{"id":273536,"date":"2026-01-31T10:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T10:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/273536\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T10:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T10:18:08","slug":"bridgerton-season-4-star-katie-leung-on-aramintas-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/273536\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bridgerton\u2019 Season 4 Star Katie Leung On Araminta’s Influence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSPOILER ALERT: This piece spoils Part 1 of Bridgerton<\/a> Season 4.<\/p>\n

\n\tHarry Potter star Katie Leung<\/a> took on the layered role of Araminta Gunn (Formerly Li), who fulfills the evils stepmother trope of Sophie Baek\u2019s (Yerin Ha) Cinderella-like love story with Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) in Season 4 of Bridgerton, based on Julia Quinn\u2019s novel An Offer From a Gentleman.<\/p>\n

\n\tFormerly married to Viscount Li, with whom she had two daughters \u2014 Michelle Mao\u2019s Rosamund Li and Isabella Wei\u2019s Posy Li \u2014 Araminta wasn\u2019t always the bitter woman who makes Sophie do endless chores like polishing her many pairs of shoes or loading her with tasks that require more than just one housemaid. She didn\u2019t realize she was entering a marriage that comes with a secret illegitimate daughter that the Earl of Penwood shared with a late housemaid.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not hard for me to understand where she\u2019s coming from, especially because the backstory was already there,\u201d Leung told Deadline. \u201cI didn\u2019t really have to imagine it. We could play it out and see the result of it. And that\u2019s a beautiful thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAraminta inadvertently influences Sophie\u2019s reconnection with Benedict<\/a> (Luke Thompson) out in the countryside after Sophie\u2019s stepmother sends her packing. Araminta deduces that Sophie went to Lady Violet Bridgerton\u2019s Masquerade Ball because Benedict came calling asking if Posy wore silver to the ball.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou do still see those glimpses of Araminta making that decision and discovering that there is the option that she probably hadn\u2019t considered before,\u201d Leung said of her character realizing another way she could dismiss Sophie from her life. \u201cBecause, in a way, she still, in very small amount, did care for Sophie, or felt like she was her responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: \u2018Bridgerton\u2019 Stars Hannah Dodd And Luke Newton Tease Season 4 Part 2 \u201cConsequences\u201d For [SPOILER]\u2019s Return & Colin\u2019s Indirect Advice To Benedict<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tIn the below interview, Leung teases what to expect regarding Araminta\u2019s storyline in Part 2 and discusses specific scenes that helped her tackle the different layers of Araminta.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Araminta is a major antagonist in this story, but I wanted to ask how you found her humanity and made her multi-dimensional as a character?<\/p>\n

\n\tLEUNG: I guess the impact of her presence, even when she\u2019s not around, is integral to why Benedict and Sophie are separated because she is powerful and dominating and all these things. To answer your question, it\u2019s because she has this other side of her that is, deep down, she is going through a lot, and we get to see some of those moments when she was betrayed. Those traumatic events that really shape who you become. It\u2019s a rare opportunity for an actor, really, to be able to go through that experience with their character. I was lucky enough to be able to do that with Araminta.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t(L to R) Isabella Wei as Posy Li, Katie Leung as Lady Araminta Gao, Michelle Mao as Rosamund Li in episode 401 of Bridgerton. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLiam Daniel\/Netflix<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: I am thinking specifically of the scene where she meets Sophie for the first time, and you get out of the carriage, and you seem more joyful, and then you see that moment where you switch facial expressions. I wanted to ask about that scene, and also the funeral scene, when you tell her she is not in the will.<\/p>\n

