And where you recognise the actress from.
Like us, you've probably already binged the first four episodes of Bridgerton season three. And like us, you've probably got a few questions: Are Penelope and Colin really engaged? Where is Daphne? How on earth did they pull off those glow-ups? What was up with that very dramatic balloon disaster? When is Eloise finally going to be a decent friend? And who plays Francesca Bridgerton?
This season has introduced a few new players and one of the most interesting is Francesca Bridgerton, the sixth child in the Bridgerton family. Of course, Francesca has been around since season one — however, for this season, the character got a major plotline and the original actress, Ruby Stokes, was recast.
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Francesca Bridgerton is now played by newcomer Hannah Dodd — and honestly, we're already in love with her — which is pretty handy considering Francesca will likely have her own season in the coming years.
Hannah Dodd began her career as a dancer and a model
Hannah Dodd, who plays Francesca Bridgerton in the new series of Bridgerton, grew up between Essex and Suffolk. Practically as soon as she could walk, she was dancing.
“I was a dancer and that was all I ever wanted to do,” she said to Fabric. “When I was at school I was doing ballet, tap, and contemporary dance, and then I kind of went into musical theatre."
As a teenager, Dodd also worked as a model, landing a coveted Burberry campaign at the age of 19.
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As she told Italian Reve, her ultimate goal is to combine her love of dancing with her acting career. “I trained as a dancer originally and was sort of heading into the musical theatre; I love films, and one day being able to do musical theatre on film, maybe, would be an absolute dream,” she said. Bridgerton musical season, anyone?
You may have seen Hannah Dodd on your screens before
Hannah Dodd may be an unfamiliar face to many of us, but she actually been acting for a while. She landed her first role as Sophia in BBC's Harlots in 2018. That year, she also landed the leading role of Thea in Hulu's Find Me in Paris — the show saw her playing a ballet dancer.
In more recent years, Dodd has appeared in a streak of impressive projects, including Eternals, Chloé Zhao's Marvel flick, Anatomy of a Scandal, in which she played a young version of Sienna Miller's character, and Enola Homes 2.
Hannah Dodd was thrilled to win the role of Francesca Bridgerton
Naturally, joining the Bridgerton family was a dream come true for Dodd.
“It was all kept quite secret, so I had no idea that it was actually Bridgerton that I was going in for until the day of my meeting with the Shondaland team,” she said to Fabric. “They let me know just before, which was kind of terrifying, but also good, because it meant that I just had to kind of go in, and be present, and respond to what they were asking for. I’ve never not known what I was going in for before – I think it’s just because this is such a big show, lots of secrecy around storylines and stuff like that. I love prep, I love to really go into that room and feel like I know the character, and that I’ve done everything I can do, so it was definitely a different way of working for me.”
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Once she became the Francesca Bridgerton actress, Dodd went straight into prep work after winning the role. Not only did she take etiquette lessons, she also had to learn piano for the role — although she only had time to learn the songs she plays on the show.
Hannah Dodd is set to lead her own season of Bridgerton
If you're loving Francesca's sweet, quiet love story with John Stirling, we have good and bad news. (Look away now if you want to avoid spoilers!)
In Julia Quinn's books, which inspired the series, Francesca eventually has a pretty significant plotline. After marrying John (which, in the show, might even happen in the second half of season three), Francesca moves to Scotland.
However, in the book When He Was Wicked, which is “Francesca's book,” John dies just two years into their marriage. Her story is actually about her romance with John's cousin, Michael, who falls for her just a few days before she ties the knot with John.
We don't know when this story will be playing out in the Netflix series, it's very likely that her love story will be coming soon. In fact, there's a small chance it could play out in the next season. However, most fans believe that Benedict, whose love story appears in the third Bridgerton book, is the more likely candidate. All we do know is that next season's love story has been chosen.
"I can't say a word, I'll get in so much trouble," Quinn told People recently. "I do know, but I can't say yes."
Whether Francesca's romance with Michael plays out next season or a few seasons down the line, it seems that we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the years to come — and we couldn't be more thrilled.