‘Bridgerton’ Star Florence Hunt on Finally Having Her Own Storyline in Season 4 and Her Theory About How Hyacinth Sneaks Into the Balls: ‘This Is Not Her First Rodeo’
Florence Hunt‘s Hyacinth has been the baby of the family on “Bridgerton” for a long time. When Hunt first joined the Netflix show to play the household’s youngest child in 2019, she was a 12-year-old about to make her television debut in the Netflix fantasy series “Cursed.” Now on the cusp of 19, and a two-time SAG Award nominee for ensemble performance, Hunt has spent her teen years transporting between modern-day England and Regency-era London.
“Bridgerton” is based on author Julia Quinn’s romance novels, with each book and subsequent season focusing on a specific sibling. Hyacinth’s novel, “It’s In His Kiss,” is the seventh installment, and introduces her love interest Gareth St. Clair as a young man struggling with a spiteful father and who’s looking to translate his late mother’s diary from Italian to English — which is where Hyacinth comes into play.
Throughout the show’s first three seasons, since she was so young, Hyacinth’s role has been a relatively limited one. She can usually be seen in family settings, catching her siblings off-guard with well-meaning but surprisingly insightful questions about their love lives, and bringing an endearing innocence to the show. Season 4 marks a turning point not only for Hyacinth, but for the Bridgerton line-up as well. Officially halfway done with Quinn’s books — with four siblings’ stories told, and four to still be explored — viewers see Hyacinth begin to step closer toward the spotlight this season.
Previous seasons focused on the romances of Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Bassett (Regé-Jean Page), Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) and most recently, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan).
Now it’s finally tortured artist Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) turn. Captivated by a stranger who ultimately flees his mother’s masquerade ball, Benedict is unknowingly reunited with his “Lady in Silver,” this time as herself: a young maid named Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) to whom he is deeply drawn. Simultaneously, Benedict’s siblings continue to navigate their own lives, and Sophie is eventually brought into Bridgerton house as Hyacinth and Eloise’s lady’s maid.
And for the first time in the show, Hyacinth has a storyline that is all hers. The teenager is desperate to debut in Regency-era England, sneaking into society events and eagerly attending etiquette lessons under the watchful eye of her sister Eloise (Claudia Jesse). While her eventual beau and days of translating Italian are down the road, Hyacinth is ready to step out into the world. As the Bridgerton house footman John remarks in the season’s opening sequence, “Princess Hyacinth has risen.”
Hunt spoke with Variety about growing up on the set of one of Netflix’s most popular shows, her character’s longing to enter society — and what lies ahead for Hyacinth Bridgerton.
It’s a good proportion of my entire existence, which is crazy to think about. It’s an absolute honor to grow up with any character, but especially that character being Hyacinth, who is someone who I really adore.
I’ve got one older sister, and I think [it’s] natural when you’re younger, and you have a sibling that you look up to. Hyacinth’s got seven older siblings, and they’re going through these adult situations, and her main exposure to the world is through her siblings. As a younger child, you’re desperate to get there and join them on that journey, but you can’t quite comprehend the fact that you’re younger and that can’t happen yet. I feel like I related to that when I was younger, and my sister got a social media app before I did, and I was like, “That is not fair!” You want to be on the same level as them, and Hyacinth is really trying to join in with her older siblings.
It’s still a few years away, but how are you preparing to have the spotlight on you when you are eventually the romantic lead for your season? Did you have any hesitations regarding eventually becoming a romantic lead on the show, and what that will involve in on-screen depictions?It’s an extremely exciting thought, because I care so much about Hyacinth. It would be an absolute honor to just even see what happens in her life. Obviously, I’ve read the book — I know what the end goal is, but to be able to stick with her through that would be an absolute dream. So fingers crossed I will. But it’s also nerve-racking. “Bridgerton” is a huge, huge show, and you carry a lot of pressure to entertain everyone on that season. All my co-stars who play my siblings have done it so seamlessly that there is a pressure to live up to that. I’m in a great position where I’ve been able to watch everyone for all these years deliver and do such an amazing job that I’ve learned a lot of lessons.
