Bridgerton‘s Michelle Mao Reveals How She Manifested Her Role and Handled Fan Reaction to Her ‘Antagonist’ Character (Exclusive)

“I’m getting better at not letting it get to me and just holding onto the idea that it means you did a good job as an actor,” Mao tells PEOPLE of any online hate

Joining Bridgerton season 4 was both a dream come true and a product of manifestation for Michelle Mao.

The 27-year-old actress plays Rosamund Li in the latest installment of the hit Netflix series, a mean stepsister to Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), and the apple of the eye to her mother, Lady Araminta Gun’s (Katie Leung).

In part 1, which premiered on Jan. 29, fans were introduced to the season’s heroine, Sophie, who caught the eye of Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) when she snuck into a ball uninvited. Sophie worked as a maid in Araminta’s household despite her birthright as the Earl of Penwood’s daughter.

For Mao, the response to her debut has been two-fold. “It’s been mostly positive,” she tells PEOPLE. “I’ve been having such a good time being a part of this hype train and getting to see all of the memes and the videos and the jokes.” But playing “one of the main antagonists of the season comes with its own territory of navigating the online discourse and bearing the brunt, I guess, of the very real and very valid frustrations that the viewers have.”

“It’s the first time people are meeting me, and so navigating that has been its own little journey,” she says. “And I’m getting better at not letting it get to me and just holding onto the idea that it just means you did a good job as an actor, which is a good thing. I played my part really well.”

She says that Netflix prepared her for what was to come. “They’re super aware of that whole wider phenomenon that happens with the show, and they offer support to all the actors, and especially characters that are a little bit more susceptible to that.”

During her first Zoom with showrunner Jess Brownell, Mao remembers that Brownell said, “I’ve been the target before,” and “she did mention we have resources.”

“We’re all so familiar with how it works. [Fans] love really passionately, but then also when they get frustrated with things, it can also make itself known in a very overwhelming way,” Mao says. “And I remember at the time, thinking, ‘It’s not going to happen to me. I was like, ‘No, I’m sure I’ll be fine.’ ”

She’s been leaning on her costar, Leung, 38, who has her own experience with fierce fandom (Leung first appeared the Harry Potter franchise in the 2005 movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). “I did talk to Katie. She gave me a lot of advice, and she, also being one of the main antagonists of the season, also got her fair share of passionate responses, so I feel really blessed that I’m not going through it alone.”