Wicked is gay. Who knew? And it’s gay for a lot of reasons. People singing? Gay. Defying gravity? Gay. Being othered because you’re awesome and different? Gay, gay, gay. But the gayest thing about Wicked might just be Fiyero, who brings enough bisexual energy to power the City of Oz for 100 years, free of interruption or intermission.
Although his cheeky grin and piercing blue eyes are mostly set on Glinda, it’s clear that she’s not the only person in Oz who’s felt Fiyero’s advances at one time or another. Whether you’re a man, a woman, or a horse, no one there is safe from his seductive charms, and why would you want to be? What Jonathan Bailey does with the role is nothing short of magic — and the same could be said for his career as a whole.
More popular than even Glinda with audiences and casting agents alike, Bailey has won our hearts and loins with an enviable list of projects in the last two years alone that have quickly catapulted him to A-list status.
When he wasn’t casting a spell in Wicked, Jonathan was charming the Ton in Bridgerton, mesmerising gay teens in Heartstopper, and even sucking Matt Bomer‘s feet in Fellow Travelers (an Emmy-nominated foot-sucking performance, I might add). Next, Bailey is going to fight off dinosaurs in Jurassic World Rebirth before he presumably defies all box office expectations with the release of Wicked Part Two.
It’s an impressive run to say the least and even more so when you consider that he’s achieved this without hiding who he is as a proud gay man. That shouldn’t be an issue, of course, but historically, it very much has been. It’s why so many actors stayed in the closet for as long as they did, and why many presumably do so still. To be out in Hollywood is to be overlooked or pigeon-holed or worse.
Remember when Matt Bomer lost out on a three-picture deal playing Superman after his queerness was weaponised against him? It’s hard not to mourn the impact this had on his career, not to mention our need to see him wear spandex. That was back in 2003, but it’s taken a long time for the industry to progress, and even now, it’s hard to think of many gay movie stars who are succeeding in quite the same way that Bailey is now — especially queer actors who aren’t white and cis.
Luke Evans has fared relatively well, starring in The Hobbit and Disney’s Beauty & The Beast remake, not to mention one of the Fast & Furious movies where he played… who am I kidding, I don’t watch those films. There are others too, many, in fact. Think Lee Pace, Russell Tovey, Andrew Scott, Ben Whishaw, Joel Kim Booster, Andrew Rannells, Murray Bartlett, Zachary Quinto, Neil Patrick Harris… Each is very successful in their own way, but none of them have arguably reached the level Bailey has in what seems like a very short span of time.
Read more:
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Fellow Travelers: The history behind Jonathan Bailey’s new Paramount+ show
Wicked director teases ‘epic’ Part Two is about ‘consequences’
The closest might be Colman Domingo whose work in Rustin was deservedly nominated for an Oscar last year following shows like Euphoria and Fear the Walking Dead as well as indies such as Zola and If Beale Street Could Talk. Yet even Domingo, Oscar nom aside, hasn’t come close to becoming a household name in the same way Bailey almost has (if he hasn’t already).
It’s not like Jonathan has downplayed his queerness to appeal to the masses either. While he does play straight on occasion — most notably in Bridgerton, his finest hetero work yet — other roles in Fellow Travelers, Heartstopper and a play named Cock of all things suggest he’s not exactly shying away from the gay stuff.
If anything, Bailey actively seeks queer roles out and champions LGBTQ+ causes with pride. In 2023, Jonathan became a patron of Just Like Us and raised thousands of pounds for this vital LGBTQ+ charity that supports young queer people across the UK. It doesn’t get more wholesome than that.
No, really, it doesn’t, because the following year, Bailey launched his own LGBTQ+ foundation, The Shameless Fund, with a t-shirt that reads “Drink Your Milk”. Sounds wicked, right? Well, yes, it is, but the phrase is actually a reference to Fellow Travelers when Matt Bomer’s character commands Bailey to drink his milk as a means of foreplay. If you haven’t watched the show yet, take from that sentence what you will.
But why has Bailey creamed the competition in Hollywood, especially compared to other hot gay actors such as Bomer? What makes him stand out in comparison?
The key thing to note is that it’s not a competition. There’s no race to become the most successful gay movie star in Hollywood. Instead, a win for Jonathan is a win for us all. With roles like the lead sex bomb in Bridgerton, Bailey proves that gay men can be love interests beyond the typical gay fare, cemented by his broad sex appeal to the straights and gays alike in projects such as Wicked. It seems that what was once deemed a hindrance no longer has to be when it comes to a queer trajectory in Hollywood.
Does it help that Jonathan is hot and charming and talented, the kind of guy genetically engineered by gay horny scientists who set out to create the perfect man? Absolutely, but my future husband isn’t the only gay actor who can be described as such onscreen. Bailey’s unique success is more a matter of timing, a perfect combination of various roles that appealed to different markets at just the right moment in time. And crucially, none of this success would have been possible if not for the queer pioneers who came before him.
From Rock Hudson, James Dean and Marlon Brando to Rupert Everett, Ian McKellen and the various other men listed earlier, each queer success story pushes the industry in the right direction, over the yellow brick road into a journey of acceptance and inclusivity where actors like Bailey can thrive as they always should have.
But not just actors like Bailey. The vast majority of queer people I’ve mentioned here thus far are white and cis because being white and cis affords more privilege, even when you’re gay. The visibility Jonathan is enjoying on such a huge scale now is unprecedented and absolutely deserves celebrating, but until other queer actors are given the same opportunities on the same scale — like his Wicked co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Bowen Yang, for example — that’s when the real magic will happen.
Wicked Part One is out now in cinemas.
