Editor's note: The below interview contains spoilers for Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2.
Dearest gentle readers, Bridgerton Season 4 has whisked audiences away with its forbidden love story between Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). From the masquerade ball to a wedding at My Cottage (or should we say "Our Cottage" now), Benedict and Sophie's journey is filled to the brim with yearning, emotional breakthroughs, a courtroom rescue, and a very heated moment involving a bathtub. Through it all, Benedict and Sophie defy society's expectations and find a way to publicly be together without Sophie resorting to becoming a mistress.
Ahead of Part 2's release, Collider spoke with the season’s leads, Thompson and Ha, about the second half of the season. Over the course of the interview, which you can watch above or read below, the co-stars share their characters' most emotionally significant scenes for their characters, as well as what it means for to Sophie to make her debut into society next to Benedict, and why it's harder for Benedict to be at odds with his mother, Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell), over his older brother, Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey). Plus, the pair speculates how Sophie would do in the Bridgerton family's favorite game of Pall Mall and reveals what they've learned from their characters' love story in Season 4.
Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha Reveal Their Most Vulnerable Scenes in 'Bridgerton' Season 4
"It's probably the hardest thing. I don't think he's ever done it."
Image via NetflixCOLLIDER: Congratulations on Part 2. An Offer from a Gentleman is my favorite book, personally, and so I think the two of you have really brought Benedict and Sophie's story to life in such a beautiful and profound way. So firstly, thank you.
LUKE THOMPSON AND YERIN HA: Thank you.
I love that Part 2 and Part 1, as a whole, there's such an emphasis on emotional intimacy as much as there is on the more heated moments between the scenes of vulnerability and goodbyes. Which of those was the most significant for you?
THOMPSON: I think when [Benedict] realizes that he's lost Sophie, or he thinks that he's lost her. I think that's a pretty significant one because he is someone who's really sensing that he's got a lot of work to do. You know what I mean? From Episode 4 onwards, he feels like he's trying. He's done this gesture by taking her to the gazebo. Is it a gazebo, a conservatory? Whatever it is. And yet at that point, it's still not enough, which is just — that's a very tough one.
YERIN HA: Yeah, I think for Sophie, when she goes out, in Part 2, when she goes out and has a look at the gazebo or terrace, and she says goodbye to it. I think it's a lot of Sophie sacrificing that, but also, again, it's a point where she puts her wall up and is finally saying goodbye to everything. Goodbye to all the good memories that she's made, and thinking that she won't ever have that happy ending for herself. That was a toughie.
THOMPSON: And when he says the L word. I think that's something that Benedict finds extremely hard. It's probably the hardest thing. I don't think he's ever done it. So that's very difficult for his character as well.
Luke Thompson Explains Why It Was Harder for Benedict To Be at Odds With This 'Bridgerton' Character
"The stakes feel so high with one's mum."
Image via NetflixI also loved watching Benedict kind of lose it with the people closest to him. We've never seen him snap like that before.
THOMPSON: He's losing it, everyone! He's like, right, who's next? Isn't it?
HA: Line of fire.
THOMPSON: He's in the line of fire.
Who is it harder for Benedict to be at odds with in Part 2: Violet or Anthony?
THOMPSON: I think probably Violet. There's something about a mother. There's something about that relationship that is so tricky and delicate because the stakes feel so high with one's mum. Particularly since they're both bound by this because they're going on this sort of parallel journey together, in terms of finding love after what happened to his dad and her first husband. I think that it's always terrifying if you're worried about hurting someone like that who has been hurt so catastrophically in the past. I think that's scary, which I guess is also true of Anthony. I feel like, with Anthony, that's been boiling for the last few seasons with Benedict. They've had a few run-ins. Whereas actually, with Violet, it really is the first time that he really... because they're very avoidant with each other. You know what I mean? They don't sort of ever really have it out. They really do a couple of times.
Yerin Ha on the Meaning of Sophie's Debut in 'Bridgerton' Season 4 Part 2
"She's finally able to feel like she's her true self and rewrite the narrative that has been so misconstrued for so long."
Yerin, what I love about Sophie, she's one of my favorite book characters, is her strength. For her, she does overcome so much. What was harder for her to tackle: standing up to Araminta or opening up to Benedict about her past?
HA: Oh, I think opening up to Benedict about her past. I think she really struggles with vulnerability. It's a shameful secret that she has. There's so much shame regarding her being an illegitimate child. So for her to open up to someone, I think she does it really courageously, and because she loves him so much. There's not a lot of people that I think she truly deeply loves. I think the only people who might know about her secret are probably Alfie (David Moorst) and maybe Irma (Fiona Marr). For her to do that, I think, is a big gesture. I think it's probably more difficult than Araminta (Katie Leung) because Sophie's strong, and she has done it. I feel like turning up to someone I think she finds a tad easier than opening up.
Names hold so much weight in that time. Yerin, what did it mean for Sophie to finally be presented as a Gun at the queen's ball?
HA: It's interesting because that's like a little fib, right, that she holds. I think it is a bit of that fairy tale magic that Benedict has probably rubbed off on Sophie. I think it means a lot, and also to finally feel like she belongs somewhere, feel like she belongs with her dad. After the will, she's finally able to feel like she's her true self and rewrite the narrative that has been so misconstrued for so long.
Now, I mean, Benedict made it a point that he wants to make Sophie a Bridgerton as soon as possible. Now that she is, how do you think Sophie will fare at Pall Mall in future matches?
THOMPSON: What do you think? I think you'd be really good.
HA: Do you?
THOMPSON: Yeah, I think so.
THOMPSON: You have to get the writers onto that because we should have that.
On it!
THOMPSON: Yeah, exactly.
HA: Yerin, terrible. Sophie, fantastic. That will be in the editing.
What Have Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha Learned From Benedict and Sophie's Love Story?
"I think you need a bit of realism, and I think you also need a bit of fantasy."
What are the biggest lessons you're taking away from Benedict and Sophie's love story this season, if anything?
HA: Probably that love takes work, but not in a tiring way. There's a compromise that needs to happen, and you have to ask yourself, "Is it worth taking the risk?" If it is then, then do it 100%, don't do it a half-assed way. You've got to either give it your all or don't do it at all. I think that's the thing that I've learned.
THOMPSON: And I think linked into that, I think the idea that it's not about sort of saying, "Oh, fantasy or make-believe is not the thing. It's that you need to live in the real world." I think the big lesson is that they have to marry the two. They have to have obviously lived in the real world and be honest about that, but also the benefit of a bit of magic and a bit of make-believe. I think they've always thrived with that. That's always been a part of their relationship, a little bit. You need both in love. I think you need a bit of realism, and I think you also need a bit of fantasy, actually.
Bridgerton Season 4 is available to stream now 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
-
Luke Thompson
Lady Violet Bridgerton
-
Ruth Gemmell
Benedict Bridgerton
English (US) ·