Who, Why, And Fans’ Reactions

Fans of the Netflix period romance/fuckathon Bridgerton were rewarded for their years of patience as Bridgteron Season 3 arrived on screens on May 16. However, the arrival of the four new spicy episodes has led to some eagle-eyed fans noticing a massive difference in one character. So what’s going on with the Bridgerton recast?

As Netflix’s social media page continually reminded us with countdowns for the episode release, Bridgerton Season 3 is all about Polin, AKA the budding romance between Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). 

Season 3 should be the one where we see these two finally couple up after loads of cute shenanigans, along with the series’ typical amount of — how do I put this lightly? — fucking like rabbits in every steamy position possible. Bless Nicola for requesting the directors don’t shy away from anything, Lord’s work babe.

For more info about the saucy Polin content in Bridgerton Season 3 you can peep here, but this isn’t about them.

Who was recast in Bridgerton Season 3?

Each season of Bridgerton centres around a different sibling of the Bridgerton family, with the first season focusing on Daphne Bridgerton, and the second on Anthony. But, as the show has progressed more screen time has been given to one of the younger members of the family, the sister Francesca Bridgerton.

Francesca’s character has had relatively little screen time in previous seasons of the show, only cropping up in five episodes of Bridgerton’s first two seasons. For these appearances, she was portrayed by English actress Ruby Stokes. 

However as fans quickly noticed in the new episodes released on May 16, Francesca was no longer played by Stokes, but by actress Hannah Dodd.

@4leora_ ✨H E R✨ #francescabridgerton #bridgertonseason3 ♬ suara asli . – Dezalyr

Though she had little time on screen in earlier seasons, the role of Francesca was hardly a small one, as eventually an entire season of the show would be expected to focus on solely her. 

Recasting any character always causes fans to be confused, so for such a pivotal one in Bridgerton to suddenly be played by a new actress has left fans asking: why and who would make such a choice?

Why was Francesca recast in Bridgerton Season 3?

Ruby Stokes, unfortunately, found herself needing to step away from the role of Francesca Bridgerton due to that blasted Hollywood curse: overlapping shooting schedules.

Stokes was cast for a leading role in another Netflix original, the thriller series Lockwood & Co., playing the character of Lucy Carlyle for the show’s debut season.

Unfortunately for Stokes, the schedules could not be managed, and the time she was required to act as Lucy overlapped with when she was needed as Francesca, ultimately leading to her role needing to be recast in Bridgerton.

This is where Hannah came to the rescue and will now be playing as Francesca for the foreseeable future.  

Reactions to the recast in Bridgerton Season 3

It’s always tricky to pull off a recast. Sometimes there are concerns that the person filling in the shoes won’t live up to their predecessor, and sometimes it’s just as simple as the character not being recognised because “there’s something different” about the way they look. (Shoutout to the writers of Fresh Prince of Bel Air for handling their recast so well.)

But in good news for Hannah Dodd, Bridgerton, Netflix, and the fans, the recast has been a success for viewers who appear to be falling in love with the character now that her role has become more vital to the story.

hannah dodd, THE period drama princess 🩷 pic.twitter.com/XZvZ0jRjip

— kaz ☽☾ (@lqvekanthony) May 16, 2024

Though she has only been in a handful of episodes, Hannah has been hailed by fans for her standout performance as Francesca, and also for using the same mannerisms Ruby Stokes did in her performance.

Looks like the role of Francesca is in safe hands for the upcoming seasons of Bridgerton, especially as the show has hinted at the character’s upcoming romance with John Stirling, played by Victor Alli.

The eight episodes of Bridgerton Season 3 will be released onto Netflix in two parts, with Part 1 available for streaming as of May 16, and the remaining four episodes of Part 2 being dropped on June 13.

[Image: Netflix]