Actor Yerin Ha, the first Korean lead in the Bridgerton series, shared how she was cast.
At the Bridgerton Season 4 press conference held in Myeong-dong, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 4th, Ha greeted the press in Korean, saying, “It’s been a year and a half since I came to Korea, so please excuse my awkward Korean.”
As the series’ first Asian female lead and first Korean lead, Ha opened up about a fierce audition process. “Overseas, you often send in self-taped auditions. When my agent reached out, I was in Korea,” she began.
“My mom was in Taean then, so I was there with her. We were grocery shopping when my agent asked, ‘Do you know Bridgerton?’ I said, ‘Of course.’ They needed two scenes for the audition ― a tea-drinking scene and a lake scene. I filmed them and sent them in, and heard back a few days later. The second round was a chemistry read with Luke Thompson. At 11 p.m. Korea time, I did two scenes with Luke over video,” she said.
“After the second audition, a few days passed. I was having a meal near Gangnam Station with my mom when I got the call that I’d been cast as ‘Sophie,’ the lead of Bridgerton Season 4. My mom cried, and I screamed,” Ha recalled.
Why was it hard to believe even after the good news? “I kept thinking there must be actresses who are prettier, more talented, more skilled than me,” she said.
“I didn’t see other actresses’ auditions ― all I could do was give it my all. But Luke, who read with other actresses too, said he could see that in me,” she added.
Bridgerton Season 4 follows free-spirited, marriage-averse Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) as he navigates a romance that crosses lines of love, identity, and class between the ‘Lady in the Silver Dress’ he meets at a masquerade and the real-world housemaid Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). Part 1 dropped on February 13, followed by Part 2 on February 26, and the series hit No. 1 on Netflix’s Global Top 10 as well as Korea’s Top 10 series chart.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)