{"id":1796914,"date":"2026-02-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1796914"},"modified":"2026-02-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:00:00","slug":"wonderland-57","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1796914","title":{"rendered":"Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tWonderland<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tFLORENCE HUNT IS IN FULL BLOOM<\/span>
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At 19, Florence Hunt is stepping into society, on screen and off. In Bridgerton, she\u2019s Hyacinth, the youngest Bridgerton daughter biding her time as the belle of the ball. Off screen, she\u2019s already the talk of the ton \u2013 and a Dior girl under Jonathan Anderson.<\/h3>\n
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\"Florence
Wearing Dior Fashion and Dior Beauty throughout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife,\u201d Jane Austen wrote. Two centuries on, another rule has quietly taken hold: that a young woman on the brink of stardom will, inevitably, be claimed by a major fashion house.<\/p>\n

For actor Florence Hunt, warm and sharp-witted in equal measure, that rite of passage arrives in the form of a Dior ambassadorship, announced alongside the release of Bridgerton\u2019s fourth season. Best known for playing Hyacinth Bridgerton \u2013 the youngest daughter of the show\u2019s sprawling Regency clan \u2013 Florence was just 11 years old when she was cast in the series\u2019 first outing.<\/p>\n

Now 19, Florence is back on our screens \u2013 whether that screen is a television, a laptop, or, as I clocked on the Tube the other day, an iPhone \u2013 ushering her once-peripheral character further into the orbit of the ton. Hyacinth, no longer a child observer, is inching closer to society\u2019s centre, impatiently awaiting her own moment to debut. This Dior role feels like a kind of coming-out of your own, I tell Florence over Zoom \u2013 albeit in a glossy, 21st-century It-girl sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah!\u201d she laughs, delighted. \u201cI love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so exciting,\u201d Florence continues, bubbly and vivacious, sitting in front of what looks like a wardrobe. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely wild. It\u2019s just one of those things you never, ever consider would be an opportunity for you. And I\u2019m so grateful to Jonathan and everyone at Dior who\u2019s trusted me with this title.\u201d<\/p>\n

For it\u2019s not just Bridgerton undergoing a new season. Having joined the fashion house last April, creative director Jonathan Anderson is still within his first year at the helm of Dior. \u201cI\u2019m obsessed with fashion \u2013 the whole fashion world,\u201d Florence effuses. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful to be able to get a closer look at everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

With other young actors Sophie Wilde and Ever Anderson also announced, it\u2019s not just a declaration of bright young thing status, but a clear vote of confidence in Florence as part of the next generation of women in film.<\/p>\n

And yet Florence is not taking any of this for granted. \u201cDior, and then Bridgerton coming out,\u201d she says, sounding slightly awed as she recites it back to me. \u201cIt\u2019s all coming into fruition. All at the same time. I feel very grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all happening at full speed. It is also somewhat entwined.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re surrounded by the greatest, most talented dressmakers and designers,\u201d Florence says of the iconic Bridgerton wardrobe, where Regency attire is lavishly romanticised for grand, maximalist effect. She tells me she recently brought her grandmother to \u201cthe warehouse where they make all of the Bridgerton costumes. It\u2019s insane \u2013 the amount of work and dedication and love that goes into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hyacinth\u2019s wardrobe in particular has been noticeably elevated this series, reflecting the character\u2019s transition from child to someone with her own scenes and storyline. This isn\u2019t subtle: the season opens with Hyacinth proudly declaring that Violet has given her blessing for her youngest daughter to lower her hemline \u2013 an era-appropriate marker of a girl becoming a woman. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see Hyacinth growing up,\u201d Florence continues. \u201cThe costumes and the hair and the make-up and everything changes as you grow up. It\u2019s fun, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Florence<\/figure>\n

As is the consistent charm of the show, Bridgerton grounds real emotional experience within a semi-historical framework. More confident and ambitious than its rom-com peers \u2013 and considerably more fun than many period dramas \u2013 this is a corsets-and-carriages universe where handsome men pine, strong-willed women win, and string quartets play Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n

