Jonathan Bailey Rehearsed His Big "Wicked" Number While Working on 2 Other Major Projects (Exclusive)
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11/10/2024 06:00 PM
The actor stars as Prince Fiyero Tigelaar in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical
Universal Pictures
Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero in 'Wicked.'Jonathan Bailey is always booked and busy!
The actor, 36, rehearsed a large musical number for Wicked while simultaneously filming Bridgertonand Fellow Travelers.
"I've got videos on my phone of me practicing on long-haul flights," Bailey says in PEOPLE's new special Wicked edition of practicing his character Prince Fiyero Tigelaar's big ballroom number, "Dancing Through Life," amid his other projects.
At one point in his travels, Bailey was even met with a circumstance less than ideal for his royal role, as an airline lost his luggage while he was traveling from Canada.
Leaving him with just the clothes on his back, Bailey did, however, still have access to Fiyero's magic dance boots, which were in his carry-on.
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Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Marissa Bode and Ethan Slater attend a 'Wicked' premiere in Australia on Nov. 3.Related: Ariana Grande Says She 'Was a Different Person' Before Befriending Cynthia Erivo on Wicked
Wicked, the upcoming film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical, stars Ariana Grande as Glinda, opposite Cynthia Erivo, who portrays Elphaba. (The musical's original Broadway cast included Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in the roles, respectively.)
Others who are featured in the project, directed by Jon M. Chu, include Ethan Slater as Boq, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Bowen Yang as Pfannee and Bronwyn James as ShenShen.
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Bailey tells PEOPLE that his character "has that golden glow of privilege where everything comes to him so easily that the most interesting thing for him to do is to rile everyone up."
"He's never really met anyone who challenges him," continues the star, who landed his first job at age 7 in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of A Christmas Carol and has since appeared on dozens of stages, including the 2019 gender-swapped production of Stephen Sondheim's Company, for which he won an Olivier Award.
Buy PEOPLE's Wicked special edition here. Wicked will be released in two parts, with the first arriving in theaters on Friday, Nov. 22.