It would be fun to see how she finally gets introduced into the Marriage Mart. We’ve had so many seasons of building up to her presentation into society and meeting these possible suitors that I’m really excited to see how she actually copes in those situations, because it’s something that she desires. There’s so many aspects to the story, like reading Italian out of the diary — I can’t speak Italian! One thing that I was considering doing this year is picking up on Italian, whether they use that part of the story or not.
I reckon she raids her siblings’ closets quite often. I feel like this is not the first time; this is not her first rodeo. I can picture her sneaking in ever since she was a young child, but I also feel like somewhere, there’s a sibling who’s helping her out. I’m thinking that maybe she didn’t do all of this on her own. I think someone helped her out — maybe Francesca, who knows?
Lessons, maturity, and she… relaxes. Maybe “wise” is a better word. We’ll go with wise.
They end up teaching each other quite a lot. Hyacinth ultimately learns a big lesson from Eloise, but I think secretly, Eloise is learning and feeding off of Hyacinth as well. They’re both so different that they kind of end up balancing each other out. It was a lot of fun for me and Claudia to play as well, because we’re so close in real life. It was quite a lot of fun to argue with her, because we’ve known each other so long, we literally are like siblings.
She’s a really, really strong individual, kind of like her mum. She’s obviously never met her dad, and she’s grown up with this single mother who’s able to raise eight children seamlessly. [Violet Bridgerton] is also so respected in society and she’s the rock of the family. She really, really looks up to her mum, as I think all of the siblings do. She loves her sisters, obviously wanting to be like them, but also learning from them and the wives of the brothers that we meet.
For Hyacinth, she kind of views Eloise as having it all — she gets to be part of the Marriage Mart, she gets to meet these suitors, and that’s everything Hyacinth wants. She finally has Sophie come into her life as her lady’s maid, and she’s like, “This is my friend, Sophie.” Obviously, she’s her lady’s maid, but Hyacinth really does see her as a friend. She likes to think that she finally has something for herself. But we end up creating quite a nice friendship in the end, which was a lot of fun to play.
Me and Will [Tilston] spoke about this. We know it’s happening, but we choose to turn a blind eye to it. It’s more comfortable to do that when it’s your own mum. But I think secretly Hyacinth is so happy, of course, who wouldn’t want to see their mum happy? Violet deserves it.
Anthony has played a large role in Hyacinth’s life, stepping in as a father figure. How has his absence affected her this season?We have a really nice scene where he comes back, and I think for any child who’s got so many siblings, there’s nothing quite like all your siblings being in one room. He’s definitely taught her quite a few lessons and left that with her, and she’s also able to turn to her other brothers to kind of look for that male figure in her life.
In terms of scenes that stand out in Part 1, Francesca’s quest to figure out what an orgasm is results in a series of humorous and awkward conversations with various members of the family. What were your thoughts on the discussion of “the pinnacle” this season?
A crazy, crazy conversation. Crazy read through to be at when that’s getting discussed!
What has it been like growing up on set, spending your teen years on one of Netflix’s most popular shows? Do you have any specific memories that stand out?It’s a really special thing to grow up with such an amazing group of people. To have those people play siblings but also feel like your long-lost siblings in real life is a special thing and kind of a strange experience. I can’t even picture what my life would be like if I didn’t have the show, because it’s such an imperative part of my life and has been for so long. To be able to keep acting for that amount of time and develop a character over such a big period of time is such a special thing as an actor. It’s sometimes hard to distinguish between seasons, so I try to write stuff down on photos from a day on set, like tiny things that insignificant things that happened, just to kind of jog my memory.
How have you balanced “Bridgerton” with school?
Until I was 16, I did tutoring. We’d film for the day, and then Will and I had to go off and do five hours of tutoring, which was hell. We got through that though. Post 16, it becomes a choice whether you want to tutor, and it’s not as important. So I continued doing school, but I did it in my own time, and I managed to sit my A-level [exams], which I’m really happy about.