And, as I said, people are streaming it on the Tube. \u201cI think what\u2019s so great about the show is that every season, people relate to the character in the spotlight,\u201d Florence says of its enduring popularity. \u201cEveryone has their own favourite season, which is such a great part of the show. And that\u2019s one of the geniuses of Shonda [Rhimes].\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, it\u2019s not just the costumes \u2013 or even the characters \u2013 that bring audiences, nearly 40 million for the fourth season, back every few years. First released during lockdown, the Netflix series continues to be devoured for its escapist pull, a reminder of how deeply audiences still crave fantasy comfort viewing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ball at the beginning was so much fun to film,\u201d Florence continues, after I mention how much I enjoyed the post-debutante sequence. \u201cI mean, I was there for maybe two days, but just being on set \u2013 seeing people in these crazy costumes \u2013 you\u2019re like, how is this real life? There\u2019s just the most creative people putting this enormous ball together. It was really, really special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within the first episode alone, Hyacinth manages to sneak into the ton\u2019s annual masked ball, the first clear signal of her expanded storyline this season: a bold child growing into a headstrong teenager. In a show that ricochets between plotlines \u2013 a Cinderella romance, Lady Danbury\u2019s retirement, class consciousness via a housemaid shortage in Mayfair \u2013 Hyacinth\u2019s scenes, now propelled forward as a primary narrative thread, bring an often-needed sense of youth and vitality. Florence plays her with both the fierceness of the confident youngest sister and the vulnerability of a girl yearning for her life to begin.<\/p>\n

You cannot help but empathise with Hyacinth. It\u2019s not simply a desire to grow up or join her older siblings, but something more acute and poignant: an awareness of where she would like to be, paired with the frustration of not yet being able to get there. Florence\u2019s performance captures the desperation to belong, the thrum of anticipation, the impatience of adolescence \u2013 without tipping into self-pity. Hyacinth\u2019s wit and self-possession, coupled with her unapologetic understanding of herself, neatly halt any slide into victimhood. Little wonder that, with only four of the eight episodes released as we speak in January, fans are already rushing to immortalise her across TikTok edits and stan videos.<\/p>\n

How much does Florence relate to her character at this particular moment in Hyacinth\u2019s arc, I ask. \u201cI feel like I am on the same journey as any girl,\u201d she says thoughtfully, pausing to consider her words. \u201cMaturing and learning about the world. It\u2019s exciting to see what they write for her \u2013 what Jess [Brownell] and all the writers do with Hyacinth \u2013 because I care about her so much.\u201d She pauses again, then smiles. \u201cAnd you naturally do, pretending to be this person for so long. You can\u2019t help but care deeply \u2013 maybe too deeply \u2013 about that character.\u201d<\/p>\n

I joke that audiences have been breadcrumbed \u2013 to repurpose the Gen Z dating term \u2013 into rooting for Hyacinth since the very first season. Despite being a stickler for society rules \u2013 the girl cannot wait to come out \u2013 she has always been an independent thinker within the world she was raised in. She was the first to reassure her brother Colin that his plot-defining flirtation lessons with Penelope Featherington last season were, in fact, an admirable act of friendship, when the rest of the ton were scandalised. This season, she delivers a sharp, quietly piercing monologue on respecting others\u2019 dreams. There is a lineage at play here, too. Written within decades of each other \u2013 and within the same loose historical moment Bridgerton borrows from \u2013 characters like Margaret Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility and Amy and Meg March in Little Women come to mind: young women defined not only by romance, but by ambition, curiosity, and moral clarity.<\/p>\n