\n\tLEUNG: I just had so much fun with it. The flashback scene came a bit later on in the shoot, and so having really experienced what Araminta was going through in present day, it was really imperative and important for me to make sure that we saw that contrast just before she sees Sophie for the first time, or knows who Sophie is in a moment of betrayal. And that once upon a time, she was hopeful and full of joy and in love with this man who she had in her head that she was going to spend the rest of her life with, and it was going to be great. And then in that split second, you can see just her world come crashing down. So again, just really lucky to have been able to play that and for for us to see that moment.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: \u2018Bridgerton\u2019 Season 4 Stars Luke Thompson And Yerin Ha Unpack That Part 1 Cliffhanger: \u201cIt\u2019s A Polarizing Moment\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tFast forward to the funeral. Yes, it was manipulative of our mentor to obviously lie about the will, but at the same time, I think she genuinely thought she was doing a good thing and offering Sophie this position as a maid. They\u2019re at the funeral of of her late husband, who she absolutely adored. And I just remember the director giving me a really small note, like a note to work with, to play with, which is that ,she is genuinely upset. She\u2019s very upset, but angry at the same time, because ultimately, he\u2019s left this illegitimate daughter with Araminta. And Araminta is like, \u2018I could just, like, throw her out. I don\u2019t have to be kind. I don\u2019t have to do anything. I\u2019m just offering this thing.\u2019 So I don\u2019t think it comes from a bad place, but I want to mention the costume for the funeral scene was my favorite.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Yes, that veil was gorgeous!<\/p>\n

\n\tLEUNG: Right? Yep.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: I did want to ask about your costumes because the flashback is the only time we see her not wearing black because she\u2019s in mourning. Could we possibly see her in other colors in Part 2?<\/p>\n

\n\tLEUNG: I\u2019m trying to think, I think we do see her in other colors, but perhaps not as bright, probably still in the darker tones.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Another reason I see Araminta as a force that moves the story forward is she\u2019s hiring all these maids out from under other households. I was curious your take on that, because obviously the other ladies of the Ton aren\u2019t happy with her, but she\u2019s helping the servant class by giving them raises.<\/p>\n

\n\tLEUNG: Absolutely! Again, I think Araminta is very proud of the fact that she\u2019s indirectly fighting for the working class, upping their wages and, yeah, that\u2019s, that\u2019s how she sees it. I mean, nobody speaks highly of it. Even the maids themselves, are having a good bitch about her. But, actually, they should be grateful.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"L-R:<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tL-R: Isabella Wei as Posy Li, Katie Leung as Lady Araminta Gun and Michelle Mao as Rosamund Li in Season 4 of \u2018Bridgerton\u2019 <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLiam Daniel\/Netflix<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: I\u2019m curious how you wanted to go into the scene where you fire Sophie and you\u2019ve recognized that she was the Lady in Silver at the ball.<\/p>\n

\n\tLEUNG: I mean that was the big scene, for me anyway. I was quite anxious about doing that scene because I wanted to make sure that the firing of Sophie is justified. It was playing with the levels of manipulation and whether she was going to enter pretending that she doesn\u2019t know, to see if Sophie\u2019s going to confess or not. We did, like quite a few different versions of it to see what would work. But ultimately I think they went with a more direct version. It was a really challenging scene, but it was quite fulfilling. And to be able to have a scene like that with Yerin, I had had a lot of fun doing that, yeah.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Part 1 ends with Araminta, Rosamund and Posy moving in next door to the Bridgertons. So I\u2019m hoping we will see a confrontation that\u2019s in the book. But what do you hope fans go into Part 2 knowing with that information?<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: That\u2019s such a great, I mean they just know how to end us on a really good cliffhanger. I mean, she\u2019s barely in Episode 4, but then it\u2019s like, \u2018Boom!\u2019 So I what should I tease for Part 2? I guess more drama, more gossip, more bitching and more Varley. Varley is going to be a big help in in this cat and mouse chase.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: \u2018Bridgerton\u2019 Season 4 String Covers Feature Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo And More: All The Songs In Part 1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPOILER ALERT: This piece spoils Part 1 of Bridgerton Season 4. Harry Potter star Katie Leung took on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[51203,93,61,60,133450,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-273536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-bridgerton","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-katie-leung","13":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}