Bridgerton‘s Masali Baduza and Hannah Dodd are addressing whether Michaela and Francesca’s relationship will be accepted by society after the show’s controversial gender swap twist.
“I don’t think we’re there yet to fully be understanding, but I hope that we’ve opened up the possibility already and people are a little bit more open is all I can say, really,” Dodd, 30, told Deadline on Monday, March 2, about how other characters will react to Michaela and Francesca’s romance.
Dodd went on to tease where the fictional couple currently stand.
“What’s interesting is we’re on quite different paths at the moment. I can speak for Francesca, and only Francesca, and be like she is not aware of what she’s feeling,” she added about the end of season 4. “She’s feeling stuff, but she doesn’t know what that means. She doesn’t even know that that can exist. So no, and she’s got a lot going on. But she’s definitely feeling something, but she can’t identify what that is.”
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Baduza, 28, hinted that Michaela was in a different headspace, adding, “I think Michaela is definitely feeling an attraction to Francesca, but she cannot act on those feelings because it’s literally her cousin’s wife. So any feelings that bubble up, she is really pushing them down all the way to the bottom of the ocean.”
She continued: “I’m excited to get to see the story from Michaela’s point of view and for people to find out how she felt having first laid eyes [on] Francesca, and really having to keep all those feelings bottled in. I’m excited to explore the story more.”
Michaela and Francesca’s romance has already been a topic of discussion despite Julia Quinn‘s book When He Wicked not being adapted for the show yet. Season 3 touched on Francesca’s love life when she met her husband, John (Victor Alli). At the end of the season, Francesca crossed paths with his cousin Michaela — who was written as Michael in the books.
“The reveal of Michaela vs. Michael — from the books — is something that I’ve been pitching from season 1 of the show,” showrunner Jess Brownell revealed to Teen Vogue in June 2024. “My approach to telling a queer story on Bridgerton has been to look to the books for thematic cues. I didn’t want to just insert a queer character for queer character’s sake.”
After reading Quinn’s novel, Brownell recalled seeing something special, adding, “I want to tell a story that accurately reflects a queer experience, and the first time I read Francesca’s book, I really identified with it as a queer woman. Maybe not in the way Julia Quinn intended.”
Brownell noted that she was using her own experience as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community to expand on Francesca’s onscreen journey.
“Her book is very much about [Francesca] feeling different, and not really knowing why. In the book, I think it has a lot to do with her just being an introvert, but as a queer woman, a lot of my queer experience, and I think a lot of my friends’ [experiences have] been about that sense of feeling different, and navigating what that means,” she explained. “There’s also a lot of research and thought historically about the choice of changing Michael to Michaela.”
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Brownell continued: “I think it was important for me in planning a queer story to think about how we might be able to tell a happily ever after and show queer joy, which we don’t always get to see in period pieces. There are some good examples from history, without giving too much away, of women like Francesca, who are able to carve out happily ever afters.”
The story change has since received backlash from book fans who were hoping for the fictional romance to be brought to life exactly the way it is on the page. Last month, Baduza addressed the backlash after season 4’s premiere.
“I understand that the Bridgerton book fans are very passionate about these characters, and I am too,” Baduza told Refinery29 Australia on Thursday, February 26, noting how “proud” she is to tell a queer story on the show.
Baduza noted that “everyone’s story deserves to be told,” adding, “I love Michaela so much, and I am just very proud to tell the story alongside Hannah. In Bridgerton, a lot of the characters are growing into themselves and learning new things about themselves. I think that the show accepts that, I think it’s important for everyone else to accept that too, and hopefully that can be reflected back into society.”
Bridgerton is currently streaming on Netflix.