It is Florence\u2019s chemistry with her on-screen sister Eloise, however, that proves particularly electric. \u201cThis season, with the relationship between heand Eloise, we were able to find out more about Hyacinth and more about where she\u2019s coming from in life,\u201d Florence explains. \u201cWe\u2019ve always had these snippets of her personality, but being able to put her against Eloise \u2013 who\u2019s so totally different \u2013 you can gauge what kind of person she is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such is the period-transcending quality of Florence\u2019s performance that it\u2019s hard to resist speculating about what Hyacinth might be like today. She\u2019d live in Notting Hill, I suggest. Barbour sponsorship at Glastonbury. Florence laughs. \u201cYeah! She\u2019d be completely on top of pop culture, for sure. Someone wrote on TikTok, \u2018RIP Hyacinth, you would have loved academic validation.\u2019 And I was like \u2013 that\u2019s so true. She would have loved it. I feel like she would have gone to university and smoked all these men out of the park.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut yeah,\u201d she adds, \u201cI feel like we\u2019re quite similar people in terms of loving fashion and all of that. I feel like she would have been similar. We would have been friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Florence<\/figure>\n

Which brings me neatly to the next question. In a social media\u2013led campaign culture, where behind-the-scenes footage is treated with the same reverence as official trailers, and Instagram dumps and TikToks function as a press tour in their own right, the close-knit dynamic of the Bridgerton cast has become as beloved as their on-screen relationships. Whether dancing to \u201cShake It Off\u201d or posting unpolished moments between takes, these videos show seasoned actors and household names alike throwing themselves into skits and dances \u2013 often orbiting Florence\u2019s unapologetic, Gen Z girlishness.<\/p>\n

Considering she quite literally grew up on this set, I\u2019m keen to hear how she experiences it. \u201cObviously the cast, but also the crew \u2013 there are so many people who were on Bridgerton in season one,\u201d Florence says earnestly. \u201cWe\u2019re all like, isn\u2019t it crazy that we\u2019re still doing this? That we still get to do all of this together. It really is just a room full of joy, full of people who genuinely love their job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe genuinely do those family scenes in the drawing room, where everyone\u2019s got one line,\u201d she continues. \u201cAnd we\u2019re bouncing off each other. It\u2019s literally like that in real life. We\u2019re all very normal people \u2013 although it\u2019s probably extraordinary to someone coming onto set for the first time. But if you\u2019re there often enough, you realise how normal everyone is.\u201d Florence mentions that she enjoys bringing family members onto set, \u201cbecause I get to see it through their eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

As anyone who follows Florence on Instagram or TikTok \u2013 where she occasionally uploads clips with her on-screen family \u2013 will already know, her Bridgerton sisters have become especially close. \u201cHannah [Dodd] and Claudia [Jessie], who play my sisters, are constantly messaging me and checking in on me,\u201d she says warmly. \u201cThey\u2019re just the sweetest girls ever. They literally are my sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are living through a particularly visible moment for children in the limelight. Stranger Things, also distributed by Netflix, has just concluded its decade-long run, thrusting its now fully-fledged young adult cast into a graduation to the celebrity stratosphere. On a more sinister note, the space within the news cycle where celeb gossip merges with headline-dominating stories is routinely stocked with accounts of former child stars suffering from abuse and neglect.<\/p>\n

It is therefore something of a relief to hear Florence speak candidly \u2013 and positively \u2013 about the structures surrounding her. \u201cIn this day and age, Netflix is so great. You\u2019re so protected,\u201d she says. \u201cI have such an amazing team around me \u2013 my parents, my family. Everyone\u2019s so supportive and helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Florence<\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I try not to think about too much,\u201d she adds, when it comes to navigating fame as she enters adulthood. \u201cI started acting because I absolutely loved it, and then carried on because of that love. So the fact that I\u2019ve managed to make \u2013 well, so far,\u201d she corrects herself quickly, \u201c\u2013 somewhat of a career out of it is absolutely mind-blowing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many young actors are educated on set. This season introduces a new antagonist in Lady Araminta Gun, played by Katie Leung, who was around 17 when she portrayed Cho Chang in Harry Potter. Katie has spoken about spending long stretches being tutored on set, while still attending school between filming.<\/p>\n

