Yerin Ha, Katie Leung & Isabella Wei On The East Asian Influences In Bridgerton

Bridgerton Season 4 is now out in its entirety, and I was excited to break down the East Asian influences throughout the show with Yerin Ha, Katie Leung and Isabella Wei. Much like Season 2 incorporated South Asian designs into set dressing and costumes, Season 4 has done the same for Korean character Sophie Baek and Araminta Gun's Chinese family. It's important to note there has been a strong definition between the Korean and Chinese influences, rather than lumping everybody together.

"There is a difference! It's so nice," Ha, who plays Sophie Baek, tells me. "The fact that the costume department even thought about that and nailed the details, it just goes to show how much thought goes into everything. It is just a recognition that we are different, and yet we can coexist. I didn't have to teach them that. They educated themselves, and then they came back with the ideas."

Sophie's father is seen wearing floral patterns similar to those found on traditional Korean buildings, while her masquerade shoes appear to have Korea's national bird (the magpie) in the middle of the family crest. Her treasured necklace also features amesthyst, a gemstone Korea is known for. "To make people feel seen all over the world, it's the thing I always hoped for," Ya says, talking about representing Korea and Australia. "It's everything I dreamed of."

Leung, who plays Araminta Gun in the show, has a brief moment where she speaks Cantonese during a masquerade ball with her daughter Rosamund Li (Michelle Mao). Leung says it wasn't made into a huge deal, but a detail showrunner Jess Brownell wanted to add. "I think Jess had just kind of asked if it was something that we'd been up for, it was never like forced on us that we'd have to," the actor says. "It was quite later on while we were shooting that we decided where exactly we were gonna place the Cantonese... it was always just kind of a nod to the Cantonese instead of making it a thing."

The Chinese family also celebrate their heritage through costume and set design. Along with some qipao and hanfu-style collars, there are also cherry blossoms, peony prints, and silk fans. "One of my costumes in Episode 2, I have kind of like this qipao styled collar and it's pink, and I definitely noticed that," Wei, who plays Posy Li, recalls. "I had a few fans that had some sort of Chinese embroidery detail, and I thought it was super special, and neat. I wasn't expecting it, you know, in a show like Bridgerton. So it was really nice."

Araminta was mostly dressed in black, but her wig with vintage front waves was reminiscent of old Shanghai glamour. Leung says her black dresses originally had dragons on it (the motif symbolises power in China), but this was changed later in the process. "They changed it because they didn't want to be like, 'Dragon Lady', so I think they made the dragons into some fiery birds or something," Leung laughs.

In terms of the set design, Araminta's household was filled with Chinese furniture, and even the colours used for the interior design were planned perfectly. "Our house, it was so minimalist... there was this kind of jade greenish colour that they had [on the wall], and I was just so in love with it, because it was really subtle," Leung says. "Along with the kind of black and white monochrome feel, it was just so stylish."