Jonathan Bailey's on-screen chemistry in "Bridgerton," "Fellow Travelers"

Some performers just have it that irresistible quality, difficult to explain but impossible to miss. Well, audiences seem to agree that Jonathan Bailey is most definitely one of those performers. He's in conversation with Michelle Miller, not your Mother's Day. I do not want to speak my mother a moment longer. From his turn as a Bridgeton heartthrob to the electric love scenes with Co * Matt Bomer and fellow Travelers actor Jonathan Bailey seems to have mastered the art of the on screen romance. You in this damn chemistry, You seem to have it with everybody you're in a space with. We have chemistry, we've got chemistry, we've got major chemistry. We met the British actor in his hometown outside Oxford to discuss, among other things, that chemistry. And I should like to use that man to dance with my beautiful wife. Which is at least partly responsible for his career altering role in Netflix's smash hit Bridgerton, now in its third season. To be able to go from Bridgeton and then to go straight into a sweeping gay love story in this way, it's just the first step. And the idea that it's even possible is great. That sweeping gay love story takes place in 1950s Washington. The pervert is easy prey to the blackmailer. Senator Joseph McCarthy wasn't just after communist His congressional witch hunt also targeted government employees suspected of being gay. We should not be disturbed about people because of their morals, we're disturbed about them because they are dangerous to this country. This dark chapter in history is the subject of Fellow Travellers, which explores the fictional love affair between two closeted Capitol Hill staffers at the height of McCarthyism and the so-called Lavender Scare. What that meant for a community was kind of lost at that time because it wasn't really talked about. It's quiet. Yeah. It was completely suppressed. 10,000 people taking their own lives, losing their jobs, losing the respect of their communities, of their family, being outed, being outed. A lot has changed. Bailey and his Co stars and fellow travelers are openly gay, but the Lavender Scare helped shape lasting cultural attitudes towards homosexuality in America. When you hear McCarthy's speech and the rhetoric that they used in in 53, saying that they were weak and a threat to our nation send shudders to my body. But there is also an empathy to people who would have therefore had a completely confused understanding of the gay experience that it was something that should be demonized or seen as a choice or a threat to society. The series streaming on Paramount Plus, a division of our parent company, weaves the gay experience through the civil rights era, Vietnam and the AIDS crisis. But at its core is a love story. I never loved anyone but you. You were like, great consuming love. You do romantic leads rather well. Thank you. You do a lot of romantic leads, whether it's gay romantic lead, heterosexual romantic lead. Yeah, it's funny. I guess the exploration of romance I think I found really fascinating. If there's something happening between two people, it's really exciting to play that. Growing up, he played the role of theatre kid, not pushed by his parents, he says, but by his own passion for acting, singing and dance. So I was down to play basketball, but the ballet classes were happening in here. I was obsessed with everything that was going on in here. He joined the class and was at first, he says, blissfully unaware of how others might see it in a negative light. I just had this sort of boundless enthusiasm for it, and testament to my parents, wasn't hyper aware of the fact that I was the only boy in, you know, 50 miles who was wearing a leotard. And I loved it. But you stopped ballet. I did. I did. Why? Well, it became clear when I was 13. I remember I brought a friend home, staying for the weekend. I was like, I was like, dude, yeah. So basically, yeah, we're going to do that. But before that, I've just got to pop in and just take one photo with so many girls. It's going to be amazing. You're going to love it. Cut to me in a leotard and all these women, these girls around me. And I thought this was like cool mega. And I just remember clocking his eyes across the room. And it was that one moment in me that I went, oh, this isn't right. This isn't actually the right thing I should be doing. I just suddenly became aware of a story and a narrative that was put on something that I was so passionate about. So I actually decided not to continue with the dance, but I was acting and singing. What pulled you back in the direction of this is who I am? It's about masking, isn't it? Like, what are you prepared to continue to to fight for? And for me, it very quickly came obvious that I wanted to be completely authentic. And there was always horses there. There was a, a lone donkey. That authenticity has served Jonathan Bailey well. He went on to acclaim performances and everything from Shakespeare. Thanks a bunch, but I'm not getting married to Sondheim. Including a London revival of Company, earning him a coveted Laurence Olivier Award. A lovely and celebratory snapshot of gay love, Bailey is now set to star in the Jurassic World film franchise. That was You who made all that happen and has a lead role in Wicked, the star-studded movie adaptation, a Broadway's long running musical out later this year. To dance and to sing is, you know, is a dream come true. And I, when I met John Chi, the director, we talked a lot about actually growing up and about dance and what it meant. And to play a character who literally dances through life is now you know, that is full circle. A full circle moment and a nod to a childhood passion that persisted.