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Hannah Dodd isn’t quite sure how to react. The British actor is being lavished with praise for her part in Bridgerton’s most heartbreaking storyline yet: the sudden death of Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli), husband to Dodd’s character, Lady Francesca Stirling (née Bridgerton). Dodd meticulously tracks Francesca’s grief from stiff-upper-lip determination to the moment her tightly maintained decorum shatters, leaving the young widow’s sadness, rage, and shame free to spill out. As the compliments trickle in on one gloomy afternoon in London — much like Francesca’s tears in Season 4, Episode 7 — Dodd pauses.
“That’s really nice to hear,” she tells Tudum with a smile. “I don’t know what to do!”
While Dodd isn’t quite sure how to respond to the admiration that is now coming her way, she knew exactly what Francesca needed in Bridgerton Season 4. The latest installment (now streaming in its entirety) follows the sixth Bridgerton child through a most delicate and complicated journey of self-discovery, romance, loss, and hope. Now Dodd takes us inside the pinnacles and depths of Bridgerton Season 4, including Francesca’s devastating fertility challenges.
The latest season begins as a happy one for Francesca, following a lengthy to the Stirling estate in Scotland. Newly married and hopeful about building a life with John, the Bridgerton family’s most introverted member is surprisingly pleased to return to the hustle and bustle of Mayfair. “It becomes apparent that Scotland wasn’t the dream for Francesca,” Dodd says. “She’s definitely ready to come back to her family. She’s looking to spend a little bit more time in London, which is not expected for Francesca.”
Part of her excitement can be attributed to Francesca’s interest in setting up the Stirlings’ home in the capital. Throughout the first half of Season 4, Francesca is intent on fulfilling her duties as the newest Lady Kilmartin. That means making Stirling House beautiful — and filling the home with children. As that goal starts to feel increasingly out of her grasp, Francesca focuses on what she believes she can control. Thus she sets out on the hunt for her “pinnacle,” after John tells his wife conception is more likely when a woman obtains one. John assumes he has been providing Francesca with pinnacles for months; unbeknownst to him, she has no idea what the word even means— let alone what one might feel like.
“I had so much fun with the pinnacle storyline because she’s just clueless. It’s this word that means nothing to her, and nobody’s willing to break it down and actually explain what it is that she’s after,” Dodd says. “I got to film with different characters and see how they responded to it. They were some of the most hilarious days on set.”
Francesca’s search eventually brings her to her sister-in-law, Penelope Bridgerton (Nicola Coughlan), a woman known throughout London for her way with words. Penelope finally explains that a pinnacle is the height of pleasure, akin to the feeling a bird must experience when it sees a warm biscuit. “I love the fact that we see an introvert brave enough to have those conversations with the women in her life,” Dodd says. “Francesca is standing up for herself and her own needs. And she’s relying on her girls to get the information that she needs.”
When you’re feeling so much, emotion can come out in all kinds of ways. Laughing can be just as devastating as crying.
Those dear loved ones prove to be integral when Francesca is in her darkest hour. At the end of Episode 6, the countess goes to wake her beloved husband for supper. Only, Francesca realizes, John is dead. He suffered a fatal aneurysm during a pre-dinner nap. As waves of grief threaten to pull Francesca under, it’s women who support her through the pain. John’s cousin Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) stands next to her throughout the funeral proceedings. Sophie (Yerin Ha) notices Francesca’s fraying emotions at John’s wake, and ferries her to a quiet room to decompress. And, most importantly, Violet and Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) hold Francesca as she is coldly inspected for pregnancy by a male doctor to determine the Stirling line of succession.
“It’s so invasive. It’s so devastating when she’s in pain — and also so young,” Dodd says. She also points out how awful the prying experience must be for Francesca, who has had no physical experience with men outside of her beloved, gentle husband. “To have men [treat her like that]? There are so many layers to it.”
Until the inspection, Francesca clings to one fragile hope amid her grief: the belief that she is with child, and thus carrying the future of the Stirling earldom. The doctor informs the nearby government official, Walter Dundas (Edward Bennett), that Francesca is not pregnant, before even deigning to tell her. The news undoes Francesca’s final shred of composure. She can no longer follow the same path as her mother, who had seven rambunctious children — and one on the way — when she lost her own lord husband, Edmund Bridgerton (Rupert Evans). Francesca — anxious, order-loving Francesca — is lost.
“It’s pretty dark. [The idea of the pregnancy] gives Francesca something to hold onto, which is so devastating. She’s like, ‘I’m going to be OK because I’ve still got a piece of John. That’s what mum had. I know that she’s OK, so that means I’ll be OK,’ ” Dodd says. “Then she realizes that she doesn’t have that.”
In a private moment with Violet at the midpoint of Episode 7, the floodgates finally open for Francesca. Dodd was initially worried about the time it takes for her character’s emotions to reach the surface. “Portraying Francesca’s stoicism terrified me at first because I didn’t want it to look like she didn’t care,” Dodd explains. “But I do think that’s a really realistic look at how people react. It’s so painful and raw, but you have things you have to focus on.”
As Francesca cries that she has “nothing” without her husband or a Stirling heir, her feelings are undeniable. Even Michaela, who listens to Francesca’s sobs from outside the door, is brought to tears. “The denial was definitely there with the baby and the anger is definitely there, for Francesca,” Dodd says. “That scene with Violet was a gift as an actor— to get to really let it rip. It meant the world to me. I loved it, and I was terrified of it.”
After Francesca learns she is not expecting, she accepts that nothing about this period is going as planned and begins to face that reality rather than fight it. She agrees to host the Scottish wake Michaela previously recommended. The women celebrate John’s life with full cups, kind words, and a traditional Scottish dance. Dodd — who was also starring in the West End production of Cabaret during filming — and Baduza enjoyed practicing their “stag dance” with Bridgerton choreographer Jack Murphy.
“Hannah is a professional dancer, so I was like, ‘You got to show me how to do it, girl. One, two, one, two?’ ” Baduza tells Tudum. Still, Dodd swears both stars were figuring out the performance as they went. “I was like, ‘I don’t know this dance! You have to teach me this,’ ” she says. As with all dances on Bridgerton, the performance isn’t merely about the steps.
“When you’re feeling so much, emotion can come out in all kinds of ways. Laughing can be just as devastating as crying,” Dodd says. “I think feeling joy without somebody, [there’s] that guilt as well. It’s really nice that she’s ridding herself of that guilt and feeling the support.”
Francesca finds that same support in the final scene of Bridgerton Season 4. Still wearing her mourning black, the widow sits front row at the wedding of her brother Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and his bride Sophie Bridgerton (Yerin Ha). Despite Francesca’s sorrow, she manages to smile amid the romance of the day. Dodd hopes Francesca continues to find small moments of joy amid the grief.
“She just needs a cuddle from her mum and all the [siblings] around her. I don’t know how you really move on from something like that. I hope that she doesn’t punish herself,” the actor says on Bridgerton: The Official Podcast, now streaming globally on Netflix. “You can sort of not want to live your life to the fullest because you feel guilty. But I hope she does it for John.”
(Re)watch Francesca’s entire journey now by streaming Bridgerton on Netflix. And keep coming back to Tudum for more Bridgerton news as we head toward Season 5.
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