Bridgerton’s Hannah Dodd: Will Francesca Find Her Happy Ending?

Lucinda Baring goes behind the scenes of Bridgerton – one of the most successful shows in Netflix history – ahead of today’s release of season four, part two. From Burberry with Romeo Beckham to treading the boards as Sally Bowles in the West End’s Cabaret, Hannah Dodd is on the cusp of stardom, while her character, the poised and perenially-seeking-perfection Francesca Bridgerton, is on the edge of something else entirely.

Note: This interview contains spoilers for Bridgerton season four.

Interview: Behind The Scenes with Bridgerton’s Hannah Dodd

Dearest Gentle Readers, if you have not yet binged the final four episodes of new-season Bridgerton, look away, for spoilers lie ahead.

Francesca Bridgerton does not achieve her pinnacle – certainly not at the hands of her husband John (RIP) and not, alas, in the arms of cousin Michaela either. Fans may be disappointed as series four does not include the lesbian romp we’ve all been waiting for. 

Jacket, shirt and skirt Fendi. Bralette Commando. Shoes Christian Louboutin

For anyone not immersed in the Bridgerton world, Hannah Dodd plays Francesca, the sixth of eight Bridgerton siblings. Each series in the smash hit Netflix drama – based on the eight books by US writer Julia Quinn – follows the love trials and tribulations of a different sibling as Regency London society swirls around them, pulled on a string by the whims of the capricious (and fabulous) Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel). 

While the love matches of her siblings are defined by agonising, pent up, drawn-out desire, rewarded, when marriage is finally wrangled, by rapturous sex – in carriages, against trees, on a ladder in the library at Cliveden – and orgasms galore, Francesca’s experience falls flat. ‘There’s this narrative of “she’s not having an orgasm, that means she’s not in love”, but Francesca’s is obviously a very normal female experience,’ Dodd laughs. In Quinn’s book about Francesca – When He Was Wicked, published in 2004 – her husband John dies in chapter one and we see nothing of their relationship. ‘We have gone in another direction to show a different type of love. It might not be fireworks and passion like the other Bridgerton couples, but there is so much love between these two people, and anything that happens after doesn’t negate it. It is just as valid.’

Sparks? Fans may have to wait to see if ‘Francaela’ is consummated. Image © Netflix

What happens ‘after’ is her awakening with her deceased husband’s cousin Michaela (a Netflix liberty, as the character in Quinn’s book is male), which unfolds – along with fifth sibling Eloise’s love story – across Bridgerton’s next two series. Dodd can’t share any juicy details – she hasn’t even received the script yet; filming begins later this year – but her career could be about to go stratospheric. 

We meet on a frigid February morning in a rehearsal space in Soho. She arrives – early – wearing double denim and Adidas trainers, her pale skin, great bone structure and long blonde hair in high relief against the grey day.

On paper, her path to Bridgerton looks gilded. Growing up in Colchester, the middle child of three, Dodd wanted to be a dancer. ‘I went to a very normal school but I had some very passionate performing arts teachers. Without them, I don’t think I would have pursued it or even understood dancing was a job.’ Her dance classes were paid for by her modelling. Her parents, whose privacy she is at pains to protect, were supportive but it was not a privileged household. ‘They’re not stage parents, making things “happen”.’ She was first spotted by fashion and beauty photographer Catherine Harbour while modelling for a local hairdresser. ‘I was quite against it at first. I was like, “No, I’m going to be a dancer.” I didn’t understand how opportunities like that can help.’

Top and skirt Max Mara

Her big break came aged 18 when she was cast in a Christopher Bailey-era Burberry campaign with Romeo Beckham. ‘I’m quite short for a model so I had been doing shoots for Primark and Tammy Girl.’ She got the Burberry gig because they wanted a dancer, auditioning at Pineapple Studios for an ‘unknown project’. Are she and Romeo friends? ‘No, I can’t say we’ve spoken,’ she says dryly. ‘He was only 11 at the time…’

By the time Dodd started dance college later that year, she already had an acting agent and juggled her tuition with auditions. ‘Burberry was a big moment because there was a huge set and crew, and being part of a team to tell a story felt really good. But dance college was the dream at that point – and I knew it would have to be a very special role to make me drop out of something I’d been working towards my entire life.’

Shirt, skirt and shoes Givenchy. Prima Twins Flex’it gold ring with diamonds FOPE. Prima Twins Flex’it white gold ring with diamonds FOPE

She graduated and the parts rolled in: first as a lead in Hulu’s Find Me in Paris, a children’s TV show, ‘the perfect environment to ask questions and learn how to read a call sheet and hit a mark’. Then came smaller parts in projects alongside screen royalty – Harlots with Samantha Morton, Lesley Manville, Liv Tyler; the Chloé Zhao-directed Marvel film Eternals with Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington (‘I had two days on set with Chloé but you still eat everything up’); Jack Thorne’s Enola Holmes 2 with Millie Bobby Brown, Helena Bonham-Carter, Henry Cavill (‘Enola was a special one. I just remember walking into that table reading, and thinking, “What?! All of these people are ridiculous”’); and Anatomy of a Scandal, Dodd playing the younger version of Sienna Miller’s Sophie Whitehouse. 

