This article contains major character or plot details.

Man relaxing in office chair with feet up, holding coffee and smiling. Desk with computer, books, framed art, and flowers by window with sheer curtains. Casual, cozy workspace environment.

Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) never really wanted to go to Violet Bridgerton’s (Ruth Gemmell) masquerade ball. He was much happier in the unbuttoned revelry of the demimonde, where artists gather, port wine flows freely, and anyone could kiss below the low lighting. But the second son still loves his mother, so by the midpoint of the Bridgerton Season 4 premiere, Benedict shows up to her party. Late. Reticent to speak to debutantes. But he’s there. 

That’s when he sees her: the Lady in Silver (Yerin Ha). 

A man in a long coat and a woman holding a pink umbrella and a drink stand against a stone building on a city street, dressed in stylish, casual clothes on a cloudy day.A man in a coat and a woman holding a pink umbrella and a drink stand smiling against a stone building in an urban city setting, suggesting a casual and relaxed atmosphere.

“As often with these [kinds of] moments in life, you don’t know that you’re going to meet someone,” Thompson says. “You don’t even know if that’s what you want.”

Benedict’s heart is struck by Cupid’s arrow when he spots this mysterious “silver ingenue” — who is the maid Sophie Baek in disguise — across the Bridgerton ballroom. Her sparkle is obvious in her crystal-accented gown. But, as Benedict explains, he’s actually bowled over by Sophie’s unbridled joy. Sophie is equally taken by Benedict, Ha, the Bridgerton newcomer, says. 

“It was love at first sight,” the actor says. 

Woman with long dark hair holding a red flower, leaning on a yellow barrier in an urban environment with a stone building and green mailbox in the background.Man in a long beige coat standing in line at a pizzeria counter with pizzas and pizza boxes, decorated with lights and a patterned floor, looking toward the camera.

Still, Sophie doesn’t melt into Benedict’s arms when she realizes she’s speaking with Mayfair’s most eligible bachelor. Instead, Sophie recognizes that Benedict uses his famous charm to keep conversations from getting too personal, so she urges him to leave the comfort of shallow waters for something “deeper” with her. “She does challenge him, but not out of spite,” Ha says. “She challenges him because she is curious and wants to see if he can banter back with her.”

The result is a dance on the terrace that sizzles with chemistry and longing, reaching a crescendo with three searing kisses — one on Sophie’s cheek, one on her ungloved wrist, and a third on the lips, initiated by Sophie herself. “There are definitely moments when Sophie does lean into the fantasy and the dreamlike quality of potentially finding someone finally for the first time in her life,” Ha says. 

This is only the first of Benedict and Sophie’s fated meetings in Bridgerton Season 4. As their fairy-tale love story unfolds — with four episodes now streaming on Netflix, and four more premiering Feb. 26 — it’s clear that destiny has something to say about these star-crossed lovers. 

Man in denim jacket and jeans stands in the doorway of a convenience store, arms crossed, with various product displays and posters visible inside the shop. Urban setting with a casual atmosphere.A woman sits at a table in a casual restaurant, eating from a cup of noodles, surrounded by books and food wrappers, with red chairs and tiled floor visible.

Thompson’s road to becoming Bridgerton’s latest romantic hero was much less of a shock to him than finding life-changing love has been for his character. The actor has been a beloved member of the cast since the series started production in 2019. Prior to slipping on Benedict’s breeches, Thompson dazzled audiences on the stage, and appeared in 2017’s Dunkirk. In Bridgerton’s first three seasons, second-born Benedict was free to stand on the metaphorical (and literal) edge of the ballroom. Now, all eyes are on Benedict — and the man who plays him. 

“People ask me a lot more questions 1769707328,” Thompson jokes. “No, it’s a real privilege. … To get to spend a full eight episodes digging into [Benedict] and making a whole symphony about him, it’s great.” 

Ha joins Thompson in Bridgerton Season 4 after roles in Dune: Prophecy and Aussie drama The Survivors.) “What drew me to Sophie as a character was her strong moral compass,” the Korean Australian actor says. “She doesn’t change who she is for anybody else. She is faced with a lot of obstacles, but she moves through them with such grace and kindness.” In Part 1, we learn Sophie is the daughter of a nobleman and a maid; after years of tragedy, she’s determined not to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Nothing terrifies Sophie more than the idea of giving her heart to an aristocrat like Benedict — no matter how much she feels for him.   

Two people standing in a small, wood-paneled elevator. One holds a rose, both wear coats and casual clothes, and they appear to be talking or waiting together in a dimly lit, intimate setting.A man and woman stand on a city sidewalk, leaning against a building corner, smiling and holding drinks. They are dressed in casual, stylish clothing. There is a red booth and modern city buildings in the background.

