What was this British actor missing in his career after the mega-successes of 'Wicked' and 'Bridgerton'? Perhaps a blockbuster with the prestige of 'Jurassic World: Rebirth', in which he stars alongside, and about which he spoke to us exclusively from London.
You can now find the June issue of FOTOGRAMAS at your newsstand, where we talk to Jonathan Bailey about the sweet moment he is experiencing professionally. To the club of staunch fans of the television soap opera 'Bridgerton', where he plays Lord Anthony, last year he added the legion of viewers who came to the box office to see him sing, he danced and enchanted the characters of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the first installment of the musical 'Wicked'. And starting this summer, he will be the co-star, alongside Scarlett Johansson, in 'Jurassic World: Rebirth.'
"Every actor dreams that their work reaches others," the performer reflect. "It doesn't matter if there are few spectators in a small theater or millions of viewers. Actors need to know that we reach the audience, that what we do is being received. When you think that what you do has a global impact, a kind of vertigo hits you, but then you have to think about not letting that affect you: you visualize a single audience member and commit to giving it your all, to doing your best. But, well, going back to your question: yes, it's a fantastic time for me as an actor."
Friendly (he was concerned about how we in Spain had experienced the black out of last April 28), nice and displaying an undeniable appeal, Jonathan Bailey emphasizes that surreal fantasy he was confessing of living: "We filmed in the same London studios where Wicked was made, and I had an attack of laughter when I realized that in the same place where I had been dancing with the munchkins, I now had to pretend that I was being chased by a Jurassic creature with a very bad temper. Do you know what I thought of? 'Jurassic World: The Musical'! Dancing among and with dinosaurs. Now that I think about it, there has been a lot of choreography in the movie. The action scenes are basically choreographies. Every little movement of the actors, the cameras, and those dinosaurs that will be added with digital effects in post-production are planned out. My training in dance has been very useful for the amazing action sequences you'll see in 'Jurassic World: The Rebirth'. If you add to that that in several of them, to immerse us more into the situation, Gareth (Edwards, the film's director) played the music of John Williams from the early features of the franchise through the speakers on set, feeling like I was in a musical wasn't far-fetched."
With that idea in mind (never say never, Bailey starred in a musical about American Psycho) of a premiere in London West End of a musical with dancing and singing dinosaurs forever implanted in our brains, we asked the actor to remember his first time in this universe born from a novel by Michael Crichton and the talent Steven Spielberg. "My three sisters, my parents and I went together to see Jurassic Park in cinemas. I was very little but many of the images still stayed with me, some of which I probably invented because we all went back together when it returned in theatre for an anniversary, and I searched for them but couldn't see those scenes anymore. Everytime it returned in theatre, I have always went back to see it, enjoying it. As I did for the rest of the saga, of course. Being part of this franchise, and seeing your name attached next to Steven Spielberg, to Frank Marshall, makes me feel happiness the size of Tyrannosaurus. From the minute they asked me to partecipate in this project, they made me feel part of it, continuing the work other actors before me had done so well. They have been extremely generous with me: I went to see post-production, I attended the recording of the soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat and the orchestra..."
And that feeling of childness was precisely what Gareth Edwards wanted to have during the filming of Jurassic World Rebirth. "The secret of the Jurassic Park franchise is that it appelead to our sense of wonder, the performer identifies with a subject that touch the innocence of what a child has, that feeling that Steven Spielber was able to recreate, and convince us that dinosaurs were alive again. Gareth asked the artistic team to recover those feelings and to experience each scene as something wonderful, real but also dangerous because of course there is a lot of risk and suspense in the movie, but to be amazed to be able to interact with monstrous creatures, even if they weren't present on set. Let me tell you an anecdote: on location in Thailand we filmed a spectacular scene in which the expedition led by Scarlett Johansson, of which I'm part of, is attacked by a pack of dinosaurs. We ran, we screamed, we went from a place to another, we feel as we were being pushed...And when Gareth yelled 'cut', there was a moment of silence that was interrupted by an applause. Obviously it was just us, but everyone lived and experienced that scene as the dinosaurs were truly there."
The animatronics were there during the filming, including a baby dinosaur that delighted the cast, and also some special guests: Jonathan Bailey's nieces who visited the set in London. They also went to the Wicked's set. "They ignored me there because there was Ariana Grande, and here because the animatonic was a delight. David Koepp has returned to the saga as a screenwriter, and that's been noticeable," Bailey continues. "It's not about the nostalgia, about cloning what made Jurassic Park great in the 90s, but more about reviving the magic of adventure by expanding the narrative framework that has to do with the presence of having dinosaurs among us again. That return thought science raised many questions and dilemmas, and here David re-opens those etical and scientific debates. He has done it in the old fashioned way, without losing what the movie is truly about: a great adventure for families. The idea of family has always been present in this franchise, and our movie is no exception. The relationship between Scarlett's and my character with the kids of Manuel Garcia Rulfo's character, whose shipwrecked on the island where the action takes place, it is part of Spielber's mark. His movies always speak of families: it's his greatest virtue." And the filming atmosphere was familial: "We became a close group", Bailey acknowledges, "a family and we enjoyed the work."
"I thought the same thing!" the actor jumps in his seat when we ask him if it was a coincidence that his character Dr. Loomis (Henry) resembles another Dr. Loomis (Sam), Donald Pleasance from the Halloween franchise. "It's surely a private, cinephile joke by David Koepp or Gareth Edwards," he assures us. "Because...are these two fictional doctors similar? No, they aren't. I think, except for Pleasance perseverance in capturing Michael Myers, my character is a lover and protector of dinosaurs, of life in general. His motto is that survival is a long distance race. He's not a lab rat: he's partecipated to other expeditions before, but this is undoubtely the riskiest one because he has to identify, locate and extract the DNA of three different species, which with it will be possible to develop a medicine that will be beneficial for humans. This movie will not explore and delve a parallel between the extinction of dinosaurs with the possible extinction of humans like previous movies. It goes down other paths, although, it does vindicate all those species that sacrificed themselves on Isla Nublar to show us that in a certain way, all the creatues that inhabit this planet have a connection that can help us to continue to live here together. Henry is a palentologist who doesn't hesitate to act like Indiana Jones. He combines aspects of the character played by Sam Neill but with the cynicism from Jeff Goldblum's character. The thing is that you can't be sole hero if Zora Bennett, Scarlett Johansson's role is there. She plays a sort of mercenary, specialist in high-risk missions. Her right hand is Duncan Kincaid, played by Mahershala Ali. They represent the adventure of the movie. Villains? Perhaps the pharmaceutical magnate played by Rupert Friend, who only thinks about financial gain. But everyone has to work together to survive."
