Bridgerton fans already love looking at Luke Thompson, but Benedict will go through an onscreen transformation now that he’s the season 4 lead.
Costume cutter Lewis Westing offered a glimpse of Thompson’s first fitting on Wednesday, July 24, writing via Instagram, “Luke Thompson/ Benedict In his trailer doing a 1st fitting with the last style of coat we made for him on season 3. The picture might not show it but he was genuinely happy with this new look.”
Westing addressed the plans for Benedict’s season 4 look in the comments section. “Just you wait, we had our 1st fitting of Season 4 today, and your [sic] in for a treat,” Westing wrote in the since-deleted comment, according to TVInsider. “I even got a kiss on the head he was so elated with the glow up.”
Netflix confirmed on Tuesday, July 23, that Benedict is next in line to lead the hit series after being skipped over for season 3. Based on Julia Quinn‘s novels, Benedict’s story should have followed those of his siblings Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), but the creative team centered season 3 around Colin’s (Luke Newton) romance with Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) instead.
Benedict’s journey is the focus of Quinn’s novel An Offer From a Gentleman, in which he meets his love interest Sophie. The last episode of season 3 dropped a major hint about Benedict’s future when Eloise (Claudia Jessie) mentioned their mother’s masquerade ball.
“At the end of Season 3, Eloise says to Benedict that she’s going to be home in a few months for Violet’s masquerade ball, so there will be a masquerade ball coming up shortly,” showrunner Jess Brownell told TheWrap in June. “I’ll just leave it there.”
Brownell also confirmed that Benedict would end up with Sophie after she gender-swapped his sister Francesca’s (Hannah Dodd) love interest from Michael to Michaela.
“The introduction of Sophie is definitely still in the cards, but we are going to continue to explore his fluidity,” she added after Benedict was confirmed on screen to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community. “This is not the end of that storyline.”
Thompson, 36, previously noted that he wasn’t in a rush to be the next lead. “It’d be nice to give the character a full exploration, that’d be really fun, but the way the show runs — it’s a big ensemble show,” he told Country and Town House in May. “As long as I’m given interesting things to do, I don’t really mind.”
While fans eagerly wait to find out who will play Sophie, some have already tracked down a few clues. Netflix released a casting call in June for a character named Emily, according to Collider. The outlet described the key role as a character roughly between 24 to 30 years old and described as “plucky, endlessly resourceful, and having trouble trusting others.” The newcomer is scripted as an East Asian female, and there was a note about the job involving nudity and scenes of a sexual nature.
Casting calls usually use code words to keep details about roles under wraps. This led some Bridgerton fans to think Emily had to be important, since the show is about to be in production for the next season. For now, viewers can get a taste of what is to come based on the synopsis released by the streaming service.
“Despite his elder and younger brothers both being happily married, Benedict is loath to settle down — until he meets a captivating Lady in Silver at his mother’s masquerade ball,” read a post shared via Netflix’s official X account that confirmed Benedict as the season 4 lead.
Bridgerton is currently streaming on Netflix.
