Bridgerton boss reveals show’s new family will be ‘villainous’ in series four

By Casey Cooper-Fiske, PA Entertainment Reporter

Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell has revealed the Netflix period drama’s new family will be “villainous” in its upcoming fourth series.

Katie Leung (37), who played Cho Chang in the Harry Potter film franchise, will play the twice-married, twice-widowed Lady Araminta Gun in the series.

Her two girls, Rosamund Li (Michelle Mao) and Posy Li (Isabella Wei), will debut on the marriage mart, as Lady Araminta feels the pressure to get at least one of them married off.

At a fan event for the show in London, Brownell said of Lady Araminta’s family: “I think in the books specifically, Araminta and Rosamund are quite villainous characters.

“They’re some of the biggest villains in the Bridgerton book, they are still villains absolutely in our show, but I think there’s a difference between meeting a character on the page versus seeing them embodied by an actor like Katie or Michelle.

“And so it was really important to us to humanise those characters, and understand why are they villains? Why are they making decisions that we might not agree with?

“Katie and Michelle bring such humanity and vulnerability to those roles.

“So while you might not agree with all of their choices, I think we will certainly understand them as people.”

She went on to say that season four, which is titled Season Of Love, would have an “upstairs, downstairs” dynamic, with viewers seeing more of the characters who work for the rich families.

Brownell added: “I think the most exciting part of this is that we have these fantastic actors, who have had smaller roles over the years, and so we’re getting a chance to go downstairs, meet new characters, see new sets.

“And you really learn a lot about the upstairs characters from their downstairs characters.

“So this is in Bridgerton House, and is one of our fantastic sets, and you know, in Bridgerton House, even the downstairs is beautiful and kind of like a dream, I would 100% live downstairs.”

She went on to say that she was not sure whether she would be happy to live downstairs in some of the show’s other houses, and said this reflected on the characters who owned them.

A preview trailer for the latest season was released on Friday, showing the cast filming the show.

The show’s actors can be seen holding clapperboards, while shots of their characters roaming around the programme’s luxurious estates are interspersed.

Debuting in 2020, Bridgerton is based on the series of books by the same name by US author Julia Quinn, with each previous series focusing on each child from the prestigious Bridgerton family getting married.

Season four will see the family’s bohemian second son Benedict (Luke Thompson), loath to settle down, until he meets a captivating Lady In Silver at his mother’s masquerade ball.

At Friday’s event, fans were given a first look at the masquerade ball from the Bridgerton book Offer From A Gentleman, which will be featured in episode one of the upcoming season.

A release date for the eight-part series is yet to be announced.