One of Netflix’s biggest hits of all time is the TV series “Bridgerton,” based on the Julia Quinn Regency-era romance novels of the same name.
And the response to the fourth season — the first part of which dropped on Netflix on January 29 — proves the show’s still got it.
Like many shows about teenagers and young adults, the actors who played the Bridgertons and their love interests are actually older than their characters. The two leads this season, 37-year-old Luke Thompson and 28-year-old Yerin Ha, are playing characters who are 30 and 24, respectively.
Here’s how the rest of the cast’s ages compare to their characters’.
Daphne Bridgerton is 21 when she makes her debut in British society. By season four, she’s 24.
The first season of “Bridgerton” is based on the novel “The Duke and I,” the first in the “Bridgerton” series. It centers on the summer of 1813, when Daphne makes her debut in high society and subsequently develops a complicated relationship with the Duke of Hastings.
Season four takes place around 1816 or 1817, so it’s been at least three years since we first met the Bridgerton clan. That makes Daphne at least 24 at this point.
Phoebe Dynevor turned 30 in April 2025.
Most of the filming for season one wrapped in February 2020 — incredibly, just before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped a lot of production — so at the time of filming, Dynevor was 24.
It means she was only a few years older than her “Bridgerton” character, but also younger than some of the actors who play characters younger than Daphne, like her younger sister, Eloise, or Eloise’s best friend, Penelope.
Dynevor will not appear in season four of “Bridgerton,” but she hasn’t ruled out appearing in future seasons.
Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, is 29 in season one of “Bridgerton.” By season four, he’d at least be 32.
The Duke of Hastings vowed never to marry or bear children in order to spite his dead father … but promises are made to be broken.
Regé-Jean Page turned 37 in 2025.
Page left “Bridgerton” after season one to pursue other opportunities, but his character was referenced in season two.
The eldest Bridgerton, Anthony, is at least 33 in season four.
In the Bridgerton family, the kids are named alphabetically, from A to H: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth.
The oldest Bridgerton, Anthony, is 31 in season two, which focuses on his love story with Kate Sharma, as the second book in the series is called “The Viscount Who Loved Me.”
Anthony and Kate will continue to appear in season four as they enjoy married life — and a new baby.
In real life, Jonathan Bailey is 37. His birthday is in April.
Bailey is also only a couple of years older than his character, but he’s around the same age as the actor who plays Eloise, who is over 10 years younger than him in the show.
Bailey is keeping “Bridgerton” in his busy schedule — he also recently starred in the miniseries “Fellow Travelers,” the two “Wicked” movies, “Jurassic World Rebirth,” and will appear onstage with Ariana Grande in a revival of “Sunday in the Park with George.”
After Anthony comes 30-year-old Benedict Bridgerton.
Benedict’s book is No. 3: “An Offer from a Gentleman,” but the show skipped over his book for the third season.
He’s played by 37-year-old Luke Thompson. His 38th birthday is in July 2026.
Thompson is the same age as his “older” brother, Jonathan Bailey. Thompson was also 33 at the time of filming season two.
The third eldest Bridgerton brother is Colin, who is 25.
Colin spent the first two seasons pining over Marina Thompson, but fans of his book “Romancing Mister Bridgerton” know that it was not meant to last.
Season three proved this, as it followed “Polin,” aka the love story between Colin and Penelope Featherington.
Luke Newton, 32, plays Colin.
He’s a few years older than his “Bridgerton” character — he was 31 during the filming of season four.
Daphne’s younger sister, Eloise, is supposed to be 20.
Eloise spends the entire first three seasons (rightfully) complaining about how, as a woman, all she can do is get married and have children.
Fans can check out the fifth book, “To Sir Phillip, With Love,” to see what happens to Eloise as she grows up, but we’ll be interested to see how her story plays out in season four.
She’s played by 36-year-old Claudia Jessie.
That’s right — Jessie is in her 30s playing a 20-year-old in “Bridgerton.” Her first on-screen appearance was in a 2012 episode of “Doctors,” a British soap opera, when she was 22.
Right after Eloise is her younger sister Francesca, who is 19 and a newlywed.
Francesca wasn’t a huge part of the show’s first two seasons, but she came into her own during season three and married Lord John Kilmartin of Scotland.
We’ll learn more about her during a future season of “Bridgerton” that will focus on her story, originally told in the sixth book, “When He Was Wicked.”
Hannah Dodd, 30, is more than a decade older than Francesca.
Francesca was played by Ruby Stokes (who is 25) in the first two seasons, but the role was recast after Stokes began starring in a different Netflix series, “Lockwood & Co.”
