Jonathan Bailey Gets Candid About Filming Woe That Left Him Needing A 'Big Old Toupée' In Wicked
Even Jonathan Bailey doesn’t just “wake up like this”, we’ll have you know.
The British actor is as in-demand as it gets these days, and dividing his time between various different sets in recent years has apparently taken its toll on his luscious locks.
In a recent Variety with Naomi Watts for their Actors On Actors series, Jonathan opened up about the experience of shooting both Bridgerton and Fellow Travelers all while rehearsing for the Wicked movie at the same time.
For around 33 days in a row, the Olivier winner worked consistently on the three different projects, flying backwards and forwards between Canada and London three times.
But it wasn’t just demanding on his schedule. Jonathan revealed that the hair styling was pretty rigorous, as he was given a perm to play Anthony Bridgerton in the hit Netflix regency drama, but had straightened hair when he played Tim Laughlin for Fellow Travelers.
“I went on holiday, and my hair looked like coral – as in, it was underwater, just floating around,” he said.
When the Mulholland Drive actor wondered how Jonathan had any hair left when it came to shooting Wicked, Jonathan replied: “I had a big old toupée! That’s a big spoiler alert, but yeah, it’s a toupée. I’m in the choreography so it’s flapping about!”
Jonathan is set to play Fiyero alongside Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the two upcoming Wicked movies.
He also returned as Anthony Bridgerton in season three of the Netflix show, and starred opposite Matt Bomer in Fellow Travelers last October, about a post-WWII queer love story.
Elsewhere in his Variety interview, Jonathan recalled “crying” at videos of him dressed in character for Fellow Travelers, wearing a 1950s tie and jacket, contrasted by him in Nike sweatpants while learning the choreography for Wicked on his lunch break.
“It was wild,” he shared.
Jonathan is also set to appear in another huge TV show this year, joining the Heartstopper cast as Charlie’s Insta-famous celebrity crush called Jack Maddox.
“Like so many people I watched the first series and I just thought it was one of the biggest, most beautiful gifts to so many people,” the actor recently told Variety. “And I wished I’d had that growing up.”
