,” Leung said.
Bridgerton season 4, part 2 streams February 26th on Netflix.
About Bridgerton Season 4:
From Shondaland and Jess Brownell, BRIDGERTON returns for a fairy-tale inspired fourth season. Bohemian second son Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) refuses to settle down, despite pleas to the contrary from matriarch Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell). Until — at Violet’s masquerade ball, Benedict is awestruck by a masked, mysterious Lady in Silver. With the reluctant help of his sister Eloise (Claudia Jessie), Benedict sets out in society to uncover the young lady’s identity. But in fact, his heart’s desire is not in society at all — she is a resourceful maid called Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), working for the formidable Lady of the house, Araminta Gun (Katie Leung).
When fate brings Benedict and Sophie back together, Benedict wrestles between the reality of his affection for this intriguing maid and the fantasy of the Lady in Silver — unaware that they are the same person. Will Benedict’s inability to see these women as one in the same derail the undeniable spark between him and Sophie? And can love truly conquer anything — even a cross-class connection forbidden by society?
Inspiring Benedict’s journey are the marriages of his siblings —including Francesca (Hannah Dodd) to John Stirling (Victor Alli), and Colin (Luke Newton) to Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), who faces new challenges as a now public gossip columnist.
Katie Smith-Wong is a British-born Chinese female film critic who wishes to increase Asian representation in Western cinema. Smith-Wong is also a member of the OAFFC, OFCS, and London Film Critics Circle.
