Who Plays Francesca in ‘Bridgerton’ Season 3? Meet Hannah Dodd

Like us, you’ve probably already binged the first four episodes of Bridgerton Season 3. And, like us, you’ve probably got a few questions: Are Penelope and Colin really engaged? Where is Daphne? How on earth did they pull off those glow-ups? What was up with that very dramatic balloon disaster? When is Eloise finally going to be a decent friend? And who plays Francesca Bridgerton?

This season has introduced a few new players, and one of the most interesting is Francesca, the sixth child in the Bridgerton family. Of course, Francesca has been around since Season 1, but for this season, the character got a major plot line—and the original actress, Ruby Stokes, was recast.

Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

Francesca Bridgerton is now played by newcomer Hannah Dodd, and we’re already in love with her. How lucky, then, that Francesca will likely have her own season in the coming years.

Dodd began her career as a dancer and a modelDodd, who is 29, grew up between Essex and Suffolk, England. Practically as soon as she could walk, she was dancing. “I was a dancer and that was all I ever wanted to do,” she said to Fabric magazine. “When I was at school I was doing ballet, tap, and contemporary dance, and then I kind of went into musical theater.” As a teenager, Dodd also worked as a model, landing a Burberry campaign at the age of 19.

Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

As she told Italian Reve, her ultimate goal is to combine her love of dancing with her acting career. “I trained as a dancer originally and was sort of heading into the musical theater; I love films, and one day being able to do musical theater on film, maybe, would be an absolute dream,” she said. Bridgerton musical season, anyone?

You may have seen Dodd onscreen beforeDodd may be an unfamiliar face to many of us, but she has actually been acting for a few years. She landed her first role as Sophia on Harlots in 2018. That year, she also landed the leading role of Thea on Hulu’s Find Me in Paris, which saw her playing a ballet dancer.

More recently, Dodd has appeared in a streak of impressive projects, including Chloé Zhao’s Eternals; Anatomy of a Scandal, in which she played a young version of Sienna Miller’s character; and Enola Homes 2.

Dodd was thrilled to win the role of Francesca BridgertonNaturally, joining the Bridgerton family was a dream come true for Dodd. “It was all kept quite secret, so I had no idea that it was actually Bridgerton that I was going in for until the day of my meeting with the Shondaland team,” she said to Fabric. “They let me know just before, which was kind of terrifying, but also good, because it meant that I just had to kind of go in, and be present, and respond to what they were asking for. I’ve never not known what I was going in for before—I think it’s just because this is such a big show, lots of secrecy around storylines and stuff like that. I love prep, I love to really go into that room and feel like I know the character, and that I’ve done everything I can do, so it was definitely a different way of working for me.”

Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

Dodd went straight into prep work after winning the role. Not only did she take etiquette lessons, but she also had to learn piano for the role—although she only had time to learn the songs she plays on the show.

Dodd is set to lead her own season of BridgertonIf you’re loving Francesca’s sweet, quiet love story with John Stirling, we have good and bad news. (Look away now if you want to avoid spoilers!) In Julia Quinn’s books, which inspired the series, Francesca eventually has a pretty significant plot line. After marrying John (which, on the show, could happen as soon as in the second half of Season 3), Francesca moves to Scotland.

However, in the Francesca-centered book When He Was Wicked, John dies just two years into their marriage. Francesca’s story becomes one about her romance with John’s cousin Michael, who falls for her just a few days before she ties the knot with John.

We don’t know when this narrative will play out in the Netflix series, but most fans believe that Benedict, whose love story appears in the third Bridgerton book, is the more likely candidate to anchor Season 4. Either way, next season’s love story has already been determined.

Whether Francesca’s romance with Michael plays out next season or a few seasons down the line, it seems that we’ll be seeing a lot more of her in the years to come—and we couldn’t be more thrilled.