“It feels like the tornado at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz, and if I’ve still got my ruby slippers on at the end, I’ll be happy,” Jonathan Bailey says, flashing that famous grin. The actor and current internet boyfriend is, of course, referencing the whirlwind that has been the Wicked press tour—a three-week-long global extravaganza where many (happy) tears were shed, memes were born, and the fashion, including a special pair of short shorts, had everyone talking. I’m catching Bailey on a Friday afternoon during a rare bit of downtime en route to JFK Airport. Destination: London for the film’s final stop and premiere. For this Brit at this moment, there’s no place like home.
He’s exhausted—rightfully so—but still in great spirits, and I can happily say at the time of writing this article that all the promotional hustle and bustle from the cast has paid off dividends. Jon M. Chu’s big-screen adaptation of the wildly popular 2003 stage musical is a certified hit with audiences, generating over $350 million globally and becoming one of the year’s most successful debuts. The soundtrack is also smashing records.
Wicked is the finale to what has been a banner year for Bailey, which kicked off with an Emmy nomination for his spectacular performance in the historical miniseries Fellow Travelers. It also saw his return as Viscount Anthony Bridgerton in the continuous hit machine that is Bridgerton; the launch of his LGBTQ+ charity The Shameless Fund, which supports the community through global creative collaborations; and the filming of his next movie project, 2025’s summer blockbuster Jurassic World Rebirth.
For the moment, Bailey is fully in what he tells me is his “Winkie era”—a nod to his Wicked character Prince Fiyero, who will leave you swooning with one bat of the eye or, at the very least, breaking out into song and dance. I can attest that the actor is every bit as charismatic and charming in real life as his on-screen counterpart, so it’s easy to see why Bailey was a shoo-in for the film’s lovable heartthrob.
Bailey’s excitement for playing Fiyero was twofold. While the character is inherently lean on the page, there was a lot of complexity for Bailey to discover within the lyrics of his two musical numbers, “Dancing Through Life” and his duet with Elphaba later in part two. It was also an opportunity to come back to his earliest passions in life—singing and dancing—which he gave up on at a young age to pursue sports. Growing up, the actor was struck by iconic male dancing in film, naming Fred Astaire, John Travolta, and Patrick Swayze as big inspirations. There’s no denying Bailey’s talent as he performs “Dancing Through Life,” a remarkable sequence of vocals and acrobatics that required bootcamp-level training from the actor. That, combined with the more emotional moments with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, leaves you wanting more. His performance even earned a special stamp of approval. “Norbert Leo Butz, a hero of mine, sent me a text saying that I’m very much welcomed into the brotherhood of Fiyero, which I’m very, very proud of,” Bailey shares.
Reflecting on the entire experience, Bailey is feeling eternally grateful and lucky for the opportunity to be a part of such a big cultural moment. “I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it 10 years before, and obviously because of Bridgerton, I think it was the perfect time for me to be the right person for the job,” he says.
Now, what’s next?
I ask if he has a strong desire to run in the opposite direction after doing a big-budget movie like Wicked. Bailey’s answer? “Yeah, definitely!”
Looking ahead to February, Bailey is set to play the titular character in Nicholas Hytner’s stage production of Richard II. “I thought maybe Richard II onstage felt as far removed as you could go,” he laughs. Theater is where the actor got his start, and it continues to be a grounding place for him. “Going back to the stage always feels, to me, like a creative reset because you are going back to the craft, and it’s a very honed and creative adventure where you have to guide your body through it, and it’s academic,” he says. Bailey is the consummate student, always learning, nipping, and tucking his craft.
Richard II not only marks Bailey’s highest-profile Shakespeare role to date but also reunites the star with Hytner, whose 2013 production of Othello at the National Theatre featured the actor as Cassio. “Him offering me the part of Cassio in Othello in the room was, for me, my big break,” Bailey says of the theater director. “At that point in my life, I definitely thought I was more of a Roderigo, so to be offered Cassio was an example of [how] you have to learn what other people see in you.”
Following Richard II, Bailey will return to the big screen with Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali in Jurassic World Rebirth, playing paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis. A passing of the torch from Wicked co-star Jeff Goldblum, perhaps? We’ll have to wait and see, but Bailey does call Goldblum’s Jurassic Park character Dr. Malcolm the “rizz king” and credits the actor’s performances for keeping him “enthralled and titillated.” “If I can achieve half of what he did in the original Jurassic, I’ll be very happy,” he adds.
What Bailey can say about his own experience at this time is how excited he is to be joining the major franchise given how deeply nostalgic it is for him. Jurassic Park was the first film Bailey saw in the cinema with his family. He gets goosebumps thinking back on that time. “I just remember feeling so alive,” he says. “It’s a bit like Wicked [and] going back to singing and dancing. [I’m] now going back to one of these iconic experiences that I found so inspiring then, to be able to infiltrate that world.” To say Bailey is excited about this movie would be an understatement. “The idea of the John Williams theme playing under trotting through some grass fields chasing a dinosaur, you can’t get more mind-blowing and eye-popping than that,” he says.
It suddenly dawns on Bailey that he’s in his 30th year of acting. The 36-year-old has been performing for the majority of his life, and considering all that he’s done in his career thus far, it feels like the world is his oyster in terms of what he can do next. So what strikes his fancy these days? “Honestly, it feels like romance. You get butterflies or something happens, a little twinge. I just can’t put my finger on it,” he says. Swoon.
Bailey circles back to an earlier comment about Hytner seeing something in him that he didn’t see himself. That’s what he’s constantly chasing. “To be scooped up by someone who can see a performance in you that you’re not really aware of and to be guided by them in their own world and in their own vision excites me,” Bailey says.
Reading a part he hasn’t seen before or seen an actor like himself play before, filling those spaces, and finding those cubby holes—that is the genius of Jonathan Bailey. With each new project, he continues to surprise and delight.
Photographer: Emmanuel Sanchez Monsalve
Stylist: Jake Sammis
Groomer: Kristen Shaw
Creative Director: Sarah Chiarot