Florence\u2019s own experience, by contrast, sounds strikingly down-to-earth \u2013 albeit with an extraordinary part-time job. \u201cGrowing up acting, but also going to a very normal school, was really imperative,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt meant I could switch between absolutely crazy situations \u2013 like going to a Bridgerton premiere \u2013 and then straight back into normal life. I always had that juxtaposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have my school friends, who are my closest friends,\u201d she continues. \u201cThey don\u2019t even watch the show. They\u2019re like, \u2018That\u2019s brilliant, great.\u2019\u201d We both laugh. \u201cI was at the pub with them last night,\u201d she adds, grinning. \u201cTalking about such normal things.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is something so distinctly British about your mate from school being in a huge Netflix series that you don\u2019t watch, and going to the pub to yap about other things instead.<\/p>\n

And there are other things to talk about. They\u2019ve all recently finished their A-levels, Florence tells me. \u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s about, you know,\u201d she laughs, after I mention an old interview in which actor Sophie Turner said much the same about Game of Thrones. \u201cGetting bladdered at the pub and doing the serious stuff the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Florence<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

By serious stuff, we\u2019re including recent projects beyond Bridgerton.<\/p>\n

Last summer, Florence starred in Mix Tape, a romantic miniseries set in late \u201880s Sheffield, in which she plays a teenage girl falling in love. \u201cIt was so much fun,\u201d she says with considerable zest. \u201cI was playing a completely different character, with a different accent \u2013 I did accent training. It was really fun to switch into that.\u201d The BBC-produced series, which also stars actors Teresa Palmer and Jim Sturgess, marked a tonal shift as well as a geographical one. Critics were quick to praise Florence\u2019s performance, calling it \u201cintoxicating\u201d and \u201cstar-making.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also has her film debut, Queen at Sea, on the horizon \u2013 a project she shot three years ago on location in London, opposite Juliette Binoche, playing her daughter. The film premieres at the Berlin Film Festival this February. \u201cI watched it for the first time recently,\u201d Florence says. \u201cWatching yourself is weird anyway, but watching yourself from three years ago is really strange. I knew it was going to be good, but I watched it and just thought \u2013 oh my gosh. It\u2019s heartbreaking. It\u2019s so powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for attending the Berlin Film Festival, Florence once again pivots from thoughtful and conscientious actor to a regular young woman. \u201cI mean, look at me,\u201d says Florence, noticeably thrilled, laughing again. \u201cI\u2019m like, apparently Charli XCX is going to be there. No one is safe if I see Charli XCX.\u201d<\/p>\n

Halfway through our conversation, it strikes me that talking to Florence feels like catching up with your friend\u2019s cool younger sister \u2013 thoughtful, funny, and refreshingly unguarded. She laughs about confusing tracks from BRAT (\u201c365\u201d and \u201c360\u201d; we agree we can only truly remember the difference by what musicians she has on the remix album.) \u201cThere\u2019s a bit in the next Bridgerton drop where I dance to a Charli XCX song,\u201d she tells me, laughing at my reaction. Good for Hyacinth, I say. \u201cI know! This is how I know we\u2019d be friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the scene, Florence got to choose the music herself. \u201cI had that song on repeat for, like, a week,\u201d she says. \u201cYou know when a song really takes you back to a time? That\u2019s what I associate it with now.\u201d You heard it here first: Hyacinth is a BRAT girl.<\/p>\n

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\"Florence<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI love music so much,\u201d she continues. \u201cWhen you get woken up at 4am to start filming, you have to have some sort of pick-me-up. Whether it\u2019s coffee, music, or both, it\u2019s imperative to start your day. I was listening to a lot of, you know, the normal. Billie Eilish, and everything.\u201d Granted, as would any teenage girl on a Netflix show.<\/p>\n

