Dearest Gentle Readers, it gives this author great joy to share that Bridgerton has found its Sophie Beckett in Yerin Ha. Ha joins Bridgertons iconic female leads: Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne Bridgerton (now Basset, the Duchess of Hastings), Simone Ashley as Kathani ‘Kate’ Sharma (now Viscountess Bridgerton), and Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington (now Bridgerton), and, eventually, Masali Baduza as Michaela Sterling.
Only last month, Netflix announced that Luke Thompson’s Benedict Bridgerton would finally become the male lead of the romance series. Now, Variety exclusively reports that Ha will portray the female lead of the season, Sophie Beckett – otherwise known as the “Lady in Silver.”
In Julia Quinn’s An Offer from a Gentleman, on which Bridgerton Season 4 will be based, Sophie is the bastard daughter of an Earl who falls in love with Benedict at a masquerade ball. Sophie recognizes Benedict, but he never learns her identity at the ball. The two don’t cross paths again for two years, but Benedict spends that entire time looking for his “Lady in Silver.”
Fans of Quinn’s book have been anticipating Sophie’s casting since Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 dropped in June. After all, the books move from Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset’s fake-dating romance to Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sheffield’s (Sharma, in the show) enemies-to-lovers romance to Benedict and Sophie’s Cinderella retelling. However, the Netflix show famously switched up the books’ order, moving up Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington’s friends-to-lovers romance.
So, Ha’s casting is a delight to fans who have (impatiently or patiently) been waiting for Benedict and Sophie – affectionately penned Benophie by fans – since Bridgerton Season 2 premiered in March 2022.
Her addition to the show also means a lot in Shondaland’s continued dedication to diverse casting. In a positive move, Bridgerton continues to push back against historically accurate casting to include people of color in its larger ensemble – and as romantic leads.
In turn, the significance of Ha’s casting is already creating meaningful waves on social media. “I grew up reading Jane Austen and later regency romances like Bridgeton, never imagining someone who looked like me could be the lead. Can’t wait for Yerin Ha as Sophie Beckett in #Bridgerton season 4!!! Thank you @shondarhimes!!!” writer Nancy Wang Yuen shared on X (formerly Twitter). Also, now that Ha has been cast, fans are excitedly discussing the cultural touchstones Sophie could represent through her fashion.
Ultimately, Bridgerton’s third season made it all but explicitly clear that Benedict would be next long before Netflix announced it. During Bridgerton Season 3 Episode 8, “Into the Light,” Benedict promises Eloise Bridgerton that he will attend their mother Violet Bridgerton’s masquerade ball the following year. That detail is a tell-tale sign that it’s time for Benedict to stop evading debutantes and their ambitious mamas and take to the dance floor with Sophie Beckett. Though, he will have to teach her a few moves.
Bridgerton Season 4 “turns its focus to bohemian second son Benedict. 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,” per its logline.
But the teases stop there. “I’m excited for where we’re going with him in Season 4. There are a lot of things I want to say about it, but I should probably wait…,” showrunner Jess Brownell told Netflix’s TUDUM.
Still, after seeing younger and older siblings find true love over the last three seasons, it is finally Benedict Bridgerton’s time to know that feeling. It will be enchanting to see Thompson and Ha play out Benedict and Sophie’s fairy-tale-inspired meet-cute on the terrace – and everything that follows in their epic romance.
Unfortunately, it will be quite some time (likely 2026) before the Thompson and Ha wear masquerade masks and bring Benedict and Sophie’s love story to life.
“We are working to try and put the seasons out more quickly, but they do take eight months to film and then they have to be edited, and then they have to be dubbed into every language. And the writing takes a very long time as well, so we’re kind of on a two-year pace, we’re trying to speed up, but somewhere in that range,” Brownell said at Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2’s UK premiere, per The Hollywood Reporter.
In the meantime, Bridgerton fans can watch Ha in Paramount+’s Halo and Max’s upcoming Dune prequel series, Dune: Prophecy. They can also rewatch the first three seasons of the romance series and all six episodes of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Not to mention, fans can read – and reread – Benedict and Sophie’s story on the page in Quinn’s An Offer from a Gentleman. No matter what, we are officially in our Benophie era!
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Are you excited about Yerin Ha’s casting as Sophie Beckett? Let us know in the comments below!
Bridgerton is streaming on Netflix now!
