Jonathan Bailey Says Being the ‘Only Boy’ in Gymnastics Informed His ‘Wicked’ Character

Bailey plays Fiyero in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, love interest to both Galinda and Elphaba and quite the flexible dancer.

Turns out Jonathan Bailey took “Dancing Through Life” quite seriously, as he’s been preparing for his role in the fantasy musical “Wicked” ever since he was a little boy. In a recent interview for Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue, the “Bridgerton” actor discussed how he channelled his younger self in order to fill the shoes of sensitive ruffian Fiyero in the film.

“I felt like it had to be sort of a flair and sort of performative, but hopefully in a way that was just with abandon and not arrogance. I did gymnastics growing up and I did dancing. I was the only boy within a whatever-mile radius,” said Bailey. “And because I was a boy and I was dancing, whenever the Royal Shakespeare Company wanted to cast someone, they called. It was dancing that got me into acting. And in dance school — not school, but a hobby club — they had acrobatics, which I was obsessed with. So I had, and still do have, a very bendy back, as shown in ‘Wicked.‘”

This is not the first time Bailey has connected with a part on a personal level. After becoming well known for his heterosexual role in “Bridgerton,” Bailey got the chance to be involved with a show that deals in gay romance and speaks more to his own experience.

“I was hyperaware of the complexities and nuances of how I felt about myself being a gay man, let alone a gay actor, and suddenly finding success in playing a straight part and talking about that,” Bailey said of doing “Bridgerton” press. “‘Heartstopper’ seems to allow people to feel catharsis and to feel a sort of melancholic sort of nostalgia for what could have been. I was feeling all of those things anyway.”

Playing Fiyero also taught Bailey new things about himself, including a physical deformity.

“I did ballet for ages, and I’ve only as an adult found out I’ve got very flat feet. Doing Fiyero, I learned that,” he said. “And the physio one day walked in because my knees were twanging, and across the room he went, ‘You got flat feet.'”

Universal Pictures releases “Wicked” in theaters on November 22.