‘Really empowering: ‘Bridgerton’ officially finds its season 4 female lead, and her character will have one big change from the books

Bridgerton is one of Netflix’s most popular shows and the streaming service decided to keep its fans fed, and officially announced the new female lead for its upcoming season 4, the person who will catch Benedict Bridgerton’s attention.

Bridgerton is a historical romance drama, following a different character’s journey to finding love each season while the others take a step back. The series, based on Julia Quinn’s eight novels following the titular family, started with Daphne and Simon, the Duke of Hastings. Season 2 followed Anthony’s quest for a wife, and finding love with Kate, and season 3 switched things up and put Colin and Penelope in the spotlight. While the first two seasons followed the book order, the Netflix series jumped to book four to get Polin together after three years of struggles.

As season 3 ended happily for all those involved, Netflix confirmed Bridgerton season 4 will go back and put Benedict on the marriage mart in the next installment. Based on Quinn’s An Offer from a Gentleman, Benedict has finally found his match, and, as Netflix taught us, that comes with a twist.

Meet Sophie — Yerin Ha

Benedict’s Lady in Silver has officially been cast, and Yerin Ha will take the spotlight in season 4. The rumors have surfaced a few weeks ago but Netflix made it official on Sept. 11, with a promotional video and an interview with the actress. Yerin Ha will play Sophie Baek, and this comes with a big twist from the character we know and love from the Bridgerton book series. In the novels, Benedict’s love interest is called Sophie Beckett. Instead, Netflix decided to honor the Korean actress, who is from Australia, changing her surname out of respect for Ha. “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,” Ha says. “To make Sophie’s name fit someone who looks like me is really empowering. All credit to Jess Brownell, our showrunner.”

She continued to praise the diverse environment, acknowledging that, “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,” Ha says. “It’s amazing what it can do just in a psychological sense. So it means a lot that Jess did that for me.” In the source material, she has curly dark blonde locks and moss-like green eyes. Described as “a maid whose mask — both literal and figurative — hides a mysterious history,” the Cinderella-inspired romance between Benedict and Sophie starts at a masquerade ball, where Sophie disguises herself to attend the event. Unlike the previous female leads, Sophie isn’t like the rest of the debutantes and doesn’t expect to become the diamond of the season.

Where have we seen Yerin Ha before?

Yerin Ha’s first acting credits date to 2019 in the French-American crime drama series Reef Break. She is best known for the Steven Spielberg-produced series adaptation of the game Halo, where she played Kwan Ha for two seasons. She also played Alice in Bad Behaviour and will next appear in the upcoming prequel series Dune: Prophecy.

Ha admitted feeling overwhelmed to join the popular series in its third season, especially as season 3’s Nicola Coughlan had been around since the beginning. However, the actress revealed the cast welcomed her with open arms. “They were like, ‘Hey, reach out if you ever need anything.’ For someone just coming into the show, that means so much,” Ha says. “It’s so sweet. I feel so fortunate and grateful to be part of such a family.” Bring on the masquerade party because this author already has a dress and silver shoes in mind!