Still having Bridgerton withdrawals? Well then does Jonathan Bailey have a treat for you.
The 32-year-old actor dropped a few clues about season two of the Netflix series during an interview with British Vogue published Feb. 10.
"Well, I feel like the campy, plush spectacle of the Bridgerton world is only going to get more pronounced in the best way possible," he said. "It's mad, and it's brilliant. There are also going to be a lot of brilliant characters introduced in this series–and it's not just Anthony that we're going to delve into…The robust universe that's been set up by Shonda [Rhimes] and Chris [Van Dusen] will just expand and keep pushing boundaries in a way that's quietly subversive. There's just going to be more of what everyone loves, I think."
He also said "there's loads of little Easter eggs for all of the characters." And while he didn't go into specifics, he did share one little teaser. "I'll say this," he noted, "watch out for the bees."
Bees? Bees?!? What does this mean?
While fans will just have to wait and see what Bailey is getting at, they already know a few details about this second season. Back in January, Rhimes' production company Shondaland released a letter from Lady Whistledown herself. In addition to confirming a second season, the note revealed that Bailey's character, Anthony Bridgerton, "intends to dominate the social season."
During his interview with British Vogue, Bailey was asked if he had any idea the eldest of the Bridgerton siblings would be the focus of this next chapter.
"Honestly, not really," he replied. "It's slightly alarming now, though! Someone the other day said to me, 'Ah, yes, the next Regé-Jean Page with a spoon moment...' And I was like, 'Well, I hope I get the fork and not the knife.'"
Although, fans had some indication. Netflix's biggest series is based on Julia Quinn's books, and Anthony is at the center of the second novel, which Bailey said he dove into as soon as he finished reading the first three episodes of Bridgerton.
"I heard in the airport on my way home that I'd been given the part, and I managed to download The Viscount Who Loved Me on my Kindle before take-off," he told the publication. "I binge-read it on the flight—it's like 350 pages of foreplay—and it does give you a much broader sense of who Anthony is. Much like Daphne [played by Phoebe Dynevor], he's really been failed by the society in which he lives. And there's a real humanity to him, too, that will hopefully come out in the next series. It's funny, because even though Bridgerton is obviously a period drama, Anthony's story is quite modern in the sense that he's reached a point where he genuinely believes that love will never happen for him. That's where he is at the end of the first series, and that's such a common feeling right now."
Bailey, who said he originally tried out for Page's character Duke Simon Basset, described Anthony as "a good-hearted person dressed in an antagonist's clothing." However, not everyone agreed.
"My sister actually watched Bridgerton with me, and said, 'Oh my God, he's such a bastard! How dare he treat Daphne that way?'" he recalled. "As viewers will hopefully come to see, though, that behavior is the result of serious trauma. He's experienced this massive loss, and then within hours he has to take ownership and control of his family. It's just bonkers. The patriarchal system is a nightmare."
Still, Bailey suggested he's rooting for Anthony. "I think with Anthony, you just want him to be all right," he said during a recent interview with E! News. "You want him to learn how to love himself and hopefully to make some mistakes without, you know, those mistakes causing serious hurt to the people that he loves. But I want to see him on the dance floor. I want to see him smile a little bit more. I want to see those mutton chops back. There's so much scope for him."
Bailey might not be the only one dropping a few clues about season two. Earlier this week, Dynevor was spotted with red hair and bangs—the same look her character rocks on the show. And while Lady Whistledown's letter noted the cast would be returning to production in the spring of 2021, the sighting left fans wondering if Bridgerton could be coming back sooner than they thought.
Fingers crossed!