Benedict’s mistress offer to Sophie had Bridgerton fans divided — but Yerin Ha thinks the fictional character did a great job at fixing his mistake.
“I think he absolutely redeemed himself,” Ha, 28, told Us Weekly exclusively at Actors Rising Presented by The Actor Awards and ELLE on Thursday, February 26.
Ha, who is the Actor Awards Ambassador, admitted she was a fan of the first cliffhanger this season, saying, “We like to have conversations. We like to have debates — and people arguing online about, ‘Is it a red flag? Is it OK for the times?’ I think that’s what’s so fun about TV.”
Based on Julia Quinn‘s third novel An Offer From a Gentleman, season 4 focused on Benedict’s (Luke Thompson) love story with Sophie (Ha) when his world gets turned upside down after crossing paths with a mysterious woman in a Cinderella-inspired meet cute.
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Book fans knew that the season would be building up to an offer from Benedict to Sophie, which showrunner Jess Brownell defended after fan backlash.
“In the time period, it was not unreasonable for Benedict to think that this was the right ask,” Brownell told TVLine in February about Benedict asking for Sophie to be his mistress while admitting it was “a huge mistake for Benedict to make.”
Brownell acknowledged that viewers rooting for the fictional romance may not be thrilled, adding, “He should be seeing Sophie as more than her class. For him to make that ask in that moment, outrage is absolutely the right reaction.”
Brownell went on to explain why the character reverts back to traditional values when it comes to finding a wife.
“A lot of his progressiveness, not with his sexuality, but in other ways, has been performative,” she noted. “He is incredibly privileged and hasn’t really reckoned with that privilege. He has enjoyed life to the fullest, but has never done anything really scary.”
Part 2, which premiered on Thursday, showed Benedict stopping at nothing to secure a future with Sophie. The situation worked in their favor and the season ultimately ended with a post-credits scene showing Benedict and Sophie’s wedding.
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Viewers, however, are holding out hope to see Ha in more seasons of the show.
“I would love to film as much as possible,” she told Us. “I mean, it’s Bridgerton. I’m new and I don’t have years under my belt. So I’m still fresh and I’m still ready to go. I am eager.”
Ha confirmed that pre-production on season 5 has kicked off, adding, “We’ll see how it goes. … I honestly have the scripts in my inbox and I’ve been so busy I’ve not opened them.”
Looking ahead, Ha has high hopes about which costars she wants more scenes with.
“I would say Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley and Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton,” she concluded. “I wish for scenes with all the Bridgerton siblings because Sophie didn’t have many scenes with them.”
Bridgerton is streaming on Netflix now.
