Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey: How the gay star inspires the industry

Netflix hit
Jonathan Bailey: How the gay ‘Bridgerton’ star inspires others in the industry

In the first season of “Bridgerton” Jonathan Bailey was still in the shadow of another love story, but season two of the Netflix hit pushed his lord Anthony Bridgerton into the spotlight. Bailey plays the attractive womanizer with humor and passion, making fans all over the world rave. Almost incidentally, he also became a role model in the industry – because the 33-year-old lives openly homosexually. And even in 2022, this is still often breaking a taboo.

His agent Nicki van Gelder confirms that his commercial success sends a signal. Bailey is a role model, especially for less established actors who are unsure about coming out because he doesn’t hide his sexual orientation. “I’ve discussed this with some younger actors who’ve been like, ‘Jonny had his coming out, is that ok?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely!'” she says.

Bailey, who has been on stage and in front of the camera since he was a child, made his name in the theater world before “Bridgerton”. In 2019 he received one of the highest British acting awards, the Olivier Award, for a supporting role in the musical “Company”. In his acceptance speech at the time, he said of the representation of the LGTBQI community: “To be able to get to places now that I thought I could never reach as a kid is a wonderful thing.”

Jonathan Bailey gives his “Bridgerton” colleagues tips

Because he himself had long been intimidated by advice given to him as a young actor by someone with power in the industry. “There are two things we don’t want to know: whether you’re an alcoholic or gay,” he recalls the words that unsettled him at the time. “Of course I believed that, I thought to be happy I had to be straight,” Bailey said. At some point, however, it was more important to him to be able to hold hands with his friend in public than to get any role.

Today it is important to him to pass on his experience to the next generation – regardless of sexual orientation. Bailey is “very generous to other actors,” says his agent van Gelder. On the set of “Bridgerton” he wrote his colleagues a kind of guide to prepare them for the coming seasons – when they are the focus of the story. “So they can maintain a sense of common sense and balance,” Bailey said. But he doesn’t see himself as a mentor. “No matter which ‘Bridgerton’ siblings I speak to, I just hope it makes them feel more empowered and better prepared.”

In Germany, too, openly homosexual actors who take on leading roles are still rare. The #actout campaign in February 2021 showed how big the taboo is, for which over 180 actors came out as homosexual in “SZ Magazin”.

Sources: “GQ”, “New York Times”

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