Bridgerton star defends Lady Araminta – and explains why fans should empathise with her

There's a brand new family on the block in Bridgerton season 4 and as fans get whisked up into Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie's (Yerin Ha) love story, we also get introduced to the fierce and often cruel matriarch of Lady Araminta Gun.

Played by Harry Potter and Annika star Katie Leung, there's a lot that meets the eye to her new character. Having been married and widowed twice, Araminta is majorly concerned with making sure that her daughters Rosamund (Michelle Mao) and Posy (Isabella Wei) debut this season but she's also described as "fabulous, discerning, and blunt".

So, it's safe to say that Araminta will be forging her own path in the Ton this season and isn't one to care too much about the opinions of others.

Araminta will undoubtedly be a character that gets the Bridgerton fanbase talking, not least because she does fall into the 'antagonist' category. But what is it that she wants viewers to understand about her character?

Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com, the actress revealed: "I think the main thing to understand is that she is a single mother who’s trying to juggle just surviving. Especially back then, in this Regency era, having two daughters is not ideal because the sons manage the household. So, she’s had to do everything herself, having been married twice and widowed twice.

"So, she’s inevitably built up this wall of protection for herself, for her daughters and she’s on survival mode. She has to take on this ruthless, high-achieving stance attitude in order to achieve her goals."

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Leung continues: "The thing to understand as well is that she loves her daughters, she just doesn’t really show it so much. She shows it through different ways but not in the affectionate way that we see in someone like Violet, for example. I think it’s down to finance, financial stability and not having that.

"Yes, it’s easy to say that you should always approach your children, your loved ones with affection, gratitude and all of these things. But it’s actually a privilege because the Bridgertons have the financial stability to do those things, whereas Araminta does not. So yes, we should empathise with her a lot more."

The new season focuses on Benedict and Sophie, who meet at Lady Violet's masquerade ball one evening and never cross paths again. Benedict's story is the focus of the third Bridgerton novel, An Offer from a Gentleman.

The story of Sophie is uncovered the more we dig into the series as we learn about her work as a maid and the fact that she works for Lady Araminta. As for how that dynamic will play out in the rest of the season and what that could possibly spell for Sophie's future, we'll just have to wait and see.

Bridgerton season 4 part 1 premieres on 29th January and Part 2 on 26th February, both on Netflix. Seasons 1-3 are available to watch on Netflix now. You can buy the Bridgerton book series on Amazon.

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