While joining the fourth season of a global phenomenon could’ve been daunting, Ha found a safe landing. Not only was she welcomed with kind words and friendly gifts — “Claudia [Jessie] got me a little bookmark,” Ha says — she was set up with the perfect on-set introduction. Some of Thompson and Ha’s first scenes together were filmed at Loseley Park, the stand-in for Benedict’s country estate, My Cottage. “That’s really where Benedict and Sophie’s relationship blossoms,” Ha explains. “It’s a parallel between Luke and me, because that’s where our friendship started to blossom as co-stars. … I have a nostalgic, sentimental attachment to that place now.” 

Thompson also loved the duo’s countryside interlude. He was fond of the area’s rolling hills — and its brisk river. “It’s always fun mucking around in water, which I do quite a lot of this season,” the actor says. In one of the most swoonworthy scenes in Part 1, Sophie happens on Benedict as he takes a heartening swim after a feverish few days. He also happens to be au naturel. Thankfully, England’s mercurial weather patterns didn’t chill the steamy proceedings. 

Man in black leather jacket relaxing on a black leather chair in a softly lit room with green walls, next to a window with plants and a disco ball partially visible.Woman in black leather jacket sits on a vintage wooden desk, looking at herself in a large framed mirror; books and a decorative lamp are on the desk, with exposed brick and turquoise walls in the background.

“It was possibly the hottest day of September, and it was blazing sunshine, so we were lucky,” Thompson says. Still, the lake was quite cold. “And I was in an actual lake. But that’s the pleasure of filming — you end up doing things for real sometimes.” 

If Ha appears particularly charming on the shores of My Cottage, that’s because the lake scene was part of the audition that won Ha the role, Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell reveals. “In the role, Yerin embodies this childlike playfulness that we talked about a lot for Sophie. This comes from the idea that Sophie’s childhood got taken away from her,” Brownell says. “But Yerin also has a seriousness and a gravitas that make her a good foil for Benedict, who is a man with a strong will.” 

As the river rushes behind them — and Benedict locates his trousers — neither he nor Sophie can deny their desire any longer. They passionately kiss. For Benedict, it’s his first kiss with Sophie, who he doesn’t realize is the Lady in Silver. For Sophie, it’s her first kiss with Benedict without a mask. “She has completely experienced two ends of the spectrum with this one man,” Ha says. 

Woman with long brown hair sits on a table in a cozy room with large windows, plants, framed photographs, and a green drink with a striped straw on the desk, creating a relaxed, artistic atmosphere.Man in casual blue and white outfit with beige coat stands inside a diner, leaning on a counter near menu signs for chicken fingers and calamari, with a casual, urban interior and string lights visible.

Benedict and Sophie’s situation gets more complicated when they return to London. In Episode 4, Benedict advocates for Sophie to join the staff at Bridgerton House, and Lady Bridgerton welcomes her as a ladies’ maid. Once again, Benedict and Sophie are drawn together like magnets. “They’re always falling in love in little bubbles. They do it at the masquerade ball, which is like a dream, then in this cottage environment, which is outside the town,” Thompson says. “They’re good at the honeymoon phase. They’re good at just being together in a dreamworld.”

A woman blowing bubble gum and a man with glasses sit together in a casual, artistic room with green walls, books, a plant, a window, and a patterned chair, creating a relaxed, modern atmosphere.

In the final scene of Part 1, Benedict attempts to make the fantasy of their relationship into reality. Late at night, Benedict and Sophie literally bump into each other on the back staircase. They gaze into each other’s eyes, unable to refuse the pull they feel. Cloaked in the rare quiet of a mostly empty Bridgerton House, they share a climactic embrace to an orchestral cover of Olivia Rodrigo’s “bad idea right?” For a few seconds, it actually feels like a very, very good one. 

But then Benedict asks Sophie to be his mistress. Sophie, whose greatest fear is to end up like her late mother. Sophie, who dreads the idea of forcing a child into an experience similar to her own. 

“The minute he asks [that] question, [she’s] back to reality,” Ha said on Bridgerton: The Official Podcast. “I just remember being really heartbroken. I really thought he was going to propose!”

Benedict’s latest gesture may have created a whole new crop of concerns for himself and Sophie, but don’t expect things to cool down in Part 2. Ha called the staircase scene “pretty mild” in comparison to what’s ahead for Bridgerton’s latest lovers. As Thompson said, “It’s hotter every time.” 

A woman in a brown jacket rests her arms on a piano, gazing at the camera with a white flower nearby; her face and the flower are reflected on the glossy surface in a softly lit, indoor setting with sheer curtains.

See the steam for yourself when Bridgerton Season 4 returns on Feb. 26. For even more of Benedict and Sophie — and Thompson and Ha — watch Bridgerton: The Official Podcast now.

Bridgerton Podcast Trailer - Yerin Ha, Luke Thompson, Alison Hammond

Watch the Trailer for Bridgerton: The Official PodcastDive deep into romances, scandals, and familial ties of Mayfair