From witch to matriarch: how Bridgerton’s Katie Leung is redefining power and influence on screen

There are some significant differences between Leung’s character Araminta Gun and Araminta Gunningworth in Julia Quinn’s novels, on which the show is based: there is more context to explain her callousness in the TV version. “We had a lot of discussions with the writer and the showrunners about finding her humanity,” Leung recalls.

“You see the moment when she discovers her husband’s betrayal and the existence of Sophie, and that informs everything she does afterwards. Suddenly, there is a huge secret that she needs to hide. If anybody finds out about this child, her reputation is going to be ruined, and her own daughters’ prospects will be gone. The stakes are high for Araminta.” Her cruelty and calculating nature, Leung explains, come from heartbreak and survival.

Leung’s preparation for the role included an unexpected source of inspiration: Wong Kar- wai’s 2000 masterpiece In the Mood for Love. The Regency-style stays or corsets she wore are designed to lift the bust, straighten the posture and create a smooth line for high-waisted dresses, reminding her of the tight-fitting cheongsams in the Hong Kong film. “Bridgerton’s dresses are very fabulous but very fitted. I wanted to glide like Maggie Cheung in those cheongsams.”

The physical constraint of the costumes parallels the emotional restraint exhibited by the women in Bridgerton, and again Leung looked to her heritage to find motivation. “I thought a lot about my grandmother,” she says. “She raised five children in Hong Kong with very little.”

Women of her grandmother’s generation were discouraged from expressing their wants and opinions, and were expected just to get on with their lives without complaint or self-pity. “She pushed through because of her love for her children. She was able to achieve the unimaginable because there was no other way. [For the role,] I took a lot of influence from my family background and seeing what women are capable of when they really need to be.”

That quiet strength, she felt, was essential to the role. Within Chinese culture, women often suppress emotions; that repression builds resentment and fear, but also resilience. “When people talk about Araminta’s deadly looks on screen, I laugh, because I grew up with those looks at home,” says the actor, who spent many of her childhood summers in Hong Kong.

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Her experience as a mother also shaped her connection to the character. “I have one child and I have a huge support network. [Even then,] the first couple of years of him being born, it was difficult during postpartum,” she says. Araminta’s fierce protection of her two daughters felt deeply relatable. “Imagine raising two children as a single mother in that era. That’s why I have so much empathy for someone like Araminta, who is not financially dependent on anybody but herself. It must have been f***ing hard.”

Leung and her on-screen daughters, played by Hong Kong actor Isabella Wei and US-born, Hong Kong-raised Michelle Mao, became close friends off set. “We built a real bond,” she says. “Before shooting, we played mahjong, went for hot pot dinners and just spent time together.”

For Leung, that camaraderie was transformative. “I’d rarely been in a room with so many Asian actors before; usually, I’m the only one. So this time, I felt that protective instincts—I wanted them to feel safe and supported, because I remember what it was like to feel like the outsider.”

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The diversity of the Bridgerton cast struck a deep chord with her. “We’ve got a long way to go. Generally, big-budget productions take fewer risks,” she says. “But with Bridgerton, we’ve got [a few] Asian families, we’ve included Cantonese and extras [who are] Asians. We’ve got Asians in the crew. That makes all the difference. It seems like a small detail, but it makes an actor certainly in a space where I don’t feel self-conscious. It’s just wonderful.”

Fans quickly noticed a small but significant detail: Araminta makes a snarky comment about a neighbour’s old-fashioned décor in Cantonese. “That came from a conversation with the director,” Leung recalls. “They asked if I’d like to include some Cantonese, and I said absolutely. … I’m so glad we put that in because it’s really important to a lot of people.”

That moment that has been feted on social media by the Cantonese-speaking community, and for Leung, it’s a critical show of representation. As Cho Chang, Leung appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Order of the Phoenix (2007), Half-Blood Prince (2009) and Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). The character’s ethnicity, she reflects, is “in the name, but beyond that, there is no mention of her race”.

The experience was freeing yet also lonely: “I was the only Asian at Hogwarts.” But with Bridgerton, not only are there more Asian cultural details—the Cantonese exchanges, small touches in the décor—but “you also have three other Asian women in the room with you. It felt like you could just be yourself,” she says. Bridgerton proves that inclusion and mainstream success can coexist.

Looking back on her two decades in the industry, Leung sees progress—but says it’s uneven. “Harry Potter and Bridgerton are exceptions. A lot of the jobs I’ve done have still felt very much like a box-ticking exercise. I was only cast to fulfil diversity quotas. I’m not saying that’s with every show that I’ve been in, but certainly the fact that we’re still having this conversation, I think we still are a long way away,” she says.

For Leung, authentic representation means giving actors of colour space in universal stories. “The problem up until now is that the Asian actors would come into the picture, but then it’s easy for them to leave again and we wouldn’t miss them,” she says. “But if you cast an Asian person within the crux of the story, people are going to watch that and relate. And that’s what Bridgerton does so well: themes of friendship, love and motherhood are things that we can all universally relate to. That’s what needs to happen.”

At the time of the interview, Leung had just finished shooting a new four-part Australian- British psychological thriller called Careless in Scotland, slated for release at the end of this year. As for what’s next: “I’d love to try comedy,” she says. “Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong, who played my dad in the 2018 show Strangers, once told me that understanding comedy makes you a better actor. Or maybe I’ll do a kitchen-sink drama,” she says, referring to British style of filmmaking depicting the struggles of ordinary, working-class people. “I have done a lot of different genres, and I still want to work on my craft and do something very raw, basic and that’s going to teach me a lot about how I can become a better actor.”

Whatever she does next, she knows the process will need to be as carefully considered as the role. “Bridgerton has really set the bar high for me,” she says. “In the future, I only want to work on projects where the director and the cast and crew are on the same level, and where we’re all able to have like open discussions about where we see the story going.”

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