Michelle Mao is opening up about the mixed reactions to her role as the antagonist in Bridgerton season four.
While much of the response has been positive, including memes and fan edits, she acknowledges that playing one of the season’s central antagonists involves intense scrutiny.
“It’s the first time people have met me,” says the 27-year-old actress told People noting that separating her character has been a learning curve.
“I’ve had so much fun being part of this hype train and seeing all the memes, videos and jokes.” But playing “one of the main antagonists of the season comes with its own territory of navigating the online discourse and, I think, bearing the brunt of the very real and very justified frustrations that viewers have.”
Over time, she has come to see the reaction as a sign that she has convincingly portrayed Rosamund Li, the sharp-tongued stepsister of Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) and devoted daughter of Lady Araminta Gun (Katie Leung).
“It’s the first time people have met me, and navigating that has been a little journey in itself,” she says. “And I’m getting better at not letting it affect me and just sticking to the idea that it just means you’ve done a good job as an actor, and that’s a good thing. I played my role very well.”
According to Mao, Netflix warned the cast about the online backlash the series might generate and told them that support would be available, especially for those in more controversial roles.
Mao says fans’ passion can go both ways – celebratory and critical – often in overwhelming ways. “I remember thinking at the time, ‘That’s not going to happen to me. I thought, ‘No, I’ll be fine,'” the actress recalls.
She turned to Leung for advice, saying her co-star’s long experience with intense fandom helped her cope with the backlash. “I talked to Katie. She gave me a lot of advice, and she, who was also one of the main antagonists of the season, also got quite a passionate response,” Mao told the magazine.
Ultimately, Mao viewed the experience as transformative. “Honestly, I think it’s been great for me because I think growing up I was always such a people-pleaser, almost to an extent that worried me,” Mao continued.
“And for Rosamund to be the first role I’m in that kind of enters the public discourse, I think it was kind of a baptism of fire. It’s like exposure therapy for me, where I say, ‘Wow, I feel so free to portray this character who is unlikable, and she’s meant to be unlikable.'”
