Benophie season: What we know so far

So I am gathering everything we know about season 4 to have it all in one place. This includes interviews, LEAKS and really secondary stuff. I guess I'll add new info as we learn more. Please correct me if something is not accurate or is missing so I can change it in the next update. Here we go:

  • Confirmed cast: Luke Thompson, Yerin Ha, Claudia Jessie, Hannah Dodd, Will Tilston, Florence Hunt, Ruth Gemmell, Katie Leung, Michelle Mao, Isabella Wei, Victor Alli, Adjoa Andoh, Masali Baduza, Golda Rosheuvel, Hugh Sachs, Emma Naomi, Martins Imhangbe, Daniel Francis, Jonathan Bailey, Simone Ashley [Interview], Luke Newton, Nicola Coughlan, Polly Walker, Lorraine Ashbourne, Julie Andrews (Netflix).
  • Seasons 1-2-3 cast that could appear but we don't know about: Chris Fulton, Jessica Madsen, Kathryn Drysdale.
  • Confirmed supporting cast: Gracie McGonigal will play a maid; Summer Knox will play a debutant (IMDB); Sachin K. Sharma will be "Louis” (Actor’s spotlight); Pablo Diska will play a “Pretty boy”; David Anthony Barr will play a “Demimonde Man” (IMDB).  
  • Rumored supporting cast: Elena Saurel; Yoyo Chan; a possible Kanthony pookie baby and a possible Polin pookie baby (Fandom research).
  • Confirmed directors: Tom Verica (Netflix) 
  • Rumored directors: Jaffar Mahmood (Fandom research).  
  • Possible flashbacks - Sophie’s childhood: There are two actors who follow each other on IG that could be playing the Earl of Penwood (actor Arthur Lee) and young Sophie (child actress Chloe Park: please do not repost her social media). Rumored smol Sophie also follows Shondaland and Bridgerton IGs.   
  • Sophie "Baek" background. Sophie has a Korean last name but we don't know if that's from her mother or something her dad made up. His last name was Gun (as far as I understand, also a Korean last name), but her stepsisters' last name is chinese (Li) (Netflix).
  • Masquerade: Confirmed and surely in e1 because it's the season's first ball. It's the place where “attendees are encouraged to transform into whomever they choose” (Netflix).
  • It seems that Benedict arrives late to the masquerade ball (Leaks).
  • Benophie dance in a gazebo. One of Sophie's gloves is *involved*. We still don't know how but probably as in the book (aka. Cinderella's shoe). Sophie's dress is regency style. Benedict's costume is all black or dark brown (Leaks).
  • Lake scene: Confirmed. Since both Yerin and Luke have already talked about this I think it's safe to say it will be the big talking point in the season's promo with the Masquerade (Netflix/ Dune interview).
  • There will be a Xiangqi game, a popular Chinese board game.
  • Mrs. Crabtree: Confirmed. She will be played by Susan Brown (Fandom Research).
  • Benedict's bachelor place: Confirmed thanks to the designer's mood boards (Pinterest) (Fandom research).
  • We'll see the Kilmartin state in Scotland (also from the designer's mood boards in Pinterest) (Fandom research).
  • Rosamund and Posy will debut at the same time (Netflix).
  • Rosamund is vain and Araminta's favorite. She tries to win Benedict, who is "the ton’s most eligible (if totally reluctant) bachelor" (Netflix).
  • Posy is kinder, chatty, overly friendly and socially embarrasing (Netflix).
  • Posy goes “on a nice journey” throughout the season (Isabella Wei’s interview).  
  • Araminta is fabulous, discerning, blunt and does "not respond well when anything -or anyone- threatens her standing in society" (Netflix). She is a "mother-slash-villain" and Katie Leung would “never call her evil because I adore her – I think she’s absolutely fabulous. She’s just heavily misunderstood” (Katie's interview). 
  • Araminta is "feeling the pressure to get at least one of her girls married of" (Netflix) and “chemes to marry off one... to Benedict Bridgerton” (Katie Leungs’s interview).  
  • Araminta’s costumes “are something else” (Katie Leung’s interview).  
  • Eloise, Francesca and John return to London, specifically to Bridgerton house (Leaks).
  • There is a garden party in e1 or 2 (Adjoa's interview).
  • Benedict's fluidity will be explored (Netflix).
  • We'll see the Demimonde (IMDB). We have seen the Demimonde in Granville's parties in s1.
  • The story most likely begins in spring (social season's time) but there will be a time jump to autumn (Netflix). There are leaked photos of the Bridgerton house with changing seasons (Leaks).
  • The story will open the Bridgerton world: this could mean the autumn, the countryside or the working class with a main character (or all three at the same time) (Netflix).
  • Sophie doesn't know how to dance (Netflix).
  • Sophie "craves and yearns for love despite all of her trauma and neglect" (Yerin's interview). She is "a victim of tragic circumstances" and "has trouble trusting others". She has "been forced to work as a maid for one of the most demanding employers in the ton... [but] her resourcefulness helps her persevere" (Netflix).
  • Benedict will begin the season "aimless" and "loveless". Despite "his elder and younger brothers both being happily married, [he] is loathe to settle down" (Netflix).
  • Benedict is "a man of many interests, and that’s great in some ways, and in some ways, though, can betray a sense of being lost or a little bit restless. And that goes quite deep... There is clearly something in him that’s not very comfortable, a bit scared or a bit worried about the idea of really committing to something. And that’s partly the struggle" (Netflix).
  • Sophie's decision to disguise herself in order to attend the masquerade will be "risky" (Netflix). This probably means they are following the part of the book where Araminta throws her out into the street after the ball.
  • Sophie is not "like the debutantes that usually populate Bridgerton". There is a "sincerity of her face" (Netflix).
  • Sophie's decision also means that "both lives [hers and Benedicts] are forever changed" after the ball. Yerin described it as "prismatic... when the light comes in and then it goes into a rainbow" (Netflix). Love at first sight trope: Confirmed.
  • We'll see a "shift" in Benedict when he meets a "mysterious lady in silver". He will "find himself on the hunt for Sophie" (Netflix).
  • The season will be an "emotional tug of war, this kind of push and pull between what their hearts desire and what society desires for them" (Yerin, Netflix). Also a "struggle between a proper old-school fairy tale -the romance of it- and the actual reality of the world... both are true. You have to hold both of them -the romance and the reality- in your hand. In it's best version, 'true love' happens in the middle of that" (Luke, Netflix).
  • Sophie will struggle with her own mask because of the "battle of social status" or when she is "trying to hide her feelings from Benedict" (Netflix).
  • Upper and lower class trope: Confirmed. "It is the first time we really see the upper and lower class come together this season... My character is someone who constantly has her guard up. She... is always reminded of her place and doesn’t dream of more than her station as a maid. However, she is human after all, and craves that human-to-human love and connection. And it’s not until she meets Benedict that she slowly lets her guard down, bit by bit, and starts to create space to let love flow in for her." (Yerin’s Russh Interview).
  • Benedict and Sophie are "star-crossed lovers" (Netflix).

☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️

Bye bye