Tragic Details About Bridgerton Star Yerin Ha

Yerin Ha has raised eyebrows and drawn attention as Sophie Baek, the serious-minded and responsible housemaid who becomes the bride of Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) during Season 4 of “Bridgerton.” Ha tiptoed her way into the limelight after appearing in multiple science fiction properties — she played the rebellious Kwan Ha in Prime Video’s “Halo” and is a younger version of Kasha Jinjo in the rushed “Dune” prequel series “Dune: Prophecy.” She’s also popped up in the Netflix murder-mystery show “The Survivors” as Mia. Those are some pretty hefty credits for someone who only started acting in 2016, and she seems to just be getting started as a thespian.

But it hasn’t been all sweetness and light for Ha. She’s endured prejudice, an on-set illness, and even had to cope with a lack of representation onscreen as a child. Yet she’s definitely managed to find a way to keep on shining and begin to attain all sorts of success in her chosen profession, even though she’s endured some tough times. Here are some tragic things that have happened to Yerin Ha over the course of her life and career.

She felt like she had little representation in Hollywood growing up

As a South Korean girl growing up in Australia, Yerin Ha felt she didn’t have a lot of onscreen representation in the media. Television shows on the continent lacked Asian characters, which discouraged her from trying to break into the business in her home country. With this in mind, she moved to South Korea to study acting. Her grandparents had established acting careers there and it was easier for her to learn the ropes of the industry.

She later won the part of Kwan Ha, and her casting was arguably one of the best parts of “Halo” Season 1. Ha was thrilled to play a character who wasn’t a servile stereotype. “We don’t see many Asian characters like Kwan Ha. She speaks her mind and is brutally honest,” she told the Television Academy.

Ha also told The Gamer that she’s determined that Asian actors coming up behind her don’t have to deal with what she experienced in her youth. “Growing up, I never saw those stories,” she explained. “I only saw Asian women playing stereotypes in convenience stores and all this kind of stuff. So for me it’s also really important that younger generations see themselves be portrayed in a really fierce way.”

Yerin Ha felt pressured to look a certain way on the red carpet

Every actor feels required to look, sound and behave a certain way while appearing in public, but Yerin Ha says that she felt particularly constrained by red carpet mores due to her natural tendency toward introversion. “It scares me a little bit,” Ha confessed to British Vogue. “I’m not someone who strives for attention, and so I guess I can empathise with Sophie’s hermit-crab instincts. I mean, I rarely even get dressed up. I’m always that girl in a T-shirt and jeans.”

Her naturally down-home style definitely seems to clash with the red carpet emphasis on glam. Even worse, she expressed concern that she might produce a fashion disaster that would earn her negative attention. “I hope I’ll get to a point where I’m not afraid to ‘fail’ with fashion,” she added. That a young, attractive person would be so afraid to be free with her own style at a premiere says a lot about the way Hollywood works — and how much pressure it puts young stars under.

She developed folliculitis thanks to that infamous bath scene

“Bridgerton” fans were all atwitter about that famous Season 4 scene where Sophie and Benedict frolic together in a bathtub. Unfortunately for Yerin Ha, however, all of that fictional merrymaking had some consequences.

While appearing on the February 25 episode of “Capital Breakfast” with co-star Luke Thompson, she revealed (via E!Online), “Basically I put baby powder all on me because I was told it would help dry my skin to put the intimacy wear on with my tape. And then basically the next day after the bathtub, I got hives all over my body and got folliculitis and needed steroid cream!” But Ha still had a positive attitude about her temporary affliction: “I blame myself, because I think it was a combination of baby powder and the bath water.”

She noted that Luke Thompson was not affected by the illness, but he pointed out that they each kept getting sick during the shoot. Ha thought that the intense emotions they were both subject to might have had something to do with their unwellness. “I do think that with those scenes, it is just an extension of an emotion,” she explained, “and it’s there because it has to be, not because we’re just doing a steamy scene for a steamy scene’s sake.”

She coped with imposter syndrome

Though she’s accomplished and seems to have a bright future ahead of her, Yerin Ha admitted that she’s haunted by one thing — imposter syndrome. After presenting an award at SAG’s 2026 Actor Awards ceremony, she confessed to Vanity Fair, “it is super anxiety-inducing. My imposter syndrome was flaring up again last night.” Since her rapid ascent from supporting player to starlet in one of the biggest dramas in the streaming universe, she’s clearly been forced to deal with a whole new level of attention, and for a self-proclaimed introvert that can be quite the load to carry.

How does Ha cope with her feelings of inadequacy? She blasts Beyonce, knowing that she has similar feelings about her own high-profile life. “She has her alter ego, Sasha Fierce, and sometimes I have to bring her out to make me feel confident in these environments,” she confessed.

She received backlash for her colorblind casting as Sophie

Fans of “Bridgerton” have already loudly complained about various casting choices in the show which contradict what’s in the books. For example: all the characters are white and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) is a man in the books, which resulted in a huge Francesca (Hannah Dodd) controversy as the pair eventually become lovers. Thus, when Yerin Ha was cast as Sophie Baek — transformed from Beckett in Julia Quinn’s work — there were unfortunate instances of racism in the fandom toward this colorblind choice.

It’s definitely the sort of thing that would drag down any young actress, but Ha has managed to stay above the fray. While Ha has never spoken out about the backlash toward Sophie’s transformation, plenty of fans on the “Bridgerton” subreddit have spoken out about the casting choice and expressed cruel thoughts about her work.

“There’s smthg smug and annoying about Sophie. She isn’t charming. And they styled her so horribly that it hurts to look at the screen everytime she is on,” remarked u/Ugly_Swan. There have been nastier comments as well, including ones that claimed Ha had been cast to appeal to people who fetishize a certain sort of romantic connection. Fortunately, Ha seems to have developed a hide of iron and has safely co-captained Season 4 of “Bridgerton” to a lovely conclusion, in spite of the negativity that’s surrounded her.