Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha are taking center stage in Bridgerton Season 4. After watching his older brother Anthony and younger brother Colin find love, it is finally time for the bohemian artist Benedict Bridgerton to lead his own season. His love story follows a classic path, inspired by the Cinderella fairy tale and Julia Quinn’s third Bridgerton novel. The new season will explore the spark between Benedict and a mysterious “Lady in Silver” he meets at a masquerade ball, who is secretly a resourceful maid named Sophie Baek.
For both actors, stepping into these coveted roles as the season’s central couple has been a profound and personal journey. In recent interviews, they opened up about building their characters’ unique chemistry, the pressures of joining a beloved series, and the deeper class divides this season explores. Part 1 of Season 4 arrives on Netflix on Thursday, January 29, 2026, with Part 2 following on February 26.
A Modern Take on a Classic Fairy Tale
Benedict and Sophie’s story is a direct nod to Cinderella. At a masquerade ball hosted by his mother, Benedict is captivated by a beautiful woman in a silver gown and mask. Unbeknownst to him, she is Sophie, a maid working for a formidable lady of the ton. She is forced to flee the ball at midnight, leaving Benedict to search for his “Lady in Silver” while she navigates a much harsher reality.
Showrunner Jess Brownell explains that the season explores the tension between fantasy and reality. “Benedict lives in a fantasy world. Sophie lives in a hard reality,” Brownell says. “You have two characters who are at opposite ends of a pole… true love lies in the middle”. Thompson echoed this sentiment, describing Benedict as someone who loves romance but is “not so good with reality,” while Sophie is a survivalist who struggles to embrace joy. This dynamic adds a modern, grounded layer to the classic fairy tale structure.
Yerin Ha on the Pressure and Privilege of Playing Sophie
For Australian-Korean actress Yerin Ha, winning the role of Sophie was a whirlwind. She was cast just 14 days after submitting her first audition tape. The character’s last name was changed from Beckett in the books to Baek for the show, a nod to Ha’s Korean heritage. Ha admits she never imagined landing a romantic lead in a major production like Bridgerton.
“Hell no,” Ha said when asked if she saw herself in this role. “I never thought that would be the narrative for me. I thought I would be the supporting best friend”. She felt multiple layers of pressure: joining a massive franchise, playing a cherished character from the books, and being the first East Asian romantic lead in the series.
Ha connected deeply with Sophie’s resilience and her feeling of “otherness.” “Sophie has struggled with identity from a young age. That identity struggle and otherness, I could relate to that,” Ha shared. She hopes viewers who see themselves in Sophie learn that “everyone deserves to be loved, and you don’t have to do this world alone”.
Luke Thompson on Benedict’s Search for Meaning
Luke Thompson has played the free-spirited Benedict Bridgerton for three seasons, often as a supportive brother on the sidelines. He describes Benedict as a warm character who has built a life designed to avoid the deep commitment of love, partly shaped by witnessing his mother’s grief after his father’s death.
“He’s someone who’s lost his dad very young and watched his mom mourn his dad, so you can see why a loving relationship might look like something pretty terrifying to him,” Thompson explained. Meeting Sophie forces Benedict to confront reality. “Her problem is that maybe she doesn’t dare to dream so much, so they complete each other in that way,” Thompson said.
Thompson was excited to explore the “fairy tale–inspired story,” noting its relatable core. “You remember being told those stories as a child — the magic and the romance of them. It’s really exciting to have that woven into the world that we know of Bridgerton”.
Building a Chemistry Rooted in Trust
The actors’ off-screen bond was crucial to building Benedict and Sophie’s on-screen romance. Their first in-person meeting was at showrunner Jess Brownell’s London home for a taco dinner before filming began. “He just immediately had his arms open and gave a long hug,” Ha recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh, you’re a nice person. You have a heart of gold’”.
Thompson felt an immediate connection during their initial chemistry read over Zoom. “I had an intuition that we were just going to discover it as we went along,” he said of their partnership. This trust was vital for the vulnerable and playful scenes their roles required.
Their first filmed scene together was not the grand masquerade ball but a quieter moment in Episode 3 where Benedict teaches Sophie to fly a kite at his countryside cottage. “The kite scene was a really good parallel of me letting my walls down and being able to trust this person, actor to actor,” Ha said. “That was the day where I thought, ‘I’m going to be okay… We will have each other’s backs’”. Thompson saw the kite as a perfect symbol for their characters’ journey and the balance between freedom and connection.
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New and Returning Faces in the Ton
Season 4 introduces key new characters from Sophie’s world. Katie Leung plays Lady Araminta Gun, Sophie’s formidable stepmother who is determined to marry off her own two daughters this season. Those daughters are Rosamund Li (Michelle Mao), who sets her sights on Benedict, and her kinder younger sister Posy Li (Isabella Wei).
The season also expands the world “downstairs,” showing the lives of the servants who keep the grand households running. Several fan-favorite characters will return, though in reduced capacities. Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton are back as Penelope and Colin Bridgerton, now navigating married life. Jonathan Bailey will return as Anthony Bridgerton, though his on-screen wife Kate (Simone Ashley) is listed as additional key cast and may appear less frequently.
Hannah Dodd returns as Francesca Bridgerton, whose married life with John Stirling (Victor Alli) continues. Their story is poised for future development, especially given the spark noted between Francesca and John’s cousin, Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), in Season 3. “Michaela is a character that challenges Francesca whereas John is a character that makes space for Francesca,” Dodd teased about the dynamic in the new season.
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Get ready for more secrets, scandals, and spectacular balls. For the latest updates on your favorite series, keep reading VvipTimes.
