Bridgerton season 3 is currently filming, so it was only a matter of time before we got our first look at Hannah Dodd as Francesca.
Dodd took over the role of Lady Violet’s sixth-oldest child in the Netflix period drama after Ruby Stokes left to film another production for the streaming giant.
In this set photo, we can see Dodd dressed in an embellished cream dress of the era, alongside Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton.
When Dodd was announced as the new Francesca, she said: “I’m so excited. Everybody’s been so lovely. I just want to do a good job.”
At the time of that interview, she said she had read six out of the eight Bridgerton books written by Julia Quinn and that she focused on Francesca’s story as she “didn’t know what [she’d] got [herself] in for” .
“I needed to read that as soon as possible. It’s such a beautiful book and she’s such a beautiful character. I can’t really believe that I get to play her. I know how people feel about her as well, so I’m going to do my best.”
Francesca isn’t the only character to have their actor leave, as Duke of Hastings Simon Basset actor Regé-Jean Page departed at the end of season 1.
The role hasn’t been recast at the time of writing, but Page said he would be completely fine if it were.
“They’re free to do as they like,” he said recently. “Shonda [Rhimes] and I had a wonderful conversation at the end of season one. We were quite happy with how we’d stuck the landing on that one.”
Bridgerton seasons 1-2 are streaming now on Netflix. Season 3 is in production.
