However, it incorporates deliberate modernizations through race-swaps of established supporting characters, with Black actress Sharon Duncan-Brewster cast as Hester Pross (originally Miss Pross, Lucie's companion) and Black actor Fehinti Balogun as C.J. Stryver.

Mirren Mack's Lucie receives expanded agency as a secret aspiring surgeon who dissects corpses and treats wounds, an anachronistic addition that alters her role from the source material. Creator statements emphasize modernizing the story and language for contemporary audiences and values, which directly drives these casting changes and the elevation of female agency. These alterations place ideological updates at the center of supporting character portrayals and Lucie's arc, shifting focus from the original narrative's historical grounding to present-day priorities around representation and empowerment. The result registers a moderate woke score because the changes are explicit and foundational to the adaptation's approach rather than incidental.