Bridgerton Season 5 Recasting Daphne & Simon Officially Addressed by Showrunner After Problematic S4 Absence

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A lot is going on in the second half of the show’s fourth outing, including the tragic death of Francesca’s husband, John Stirling, and then the wedding of Benedict and Sophie in Bridgerton Season 4’s credits scene. Neither Daphne nor Simon is present for either event, despite them being such important moments for the family. When asked by Variety if the characters would be recast, to avoid some of the logistical issues that have prevented them from returning, Brownell very much shot down the idea, while leaving the door open for the actors to return, saying:

“We are not interested in recasting the characters. I think it would feel like a disservice to everything Regé and Phoebe set up in Season 1, and all the beautiful work they put into those characters. We would love to potentially have them back at some point, but I think, logistically, we want to make sure we bring them back when we have something really meaty for them. And to have them come back to say a line at a funeral and just prove that they were there, it wouldn’t feel right for many reasons. So I think in my mind, the camera doesn’t capture everything. They’re hypothetically there; it’s television. But we would love to find a time to bring everyone back at some point in the future.”

It’s Good Bridgerton Won’t Recast Daphne & Simon, But The Show Should Bring Them Back

Image via Netflix

I think Brownell is taking the correct approach with regard to the casting situation. Dynevor and Page were a major reason audiences fell in love with Daphne and Simon, and, because of that, with Bridgerton as a whole. While sometimes recasting is inevitable, and can even be a good thing (Hannah Dodd has shone since taking on the role of Francesca from Ruby Stokes, though that’s no slight on the original actress), it would be a huge shame to see other actors taking on those roles given how they brought them to life.

Where I struggle to agree with the choices made on Bridgerton is the idea that the actors don’t need to come back for something like a brief funeral scene. Again, this isn’t about logistics, which would make that difficult, but if the actors were open to it, then that’s something the show should be doing. It’s less of an issue with Simon, whose absence is perhaps more believable (and there’s little sign of Page coming back), but much more so with Daphne.

She should’ve been there for Francesca, just as she should’ve been at Benedict’s wedding, and at the weddings of Colin/Penelope and Francesca/John in Season 3, too. Based on what we know of the character, she’d definitely want to be there for them, and it’s almost unthinkable she wouldn’t be, because it’d take something monumental to keep her away.

This idea that the characters could’ve been there but we just didn’t see them doesn’t really hold up, and it would be so much better to see how Daphne reacts to these moments, as the eldest sister and the first of the family to be married and start a family of her own. Dynevor has previously said that she’d love to return, and was just waiting for the call [via The Direct], which makes it worse that she hasn’t returned yet. It’s great she won’t be recast, but hopefully, such a call will be made for Bridgerton Season 5.

All episodes of Bridgerton Season 4 are now streaming on Netflix.

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