How Anonymous Guy Became The Hot Star Of Bridgerton

Page made a long way until he got to where he is today. That is, a long way in the literal sense – he was born in 1990 in London, but spent most of his childhood in Zimbabwe, where his mother was born. At the age of 14, in preparation for high school, he returned to England – his father’s country of origin. Even then he contracted the game bacterium. His first role was in a play at school, where he played a drummer. “And-oh, how I played!”, He recalls playfully in an interview for Netflix’s Queue & A section. “I could of course have had a career in musicals, but instead I made a sharp left turn and chose to be more serious and embody emotionally broken dukes.”

At university he started studying sound technicians but when he discovered the National Theater for Youth in London, he realized it was time to turn the hobby into a profession. In 2013, he graduated from the School of Performing Arts and participated in a variety of plays, such as “History Boys” and “The Merchant of Venice” where he played alongside Jonathan Price (the top sparrow from “Game of Thrones”), but also experimented with small screen roles in series The British “casualties” and “Waterloo Road”. However, it turns out that his original dream was completely different: Paige dreamed of becoming a researcher. Yes, like Dora.

In an interview with Netflix, Paige said: “I thought to myself, what would be really amazing? Discover unfamiliar things, explore them. Understand that the world is bigger than you thought.” Today he knows how to explain that acting was the closest thing he found to it. “It’s also a way to explore – to have the opportunity to live in all sorts of places in the world and to identify with people I had no other reason to interact with. One day I could be an astronaut, the day after that I could be president, after that I could travel 200 years back “It’s really the most liberating profession there is, and also an amazing way to spend your time: you learn about human beings – and then share that knowledge with others.”

His first significant role was that of Chicken George, in the 2016 remake of the mythological “Roots.” The novel on which the mini-series is based – “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” by Alex Haley – is still considered one of the most important American works of the 20th century dealing with slavery. The adaptation tops the list of impressive Hollywood stars: Lawrence Fishburn, Forrest Whitaker, Jonathan Reese Myers and Anna Paquin. Reggae-Jean was presented by them as a rising and promising name – and they were right. The series received positive reviews, as did Page, dubbed “a wonderful British discovery” for his charismatic and captivating performance.

But it was his next step in his career that he surprisingly devoured all the cards. In 2018 he was cast in “For the People”, a legal drama whose production had one faith, Shonda Reims. “The first thing I remember from Shonda is that we had a group reading of ‘For the benefit of all’, and before we started she addressed everyone and said very unequivocally, ‘If you see a point in the text – I want you to address it. If you see words on the page – do not change them. “We appreciate the writers in this company, so please read what’s written.” We thought to ourselves, ‘Excellent. Thank you, Queen Shonda! You put us all in place and we will read the words from the page!’ “He told WhoWhatWear in an interview. “It’s a sense of honor that is shared by all the people involved in this society, and Shonda has set this high bar for them. I have immense respect for it, because it works for the benefit of both parties.”

The series may have failed and been canceled after only two seasons, but the impression apparently remains and the successful creator does not imitate his number so quickly. What’s more, she very quickly tried to seduce him with a new project she was working on for Netflix: “Bridgerton,” a period drama set in the 19th century that follows Daphne, a member of the esteemed Bridgarton family, who is proposed to marriage in London’s competitive bachelorette party . Paige plays, as mentioned, the Duke of Hastings, a coveted and rebellious bachelor who comes to visit the city and keeps an eye on Daphne, his little friend’s little sister. In the background of all this, there is Lady Wisldown, who anonymously publishes a newsletter that reveals all the secrets of the residents of the neighborhood. “It’s like Jane Austen met ‘Gossip Girl’ and something like ’45 Shades of Gray, ‘” he joked in an interview with ET Canada.

With the rise of the series, there were viewers who resented “historical accuracy issues” surrounding the presence of affluent black characters, in a series set at a time when blacks were far from taking part in the English aristocratic class. Paige did not feel the need to apologize for this, on the contrary – he was actually happy for the opportunity to present something different on screen. The actor, who at the same time as launching the series also promoted his film “Sylvie’s Love” (which was recently released on Amazon Prime and takes place in Harlem in the 1960s), explained in an interview with In Style magazine how significant these roles were for him. In his sense, “black happiness” is hardly shown on screen in a historical context: “In culture, what usually happens is that you go back in time – and see only happy white people. And you know what? We have always known how to smile. We have always been married. We have all experienced a feeling. “Romance, glamor and happiness – and representation of this is very important, because period dramas that present non-white people should not only highlight traumas.” In another interview with Entertainment Weekly, he added that “we live in a time when it’s part of my commitment to people of my generation, of the artists, to start telling these stories and fill in the gaps.”

But not everything is serious with him. Paige describes himself as a romantic, which only encourages more fantasies among viewers (and viewers) of the series. “I’m a big fan of romance as a concept,” he said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “it’s a wonderful thing and we need more of it in the world.” Given that he is single – and apparently also his TV partner from the series, Phoebe Dinvers – it is hard not to wonder about the attraction between them in reality as well. “As for the auditions, we had a ‘chemistry test’ before the filming started, which was also attended by Shonda. And of course it went well. From there I tried not to think too much about building chemistry. We already knew it works in books – that’s why they are so popular, and the role Ours is to channel it out.The dance rehearsals were quite significant in this respect, because dance is a way of expression for people, especially at a time when people were so gathered within themselves.It’s the only place where you can communicate with the person in front of you intimately, flirt with him and say the “All the things that should not be said out loud. Even though it’s a sexy series, the most intimate scenes in my opinion are when they are dancing, so we spent a lot of time together dancing, and naturally it brought us closer together.”

Now, with the international success of “Bridgerton” on Netflix, he is starting to get used to the new status and meanwhile is moving his time between London and Los Angeles. So as not to bore him, he is also working on a singing career as part of Tunya, his and his brother’s musical duo, Fly. The two took part in a number of ensembles in their youth, however now they produce, write and compose their music independently. Last November they even launched their first single, Don’t Wait, and according to an Instagram post he published on the subject – the song reached him in a dream. In an attempt to recreate the song, he began to hum to himself: “It’s something I do to deal with stress or anxiety,” he said. “I hum to myself in the dentist’s chair as they pull out the drill, or anything else that makes an unpleasant noise. But they told me they did not care, and I think they and their assistants are quite amused by it. It sure is better than screaming.”