by Gill Pringle in LA
Bridgerton’s Yerin Ha and Luke Thompson have love on their minds when we meet – unsurprising, given how they are the latest featured couple in one of the most talked-about romantic dramas in streaming history.
“I really love how much a person can change you for the better and bring out the sides in you that I think you don’t realise you have or are laying dormant inside you,” muses Australia’s Ha, 28, who launched her career in the Sydney Theatre Company’s 2019 production of Lord of the Flies opposite Mia Wasikowska and Eliza Scanlen.
“And I think that’s really romantic when you find someone who shifts your perspective in life – and that’s a complex thing as well, because I think people don’t want to change unless they want to. So, to have someone instigate that for you, I think that’s a really fun part of the journey,” says the actress who is a Bridgerton newbie for this fourth season, compared to Thompson, who’s been with the Netflix soapy show since the beginning as one of Bridgerton’s eight close-knit society siblings.
Thompson, 37, will go ever further: “I think, it’s sort of like love is freedom from death. Well, it is! Because it lasts forever,” asserts the actor who is as romantic in real-life as he is on screen, speaking fluent French and Italian.
“Do you know what I mean? There’s something about it [love] that can be sort of outside time. And I think that’s really beautiful. That’s real freedom, I think,” he says.
As the family’s bohemian pan-sexual second son, Thompson’s Benedict has been loath to settle down, despite his elder and younger brothers both being happily married.
That is, until a mysterious young woman captures his attention at a masquerade ball. And while he knows her only as “the Lady in Silver”, she’s actually Sophie Baek [Ha], a resourceful maid with her own secrets and dreams in a Cinderella-themed fairytale plot.
But the couple must endure many hurdles before finding their happy-ever-after, not least because Benedict is oblivious to the masked beauty’s identity for most of eight episodes – all the while falling for Sophie who he believes to be a maid. Indeed, it’s almost like a love triangle – only with just two people involved.
No stranger to the fast pace of television, Ha had already cut her teeth on Halo, Dune: Prophecy, Troppo and Bad Behaviour when she was offered the role of Sophie.
“I joined the process really late, and so I didn’t have a lot of time to prep per se. I’ve done a few projects now where it’s been book adaptations. So, I really relied on Julia Quinn’s book to understand Sophie before I got the scripts, and so I started with that and treated that like my Bible,” she says.
“And then once the scripts came in, it was very much about just being present. And I think that, actually, one of the hardest things to do as an actor is to be present and to trust that whatever the actor is going to give me, I can give back while interpreting being Sophie. The books really helped with that.
“The journey has just been so wonderful. And again, because I came in so late, I was able to constantly have a communication with the writers about things that I was stuck on, because I didn’t have the luxury to live the character for a couple years.
“It’s always nice to unpick, like, why they wrote a scene, or how they envisioned Sophie a certain way, and then I was able to understand that, unpick that, and then was able to go on that journey with them to make sure that the payoff in the later episodes all married together,” says the NIDA graduate, who also trained for acting in South Korea.
Unlike his co-star, Thompson has had the benefit of being part of the previous three Bridgerton series although he argues that every series is entirely unique.
“The beauty of Bridgerton is that it regenerates, and it allows each couple to be different. You know, I can’t do a Jonathan Bailey impression or a Rege-Jean Page or Luke Newton impression, I can only be me,” says Thompson of his promotion to series lead. “But it still doesn’t feel real. I didn’t think that it was possible for me. To keep saying that I’m the lead of a season feels really bizarre.”
If it seems like he’s been patiently waiting in the wings for five years, then he begs to differ. “Bridgerton is such a lovely ensemble show. I’ve been given stuff to do for three seasons, so it didn’t feel like I was waiting for my turn,” says the RADA-trained actor.
“Benedict has got a nice, shiny customer-facing front that enables him to deal with the world in a very easy way and not give too much of himself away. So obviously, the fun is putting a character like that in a position where you turn up the heat on him, and the cracks starts to show.
“And I think, particularly in Part Two, we see this distraught character a little more; see him change a little bit, shake him up,” says the actor whose insensitive alter-ego angered fans when he asked Sophie to be his mistress at the end of episode 4.
Notwithstanding, the star-crossed lovers have already become fan favourites, dubbed #Benophie across the internet.
“I think that’s one of the best things about social media; that whole aspect of people projecting themselves or creating stuff. There’s been a couple of fun AI pictures,” says the actor.
Certainly, the screen couple can no longer go about their daily lives unrecognised. “It’s nice when people come up to you in the street, and you realise that it is a very positive show and you can see a little light in their eyes because what they’re seeing, essentially when they see you, is the show,” says Thompson.
“And so, it’s wonderful to be part of something that has that effect on people and really touches them. It’s the best part of the job,” he adds.
Proud of her South Korean heritage, Ha has enjoyed no shortage of opportunities in her career, recently co-hosting a Lunar New Year celebration in New York.
“I didn’t see this version of Hollywood when I was growing up, so it was amazing to be in that room and see so many Asian people in one room being celebrated for their artistry, whether that be an expression through makeup or clothes or acting,” she says.
“To co-host that event was very special and meaningful for me. It just shows that we’re moving in the right way forward, and to just prove that we belong in those rooms and our voices are heard. It’s important to keep doing that, because obviously there’s an audience that sees themselves represented in that way.”
Bridgerton is streaming now on Netflix
