Jonathan Bailey

Through a dance club in Henley-on-Thames of which he was a member, he auditioned for and landed the role of Tiny Tim in the 1995 Royal Shakespeare Company's production of A Christmas Carol at the Barbican Theatre in London at seven years old.[8][12] He also played Little Baptiste in the company's 1996 production of Les Enfants du Paradis. By eight, he was performing as Gavroche in a West End production of Les Misérables. Bailey considers his role as Prince Arthur for the Royal Shakespeare Company's King John in 2003 as his first adult role. On the day of his last A levels, he started rehearsing for a production of a Beautiful Thing in London, taking over a role from Andrew Garfield.[11] In 2012, Bailey was nominated for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for his performance in David Hare's well-received play South Downs at Minerva Theatre and its later transfer to Harold Pinter Theatre.[13][14]

In 2013, Bailey joined his first musical theatre production playing Tim Price in Duncan Sheik's sold-out London run of American Psycho directed by Rupert Goold at the Almeida Theatre.[15][16] In 2016, he starred opposite Samantha Barks in the London production of The Last Five Years with music, lyrics and direction by Jason Robert Brown at The Other Palace. The Stage's Mark Shenton called the production "poignant" turning "each song into a masterclass of storytelling" with Bailey "a real vocal surprise with his haunting renditions of 'If I Didn’t Believe in You' and 'Nobody Needs to Know'."[17]

Bailey appeared alongside Ian McKellen in an acclaimed production of King Lear at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2017.[18] His Edgar, according to the Evening Standard, "is a touching study of transformation."[19] The following year, he joined Patti Lupone in the second West End revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company playing the gender-swapped role of Jamie which was originally written as a female character, directed by Marianne Elliot.[20][21] Per The Times, he "received an ovation every night after completing the infamous 'Getting Married Today' a rat-tat-tat, mile-a-minute technical feat, lyrically, about marriage jitters."[22] His "lightning-fast, show-stopping rendition of the song became a must-see West End event" according to Variety, and won him the 2019 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical.[23] From March to June 2022, Bailey headlines Mike Bartlett's play Cock at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End reuniting him with his Company director Marianne Elliott.[24][25]

Bailey made his feature film debut alongside in the family film Five Children and It in 2004. He had main roles in the sitcoms Off the Hook, Campus, and Me and Mrs Jones. From 2011 to 2012, Bailey starred as the titular Leonardo da Vinci in the CBBC series Leonardo.[26]

In 2014, Bailey appeared in the Doctor Who series 8 episode "Time Heist" and the World War I film Testament of Youth.[27] He played reporter Oliver "Olly" Stevens in the first two series of Broadchurch on ITV.[28] He had a recurring role as Jack Patterson in the first series of the BBC Two comedy W1A before being promoted to main for the subsequent two series.

Bailey starred as Sam in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's 2016 comedy-drama miniseries Crashing on Channel 4. He also made a guest appearance in Michaela Coel's Chewing Gum. He played Ian Wheeler in the 2018 biographical film The Mercy directed by James Marsh.

In 2019, Bailey was cast in the 2020 Shonda Rhimes-produced Netflix series Bridgerton, an adaptation of Julia Quinn's Regency romance novels, as Anthony, the 9th Viscount Bridgerton, who is the head of the eponymous family.[29][30] The role garnered him critical acclaim and international recognition.[5][31]