Watch: Jonathan Bailey Keeps 'Cock' In His Pocket

Jonathan Bailey had appeared in just one television show prior to his breakout role of rakish Anthony Bridgerton on Netflix's "Bridgerton" – it was a BBC children's show about Leonardo DaVinci. Television wasn't Bailey medium. Theater was.

By the age of 8 he was appearing as Gavroche�in a�West End�production of�"Les Misérables." After his studying at Oxford, he returned to theater appearing in "Othello" at the National Theatre, and the London premieres of the musicals "American Psycho" and "The Last Five Years." He won the 2019�Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for "Company," in which he played the marriage-phobic groom in this gender-reversed revival. He recently appeared opposite Taron Egerton in a West End production of Mike Bartlett's queer drama "Cock."

But the role that has made him an international star and sex symbol is Viscount Anthony Bridgerton, the eldest Bridgerton sibling who became head of the family at a young age after the sudden death of their father. After being in the background for the first season, when Regé-Jean Page was the show's hunky star, he made the hit series lead on the second season after Page left. But, as he told British GQ in an interview, being called a "sex symbol" makes him uncomfortable.

"Any actor who thinks they're a sex symbol? Cringe," he said.

Still, Bailey being a sex symbol in a largely straight role is a breakthrough, contradicting Hollywood's homophobic notion that a gay men could not be a romantic lead. On the show, he has a steamy relationship with Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). But early on in his career he was told by someone in the Hollywood: There's two things we don't want to know: if you're an alcoholic or if you're gay.'" And the words stuck with Bailey. "All it takes is for one of those people in that position of power to say that, and it ripples through," he says. "So, yeah, of course I thought that.�Of course�I thought that in order to be happy I needed to be straight."�But he also felt the need to be authentic, which led to his coming out. "I reached a point where I thought, Fuck this, I'd much prefer to hold my boyfriend's hand in public or be able to put my own face picture on Tinder and not be so concerned about that than getting a part."

He also took part in a video from GQ where he listed his 10 essential things that, he pointed out, focused on self-care. But he hit a comic note when discussing one of his two essential books. The first, Matt Haig's "The Comfort Book" fell neatly in his wheelhouse. For the second he chose something close to him – Mike Bartlett's play "Cock," which Bailey was preparing for at the time of the GQ interview. The production, directed by Marianne Elliot, recently completed its problem-plagued West End run due to Covid infection of co-star Taron Egerton.

"This play 'Cock' is small but well formed," he joked holding the play's text, which he said he carried around with him at all times.

"I sort of worry a lot about learning lines but I feel like if I've got that on my person and I sort of feel, via osmosis, it will just come in. So if it is in my pocket, I feel like I'm doing work.

"Keep my 'Cock' in my pocket."

Amongst his other essential items were Meusli. "I'm hyper- fussy about and that's the one I particularly like this one because it's got desiccated coconut in it, which really lifts the top notes and bottom notes that can be sort of like pudding can be a starter or main course or it can be a taster menu," he said.

Edwards pulled out his Keith Haring Polaroid Camera for another essential item. "I think the thing about Polaroids is that you got them in the flesh and I actually miss that about photos. These you can pop on the wall."

A number of his essential items dealt with issues of emotional health, such as a small swan he keeps on his key chain that he sees as a code word for gliding through in the face of panic. And a "Worry Pebble," which he takes everywhere and rubs. "It use to be massive. It used to be a boulder. And now it's tiny. So I've only got a few more weeks left in this one," he said, demonstrating how he rubs it. He added that because of tight-fitting Regency outfits he wears on "Bridgerton," he has to keep it in his boots, along with his phone.

He showed off his fanny packs and mittens, both essentials. And a pair of master dynamic, in-ear headphones. His current playlist, he said, is "eclectic." Venga boys, Muna, Big Wild, the late Stephen Sondheim. And Destiny's Child. He confessed that when asked by a friend recently what album he should play, he said: "I just screamed through the door, Destiny's Child, second album."

Crucial to Edwards' essentials are skin-care products. "I think some people are born with skincare and some have skincare thrust upon them. And I think I'm the latter." He showed two products: Hyaluronic Acid, which is "described as a glass for water for the face;" and a skin cream from Emma Hardy. "Emma Hardy I don't know where you are a bloody golden. It's like a superfood for the skin. It gives you little glow and actually every product that Emma Hardy does is unrivaled, I think. You know golden by nature and in design."

Lastly, there are bath salts, specifically a broken bottle of Heckles Stress Fix Soaking Bath Salts that he said he received from Simone Ashley (Kate Sharma from "Bridgerton.") "They sort of smell unbelievable. Lavender and sort of eucalyptus, I'd say. I love the bath always have always will. If I could have brought a bathtub that would have been the essential item."