Rank 8: Sophie has a different cultural background
What happens in the series? The series version of Sophie has the last name Baek. She is portrayed by Yerin Ha, an Australian actress with Korean roots. As a nod to this, Sophie in the series has an Asian background, even though it is hardly addressed.
What happens in the book? In the books, there are hardly any cultural differences between the characters, not even with Sophie. She is described as a blonde woman with green eyes.
This change hardly plays a role substantively. It mainly creates more diversity and less monotonous characters. Interestingly, even Sophie’s last name was changed for the series. In the books, she is actually called Bennett. The name change was a small but very thoughtful decision.
Since Sophie’s parents grew up in England, the name should not sound too “exotic.” Still, they wanted to include her heritage. In consultation with actress Yerin Ha, they decided on Baek.
This is not the first name change in the series. Kate and Edwina Sharma from season 2 are actually called Sheffield in the books. Here, they decided on a more obvious name change, as the two have a stronger connection to their heritage than, for example, Sophie.