I’m just excited to see what comes along. There’s really exciting content being made at the moment, and I’m excited to see what the universe brings. I really enjoy doing independent films, so I’d love to carry on with that kind of thing.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
“Bridgerton” is based on author Julia Quinn’s romance novels, with each book and subsequent season focusing on a specific sibling. Hyacinth’s novel, “It’s In His Kiss,” is the seventh installment, and introduces her love interest Gareth St. Clair as a young man struggling with a spiteful father and who’s looking to translate his late mother’s diary from Italian to English — which is where Hyacinth comes into play.
Throughout the show’s first three seasons, since she was so young, Hyacinth’s role has been a relatively limited one. She can usually be seen in family settings, catching her siblings off-guard with well-meaning but surprisingly insightful questions about their love lives, and bringing an endearing innocence to the show. Season 4 marks a turning point not only for Hyacinth, but for the Bridgerton line-up as well. Officially halfway done with Quinn’s books — with four siblings’ stories told, and four to still be explored — viewers see Hyacinth begin to step closer toward the spotlight this season.
Previous seasons focused on the romances of Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Bassett (Regé-Jean Page), Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) and most recently, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan).
Now it’s finally tortured artist Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) turn. Captivated by a stranger who ultimately flees his mother’s masquerade ball, Benedict is unknowingly reunited with his “Lady in Silver,” this time as herself: a young maid named Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) to whom he is deeply drawn. Simultaneously, Benedict’s siblings continue to navigate their own lives, and Sophie is eventually brought into Bridgerton house as Hyacinth and Eloise’s lady’s maid.
And for the first time in the show, Hyacinth has a storyline that is all hers. The teenager is desperate to debut in Regency-era England, sneaking into society events and eagerly attending etiquette lessons under the watchful eye of her sister Eloise (Claudia Jesse). While her eventual beau and days of translating Italian are down the road, Hyacinth is ready to step out into the world. As the Bridgerton house footman John remarks in the season’s opening sequence, “Princess Hyacinth has risen.”
Hunt spoke with Variety about growing up on the set of one of Netflix’s most popular shows, her character’s longing to enter society — and what lies ahead for Hyacinth Bridgerton.
It’s a good proportion of my entire existence, which is crazy to think about. It’s an absolute honor to grow up with any character, but especially that character being Hyacinth, who is someone who I really adore.
I’ve got one older sister, and I think [it’s] natural when you’re younger, and you have a sibling that you look up to. Hyacinth’s got seven older siblings, and they’re going through these adult situations, and her main exposure to the world is through her siblings. As a younger child, you’re desperate to get there and join them on that journey, but you can’t quite comprehend the fact that you’re younger and that can’t happen yet. I feel like I related to that when I was younger, and my sister got a social media app before I did, and I was like, “That is not fair!” You want to be on the same level as them, and Hyacinth is really trying to join in with her older siblings.
It’s still a few years away, but how are you preparing to have the spotlight on you when you are eventually the romantic lead for your season? Did you have any hesitations regarding eventually becoming a romantic lead on the show, and what that will involve in on-screen depictions?It’s an extremely exciting thought, because I care so much about Hyacinth. It would be an absolute honor to just even see what happens in her life. Obviously, I’ve read the book — I know what the end goal is, but to be able to stick with her through that would be an absolute dream. So fingers crossed I will. But it’s also nerve-racking. “Bridgerton” is a huge, huge show, and you carry a lot of pressure to entertain everyone on that season. All my co-stars who play my siblings have done it so seamlessly that there is a pressure to live up to that. I’m in a great position where I’ve been able to watch everyone for all these years deliver and do such an amazing job that I’ve learned a lot of lessons.
It would be fun to see how she finally gets introduced into the Marriage Mart. We’ve had so many seasons of building up to her presentation into society and meeting these possible suitors that I’m really excited to see how she actually copes in those situations, because it’s something that she desires. There’s so many aspects to the story, like reading Italian out of the diary — I can’t speak Italian! One thing that I was considering doing this year is picking up on Italian, whether they use that part of the story or not.
