The exact moment Jonathan Bailey knew he’d made it as an actor: “The biggest break”
From the moment he made his first, incredibly racy appearance in Netflix‘s Bridgerton, it was only a matter of time before Jonathan Bailey became a megastar.
The Briton, who plays Anthony on the show, had been around for a long time at this point. He’d found success as a child actor playing Gavroche in Les Misérables and could be seen in TV shows like Crashing and Broadchurch, but a healthy dollop of Regency era smut is what took his career to the next level.
As soon as Bridgerton became the biggest thing on the planet, Bailey’s inbox was full to bursting. He played Fiyero in the monstrously successful Wicked, a role he is set to reprise in the upcoming sequel. He also recently appeared in Jurassic World Rebirth, a sequel that proved once and for all why the franchise should have died in the 1990s, and on stage, he was cast as the title role in a 2025 production of William Shakespeare’s Richard II, giving him the chance to work alongside the great Nicholas Hytner.
An acclaimed director of both theatre and film, Hytner’s fingerprints can be found on movies like The History Boys and The Madness of King George, as well as theatrical shows like Giant, which starred John Lithgow as Roald Dahl. His contributions to the performing world are so great that he was knighted for services to drama in 2010, and while some of you might not put a lot of stock into that, at least Nicky got to have a nice day out.
In an interview with British Vogue, Bailey revealed that this wasn’t his first time working with Hytner, where the two had first met in 2013, when the icon of British creativity was directing an adaptation of Othello at London’s National Theatre. He cast the then-up-and-comer in a pivotal role and, according to Bailey, it changed his life.
“People talk about fame and Bridgerton, but the one moment where I really thought I’d made it was when Nicholas cast me as Cassio ten years ago,” he said, “He gave me the biggest break. He’s been an incredible mentor. With Richard II, I am returning not just to a play, but to a theatre director. He’s seen me freak out in the rehearsal room. He’s seen me sobbing.”
This version of Shakespeare’s enduring tale of jealousy and racism saw veteran theatrical star Adrian Lester take on the title role, while the part of Iago, the scheming villain of the piece, was played by Rory Kinnear. Bailey’s role of Michael Cassio is one of the most important outside of the main two as the trusted lieutenant of Othello, who is framed as having an affair with his wife, Desdemona, played by Olivia Vinall. The epic, three-hour-long adaptation of the revenge tragedy received rave reviews at the time, and while Bailey’s name is largely absent from them, the Evening Standard did note that he played Cassio with “a flawed charm”.
A big break doesn’t have to come with fortune and fame; for Bailey, working with Hytner gave him the confidence he needed to forge his own path, and for those lucky enough to see the production, you witnessed a little piece of history in the process.
