Exclusive Interview
‘Bridgerton’ Star Michelle Mao on Rosamund’s Romantic Future & Redemption Hopes
What To Know
- Michelle Mao played Rosamund Li in Bridgerton Season 4.
- Mao sat down with Swooon to discuss her character’s journey and fan theories about Rosamund’s sexuality.
- Mao also reveals if fans can expect to see Rosamund return in future seasons.
At this point, everyone knows about the cultural phenomenon that is Bridgerton, but nothing could have prepared Season 4 breakout star Michelle Mao, who plays Sophie Beak’s (Yerin Ha) stepsister, Rosamund Li, for what it is actually like to step into the Mayfair marriage mart.
“People keep telling you how big it is, and you see it everywhere,” Mao told Swooon. “And I’ve been such a fan of the show for four years, but really, you’re never prepared for exactly how big it is when it actually does end up coming out. It’s been an incredible experience and felt like a dream from the beginning.”
Now that the highly anticipated second half of Bridgerton Season 4 has hit Netflix, Michelle Mao sat down with Swooon to take readers behind the scenes on filming the season, theorize what’s next for Rosamund, and share her favorite fan theories about her complex character. (Warning: Spoilers for the Bridgerton Season 4 finale ahead!)
Netflix
Coming into Season 4 of Bridgerton, which adapts the beloved fairytale Cinderella in Julia Quinn’s carefully crafted Ton, Mao knew that she wanted to pay homage to the “evil stepsisters” who had come before her, without becoming a “caricature” of the Disney cartoon. “What I did love was the way that the stepsisters held themselves [in the cartoon],” she told Swooon. “Their noses are always up in the air, and they don’t really care about whose space they’re in. They’re a little bit of a comedic relief, and it’s campy, and it’s fun, and I loved bringing that side into Rosamund.”
Like past Cinderella stepsisters, from those of Ella Enchanted and Ever After to the classic Disney cartoon and its stepsister-centric sequel, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, viewers get to know Rosamund and Posy (Isabella Wei) in the heat of their pursuit of a man to marry. During the second half of Season 4, Rosamund makes a connection with Lord Stotter (Jamie Cho), who leaves her once her dowry is cut in half.
“I’ve always thought of Rosamund as someone who is quite repressed romantically and sexually,” Mao revealed. “Making a match has become such a job for her and has become such a scary sort of life-or-death situation for her. She’s lost the play and the fun of falling in love.” When it comes to her relationship with Lord Stotter, Mao explained, “In my opinion, she did not love him.”
He continued, “He’s coming at the end of this season, where she’s kind of not been doing so well, and she’s been failing at every turn, and then not meeting the expectations that have been placed on her. And so, really, he could have been anyone, and she would have been over the moon.” While Rosamund’s reaction to Lord Stotter’s proposal was genuine, Mao explained, “I don’t know that it’s to do with him.”
According to Mao, in an ideal world, Rosamund would find someone who could help her feel safe, since she has such a “scarcity mindset.” In fact, Mao revealed that, in her opinion, Rosamund’s ideal partner is someone like Beck (Avan Jogia) from Victorious. “I think she needs a Beck,” Mao told Swooon. “Just someone who’s chill. Someone who takes her little outbursts and will say, ‘That’s not okay to say, but I still love you. Let’s be kinder next time,’ and allow her to unlearn and kind of remove all the barbed wires that she has around her.” (Honestly, an iconic answer.)
Of course, Mao has seen plenty of fan theories online about Rosamund’s love life as well. “I’ve also seen online that there are people who think that Rosamund is a closeted lesbian or closeted asexual,” she shared. “That’s why she acts out in these ways because she’s being forced to engage in a very heteronormative society. I think those theories are really awesome and cool. If people can read into that and find empathy for Rosamund through that, I’m all for it.”
Netflix
When Rosamund learns that Araminta (Katie Leung) had stolen Sophie’s dowry and used it to supplement hers, Lord Stotter breaks off their engagement. Knowing Rosamund’s internal struggle, Mao believes that this is a hopeful outcome. “I think that in many ways this is the beginning of Rosamund’s journey. From Rosamund’s perspective, all of Season 4 is like her villain origin story. In that moment, she realizes that this worldview that she’s been painted and fed her whole life might not be true. I don’t think she goes the full distance just in that scene alone, but I think that a little seed is planted.”
In that moment, Rosamund realizes that Sophie was never really the problem, leading to Mao’s most iconic line delivery, “I am tired of talking about her,” rivaling Claudia Jessie‘s Season 1 banger, “Daphne, you must make haste!” While Mao is convinced that Sophie is the kind of person who could forgive Rosamund one day, Rosamund has to start by “doing the work to become a better person.” As she put it, “Her actions aren’t necessarily something that comes from a place of pure malice. It’s careless, it’s cruel, and it’s callous, but it’s not pure evil.”
Looking towards the future, Mao believes that this may have been Rosamund’s last swing at securing a match. “I think she might be done with the marriage mart forever, but I think she might be finding other ways to feel fulfilled. The next two seasons are going to focus so much on how the marriage mart can manifest in non-traditional ways, and how a woman might not necessarily find themselves matched with someone in a traditional manner. It might all have to do with finding yourself first or realizing things about yourself. I think if she’s witnessing that trajectory of society at large changing and shifting in that direction, she might be happy to be like, ‘Actually, I don’t think I’m ready to be on the marriage mart just yet or ever.”
According to Mao, her hope for Rosamund is to live “an interesting and fruitful life,” even if that means saying, “I’m happy to just be a spinster and pursue other things rather than failing the Bechdel test.”
Netflix
Naturally, as soon as Seasons 5 and 6 were brought up, we had to ask Mao if we can expect to see Rosamund turn up in future seasons. Her response? “I mean, they can just call me up, and I’ll be there because I love all of them so much. I haven’t heard anything at the moment about that, and because I’ve read the books, and I know the stories and all of that, I wouldn’t get my hopes up about that. But my door is always open, and I would love to be there.”
At the same time, the Season 4 finale left viewers with one final question that is not answered in the books: Who is the new Lady Whistledown? Could it be Rosamund Li? Mao responded, “I don’t know if I can answer that, but I will just say that no one’s off the table.”
Here’s to hoping that the Season 4 finale is just the beginning of Rosamund’s redemption arc!
Bridgerton, Season 4, Streaming Now, Netflix
