“It feels just like the twister at first of The Wizard of Oz, and if I’ve nonetheless bought my ruby slippers on on the finish, I will be comfortable,” Jonathan Bailey says, flashing that well-known grin. The actor and present web boyfriend is, in fact, referencing the whirlwind that has been the Depraved press tour—a three-week-long world extravaganza the place many (comfortable) tears had been shed, memes had been born, and the style, together with a particular pair of brief shorts, had everybody speaking. I am catching Bailey on a Friday afternoon throughout a uncommon little bit of downtime en path to JFK Airport. Vacation spot: London for the movie’s remaining cease and premiere. For this Brit at this second, there is not any place like house.
He is exhausted—rightfully so—however nonetheless in nice spirits, and I can fortunately say on the time of writing this text that each one the promotional hustle and bustle from the forged has paid off dividends. Jon M. Chu’s big-screen adaptation of the wildly standard 2003 stage musical is a licensed hit with audiences, producing over $350 million globally and turning into one of many 12 months’s most profitable debuts. The soundtrack can be smashing information.
Depraved is the finale to what has been a banner 12 months for Bailey, which kicked off with an Emmy nomination for his spectacular efficiency within the historic miniseries Fellow Vacationers. It additionally noticed his return as Viscount Anthony Bridgerton within the steady hit machine that’s Bridgerton; the launch of his LGBTQ+ charity The Shameless Fund, which helps the group via world artistic collaborations; and the filming of his subsequent film mission, 2025’s summer time blockbuster Jurassic World Rebirth.
For the second, Bailey is totally in what he tells me is his “Winkie period”—a nod to his Depraved character Prince Fiyero, who will go away you swooning with one bat of the attention or, on the very least, breaking out into track and dance. I can attest that the actor is each bit as charismatic and charming in actual life as his on-screen counterpart, so it is simple to see why Bailey was a shoo-in for the movie’s lovable heartthrob.
Bailey’s pleasure for taking part in Fiyero was twofold. Whereas the character is inherently lean on the web page, there was numerous complexity for Bailey to find throughout the lyrics of his two musical numbers, “Dancing By way of Life” and his duet with Elphaba later partially two. It was additionally a chance to return again to his earliest passions in life—singing and dancing—which he gave up on at a younger age to pursue sports activities. Rising up, the actor was struck by iconic male dancing in movie, naming Fred Astaire, John Travolta, and Patrick Swayze as huge inspirations. There isn’t any denying Bailey’s expertise as he performs “Dancing By way of Life,” a outstanding sequence of vocals and acrobatics that required bootcamp-level coaching from the actor. That, mixed with the extra emotional moments with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, leaves you wanting extra. His efficiency even earned a particular stamp of approval. “Norbert Leo Butz, a hero of mine, despatched me a textual content saying that I am very a lot welcomed into the brotherhood of Fiyero, which I am very, very happy with,” Bailey shares.
Reflecting on the complete expertise, Bailey is feeling eternally grateful and fortunate for the chance to be part of such an enormous cultural second. “I in all probability would not have been in a position to do it 10 years earlier than, and clearly due to Bridgerton, I feel it was the right time for me to be the suitable individual for the job,” he says.
Now, what’s subsequent?
I ask if he has a robust need to run in the wrong way after doing a big-budget film like Depraved. Bailey’s reply? “Yeah, positively!”
Waiting for February, Bailey is ready to play the titular character in Nicholas Hytner’s stage manufacturing of Richard II. “I believed possibly Richard II onstage felt as far eliminated as you could possibly go,” he laughs. Theater is the place the actor bought his begin, and it continues to be a grounding place for him. “Going again to the stage at all times feels, to me, like a artistic reset as a result of you’re going again to the craft, and it is a very honed and artistic journey the place you must information your physique via it, and it is educational,” he says. Bailey is the consummate scholar, at all times studying, nipping, and tucking his craft.
Richard II not solely marks Bailey’s highest-profile Shakespeare function thus far but additionally reunites the star with Hytner, whose 2013 manufacturing of Othello on the Nationwide Theatre featured the actor as Cassio. “Him providing me the a part of Cassio in Othello within the room was, for me, my huge break,” Bailey says of the theater director. “At that time in my life, I positively thought I used to be extra of a Roderigo, so to be supplied Cassio was an instance of [how] you must be taught what different folks see in you.”
Following Richard II, Bailey will return to the massive display with Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali in Jurassic World Rebirth, taking part in paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis. A passing of the torch from Depraved co-star Jeff Goldblum, maybe? We’ll have to attend and see, however Bailey does name Goldblum’s Jurassic Park character Dr. Malcolm the “rizz king” and credit the actor’s performances for protecting him “enthralled and titillated.” “If I can obtain half of what he did within the unique Jurassic, I will be very comfortable,” he provides.
What Bailey can say about his personal expertise right now is how excited he’s to be becoming a member of the main franchise given how deeply nostalgic it’s for him. Jurassic Park was the primary movie Bailey noticed within the cinema along with his household. He will get goosebumps pondering again on that point. “I simply keep in mind feeling so alive,” he says. “It is a bit like Depraved [and] going again to singing and dancing. [I’m] now going again to considered one of these iconic experiences that I discovered so inspiring then, to have the ability to infiltrate that world.” To say Bailey is worked up about this film can be an understatement. “The thought of the John Williams theme taking part in below trotting via some grass fields chasing a dinosaur, you may’t get extra mind-blowing and eye-popping than that,” he says.
It instantly dawns on Bailey that he is in his thirtieth 12 months of performing. The 36-year-old has been performing for almost all of his life, and contemplating all that he is completed in his profession up to now, it feels just like the world is his oyster by way of what he can do subsequent. So what strikes his fancy as of late? “Truthfully, it appears like romance. You get butterflies or one thing occurs, just a little twinge. I simply cannot put my finger on it,” he says. Swoon.
Bailey circles again to an earlier remark about Hytner seeing one thing in him that he did not see himself. That is what he is consistently chasing. “To be scooped up by somebody who can see a efficiency in you that you simply’re not likely conscious of and to be guided by them in their very own world and in their very own imaginative and prescient excites me,” Bailey says.
Studying an element he hasn’t seen earlier than or seen an actor like himself play earlier than, filling these areas, and discovering these cubby holes—that’s the genius of Jonathan Bailey. With every new mission, he continues to shock and delight.
Photographer: Emmanuel Sanchez Monsalve
Stylist: Jake Sammis
Groomer: Kristen Shaw
Inventive Director: Sarah Chiarot
