- Yerin Ha spoke to Business Insider about the intimacy scenes in season four of "Bridgerton."
- She said she loved the way the show changed the bathtub scene from the books.
- Spoilers ahead for season four, part two of "Bridgerton."
From Anthony and Kate's secret garden tryst in season two to Penelope and Colin's infamous carriage romp in season three, the sex scenes in "Bridgerton" have become synonymous with the show.
So when Yerin Ha stepped into the role of Sophie Baek in "Bridgerton" season four, she was nervous about bringing those much-hyped intimacy scenes scenes to life — especially when it came to the hotly anticipated bathtub scene.
Spoilers for season four of "Bridgerton" ahead.
The intimacy of an intimacy scene
Sophie is the love interest of Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the second-eldest son of the Bridgerton clan. Their romance, which is based on the plot of "An Offer from a Gentleman" by Julia Quinn, has a Cinderella-esque start, but it turns into a forbidden affair when Sophie begins working as a maid in Benedict's family home.
Even though society forbids it, Sophie and Benedict end up in intimate situations more than once, as viewers see in "Bridgerton" season four part two, which dropped on Netflix on February 26.
"I was super nervous about filming the intimacy scenes," Ha told Business Insider. "Just as a woman in society, people constantly talk about your body. That just happens in the spotlight or when you have eyes on you anyway, but I knew that 'Bridgerton' had such an audience as well. And that's quite daunting."
"It's the first time I'm exposing myself in that kind of way, so that was really scary for me," she added.
Ha said that focusing on Benedict and Sophie's relationship helped her get out of her head during the scenes.
"It was scary, but I overcame it in terms of thinking this is a deeper narrative between Benedict and Sophie, of actually being so completely enraptured with each other and their passion for each other that it made sense to show it," she said.
Ha also said it helped that she trusted her costar Thompson.
"I think we shot it with a lot of levity," Ha said. "I try to have fun. And then I think I realized after the first take, you're like, 'Great. We've done it now. We can do as many takes as we want.' It's the pre-game that's the worst."
From bathtub to TV
A fan-favorite intimate scene in "An Offer from a Gentleman" takes place in a bath, and fans of the books have been eager to see how the show will bring it to life.
In the book, a newly betrothed Sophie takes a much-needed bath at Benedict's Mayfair home after he and his mother rescue her from jail. Benedict joins her in the bath, washes her hair, and after he dries her off, they have sex in his bed, though they are still unmarried. He tells her, "In my heart, you are my wife."
The scene is heartfelt, steamy, and full of declarations from both Benedict and Sophie. However, it feels a bit off for Sophie to have sex with Benedict again, as she was terrified she was pregnant out of wedlock after their first time together.
Those worries are an even greater focus in season four of the series than they were in Quinn's original text, which would make it even more surprising for Sophie to put herself through that anxiety again. With that in mind, Ha told Business Insider she wasn't even sure the bath scene would make it into the Netflix adaptation.
"I was interested to see," she said. "When I read the bathtub scene in the book, actually, I remember being like, 'I wonder if we're going to have it, A,' and 'B, if we are, what does that look like?'"
To fans' delight, there is a variation of the bath scene in the show, though it has been substantially changed.
As in the book, the scene opens with Benedict apologizing for asking Sophie to be his mistress before proposing to her. She stops him from popping the question, though, beseeching him to wait to propose until they know whether she is going to jail or not, as the matter of her case has yet to be settled. They do end up being intimate in the bath together, but Sophie tells Benedict she does not want to have penetrative sex and risk pregnancy. Repeatedly, Sophie speaks up for what she wants and needs, and Benedict enthusiastically respects her wishes.
Ha told Business Insider she was happy with the way the scene was adapted for the screen, particularly because it puts Sophie's agency front and center.
"I loved that they changed it so that Sophie very much still protected herself and was like, 'This is the stuff that I don't want to do' and how it's respected," she said. "I think I resonate very deeply with her in terms of, do the things that you want to do and protect your own health and safety first, rather than trying to appease anybody else."
Ha said she also thought it was important to show that Benedict's respect for Sophie's wishes was sexy.
"That to me is very attractive," she said. "A man who actually respects a woman's boundaries, I think, is very, very important to be shown on screen."
Season four of "Bridgerton" is now streaming in full on Netflix.
