Image via Netflix
Published Feb 27, 2026, 10:00 AM EST
Meredith Loftus is a TV Lists Editor at Collider. As part of the Lists team, she creates both trending and evergreen list topics in order to engage Collider's active audience. Prior to this, she was a Features Author focused on both movie and TV topics. In addition to her editing role, she has covered major events for Collider, including San Diego Comic-Con and D23. Meredith has also conducted interviews with creatives across the entertainment industry. Some of her favorites include Jon M. Chu, Owen Teague, Wendie Malick, Greig Fraser, and the cast of Superman & Lois.
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Editor's Note: The below interview contains spoilers for Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2.
Summary
- In an interview with Collider, Ruth Gemmell unpacks Violet’s romance, breakup shock, and bold new era in Bridgerton Season 4.
- Gemmell says loving again isn’t replacing Edmund: “It’s not the same kind of love,” and adds, “It’s never too late.”
- Violet is “quite shocked” when Marcus turns her down, and now must “back off a little” as Francesca grieves.
Dearest gentle reader, are you not entertained by Bridgerton Season 4? This time, the ton’s eyes are on second son Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), as he somehow falls in love with the same woman twice: Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), also known as the Lady in Silver. While their delicious love affair is forbidden in light of society's expectations, they are not the only ones engaging in a scandalous dalliance. Dowager Viscountess Violet Bridgerton, played by Ruth Gemmell, reconnects with her younger, carefree self as her relationship with Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis) progresses, all as she helps Benedict find a way for him to be with the love of his life.
Ahead of Part 2's release, Collider spoke with Gemmell about Violet's arc in Season 4 and the version of her we rarely get to see beyond “mother” and “widow.” Gemmell also reacts to Marcus ending things even after Violet accepts his proposal, and shares how she believes Violet will show up for her daughter, Francesca (Hannah Dodd), after her husband John’s (Victor Alli) sudden death.
'Bridgerton's Ruth Gemmell Explains the Importance of Violet's Romance With Marcus
"It's not the same kind of love, but it can be a different type of love."
COLLIDER: For as much as it's been Benedict's season, you could make the argument that Violet is also kind of a co-lead for Season 4. "I'm the tea you're having" is making the rounds just as much as anything else. What has been your reaction to seeing people respond that way to Violet?
RUTH GEMMELL: It's been lovely. I don't do any social media, so I get it secondhand. People show me or tell me, and there are some little bits of things that I can see or have been shown, and it's hilarious. I find it absolutely bloody hilarious. But it's nice they're taking it on board.
We don't often see romance stories between characters of a certain age. What has it meant for you to bring that type of relationship to life in a show as popular as Bridgerton?
GEMMELL: It's been really lovely. I think it's very important to, for starters, represent a demographic that I think is a really large part of our audience. I also think we're not dead. We do actually continue in life, and love and loss and nerves and giddiness and all of those things are as universal at any age. That's important to show. It's been a bit of a treat to do that, and I've really enjoyed it. I quite enjoy the nervous Violet talking about sex. That's been quite funny.
It is very funny and also relatable just to see how she's been out of practice for a bit.
GEMMELL: Really out of practice.
Over the last couple of seasons, we've seen Violet's relationship with Marcus usher in a new side of her. What has Marcus taught Violet the most about herself during this time?
GEMMELL: Both he and Francesca, interestingly enough, have taught her that you can love more than one person, but it's not the same kind of love; it can be a different type of love. So they've both taught her that. I think he has taught a bit of self-worth, probably. One of the things about the proposal, when he says he loves her, she hasn't heard that in a very long time. To realize that about yourself and what you are is quite something. So there's all of that, really. He's given her quite a lot. Self-esteem, probably, I should imagine, outside of being a parent.
Ruth Gemmell Reacts to Violet and Marcus' Break-Up in the 'Bridgerton' Season 4 Finale
"Violet's quite shocked that he turns her down."
Image via NetflixWhat was your reaction when you found out Marcus and Violet were going to break up in the finale? With how things were progressing with the proposal, with them being secretly betrothed, it does come off a little shocking.
GEMMELL: It is quite shocking, yes. I think Violet never expected him to turn down the offer of carrying on, but then she should have been slightly more careful about accepting the proposal in the first place. He had already kind of said that was never on the table. So she blew that.
There was something that was very important to me, because in the books, she never has a dalliance at all. She never has an affair. She doesn't clearly remarry, and I wanted something to be true to that part of the books. Having said that, where it goes from here, I have no idea, or any idea of what any of the writers want to do with the story. But the idea of getting married again, I wanted her not to remarry because she doesn't in the books. In terms of a dalliance, I think it's quite a lovely thing, but I think Violet's quite shocked that he turns her down.
In the same sense, Violet wants to give herself space to rediscover the woman that she was before, being a mother and being a wife. What do you envision for her as she continues reconnecting with her younger, more wild, carefree side of herself?
GEMMELL: Well, the idea probably is to continue and to be slightly bolder than she has in the past. I think there is a spanner in the works, which is her daughter's grief. I would say she puts family first again. How long that lasts will remain to be seen, but other than that, the idea was to be a bit bolder. You never know, maybe she's got a string of lovers that we don't know about.
