Watch: Shonda Rhimes Reveals Next 'Bridgerton' Spinoff IdeaRuth Gemmell didn't expect to burn so bright during Bridgerton season four. The actress-who plays matriarch Violet Bridgerton on the Netflix show-confessed she was surprised to learn that her character would have a sex scene with Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis), only finding out the storyline while getting dressed in a costume fitting. "I was a little bit shocked," Gemmell told Ciné-Télé-Revue in a recent interview.