Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Australian actor Yerin Ha was grocery shopping with her mum in the South Korean countryside when she got the first of two phone calls that would catapult her to worldwide stardom. Bridgerton was looking for a new leading lady, and they’d need her audition tape back within 24 hours.
Ha was excited. She had watched the show like everyone else during lockdowns, but she didn’t think much of her chances. Bridgerton was one of the most popular shows on the planet , with each season viewed around 100 million times.
And though the Regency-era series is known for its racially diverse casting, almost every actor is British. Would they really go for a Korean-Australian NIDA grad from Turramurra with just five screen credits to her name? Two weeks later she had the part, plus a flight to London to start production. “My mum was with me again when we got the call,” Ha says.
“We’re just like peas in a pod, so if I’m crying, she’s crying. It was so nice to share.” “We started watching season two together and, watching some of the [sexy] scenes, she’d be like ‘Oh my god! Do you have to do that?’ .
.. It just feels surreal that I’m a part of it,” she says, laughing.
Though Ha’s season is yet to air – or even finish filming – she’s already experiencing the force of the fandom. Her name was leaked to Variety just weeks after she found out about the casting, and the interne.
