Why Did ‘Bridgerton’ Recast Francesca? All About Ruby Stokes’s Exit

Bridgerton season 3 is introducing a number of new faces, together with a unique actress taking part in Francesca.

While the Bridgerton daughter was initially performed by Ruby Stokes in seasons 1 and a pair of, Netflix introduced in May 2022 that Hannah Dodd can be taking up the position.

In season 3, Francesca will get fairly an enormous storyline because the character makes her debut into society. As her mom Violet and Lady Danbury group as much as assist her be the “diamond of the season” like her older sister Daphne was, she finds herself with various suitors.

However, one explicit man catches her eye, a quiet man named John Stirling, who guide followers know later performs an enormous position in her love story. 

While Dodd has been a welcome addition to the solid within the expanded position, followers are curious to know why Stokes didn’t reprise her position. 

Here’s all the things to find out about her exit from the sequence. 

Why did Ruby Stokes depart Bridgerton?

Just as Regé-Jean Page left Bridgerton after season 1 to pursue different roles, Stokes exited the sequence to star on one other venture. In March 2022, the identical month Bridgerton season 2 premiered, It was introduced that Stokes would star as Lucy Carlyle within the Netflix adaptation of Lockwood & Co. 

According to EP and showrunner Chris Van Dusen, Francesca was meant to have a bigger position in season 2, nonetheless, due to Stokes’ prior commitments to Lockwood & Co., she needed to depart the Bridgerton set after filming three episodes. 

“I love Francesca, but we lost her midway through season 2,” Van Dusen instructed TVLine following the season 2 premiere. “After exhausting all other options, she unfortunately had to come out due to reasons beyond our control. Perhaps season 3 will be the charm.”

It was later introduced that Dodd can be taking up the position that May. 

Lockwood & Co., based mostly on Jonathan Stroud’s supernatural guide sequence of the identical identify, premiered in January 2023. The sequence was well-received throughout its debut, together with a 92% approval ranking on Rotten Tomatoes and reaching the No. 1 on Netflix in 18 international locations. However, in May 2023, it was introduced that the present was canceled after one season. 

What has Ruby Stokes mentioned about leaving Bridgerton?

Despite exiting the sequence, Stokes has nonetheless spoken extremely of Bridgerton and her castmates. Of her preliminary exit, Stokes instructed Variety, “It wasn’t an easy decision. But it was incredible being part of a cultural moment like Bridgerton.”

“Every lesson I learned on Bridgerton was so valuable, and it propelled me, and allowed me to go on and take on a lead role on another show,” she added of her position on Lockwood & Co.

Elaborating on her choice to depart, she instructed What To Watch that she merely couldn’t flip the chance to play Lucy Carlyle. “Something about Lucy spoke to me,” she defined. “It was an opportunity to discover a really completely different character and I’ve realized a terrific deal taking part in a younger grownup on the helm of a present. I simply felt it was a chance I couldn’t flip down!”

Speaking with 1883 journal, Stokes added that the factor she misses most about Bridgerton is her costars. “The people are just unmatched,” she mentioned. “They are incredible, generous, kind, hilarious and genuine. They’re great. They are just really, really good people, both the crew and the cast.”

What has Hannah Dodd mentioned about becoming a member of Bridgerton? 

Being a fan of the present already, Dodd instructed PEOPLE she was “really nervous about joining” the solid initially, however her costars welcomed her with “open arms.” 

“I was having banter with them in the green room on my first day, and now I can’t imagine not knowing any of them,” she added. “It’s the weirdest idea that I wouldn’t know them.” 

Following smaller roles on Netflix’s Anatomy of a Scandal and 2021’s Eternals, Dodd mentioned it was “the best feeling ever” to be taught of her casting information. 

“I couldn’t really believe it. I think I was with my family at the time, which was really nice, so I was surrounded by people that I wanted to tell straight away,” she mentioned of being solid. “But it was definitely… I think it’s the biggest one I’ve ever got. So, it was quite a special moment.”

What roles has Ruby Stokes taken on since Bridgerton? 

Though her sequence Lockwood & Co. was canceled in May 2023, Stokes has stored lots busy since then. In 2023, she appeared within the movie Black Dog and that very same yr she had a starring position within the Paramount+ minseries The Burning Girls alongside Samantha Morton. 

In November 2023, it was introduced that she would star within the BBC thriller The Jetty alongside Jenna Coleman and Shadow & Bone alum Archie Renaux. In January 2024, BBC shared the primary have a look at the four-part sequence, which is predicted to launch later this yr.