Jonathan Bailey says everyone over 40 should watch Heartstopper

Actor Jonathan Bailey has said that “everyone over the age of 40 should be forced to watch” the queer YA show Heartstopper.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Bailey said he “wedged himself into” the role of author and academic Jack Maddox in season three of Heartstopper.

“Heartstopper seems to allow people to feel catharsis and to feel a sort of melancholic sort of nostalgia for what could have been. I was feeling all of those things anyway,” he said.

Bailey had a mutual friend who was “really good friends” with Hearstopper‘s executive producer Patrick Walters, as “it is all a bit of a small world”, and that led to him getting the part.

He went on to say that he thinks the younger cast members in Heartstopper are “brilliant”.

“They’re so erudite and grounded and thoughtful and kind and compassionate in their answers. I would be really proud of myself if I could be a part of that as my younger self. Everyone above the age of 40 should be forced to watch it,” Bailey added.

Bailey has expressed similar sentiments about the show, which follows Joe Locke’s Charlie and Kit Connor’s Nick exploring a relationship with each other while dealing with school, bullies, and coming out, before.

“Like so many people, I watched the first [season] and thought it was one of the biggest, most beautiful gifts to so many people, and I wish I had that growing up,” Bailey, who is gay, previously told Variety.

He also felt that the show”really has changed the way people could grow and communicate around who they are” and that “it’s not just for community”.

“It’s for every person who is a member of a family who has a member of the LGBT+ community. It helps all of us,” Bailey explained.

Bailey has appeared in St Trinian’s, Broadchurch, Doctor Who, Chewing Gum, and Jack Ryan but gained widespread notoriety as Anthony Bridgerton in Shonda Rimes’ regency era romance series Bridgerton.

Since Bridgerton aired, Bailey has had several notable roles such as Timothy Laughlin, who embarks on a secret gay love affair in McCarthy-era Washington, in Fellow Travelers.

He will also be playing Fiyero Tigelaar in the musical movie Wicked alongside Cynthia Ervivo and Ariana Grande, which is due to be released later this month, and Dr. Henry Loomis in Jurassic World: Rebirth.