Real reason Francesca Bridgerton was recast as Netflix boss ...

Real reason Francesca Bridgerton was recast as Netflix boss explains replacement

Bridgerton actress Ruby Stokes has been replaced as Hannah Dodd takes on the role as quiet and introverted Francesca Bridgerton for season three

Francesca Bridgerton will enjoy her place in the spotlight this series after melting into the background in the previous two series.

The quiet, introverted Bridgerton will find herself unwillingly pushed to make her debut in society as she begins her journey to find a husband - which she hopes will happen as swiftly as possible. In fact, she just wants to get it over and done with so she can get back to playing her beloved piano.

As viewers will be given the opportunity to fall in love with Francesca, they might also notice that she looks a little different to previous seasons. That's because actress Ruby Stokes, who starred as Francesca in seasons one and two, has been replaced with actress Hannah Dodd.

Ruby had left the series to film supernatural drama Lockwood & Co, which led Hannah to take her spot. And Hannah admitted that filming her first scenes as Francesca was "absolutely terrifying".

"Francesca has been preparing for [her debut] … Filming it was absolutely terrifying, because it was quite early on in production,” she said. “There was a little bit of life imitating art there. She was nervous and I was nervous. She was watching people, and I was watching people to learn. We were kind of going through it together.”

Opening up about recasting, showrunner Shonda Rhimes explained: "It's really wonderful to truly welcome Hannah — and Francesca. We've only ever seen tiny bits of Francesca in seasons past, and in this season she's back from having travelled and she's ready to get married, and you really get to know who Fran is. Fran's always been the invisible sister, and now she becomes front and centre in a lot of ways for us to get to know."

While director Tom Verica hailed Hannah as "outstanding" and "an amazing human being". "She's ridiculously smart and talented. She was seamless. She hit the ground running," he said. "It's got to be pretty intimidating to step into this world, especially with all these actors knowing one another.

"She revealed later in the season that she was just absolutely terrified, which we didn't see at the time, but we kind of assumed that stepping into this environment could be very tough. We were very clear about welcoming her and making her feel at home, but she was just absolutely seamless, stepping right into this role and really giving us a fresh take on Francesca.

"We really haven't seen her world that much; just little pieces here and there. For Hannah to embody this character, with all of her idiosyncrasies and her quirks, was amazing. I just couldn't be more pleased with this actress playing this role, and with seeing Francesca emerge and find her own love in a very different way than everyone else's. She forges her own path. I just loved her relationship with Violet, and how close they become — acceptance is a big part of that. Ultimately, what will you do as a parent when your child starts looking for love? What do you want to do to help make your child happy? Hannah and Ruth just navigated that world and that dynamic together so beautifully."

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