Bridgerton cast Korean actress Yerin Ha as season 4 lead - as she reveals major change will be made on the show to honour her culture

Bridgerton have confirmed Korean actress Yerin Ha will take the lead role in season four of the Netflix series. 

She is set to star as Sophie Baek as the upcoming drama turns its focus to bohemian second son Benedict (Luke Thompson) and his love story. 

Sophie has been forced to spend much of her life working as a maid for the most demanding employer in the ton. 

But the resourceful maid always finds a way to persevere through her circumstances -circumstances which will drastically change after she disguises herself to attend Violet Bridgerton's masquerade ball. 

Despite his elder and younger brothers both being happily married, Benedict is loath to settle down - until he meets a captivating Lady in Silver at the ball - little does he know that its Sophie. 

Yerin is a Korean actress from Australia and revealed her character Sophie Baek was given a Korean surname out of respect for the actresses' culture.

The character’s name in the original Julia Quinn book series is Sophie Beckett.

Speaking about the decision, she shared: 'A name is the first bit of identity that you share with the world, and that’s why changing a name can be so powerful. 

'To make Sophie’s name fit someone who looks like me is really empowering. All credit to Jess Brownell, our showrunner. 

'It’s a really nice way for me to feel like the role is fit for me, rather than me having to fit a certain mold. It’s amazing what it can do just in a psychological sense. So it means a lot that Jess did that for me.'

Announcing the news, Netflix released a teaser trailer showing Sophie rifling through costumes for the ball. 

Yerin got her breakthrough role as Kwan Ha in the sci-fi series Halo two years ago.

She will be seen next in HBO’s highly anticipated series Dune: Prophecy. 

Prior and on stage, Yerin was part of Sydney Theatre Company’s Lord Of The Flies alongside Mia Wasikowska. 

She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting, majoring in Musical Theatre from Sydney’s National Institute of Dramatic Art.

Ahead of taking on this season's lead role Luke said of his character: 'Benedict has always been a little lost — or free depending on the way you want to look at it. But now he's trying to find something a bit more solid in himself.'

Creator Shonda Rhymes added: 'He's a charming man who's trying to find his way. He's very delightful and funny. I'm excited for everybody to watch him.' 

Netflix also released a short video as the announcement was shared of Luke accepting Benedict's prominent future.

It shows him opening a door and being handed a suit to wear to a masquerade ball - a hint at where his journey will begin in the series.

It is not yet revealed when production will start on season four. 

After being promised the 'steamiest season yet', Bridgerton fans were left somewhat disappointed by the lack of regency romps in part one of season three.

Yet show bosses have more than delivered with part two of the period drama, with episode five of the series featuring a six-minute-long sex scene between Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton).

 Nicola previously revealed: 'I think we've won the sauciness for this series!' as she teased that she and Luke had damaged the set with their onscreen romps.

She told Entertainment Weekly: 'We did break a piece of furniture while doing one scene. It's a little bit like a stunt in which they're like, 'Okay, we're gonna do this, this, and this.'