‘Bridgerton’ Star Katie Leung Teases Cat-and-Mouse Game Between Araminta and Sophie in Season 4, Part 2
Note: This story contains spoilers from “Bridgerton” Season 4, Part 1.
There’s trouble ahead for Yerin Ha’s Sophie in “Bridgerton” Season 4, Part 2 after Araminta (Katie Leung), Rosamund (Michelle Mao) and Posy (Isabella Wei) moved to Grosvenor Square, just a couple doors down from Bridgerton House.
While Sophie and Araminta haven’t seen each other since their dramatic confrontation, wherein Araminta promised she would never work in Mayfair again, their newfound close proximity will kick off what Leung describes as a “cat-and-mouse” game.
“Araminta at this point is trying to find out where Sophie is, and Sophie’s trying to find out where Araminta is,” Leung said. “The tensions are high.”
Araminta’s return also shakes up dynamics in the ton’s downstairs, with Mrs. Varley (Lorraine Ashbourne) shifting her loyalties from the Featheringtons to the Penwood household. “Things can only get worse when Varley’s around, but the dynamic between her and Araminta is just hilarious,” Leung said, applauding Ashbourne for her humor. “When you’re working alongside someone that funny, I think because … she’s sort of so stern, and the exact opposite … makes it even funnier.”
As Leung portrays the so-called evil stepmother from the “Cinderella” tale based on Julia Quinn’s “An Offer From a Gentleman,” she leaned into Araminta’s complexities as to not fall into stereotypical depictions of the fairytale villain.
“I tried … not to see her as a villain, but somebody who actually is just super vulnerable and has built up this wall to protect herself, because I think the minute someone exposes her, then she would probably crumble,” Leung said, noting the experience of playing Araminta in her earlier years in flashbacks informed her of those shifts.
“It’s been great as an actor to be able to play that part of her … but it’s also been such a great opportunity to play the other side of her, where we get to see the glimpses of her softness and and her trauma and where it stems from,” Leung said.
Much of Leung’s dramatic scenes were played opposite Ha, who Leung calls both “the perfect lead” and “the perfect Sophie,” applauding the leading lady for similarly bringing a depth to the main role in the fairytale story.
“She brings an element of cheekiness, but … she holds her own, and she’s nobody’s fool … she’s not the kind of wholesome, innocent Cinderella that we’re so used to, she’s far more than that,” Leung said. “I think people will resonate with with her character, because she just brings so many layers to her.”
Calling Ha a “powerhouse,” Leung noted she was inspired by the Australian actress, saying “you just want to match that when you’re working with somebody that great … she made me want to try harder.”
Like “Bridgerton” has done in the past, the Netflix series cast several East Asian actors, including Leung, to fill out the Penwood household in an effort to fill a representation gap, per showrunner Jess Brownell. While that change came with shifting the family’s last names, Leung pointed to some subtle Season 4 touches that spoke to her heritage, including a Cantonese line suggested by the creative.
“There’s just little things here and there that are included,” Leung said, pointing to the Penwood household’s color palette, which prominently features jade, which has significance in Chinese culture. “There was a certain green, and it was still really classy and but it was just very subtle — very subtle things that maybe nobody else would notice — but for me, it just it meant a lot. They were very, very mindful of those things.”
Leung actually hadn’t watched “Bridgerton” before she got the part, but knew the romance series was a “well-established … phenomenon.” “The minute [I] got the part, I watched Season 1, and was blown away, obviously, and then realized I’d been missing it,” Leung said. “I feel really grateful to be a part of something so well done … and the people involved have been really welcoming and lovely.”
Leung added that her connections on the Netflix series “just goes to show that the workplace can be a positive one.”
“Sometimes they say, ‘this actor didn’t get on with this other actor, but … that’s the key to a really good scene’ … and I’m just like, ‘No, no, it doesn’t need to be like that,'” Leung said. “We can all get along within the workplace and also work really well together and strive for the same thing. We can kind of succeed all the same with that mindset.”
“Bridgerton” Season 4, Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Part 2 premieres Feb. 26.
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