Like many young women of her generation, Florence is attuned to the broader cultural moment. Discussing the other major February release \u2013 Emerald Fennell\u2019s Wuthering Heights \u2014 she lights up. \u201cI saw the trailer and thought, this is why Emerald is a genius,\u201d she says. \u201cShe\u2019s not just remaking it \u2013 she\u2019s making it something else. It\u2019s so clever.\u201d A dream collaborator, then? \u201cAbsolutely. Even just to meet her. I\u2019m literally in love with that woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just days after her 19th birthday, Florence speaks about the future with a balance of ambition and perspective. \u201cI like the stuff that\u2019s being made at the moment,\u201d she says. \u201cThe rise of A24 films, doing more films but balancing that with series work \u2013 it\u2019s all really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just excited for the future,\u201d she states. \u201cThere are so many different genres I haven\u2019t done, and directors I haven\u2019t worked with. I\u2019m excited to see what scripts will come through. People always ask me what my dream role is. I\u2019m the kind of actor who\u2019s just excited to see what is being made at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point, Florence jokes about living a double life \u2013 between pub nights with school friends and red carpets, film festivals, and being Jonathan Anderson\u2019s choice of Dior ambassador. It\u2019s a sentiment she returns to near the end of our conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really have an end goal,\u201d she says, smiling. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to do some acting here and there \u2013 and live a normal life.\u201d A reminder that growing up doesn\u2019t mean growing apart from the girl that made you a woman \u2013 sometimes it just means juggling it in a ballgown.<\/p>\n

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\"Florence<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

DIOR SS26: One for the history books.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Spring\/Summer 2026, Dior dares to place its history in a box \u2013 not to seal it away, but to return to it with freedom. Memories resurface as lines, fragments and silhouettes, reimagined through a language that is at once familiar and unexpected. Past and present converse in harmony and tension: the bold meets the calm, the grand collides with the everyday.<\/p>\n

Fashion becomes a form of empathy; transforming the overload of modern life into poise, movement, and character. Dressing is theatre, and every woman steps onto the stage in her own way. This couture vision extends to beauty, where performance and emotion meet precision.<\/p>\n

Diorshow Overvolume writes its next chapter in 2026 with a new waterproof, ultra-pigmented formula, housed in a silver cannage case. Lashes steal the show in striking new shades, joined by limited-edition Diorshow 5 Couleurs palettes that amplify the look. Embodied by Deva Cassel and Willow Smith, the gaze becomes magnetic, unapologetic and unforgettable.<\/p>\n

Complexion is further perfected with Dior Forever, where the finish of a filter meets the care of a serum. Designed backstage and tested under the most demanding lights, Dior Forever Skin Glow and Dior Forever Skin Wear deliver 24-hour, no-retouch perfection \u2013 radiant or matte, weightless yet flawless, in every close-up moment. Together, they set the stage for a complete transformation. After all, who says you can\u2019t reinvent history?<\/p>\n

Pre-order Wonderland\u2019s Spring 26 issue now here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photography<\/strong> by Eva Wang
Styling<\/strong> by Kamran Rajput
Words<\/strong> by Bea Isaacson
Hair<\/strong> by Patrick Wilson at The Wall Group
Make-up <\/strong>by Gina Kane at Caren Agency using Dior Beauty
Nails<\/strong> by Jessica Ciesco using Dior Beauty
Lighting Technician<\/strong> Jonny Greenwood
Fashion Assistant<\/strong> Jenny Li
Make-up Assistant<\/strong> Sally Bahri<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t27 February 2026\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tRina Lipa Carries the Weight of Ribbons<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonderland FLORENCE HUNT IS IN FULL BLOOM At 19, Florence Hunt is stepping into society, on screen and off. In Bridgerton, she\u2019s Hyacinth, the youngest Bridgerton daughter biding her time as the belle of the ball. Off screen, she\u2019s already the talk of the ton \u2013 and a Dior girl under Jonathan Anderson. Wearing Dior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,257],"class_list":["post-1796914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-wonderlandmagazine-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1796914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1796914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1796914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1796914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}