Dodd began playing Francesca in season three.
We don’t know how old John, Francesca’s husband, is, but the actor who plays him, Victor Alli, is 30.
Hyacinth is about 14 years old.
Hyacinth, the youngest Bridgerton sibling, makes a big fuss about being ready to debut in society, but she’s still a bit young.
Florence Hunt is 18.
While Hyacinth is the youngest child, she’s the star of the penultimate book, “It’s in His Kiss.”
Eloise’s best friend, Penelope Featherington, is also 20.
Penelope spends seasons one and two pining for Colin Bridgerton and even schemes to get her cousin Marina away from him, but she’s a fan-favorite, as she seems to be the most relatable character in the whole show.
Spoilers for the end of season one: It’s revealed that Penelope, in fact, is gossip queen Lady Whistledown. This reveal doesn’t happen until the fourth book.
During season three, Penelope and Colin fall in love and get married and she’s unmasked as Lady Whistledown, so season four should be an interesting ride.
But in real life, Nicola Coughlan is 39.
Coughlan has been playing a young adult since 2018 — she also played high school student Clare in the Irish sitcom “Derry Girls,” which concluded in 2022.
She had just turned 38 when she started filming season four of “Bridgerton.” Her 39th birthday was in January 2026.
The Bridgerton matriarch, Violet Hastings, is 50.
Lady Bridgerton was widowed at a young age. Her husband died roughly 10 years before the events of season one.
Ruth Gemmell is 58 in real life.
Gemmell is best known for her role in the original British version of “Fever Pitch” opposite Colin Firth — Drew Barrymore played the character in the 2005 American remake starring Jimmy Fallon.
Queen Charlotte is a real historical figure — in 1816, she was 72 years old.
One of “Bridgerton’s” most inspired choices was to make the world of British high society in the 1800s more diverse than it was in real life, beginning with the choice to make Queen Charlotte, a real queen and wife to King George III, Black.
As Business Insider has previously reported, historically, she is thought to have been England’s first biracial monarch, though she is mainly depicted as white in art.
But Golda Rosheuvel is only 55.
Rosheuvel is significantly younger than Queen Charlotte would’ve been in 1816, but there’s no doubt she’s perfect for the role.
She so perfectly embodied the character that Queen Charlotte became popular enough for her own spinoff, “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” which dropped on Netflix in May 2023.
Kate Sharma joined the “Bridgerton” family in season two. She’s 28 during season four’s events.
Kate is based on the character Kate Sheffield in the books — the show changed the character’s backstory and heritage to add more diversity to the show.
Season two showed the relationship between Kate and Anthony, ending with them getting married.
Simone Ashley is a bit older than Kate. Her 30th birthday was on March 30, 2025.
Fans might recognize Ashley from her role in another mega-popular Netflix series, “Sex Education.” She played Olivia Hanan in 15 episodes.
Kate’s younger sister Edwina is around 19 or 20.
Edwina made her society debut in season two but ended the season without a husband, a diversion from the books.
It’s mentioned in a throwaway line during season three that Edwina had found love abroad.
Charithra Chandran is 29, a little less than two years younger than her older “sister.”
Chandran is relatively new to acting. Her first on-screen role was in season two of “Alex Rider” in 2021.
She’s not returning for season four but has kept busy. She starred in the 2024 romantic comedy “How to Date Billy Walsh” and had a voice role in “Star Wars: Visions.”
Benedict’s love interest this season is Sophie Baek. In the book, she’s around 22, but she could be aged up in the show.
In season four, the object of Benedict’s affections is Sophie. He first meets her at a masquerade ball, where he is immediately taken with her … but he doesn’t realize that Sophie is living her best Cinderella life and is actually a maid for another family of the Ton.
In the book, there’s a two-year time jump between when Benedict first meets the “Lady in Silver” and when he encounters Sophie again, but the show has done away with that, probably making Sophie around 24 when our story begins.
Yerin Ha is 28 years old.
Ha is also known for being in “Halo” and “Dune: Prophecy.” Her 28th birthday, January 16, was just a couple of weeks before season four premiered.
We’re not exactly sure how old the show version of Marina Thompson is supposed to be, though there’s a book character of the same name who would’ve been 22 during the show’s events.
This version of Marina doesn’t exist in the “Bridgerton” books, but a character with the same name is mentioned in the fifth book. We’re willing to bet the show’s version of the character will meet a different fate.
Ruby Barker is actually 29 in real life.
In real life, Barker is a decade younger than her on-screen younger cousin Penelope, played by Coughlan.
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