Jonathan Bailey might the world's most charming man
The 'Wicked' star is the perfect balance of cheek and charisma
BEING A JOURNALIST, managing your expectations of the people you interview is a big part of the job. Everyone on the other end of your questions is a human, regardless of the reason why you’re interviewing them. That doesn’t stop us from, occasionally, finding ourselves a little starstruck. Case in point: Jonathan Bailey.
After sitting across from the Wicked star during a visit to Sydney, chatting about hikes and biking, his love of Heartbreak High (original ’90s version) and how, after spending too much time in America, he’s saying things like “fanny pack” (“Does that word mean the same thing in Australia as it does back home?” It does. “Oh, great!”) I can honestly say that Bailey is arguably one of the most charming men I’ve had the opportunity to talk to.
That cheekiness you see onscreen and on the red carpets is genuinely him.
The 37-year-old’s current visit is manifold: the official press tour for Wicked may have ended, but the English star chose to continue on to Australia, surprising a crowd of ecstatic moviegoers that included his sister at a Hoyts screening. He’s also here on official Omega business. An ambassador for the watch brand, Bailey was the guest of honour at an intimate soiree hosted at a private residence along the Coogee coastline.
But it’s been mostly private. You could argue that Bailey – recently inducted as the world’s Sexiest Man Alive and now arguably the most famous person in the world right now – uses Sydney the way most people use a long bath: to disappear for a minute and come back refreshed, reenergised and recognisable again.
Not lip-service to the city, either. He’s visited Sydney enough times to acquire the kind of insights normally reserved for locals, like where to find the good pasta or the easiest spot to sit for a drink. Asked his preference on where to catch a bite while in town, he doesn’t have to think long before name-dropping an iconic institution. “Bill and Toni’s,” he says. “I last came here for about three and a half weeks and I ate so much because the food was so delicious.”
Clover Moore, give him his key to the city right now.
The rest of his life is slightly less low-key. Bailey has been moving steadily up through the industry for years. The Disney musical series Groove High. Broadchurch with David Tennant and Olivia Colman, Crashing opposite Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Chewing Gum with Michaela Coel, plus numerous stage performances and an Olivier Award. Then came Bridgerton. Fellow Travellers. Then Fiyero. Jurassic World Rebirth. Then Sexiest Man Alive 2025 title. An enviable resume for any actor.
What doesn’t appear on the résumé, but emerges immediately in conversation, is how deeply versed he is in Australian television. Not the rebooted stuff, either. “I loved Heartbreak High,” he says. “I want to play Drazic’s little brother.”
It’s also downright esoteric. “There was also this show that I grew up with, and it was about two daughters who got kidnapped and flown to Australia. It was literally a children’s program! I may have dreamt this, actually.”
(After the interview, we did a little digging and the show did indeed exist. A 1999 miniseries called See How They Run, starring Peter O’Brien. I don’t think many Australians even know about this show.)
We go through the actors he wants to work with next, a list he keeps surprisingly short. “Regina Hall,” he says immediately. He tells the story of walking up to her and confessing he was a genuine fan. “She’s just so alive and truthful and present.”
Would he sign on to a reboot of Scary Movie if that’s what it took?
“I mean, it’d be very hard for me not to. I better start growing my nipples now,” he says, completely straight-faced. Another reason to be charmed – that quintessential bawdy British humour remains unchecked.
If his pop-cultural references are delightfully unpredictable, his connection to Omega is the opposite.
“My relationship with Omega has been such a beautiful, consistent relationship,” he says. It began long before the ambassadorship. Both sets of grandparents wore Omega; his grandmother still does. As for his go-to timepiece? “My DeVille with a green face,” he says. “With a leather strap.”
Omega DeVille Prestige
41mm, 18k yellow gold on leather strap.
And then there are the legs. This time last year during the first Australian press tour for Wicked, Bailey broke the internet when he arrived at a media call in the tiniest of tiny shorts (Giuliva Heritage). Ripped, they became the second-most-discussed element of Wicked, right after the green lighting. How did he get them “Fiyero ready”?
“Gymnastics,” he says. “They’re totally dancers’ legs . . . jumping around . . . and cycling.” He rode from Rome to Pisa last summer, alone, carrying everything in one bag. A sort of antidote to the machinery of press tours.
“It’s the opposite of a press tour,” he says. “Autonomy . . . space.”
Let’s hope he feels the same when he visits Sydney next.
Related:
Glen Powell on test-driving Omega’s new watch: ‘it’s nice being the envy of all your friends’
