Bridgerton tells the story of young Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), a beautiful debutante trying her best to marry for love in the tense, critical world of 1813 London. Continuing her efforts with lawyers, however, is her older brother, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey). Ever since the death of his premature father, young Viscount Bridgerton has been asked to protect his seven youngest sisters, and the burden has put pressure on Anthony. Stubborn, guilty, and ultimately way-too-defensive, Anthony means well, even though he’s always stepping in.
Destroyers for Bridgerton onwards …
Anthony Bridgerton is the creation of the most famous romance author Julia Quinn. Introduced as Daphne’s nagging big brother in Quinn’s first Bridgerton book, The Duke and I, Anthony moves roles in Quinn’s second book, The Lord who loved me. As the Bridgerton The end of season 1 is approaching, in the second book, the deceived Anthony has decided to take love away from the equation and follow a bride with a mercenary look. In Quinn’s novel, Anthony’s plans are ironically woven into a dominant sister of his choice and Anthony’s own unprepared trauma. All of these emotional arcs are neatly set in Season 1 of the Netflix series.
Decider captured Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey earlier this month and considered it all Anthony. From his illicit romance with opera singer Siena Rosso (Sabrina Bartlett) to Anthony’s unprepared sadness, to Bailey’s own hopes for his character in Season 2… this is actor Jonathan Bailey on the figure of the reliable father of the Bridgerton clan …
DECIDER: I became a big nerd for this show, basically when I first started watching it, and I’ve now read all the books.
JONATHAN BAILEY: You are joking. Oh my god, you are my hero!
But on that note, what was the first introduction you introduced to Julia Quinn’s books? How much did you read in preparation for this role?
I got an email going, “Look, just read this for interest. “The first thing you see, obviously, is time drama. And he went, “Tick. ”Because I like time plays. Then, when you see Shondaland, you go, “Okay, this is very good.” Because I stand by everything they stand for, that is inclusiveness, visibility, and diversity. You know it’s going to be very modern and, as you say, there will be twists and turns. And then Netflix, the Godfather, comes in to support and make all the dreams come true.
Then I read the script, and I was actually listening for Simon and recording a scene or two. Honestly, the scene in Episode 1 between Simon and Anthony, I read his side of that conversation. And then I was just finishing something in London, and I was going on vacation to America. I was definitely going to the Coachella music festival. Very chic. On the day I went to the music festival, I was invited to meet everyone at Shondaland. We had a really good chat and a cup of tea, and talked about family. We talked about ourselves, about the responsibilities of men and women in society now and then. The different ways people can fall in love. At the end of the meeting, there was something strange about it – because I really enjoyed it. It felt very informal, and it already felt like I had met my tribe.
And then I think Betsy Beers, the executive producer, went, “How do you feel about Anthony?”
And I was like, “Oh, right. About. ”
And I went to Coachella and they sent me three events that day. I just destroyed them, suddenly seeing it through Anthony’s eyes. I was just thinking, this is just such a complicated and very sad one, which means really good. He loves his family, which I totally understand, and wants the best for everyone else. And in doing so, he really loses consciousness of himself. He manages to cause far more harm than he means to him. I just thought that was such an amazing place to start.
And then I got the job offered a few days later, I think it was on my 31st birthday, at the airport before I got back to London. I did not sleep on the fly. I had a lot of prosecco. But I also grabbed the book on my Kindle, the first two books, and sort of put down two of them. What I thought was really helpful about both books, is that you can see where Anthony gets really fast. It made me feel excited about getting in and making sure the audience is challenged to be like it, because it’s complicated. By getting to know him as he grows, you can actually get there with his self-inflicted hatred. That’s something I really enjoyed. And I think it’s very important, because I think the idea of violence is still a big conversation now. He struggles with that.
On that note, I particularly like about his character and novel – and another couple in the series – the role of sadness and trauma in our choices as adults. Stuff from our childhood, and how you can not escape.
There is!
How did you enjoy the little waterfall eggs in this first season recounting Anthony ‘s own unprepared grief over the loss of his father?
Yeah, he liked me. I really liked it. You just completely hit the nail in the head. Three days from doing interviews, you are disciplined. That’s what I totally am – it seemed to jump off the page. At the age of 20, he lost not only his father, but became the head of a family. Suddenly, he had to be a surrogate father to many of his wonderful sisters, and a kind of surrogate to his mother. And he lost his support system overnight, and he also lost the future support system that would have been available to him otherwise. He has no room for mistakes. It makes them under such high pressure. His self-esteem just suffers.
I think if a therapist could travel in time, they would have killed if they had turned in. Bridgerton. Because he has to sit back and work through a lot of childhood. I think that’s probably something that will appear in later series. Who knows?
Obviously, elephant in the room, there is a lot of sex in the show. It’s a very feminine focused gaze. I spoke to him [Bridgerton creator] Chris Van Dusen about this, and he said you had an amazing close coordinator. But I know if he, as a male actor, felt at all different to his accomplishment for more women’s ideas? How was it for you as an actor, to be put in that role?
I think yeah, you like it. I think we have all, unfortunately, seen stories. It looks like a James Bond bullet of a man lying back in bed, full of clothes, hands going behind his head as you see a satin dress sliding over a woman. That doesn’t help anyone. It is very important to show sex in everyone. And I think women, just as much as men, want sex; and they want it in a way that they get.
What was really interesting about working with Sabrina [Bartlett] – which was just absolutely beautiful, we had met each other years before anyway, so the fact that we were thrown up together was a good instinct from Shondaland. We were just talking about how gender changes as power dynamics change, and there is a great need between the two of them to prove each other. Where you start with, literally, you see Anthony’s bomb before you see his face. When you see his face, he looks at his father’s watch on an heir, and tears it against the family tree. He doesn’t even look her in the eye. By the end, you can see it with complete control. She has control over it. I think it was great.
I have always wanted to be in a work environment where women in particular feel safe and empowered. It was a good life experience, really, to know that you kind of have to take down the brushes and bring one for the team. But I think it was really good. I felt very safe, and the close coordination that came into our business is a really good force. I can’t believe there was even a time, now, where they didn’t exist. It matters, really. The most important thing about that process is being able to talk to the close-up coordinator one-on-one, before you even talk to the other actor. You can talk about your own boundaries. You feel like you can tell so much of the story through sex now, because it feels safer. This is not just about living. I enjoyed it.
The elephant in the room was well riding out of the room.
I have a million more questions but I need to fold it. The last thing I want to ask is: the end of this season is obviously setting The Lord who loved me. If that’s the side we’re in, how interesting are you to telling that story? How exciting are you to meet Kate?
I think if everyone gets their Kate, they are very lucky. So yeah, I’m excited for Anthony. I care a lot for him. If I get to fall in love wildly through it, with an amazing actress playing Kate, that’s going to be amazing. I just want it to be okay. I want him to see a smile. And I want to see him dance. Because he deserves the joy given to other characters much earlier in their lives.
So, yes. It’s going to be great, no matter what they decide to do. Anthony has a lot to come up with, I think.
Look Bridgerton on Netflix