Who Is Jonathan Bailey From Bridgerton?

1 He Wanted to Become an Actor After Seeing a Stage Production of Oliver!

Jonathan first caught the acting bug when he was 5 years old and saw a production of Oliver! — a Broadway musical based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist — with his family. As Jonathan told WhatsOnStage during an April 2012 interview, "I remember announcing to my family something very clichéd like, 'I want to be up there one day.'"

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2 He Used to Work at a Factory

When asked about a job that changed his life by Harper's Bazaar during a January 2021 interview, Jonathan said that it was working on the lemon-curd line at a local factory as a kid. It was a tough job, and according to Jonathan, it made him realize the value of hard work — and how much he hated doing manual labor. "Every summer, Christmas, holidays, at school, there's something about having to open up a piping hot vat of lemon curd to check the temperature at five in the morning . . . It made me realize that I don't ever want to eat or have lemon curd ever again," he joked.

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3 He's Very Superstitious

Image Source: Getty / Jeff Spicer

Before performances, Jonathan has several rituals he runs through in order to calm his nerves. As he explained to Attitude magazine in October 2018, "They're f*cking nuts and get weirder throughout the run . . . like having to flick my watch five times, and once when I was doing a play at The National I got to the point where I felt I had to take half a paracetamol before every entrance. Then there was the time where I'd say a Hail Mary. I did go to a Roman Catholic school, but that was pure anxiety. If I didn't say it, I'd think something awful would happen."

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4 His Church Influenced His Love of Music

Jonathan loves music just as much as he loves theater. He told The Standard in February 2018 that his love for music was likely influenced by his church growing up, which was in the village of Benson in South Oxfordshire, England. "We used to go to church and, musically, I remember that being a massive influence," he said. "It had a band so it was very upbeat and semi-happy-clappy. It made me who I am."

The church also gave him a sense of community, which is something he also values still today. "I have that strong instinct for community and I feel it very heavily when I see it break down," he added. "I worry that people are being pushed more and more into their own heads and it's become about looking after number one. For me, that's a modern-day horror story."

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5 He Was Discouraged From Coming Out

Before coming out as gay in 2018, Jonathan was discouraged from opening up about his sexuality by a surprising source. "The most conservative conversations I've had about me being honest about my sexuality in this day and age have come from gay men in the industry," he told Attitude in December 2020. ". . . They're either people who work in publicity, or there's also been casting directors who have put the call into my agent to say, 'Just so that you know, the way that this is going to be sold is that it's a gay story written by gay writers for gay actors. So by just taking the role . . .'"

Because of that, Jonathan kept his sexual preference hidden from the public. "This was at a stage where perhaps I was coming to terms with my own sexuality, I hadn't necessarily hidden it . . . But I've never been not honest about it," he added. "It's just there had never been a need to talk about it. There's a sense of shame, I think, that's palpable throughout gay men within the industry."

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6 He Once Appeared Nude on Stage With Sir Ian McKellen

Image Source: Getty / Dave M. Benett

In 2017, Jonathan starred as Edgar alongside Sir Ian McKellen in a production of King Lear at the Chichester Festival Theatre, and his role required him to show a lot of skin. "Basically, I had to run about in a thong in the rain. [Ian] would get soaked as well, so afterwards we'd warm up, have a cup of tea and a chat," he told Attitude in October 2018. Luckily, it ended up being a bonding experience. "He was everything you could wish for and more, so brilliant," he added in reference to Ian. "After rehearsals, we'd order Deliveroo, sit on the picnic benches and put the world to right. He used to tell me, 'Just live your life', and he is very much someone who has."

Later, when he was interviewed by Ian for Attitude in December 2020, Jonathan jokingly reminded the actor how they first met. "We met on day one of rehearsals of King Lear, in which we were both going to appear nude on stage," he said.

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7 If He Wasn't an Actor, He'd Want to Be a Teacher

If Jonathan hadn't pursued his passion for theater, he may have taken on a very different role. "If I wasn't an actor, I think I'd love to be a primary school teacher," he told Harper's Bazaar. "I mean, I think all teachers are basically modern-day heroes. And I love going to see my niece in her nativities at school. I always think they're just so sweet and lovely. Watching the next generation of Baileys grow up, you just realize how informative those years are and I think being a part of that is pretty special."

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8 He Wants Theater to Always Be a Part of His Life

When asked by Vingt Sept magazine in December 2020 whether he would ever give up life on stage for film work, Jonathan said he would always return to theater. "It's different for everyone — but for me, I think you get better as an actor on stage," he said. "You get a chance to tell the same story differently every night . . . I thrive on it. Theatre is the only thing that when I can't see it or be a part of it, I go a bit cold turkey."

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9 His Dream Role Is a Character in Cats

Image Source: Getty / David M. Benett

Though he unfortunately missed his chance to get cast in the 2019 movie based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical, Jonathan would still love a chance to appear in Cats. When asked about his dream role by Harper's Bazaar, he immediately named Rum Tum Tugger, who was played by Jason Derulo in the movie.

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10 His Bridgerton Sideburns Were Real

Image Source: Getty / Mike Marsland

Wondering whether Anthony Bridgerton's facial hair was the real deal? According to Jonathan, those sideburns were 100 percent au naturale. "They are real, baby," he told The Cut in December 2020. "I fertilize them every day like a bonsai tree." Apparently, he also has Bridgeton's makeup designer to thank for his "heavy-duty period drama mutton chops," as he called them during a November 2019 interview with GQ. "Marc Pilcher — our amazing make-up designer — is in full control of my facial hair for the next six months," he added. "He shears me like a sheep. I don't have to do anything, which is great, as I hate shaving."

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