‘Bridgerton’ Star Jonathan Bailey Dishes About What’s Next for Anthony in Season 2

Bridgerton tells the story of young Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), a beautiful debutante trying her best to marry for love in the tense, judgmental world of 1813 London. Stymying her efforts with suitors, though, is her eldest brother, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey). Ever since their father’s pre-mature death, the young Viscount Bridgerton has been tasked with protecting his seven younger siblings, and the responsibility has taken its toll on Anthony. Stubborn, guilt-laden, and ultimately way-too-overprotective, Anthony means well, even if he’s constantly stepping in it.

Spoilers for Bridgerton ahead…

Anthony Bridgerton is the creation of best-selling romance author Julia Quinn. Introduced as Daphne’s nagging big brother in Quinn’s first Bridgerton book, The Duke and I, Anthony shifts roles in Quinn’s second book, The Viscount Who Loved Me. As the Bridgerton Season 1 finale teases, in the second book, the scorned Anthony has decided to remove love from the equation and pursue a bride with a mercenary attitude. In Quinn’s novel, Anthony’s plans are ironically stymied by his chosen intended’s domineering sister and Anthony’s own unprocessed trauma. All of these emotional arcs are neatly set up in Season 1 of the Netflix series.

Decider caught up with Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey earlier this month and discussed all things Anthony. From his illicit romance with opera singer Siena Rosso (Sabrina Bartlett) to Anthony’s unprocessed grief, to Bailey’s own hopes for his character in Season 2…here’s actor Jonathan Bailey on the Bridgerton clan’s reluctant father figure…

DECIDER: I became a massive nerd for this show, basically when I started watching it, and have now read all the books.

JONATHAN BAILEY: You’re joking. Oh my god, you’re my hero!

But on that note, what was your first introduction to the Julia Quinn books? How far have 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 that it’s a period drama. And went, “Tick.” because I love period dramas. Then, when you see Shondaland, you go, “Okay, this is really cool.” Because I stand by everything that they stand for, which is inclusivity, visibility, and diversity. You know it’s going to be incredibly modern and, as you say, there’s going to be twists and turns. And then you’ve got Netflix, the Godfather, popping in to support and make all the dreams come true.

Then I read the script, and I actually auditioned for Simon and recorded a couple of scenes. Actually, 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 a holiday to America. I was actually going to go to Coachella music festival. Very chic. On the day that I set off to the music festival, I was invited to meet everyone at Shondaland. We had a really lovely conversation and a cup of tea, and we talked about family. We talked about ourselves, the roles of men and women in society now and then. The different ways in which people can fall in love. At the end of the meeting, there was something a bit weird about it — in that I really liked them. It felt very informal, and it felt already like I’d met my tribe.

And then I think Betsy Beers, the executive producer, just went, “How do you feel about Anthony?”

And I was like, “Oh, right. Um.”

And I went to Coachella and they sent me three episodes that day. I just devoured them, suddenly seeing it through Anthony’s eyes. I just thought, this is just such a complex and really sad man, who means really well. He loves his family, which is something that I totally understand, and wants the best for everyone else. And in doing so, really loses sense of himself. He manages to cause a lot more hurt than he means to. I just thought that was just such an amazing place to start.

And then I got offered the job a few days later, I think it was on my 31st birthday, at the airport before I flew back to London. I didn’t sleep on the flight. I had lots of prosecco. But I also managed to get hold of the book on my Kindle, the first two books, and I sort of devoured both of those. What I just thought was really helpful about both the books was that you can see where Anthony gets to quite quickly. It meant that I felt really excited about going in and making sure that the audience is challenged to like him, because he is complicated. Knowing how he evolves, you can really, really go there with his tortured self-hatred. That’s something that I’ve really enjoyed. And I think it’s really important, because I think the idea of masculinity is still a massive conversation now. He struggles with that.

On that note, what I particularly like about the character and his novel — and a couple of the others in the series — is the role that grief and trauma plays in our choices as adults. Stuff from our childhood, and how you can’t escape it.

Yes!

How did you enjoy the little easter eggs in this first season that kind of allude to Anthony’s own unprocessed grief over his father’s loss?

Yeah, I loved it. I loved it. You just completely hit the nail on the head. Three days of doing interviews, you’ve smashed it. That’s totally what I — it seemed to jump out of the page. At the age of 20, he not only lost his father, but became the head of a family. Suddenly, he had to be the surrogate father to a lot of his amazing siblings, and a sort of surrogate husband to his mother. And he lost his support system overnight, and also lost the future support system that otherwise would’ve been there for him. He doesn’t have any space to make any mistakes. He’s making them under such high pressure. His self esteem just really suffers.

I think if a therapist could travel in time, they would’ve made a killing if they’d have turned up in Bridgerton. Because he needs to sit back and really work through a lot of his youth. I think that may be something that comes up in later series. Who knows?

Obviously, elephant in the room, there’s a lot of sex in the show. It’s very female gaze-oriented. I talked to [Bridgerton creator] Chris Van Dusen about this, and he said you had a wonderful intimacy coordinator. But I’m curious if, as a male actor, it felt at all different to perform it for more of the ladies’ points of view?  How was it for you as an actor, to be put in that role?

I think yeah, you relish it. I think we’ve all, unfortunately, seen stories. It’s like the James Bond shot of a man lying back in bed, fully-clothed, hands going behind his head as you see a satin dress slip over a woman. That’s not helpful to anyone. It’s really important to show sexuality in everyone. And I think women, just as much as men, want sex; and they want it in a way that they can have it.

The thing that was really interesting with working with Sabrina [Bartlett] — who was just super lovely, we’d met each other years before anyway, so the fact that we were cast up with each other was a great instinct from Shondaland. We just talked about how sex does change as power dynamics change, and there’s such a need between the two of them to validate each other. Where you start with, literally, you see Anthony’s bum before you see his face. When you see his face, he’s looking at his father’s watch on an heirloom, and he’s rutting her against the family tree. He’s not even looking at her in the eye. By the end, you see her having complete control. She dominates him. I think it was brilliant.  

I always wanted to be in a work environment where particularly the women feel safe and empowered. It was a good life experience, really, to know that you have to sort of take down the britches and take one for the team. But I think it was great. I felt incredibly safe, and the intimacy coordination that has come into our industry is a real force for good. I cannot believe that there was even a time, now, where they didn’t exist. It’s important, really. The most important thing about that process is being able to speak to the intimacy coordinator one-on-one, before you even speak with 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. It’s not just about surviving. I enjoyed it.

The elephant in the room was well and truly ridden out of the room.

I have a million more questions but I have to wrap it up. The last thing I would ask is: the finale of this season very obviously sets up The Viscount Who Loved Me. If that’s the direction we’re going in, how excited are you to tell that story? How excited are you to meet Kate?

I think if everyone can find their Kate, then they’re very lucky. So, yeah, I’m excited for Anthony. I really care for him. If I get to fall in love vicariously through him, with an amazing actress who’s playing Kate, then that’s going to be amazing. I just want him to be okay. I want to see him smile. And I want to see him dance. Because he deserves the happiness afforded to other characters much earlier in their lives.

So, yeah. It’s going to be brilliant, whatever they decide to do. There’s a lot of Anthony to evolve, I think.

Watch Bridgerton on Netflix