This afternoon, Yerin is gracious and glowing in casual palazzo trousers and sandals as we sit poolside at her hotel. You could never have guessed that she’d flown halfway across the world just the day before and wasn’t feeling her fittest when she landed.
Effusive and warm, she credits her sunny disposition to her mum, whom she says is unfailingly kind. “I’m so grateful she’s my mum,” Yerin says. “She just – I get emotional about it – she treats people with kindness no matter her situation or how tired she is or how stressed she is, she will always treat everyone with equality and that’s something she’s taught me is that kindness doesn’t cost anything and that’s how I think you gain respect from people.”
Clearly nothing like her Bridgerton mum Lady Araminta Gun, then, played by Harry Potter actress Katie Leung. “Definitely not a tiger mom,” says Yerin, giggling.
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As an all-new cast to the hit regency series, the actresses quickly bonded. “We’re like a little family; there were quite a number of us who came into the season fresh and new, so it was daunting at first and we just leaned on each other,” she says. “And being Asian and female actresses in the business, you want to just show up and support each other.”
While Bridgerton has always been known for its colour-blind casting, season five will introduce an all-Asian family, with some characters even speaking a few words of Korean and Chinese in the show.
“What I love about Bridgerton is that it shows representation in a way that doesn’t require over-explaining, like this doesn’t have to be a ‘Korean’ story,” she says. Yerin cites Crazy Rich Asians as one of the movies that allowed her to dream of a future career in Hollywood. “I love that it shows we can all coexist in this space and not have it be a big thing. Also, Benedict falls in love with Sophie as a person, and it’s about fighting for the person on the inside.”
