BELLE OF THE BALL

Yerin Ha steps into the storied world of Bridgerton as its new leading lady

- BY KAT MOON

YERIN HA DIDN’T KNOW IF SHE’D GET A REPLY on Instagram. After landing the role of Sophie Baek in Bridgerton’s fourth season and becoming the series’ first Korean lead—and second Asian lead, after Simone Ashley played Kate Sharma in Season 2—she considered sending a message to Ashley. “I’m quite introverted, so I was like, she’s not going to know who I am,” Ha recalls. To her surprise, Ashley messaged her first. “She said, ‘I’m here for you if you need,” Ha recalls.

As the romantic interest of Benedict (Luke Thompson), the second eldest of the Bridgerton siblings, Ha joins a small group of women who have played the leads in Netflix’s record-shattering Regency-era series based on Julia Quinn’s novels—a position that brings with it high levels of public scrutiny. But she and Ashley share the unique experience of having the race of their characters changed in the adaptation, in keeping with Shonda Rhimes’ production company’s commitment to diverse storytelling. Bridgerton Season 2 reimagined Kate—who has pale skin and the surname Sheffield in The Viscount Who Loved Me—as Indian. And the upcoming season, which premieres in two parts on Jan. 29 and Feb. 26, introduces a Korean Sophie to play a character originally called Sophie Beckett.

Sophie’s arc is set to remain faithful to the original story. She meets Benedict at a masquerade ball she’s sneaked into, and he’s instantly enamored. Sophie has no plans to reveal who she is behind the mask, however: she is both a lowly maid and the illegitimate daughter of an earl.

Ha never thought she’d get top billing when she sent her audition tape. It’s roughly two months before her season’s premiere, and we’re sitting in a lounge at a Manhattan hotel as she looks back. “When my agent told me it was for Bridgerton, I thought it was a supporting role,” says the Sydney-based actor, 27. “Then I realized, oh no, this is for the lead. They’re going to cast an East Asian woman for the lead.”