‘There’s not really a ladder in this career, but those steps helped prepare me for this.’ Did anyone impart great wisdom? ‘People give you stuff all the time, but it’s also seeing how they behave on set and what kind of actor they are, whether they keep it really loose or come in with specific ideas. That’s what you end up taking away. I sometimes wish I could go back and ask more questions, but I was also terrified and trying not to take up too much space.’

Bodysuit Victoria Beckham. Skirt Ami Paris. Coat Yves Salomon. Earrings Vivienne Westwood

In 2019, Dodd auditioned for the part of Daphne Bridgerton (the lead in series one); it came down to her and Phoebe Dynevor. ‘When you come very close to something, you can think, “well, I’m not going to watch it”. But I loved those initial scripts so I did watch it and I loved it.’ Still, a series that turns a period drama into a hypercolourful, intentionally inclusive, alternative history soft porno, despite being produced by Shonda Rhimes, was a risk – one that paid off: Bridgerton is among Netflix’s most popular television shows ever (significantly surpassing its estimated audience), and series four achieved 39.7m views in four days. ‘It came out at the time the world broke and we all just needed that escape,’ Dodd says. Its success lies also in its lack of cynicism and reliable happy endings (both kinds). 

When Ruby Stokes, the actress originally cast as Francesca, had to bow out due to scheduling issues, Dodd had her second chance. She felt inevitable imposter syndrome, joining a cast after two series but says they couldn’t have been more welcoming. ‘After minutes it felt like she had been there forever,’ says Claudia Jessie (who plays Eloise), Dodd’s Bridgerton bestie. ‘Hannah feels like my sister in real life. It was the biggest joy having her join us.’

Top and skirt Louis Vuitton

Last year, while filming series four, Dodd fulfilled a long-held ambition, landing the part of Cabaret’s Sally Bowles in the West End – following in the footsteps of Jessie Buckley, Aimee Lou Wood and Self Esteem – thanks to a seed planted by Jonathan Bailey in Bridgerton’s green room. She messaged Luke Newton (who plays Colin Bridgerton) to ask if she was crazy to consider doing both roles concurrently. ‘These bloody Bridgerton brothers – Jonny manifesting it and then Luke telling me to go for it, silly boy.’ 

The schedule was gruelling: she had only three weeks to rehearse the part of Sally and she filmed her Bridgerton funeral scenes the same day Cabaret opened. Both characters are going through huge emotional upheaval, Sally and Francesca equally fragile and on the brink of cracking open. ‘I had to cry every day for four months,’ Dodd says, but conversely it was Francesca’s stoicism and poise in the face of tragedy that she found hardest to convey. Is she – and I ask this cautiously, considering her character’s implied autism – like Francesca, in her quest for order and perfection? ‘I am, in many ways,’ she says. ‘But I’m more emotional.’

Top, skirt belt and shoes Hermès. Flex’it gold earrings with diamonds FOPE

Dodd still suffers from what she calls ‘self-anxious days’ and admits to putting herself under enormous pressure. ‘Because Cabaret is in the round, the audience is so close I could see everybody’s faces, but if you’re in your head, you start wondering what are they thinking. You need to zone out and get into your little space but there are certain nights that’s easier than others.’ 

It sounds like the intensity took a toll. ‘It was incredible and I learnt so much, but I don’t know if it was the wisest idea.’ Was she burnt out by the end? She takes a moment to consider. ‘Yes, I think I was,’ she says quietly.

For now, some fun lies ahead. While Dodd’s sex scenes so far have been vanilla – ‘not much was expected of us so there was a lot of laughing on those days’ – the next series will surely require more work with the show’s intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbot. ‘Lizzy is so good at reading people and seeing who needs to be able to laugh at it and when to take it really seriously. Bridgerton is a sexy show but they are always willing to listen to what you’re comfortable with. And those scenes tend to be well written to the point that it is an extension of that character’s story arc and not always there for the sake of being there.’ Dodd had the privilege of watching the steamy bath scene between ‘Benophie’ – Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie (Yerin Ha) – ahead of cast screenings. ‘When Yerin was sent that one to approve, she asked me to watch it with her. So the first time she saw it wasn’t in a room with everybody else.’

Dress Valentino

In an unexpected turn, there is a new Lady Whistledown, a self-appointed successor to Penelope Bridgerton (née Featherington), who promises to keep the Ton alive – and the Queen amused – with salacious gossip. Is it Francesca? Or is the smart money on Michaela? All we know is that ‘Francaela’ is coming into focus and sure to get the Ton’s tongues wagging – we can be certain Francesca will finally achieve her pinnacle. 

Bridgerton S4 is available on Netflix now. 

Cover image: Dress Stella McCartney. Flex’it necklace in white and yellow gold FOPE. Gold and diamond stud earrings FOPE. Prima Twins Flex’it rings in gold with diamonds FOPE  (all available at FOPE, 1A Old Bond Street, London W1. fope.com)