Korean-Australian Actress Yerin Ha Joins Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’
Korean-Australian actress Yerin Ha will join the cast of Netflix’s hit series “Bridgerton” for Season 4.
US entertainment news outlet Variety reported on August 16 that Ha has been cast as Sophie Beckett, Benedict Bridgerton’s love interest in the upcoming season.
Season 4 will revolve around Benedict’s love story, based on Julia Quinn’s third “Bridgerton” novel, “An Offer from a Gentleman.” In the novel, Ha’s character Beckett is the illegitimate daughter of an earl. But after her father’s death, she is reduced to a servant to her stepmother and her daughters.
Ha made a name for herself internationally by starring in the Paramount+ original sci-fi series “Halo,” produced by Steven Spielberg in 2022.
Ha is the granddaughter of veteran actor Son Suk, who continues to work in theater, film, and television.
‘Halo’s Yerin Ha hopes to become an acting angel for other Asians
“Halo,” a Paramount+ original sci-fi series produced by American filmmaker Steven Spielberg, features a defiant Asian girl as one of its main characters. Set in a dystopian world in the 26th century, teenager Kwan Ha from the outer colony planet Madrigal faces tragedy early in episode 1: Her father Jin Ha, played by Korean actor Kong Jeong-hwan, is brutally murdered before her eyes by a group of aliens called the Covenant.
The nine-episode English-language series, which was released in South Korea via local streaming service Tving on June 17, is adapted from one of the highest-grossing Xbox game series of the same name, which has sold more than 81 million copies over the past two decades. According to The Guardian, the total production cost for the Paramount+ series exceeded $200 million.
Kwan Ha is played by Korean-Australian actor Yerin Ha. Ha, who visited South Korea and interviewed local press ahead of the release of “Halo” on Tving last week, said she felt “proud of myself” for being able to endure the long filming hours.
Ha was born in 1998 and despite growing up in Sydney, speaks fluent Korean. She auditioned and was cast as Kwan Ha just as she was about to graduate from the Australian National Academy of Dramatic Art. She debuted as an actress through the ABC drama series “Reef Break” (2017) and made her way to the stage with the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of “Lord of the Flies” in 2019. “Halo” was her first leading role in a big-budget commercial series.
According to the actress, Kwan Ha’s ethnicity was determined to be Asian from the beginning.
“I believe they were not sure whether the actor [cast as Kwan] would be Korean or Chinese,” she said in Korean during an online press interview on June 17. “[After I was cast,] the script said that some dialogue could be in Korean. After checking that I could actually speak Korean, they gave me Korean lines a few weeks before filming started, and Kong and I edited them a little after discussing, trying our best to make them sound natural.”
In the “Halo” universe, humanity is scattered across the galaxy but is facing extinction due to alien attacks. Kwan is the daughter of General Jin Ha, a rebel leader from Madrigal who is fighting against the central government of the galactic system called the United Nations Space Command.
The occasional Korean dialogue between Kwan and Jin, such as when Jin yells “fire” in Korean, was a surprise to local audiences. Both Kwan and Jin are characters created for the series that do not exist in the original game universe.
Ha said she learned about the game before she was cast, through her brother.
“He is a gamer so I knew about ‘Halo,’” she said. “I knew it was an e-sports series and I felt honored to play an Asian character in such a vast universe. […] To understand the game better, I tried playing it, but when I found out that I had no talent for games, I turned to books. There is a book called ‘Halo Mythos’ that helps you understand why aliens from all over the galaxy are trying to find Halo.”
Part 1, which has been released in many other parts of the world, has received mixed reviews, and the actress said she is aware of that.
“For the original ‘Halo’ fans, I know that there is more resistance to the plot of the series,” she said, smiling. “For those who are introduced to the series for the first time, they are more generous and they also like the character of Kwan.”
Ha is the granddaughter of veteran actor Son Suk, 78, who is still active in the fields of theater, film