I reckon she raids her siblings’ closets quite often. I feel like this is not the first time; this is not her first rodeo. I can picture her sneaking in ever since she was a young child, but I also feel like somewhere, there’s a sibling who’s helping her out. I’m thinking that maybe she didn’t do all of this on her own. I think someone helped her out — maybe Francesca, who knows?
Lessons, maturity, and she… relaxes. Maybe “wise” is a better word. We’ll go with wise.
They end up teaching each other quite a lot. Hyacinth ultimately learns a big lesson from Eloise, but I think secretly, Eloise is learning and feeding off of Hyacinth as well. They’re both so different that they kind of end up balancing each other out. It was a lot of fun for me and Claudia to play as well, because we’re so close in real life. It was quite a lot of fun to argue with her, because we’ve known each other so long, we literally are like siblings.
She’s a really, really strong individual, kind of like her mum. She’s obviously never met her dad, and she’s grown up with this single mother who’s able to raise eight children seamlessly. [Violet Bridgerton] is also so respected in society and she’s the rock of the family. She really, really looks up to her mum, as I think all of the siblings do. She loves her sisters, obviously wanting to be like them, but also learning from them and the wives of the brothers that we meet.
For Hyacinth, she kind of views Eloise as having it all — she gets to be part of the Marriage Mart, she gets to meet these suitors, and that’s everything Hyacinth wants. She finally has Sophie come into her life as her lady’s maid, and she’s like, “This is my friend, Sophie.” Obviously, she’s her lady’s maid, but Hyacinth really does see her as a friend. She likes to think that she finally has something for herself. But we end up creating quite a nice friendship in the end, which was a lot of fun to play.
Me and Will [Tilston] spoke about this. We know it’s happening, but we choose to turn a blind eye to it. It’s more comfortable to do that when it’s your own mum. But I think secretly Hyacinth is so happy, of course, who wouldn’t want to see their mum happy? Violet deserves it.
Anthony has played a large role in Hyacinth’s life, stepping in as a father figure. How has his absence affected her this season?We have a really nice scene where he comes back, and I think for any child who’s got so many siblings, there’s nothing quite like all your siblings being in one room. He’s definitely taught her quite a few lessons and left that with her, and she’s also able to turn to her other brothers to kind of look for that male figure in her life.
In terms of scenes that stand out in Part 1, Francesca’s quest to figure out what an orgasm is results in a series of humorous and awkward conversations with various members of the family. What were your thoughts on the discussion of “the pinnacle” this season?
A crazy, crazy conversation. Crazy read through to be at when that’s getting discussed!
What has it been like growing up on set, spending your teen years on one of Netflix’s most popular shows? Do you have any specific memories that stand out?It’s a really special thing to grow up with such an amazing group of people. To have those people play siblings but also feel like your long-lost siblings in real life is a special thing and kind of a strange experience. I can’t even picture what my life would be like if I didn’t have the show, because it’s such an imperative part of my life and has been for so long. To be able to keep acting for that amount of time and develop a character over such a big period of time is such a special thing as an actor. It’s sometimes hard to distinguish between seasons, so I try to write stuff down on photos from a day on set, like tiny things that insignificant things that happened, just to kind of jog my memory.
How have you balanced “Bridgerton” with school?
Until I was 16, I did tutoring. We’d film for the day, and then Will and I had to go off and do five hours of tutoring, which was hell. We got through that though. Post 16, it becomes a choice whether you want to tutor, and it’s not as important. So I continued doing school, but I did it in my own time, and I managed to sit my A-level [exams], which I’m really happy about.
I’m just excited to see what comes along. There’s really exciting content being made at the moment, and I’m excited to see what the universe brings. I really enjoy doing independent films, so I’d love to carry on with that kind of thing.
This interview has been edited and condensed.