Alert the ton– Collider has learned that Netflix is underway casting a new key role in the highly anticipated fourth season of Bridgerton. Described as a major recurring role, the casting call is looking for an actress to portray “Emily,” a character roughly between 24-30 years old described as plucky, endlessly resourceful, and having trouble trusting others. “Emily” is scripted as an East Asian female. The role will involve nudity and scenes of a sexual nature, which suggests that “Emily” may just be a new love interest for one of the Bridgerton siblings. Showrunner Jess Brownell recently confirmed that Season 4 will be a two-year wait, and the new season is set to start production soon, which means it may be a while before we learn who “Emily” really is.
Popular series and movies, like Bridgerton, often use code words in order to keep casting for critical roles under wraps. This is in part to prevent spoilers surrounding future plot lines from leaking. For instance, Star Wars: The Last Jedi famously used the code name “Space Bear” when Rian Johnson started filming his Star Wars movie. Because there is a precedent for using code names, we can deduce that “Emily” is a placeholder name.
Speaking of Bridgerton, the Netflix series uses the production code name “Vauxhall,” which has always been a clever code name due to its connection to Vauxhall Gardens. In the 1700s, Vauxhall Gardens were famous for hosting public masquerade balls. For Bridgerton book readers, there’s a masquerade ball at the start of An Offer From a Gentleman where Benedict Bridgerton, played by Luke Thompson in the Netflix series, falls in love at first sight. At the end of Season 3, the masquerade ball is foreshadowed after Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) mentions it happening a year from then. Perhaps the code name “Vauxhall” will finally come into play for the series.
Could This New ‘Bridgerton’ Role Be Benedict’s Book Love Interest?
Based on the description of the casting information, all evidence seems to suggest that “Emily” could be the primary love interest for the next season’s lead, who is speculated to be Benedict Bridgerton. If Benedict is the next lead, it may be safe to speculate that “Emily” could be the casting code name for Sophie Beckett, his love interest in the Bridgerton book series. The specificity of an East Asian ethnicity and the nature of an important recurring part implies that Bridgerton is resuming pairing couples of mixed races. Bridgerton has paired almost all the Bridgerton siblings with persons of color, like Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), and Francesa Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) and John Stirling (Victor Alli), as well as Francesca’s future match Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza). The exception to this was Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) in Season 3.
It should be stated that this casting call for “Emily” is not a guarantee that this is Benedict’s love interest, Sophie Beckett. This could be an entirely new character created for the Netflix adaptation, much as Lord Debling (Sam Phillips) and Theo Sharpe (Callum Lynch) were original characters as suitors for Penelope and Eloise, respectively. Also, with Benedict confirmed to be pansexual, there is no confirmation that his love interest will be female. Bridgerton surprised its fanbase when the series introduced Michaela Stirling, a genderbent version of Michael Stirling from the books; in the book series, Michael acts as a love interest to Francesca years after her husband John dies. This pattern of altering a book character’s love interest could continue into Season 4 and beyond.
How This New Character Could Continue to Expand ‘Bridgerton’
What really points towards “Emily” potentially being Sophie Beckett is the character description, which lines up with many of Sophie’s qualities in the books. In An Offer From a Gentleman, Sophie is brave, resourceful, and at times, cheeky, when Benedict gets a rise out of her. She’s the Bridgerton version of Cinderella, an earl’s bastard daughter abused by her stepmother who sneaks out one night to attend the Bridgerton masquerade ball. Sophie has a hard time trusting people after years of neglect, forced to rely on herself. While disguised as a “lady in silver,” she meets Benedict, and the two fall in love at first sight. The two later reunite in the country where he meets Sophie as she is but still very much hung up on his mysterious lady in silver.
Bridgerton has been praised for the past three seasons for their inclusivity in regards to POC and LGBTQ+ characters inhabiting this fictional regency world. Despite this, the world of Bridgerton has remained within the bubble of high society. If “Emily” is indeed Sophie Beckett, then she could be the character who will provide valuable commentary on class dynamics from a working class perspective. Plus, Bridgerton has yet to feature of an actress of East Asian decent in a major role before; in fact, there hasn’t been an East Asian actress portray Cinderella in a movie or series made for Western audiences. This specific casting call is evidence that the creative minds behind Bridgerton are continuing to expand the series’ scope in regards to representation in the regency romance genre.
