Did You Know? Hannah Dodd Originally Auditioned for a Different "Bridgerton" Sister in Season 1

Before she stepped into the soft-spoken shoes of Francesca Bridgerton, Hannah Dodd had her sights set on a very different diamond of the season.

Years before joining the Netflix period drama, Hannah actually auditioned for Daphne Bridgerton, the breakout lead of season one. She didn’t get the part at the time, but as it turns out, her Regency-era moment was simply delayed.

In an interview with Business Insider in May 2024, Dodd revealed the original role she went for: “I auditioned for Daphne on season one,” she said.

Season one, which premiered in December 2020, centered on Daphne’s romance with Simon Basset and was adapted from Julia Quinn’s novel The Duke and I. The role ultimately went to Phoebe Dynevor, who starred opposite Regé-Jean Page in the series’ breakout debut.

Hannah had previously told the Daily Mail that she made it to the final round of auditions for a season one role, though she didn’t reveal at the time which character she had been up for. Her Business Insider interview later confirmed it was Daphne—meaning she came close to leading the show’s first chapter.

In the years that followed, Hannah steadily built her résumé, appearing in series and movies like Anatomy of a Scandal and Enola Holmes 2.

Then came another audition—this time under very different circumstances. According to The Tab, the casting call she received in 2022 was shrouded in secrecy. In an interview with Vulture, Hannah explained, “It was a secret project and nothing was attached to it.” She added that she was only told it was for Francesca shortly before auditioning, calling it “quite a weird way to know about it.”

She also told Elle that the unusual setup changed how she approached the role. “I had no time to prepare in any way, so I just had to listen to what it was that they wanted and respond,” she said. “It meant that I didn’t go in with any sort of preconceived ideas, which is a completely different way of working. Normally, I like to prep and really be ready.”

When Ruby Stokes exited the series due to scheduling conflicts with Netflix’s Lockwood & Co., Hannah was cast as Francesca Bridgerton. 

For Hannah, landing the role felt like a full-circle moment. “I feel like with acting, it’s not an industry where you can really measure improvement or gauge how well you’re doing,” she told Business Insider. “But when you don’t get something, and then a couple of years later you’ve got a few more jobs under your belt, and then somebody says that you’re ready for this, then that’s a really nice feeling.”

The way she learned she got the part was just as memorable. Speaking to Elle, Hannah recalled that her agent initially told her she would have to audition again the following week, sparing her from worrying about it during a family celebration. “My agent had lied to me,” she said. “He had said that I was going to go in again the week after because he knew that I was at a wedding, and I’d [otherwise] be thinking about it the whole time.”

She found out the truth at a family party the day after her dad’s wedding. “I had loads of family and friends there, and it was the last day before my sister went back to Australia, so it meant that we got to have that moment [together], which was really nice,” Hannah said. She didn’t become Daphne, but she did become a Bridgerton!