When Netflix's "Bridgerton" cast its first East Asian lead for Season 4, it marked a genuine milestone for one of the streaming platform's biggest franchises. What followed, however, brought its own complications and Ha Ye-rin, the 28-year-old Korean-Australian actress at the center of it all, had a lot to navigate.
Ha plays Sophie Baek in Season 4, a Cinderella-inspired maid who falls for Benedict Bridgerton, played by Luke Thompson, in the show's reimagined version of Regency-era London. The season's second part dropped on February 26, continuing the franchise's tradition of centering romance in a racially inclusive alternate history. Ha trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia and previously appeared in Paramount+'s "Halo" and HBO's "Dune: Prophecy" before landing the lead role.
But almost as much attention has been paid to what happened off-screen. During the international promotional tour, Spanish promotional photos drew criticism after Ha was noticeably placed at the edge of the frame while Hannah Dodd, who plays the supporting character Francesca Bridgerton, was positioned more prominently. At a fan event in Spain, Ha was seated at the far end of the panel while Dodd sat next to the host — an arrangement that struck many fans as backwards given who was actually leading the season. Some media outlets added to the backlash by misspelling Ha's name in video interviews, while others placed watermarks directly over her face.
Speaking at a press conference in Seoul, Ha said she did not experience any of it as intentional or personal in the moment. "I do think there were specific details that may have been overlooked, and I don't think it was by intention or conscious choice," she said. Looking back at the reactions, though, she acknowledged why fans responded the way they did, and framed the whole situation as something the industry can learn from rather than simply condemn.
Ha also spoke openly about the pressure of filming intimate scenes, noting that Korea's strict and specific beauty standards shaped the way she viewed her own body growing up. She credited the show's use of an intimacy coordinator as essential to making those scenes feel safe.
On the story itself, Ha pushed back gently against the Cinderella comparison. Unlike the original fairy tale, she said, Sophie does not simply accept an escape the moment it is offered. The season is about two people choosing each other clearly, despite every obstacle society puts in the way.
"That's ultimately what our story is trying to say," she said.