Ruth Gemmell Reveals How Violet Will Support Francesca Moving Forward in 'Bridgerton'
"Violet has to learn to back off a little and allow Francesca to come to her."
Image via NetflixYou brought up Francesca, and I do think Violet has a unique perspective on what Francesca is going through now. That grief is this lifelong process that stays with you forever. What does support from Violet look like moving forward with Francesca?
GEMMELL: Grief is universal to everyone in some shape or form. It's something we can all identify with, even if it's not the loss of someone physically. It's the loss of someone in a romance, or a friendship, or just death. I think everyone has experienced that. As you say, you never get past grief. What you do is you learn to live with it, and your reality becomes something slightly different. It is quite interesting that Francesca turns around and says that, [that] we're not the same. The thing is that grief is never the same, but you can identify with it. Violet has to learn to back off a little and allow Francesca to come to her, I should imagine, rather than trying to force her to be with her. She has to learn to understand that. She's been so wrapped up in her own grief for so long that, like describing an orgasm, I think she knows how to go about this, but she's got to be taught it a little bit. It's going to be very tentative. Sometimes you just have to show up, don't you?
Violet and Mrs. Wilson have this lovely scene about how your children aren't expecting you to have all the answers, just be there with them.
GEMMELL: Just to be there with them. Lovely Mrs. Wilson.
Lovely Mrs. Wilson. I loved seeing Violet and her relationship.
GEMMELL: Yes, me too.
What was your favorite thing about Mrs. Wilson and Violet's dynamic?
GEMMELL: Gerry, Geraldine Alexander, is a fantastic actress, and we've really gotten to know each other from Season 1 to now. And it's been really lovely having a little bit more in-depth conversations with this woman who runs the household. I really hope that goes on forward, because it's been nice to discover downstairs. But it's lovely, this is the woman who keeps that household's secrets. She would have been there when Edmund died and everything.
Violet's the face of the upstairs part of Bridgerton House, and Mrs. Wilson is in charge of the downstairs.
GEMMELL: Mrs. Wilson is probably really in charge of the entire house, including upstairs. I've often had those conversations with people when they talk about describing Violet as a single mother. And I think, "Yeah, with the help of a f—ing lot of staff downstairs frankly."
Ruth Gemmell Discusses Violet's Sparring Scenes With Benedict and Araminta in 'Bridgerton' Season 4
"It was quite nice to kind of snap back in a way that was probably quite unlike Violet."
Some of my favorite scenes of Violet, especially in Part 2, are between her and Benedict. I don't think we, as an audience, realized how similar they are until this season. For all the teasing and friction, it culminates in that lovely scene where Violet says, "You are my son." Did you sense that about the two of them back in Season 1? How has that evolved over the past four seasons for that relationship?
GEMMELL: Well, I think sometimes scripts come, and you just kind of get on board with what the words are. It's not necessarily something that I particularly thought about. One of the things that I think has probably evolved organically is the fact that, having worked together since 2019, we have all grown. As a family, those kids, I adore those kids. We are quite close. I certainly take on a bit of a mother role with them all as well. And also, they don't tell me things as much as you wouldn't tell your mother, and things like that.
Whenever there's a family scene, we're always laughing, always corpsing. It's a lovely environment to be in. Probably really irritating to the crew, but it's lovely for us. Probably organically, there have been things that we sidestepped with each other, which probably, the writers' room pick up on. Going back to the books, they talk about Violet and the kids and things like that. I think it probably has grown from there. It was a joy to play, and he's wonderful. I've loved the scenes with Luke [Thompson].
I've loved them, too. Especially when they've been frustrated with each other, when he snaps and throws her affair with Marcus in her face, you had the best expression — just shocked like he physically slapped you with his words. What was your reaction to that?
GEMMELL: They are really good fun to play because it's just so rude.
Related
Every Major 'Bridgerton' Couple, Ranked
How does Benophie compare to the other iconic 'Bridgerton' pairings?
Beyond sparring with him, I loved watching Violet square off with Araminta Gun. The jail scene is one of the most famous scenes in An Offer From a Gentleman, so to have that adapted into a courtroom scene as well seemed like a lot of fun. How was that for you?
GEMMELL: Violet is often so measured when she disagrees with someone that it was quite nice to kind of snap back in a way that was probably quite unlike Violet. Because it's such an iconic moment in the book, it was quite important to play it differently to the way she's done that before. Usually, a put-down of hers is quite measured and quite calm, and it was quite nice not to be.
What do you hope fans take away from Violet's storyline from this season, and just where it's progressed to now?
GEMMELL: That it's never too late. I think that's what people should take away.
Bridgerton Season 4 is available now to stream on Netflix.
Bridgerton
Release Date December 22, 2020
Network Netflix
Directors Tom Verica, Tricia Brock, Alex Pillai, Alrick Riley, Bille Woodruff, Cheryl Dunye, Sheree Folkson, Julie Anne Robinson
Writers Abby McDonald, Sarah L. Thompson, Daniel Robinson, Oliver Goldstick, Leila Cohan-Miccio, Azia Squire, Sarah Dollard, Eli Wilson Pelton, Janet Lin
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Luke Thompson
Lady Violet Bridgerton
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Ruth Gemmell
Benedict Bridgerton
English (US) ·