Life in the 'Bridgerton' spotlight: Yerin Ha and Luke Thompson enjoy the starry shine

New Delhi: There’s a “Bridgerton blow up” and then a “Bridgerton glow up”, one a nod to the enormous popularity of the lavish Regency-era romance and the other to the starry shine characters get as they step into the spotlight with season progressions.

If actor Yerin Ha is enjoying the first, her co-star Luke Thompson is loving the second.

The two are the stars in the fourth season of the Netflix hit “Bridgerton”, each season focusing on the romantic life of one of the eight siblings in the aristocratic Bridgerton family. While Yerin plays Sophie Baek, the housemaid and the mysterious ‘Lady in Silver’, Luke is Benedict Bridgerton bewitched by her.

"My first reaction when I got the role was lots of jumping and screaming and crying and hugging with my mom,” Yerin told PTI in a Zoom interview.

“To be part of a show that has been so successful, I think is a bit of a dream come true for an actor because that's what you want is to be able to share a story seen by lots of people and loved by lots of people," the 28-year-old added.

The Cinderella-inspired story, in which Benedict encounters a masked woman at his mother's masquerade ball and falls for her without realising who she actually is, explores the class barrier the two must overcome to be together. The first four episodes of the show premiered in January while the final four episodes of the show arrived on Thursday.

In the previous seasons, Benedict has been shown as the wild child of the family. Did Luke receive any tips for his "glow up" moment in this season? Not really, the actor answered.

"The thing about Benedict is that he's exactly the same. It's not really a factory process of like, 'Right, you're up next, you get your glow up'. It's very story-based as a show. I actually think it's lovely also to watch a romantic hero like Benedict who, I was saying the other day, goes the opposite,” Luke told PTI.

His journey in the show is more internal and "about maturing and finding his roots".

"Benedict is quite an atypical romantic hero maybe... A lot of romantic heroes in those novels go from strength to softness and (there's) a lot of the process about softening them and Benedict seems to start very soft, almost too soft and then goes to strength. It's interesting because the show has allowed him to be a slightly different romantic hero maybe," he said in the virtual interview.

Based on Julia Quinn's book series, "Bridgerton" revolves around the influential Bridgerton family and its children as they navigate the marriage mart each social season, where young marriageable nobility and gentry are introduced into society.

The series, which is the first scripted show for Netflix from American producer Shonda Rhimes' banner Shondaland, known for hit dramas like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal", is set during the early 19th century in an alternative London Regency era where racial equality exists.

Luke, 37, said the perception that the actors in "Bridgerton" get a glow up when they step up into the lead roles is because of the way Luke Newton's Colin Bridgerton, the third sibling, was written the previous season. He went from being a childish brother no one took seriously to the serious, ardent lover.

According to Yerin, an Australian actor of South Korean origin who has featured in shows such as "Halo", "Bad Behaviour" and "The Survivors", it’s wonderful that people see themselves in her character Sophie.

The actor, whose maternal grandmother is veteran Korean actor-politician Son Sook, said more than the fame that comes with starring in "Bridgerton", she is happy that fans identify with her character.

"I always say that it all feels like it's happening around me but me I've stayed the same. I don't feel like internally anything has shifted. It's the same or maybe it's gone backwards. So I don't see it in that way but it's nice that the show is being recognised…,” Yerin said.

Asked about their chemistry both on camera and off camera, Luke said their bond grew gradually as Yerin was the last to be cast on the show.

"I think acting is funny, like you can have a great on-screen thing and then sometimes that doesn't necessarily replicate in real life...,” he said.

“Like no one knows what this is like, apart from the other maybe (the limelight). So it's nice to sort of go through it together," he said.

“Bridgerton” also stars Adjoa Andoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ruth Gemmell, Claudia Jessie, Simone Ashley, Golda Rosheuvel, Hannah Dodd, Katie Leung and Nicola Coughlan with Hollywood veteran Julie Andrews lending her voice to the character of Lady Whistledown.

The first season of the show, which premiered in 2020 and became instantly popular, focuses on Daphne Bridgerton's (Phoebe Dynevor) debut in society. She and Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page) , the new Duke of Hastings, fall for each other and marry at the end of the season.

The second season in 2022 is centred on the eldest Bridgerton, Anthony's (Jonathan Bailey) search for a suitable wife. He pursues Edwina Sharma but realises he is more drawn to her independent older sister Kate (Simone Ashley).

The third season is about Penelope Featherington's unrequited love for Colin Bridgerton and her secret identity as the gossip column writer "Lady Wistledown". Colin eventually realises that Penelope is more than a friend and also the person whose identity he has been trying to unmask.