Bridgerton’s new season four star has described the emotional moment she was told she’d been cast in the hit Netflix show.
Yerin Ha, 29, who is best known for playing Kwan Ha in Halo and will appear in the forthcoming Dune: Prophecy series, will take on the role of Sophie Baek for the regency drama’s latest season about the love life of the second-oldest Bridgerton brother, played by Luke Thompson.
Ha, a Korean actress from Australia, said she was out for breakfast with her mother in Seoul, South Korea, when she received the news in a shock phone call.
In a YouTube interview with Shondaland, Ha was asked how her family and friends reacted when she told them she would be starring in Bridgerton season four.
“So, when I got the role, I was having breakfast with my mom at a cafe in Korea,” she replied.
“I stepped outside and it was so funny ‘cause she kind of knew immediately when I was jumping on the streets of Gangnam that I got the role.”
Ha’s mother was so excited by the news that she quickly needed to leave the restaurant they had been eating in.
“She came out crying, and then after the phone call, she was like, ‘We gotta go home. I think I have indigestion,’ and so we left,” Ha said.
“It was really beautiful to kind of, I guess, share that moment with her.”
Ha was announced as part of the Bridgerton cast on social media in September. The actor told Tudum at the time that Benedict’s love interest was called Sophie Beckett in Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book series but the character was given a Korean surname out of respect for her culture.
“A name is the first bit of identity that you share with the world, and that’s why changing a name can be so powerful,” she said. “To make Sophie’s name fit someone who looks like me is really empowering. All credit to Jess Brownell, our showrunner.”
“It’s a really nice way for me to feel like the role is fit for me, rather than me having to fit a certain mold. It’s amazing what it can do just in a psychological sense. So it means a lot that Jess did that for me.”
Of her initial interest in the role, Ha added: “What drew me to Sophie was that she immediately has obstacles — something that she constantly has to overcome. Whether it’s this battle around social status or trying to hide her feelings from Benedict.”
Netflix is yet to confirm a release date for Bridgerton season four.
