Jonathan Bailey in Wicked: Role, Singing, Dancing & LGBTQ Cast

If you only know Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton, the man who shows up as Fiyero in Wicked can feel like a different person. Same grin, yes, but taller hair, looser hips, and a swagger that belongs to Oz, not Mayfair. Here’s a fact-checked look at who he plays, how his look changed, and what he actually does in the film.

Role: Fiyero Tigelaar / The Scarecrow  • 
Film: Wicked (2024)  • 
Sequel: Wicked: For Good (2025)  • 
Known For: Bridgerton  • 
Recognition: Actor Award nomination for Wicked

Five facts to know before the rest of this explainer: one actor, two films, one very memorable dance number, and a character who looks nothing like the man who plays him.

Was Jonathan Bailey in Wicked?

• Yes: Jonathan Bailey appears in Wicked (2024) as Fiyero Tigelaar.
• Fiyero is the charismatic Winkie prince who becomes a love interest to both Galinda and Elphaba.
• The official film trailer and studio materials confirmed his casting well before release (IndieWire (film editorial)).

Who does Jonathan Bailey play in Wicked?

Bailey plays Fiyero Tigelaar, the charming and slightly reckless Winkie prince who shows up partway through the story and immediately disrupts the status quo. He is attracted to Galinda at first, but his connection with Elphaba grows as the plot moves toward its darker second half. In the stage musical, Fiyero is also the man who ultimately becomes the Scarecrow, which the film version keeps intact for its 2025 sequel.

Is Fiyero the Scarecrow?

Yes. In the Wicked narrative, Fiyero is the Scarecrow, a reveal that is central to how the story reinterprets The Wizard of Oz. The casting list for Wicked: For Good carries the same character credit, which means the sequel will show how the vain prince ends up as the straw-stuffed figure Dorothy meets on the Yellow Brick Road (IMDb (cast list)).

Why does Jonathan Bailey look so different in Wicked?

• Bailey’s Fiyero look is a character transformation built with costume, hair, and makeup.
• The styling pushes him toward a taller, broader, slightly wilder silhouette than his modern red-carpet look.
• Nothing about the change is permanent; it is a designed costume choice (Grim Magazine (style press)).

What are the styling changes in Wicked?

The most obvious changes are the hair and wardrobe. Fiyero gets a voluminous, almost rebellious hairstyle, loose shirts, and tailored coats that read as “royal but reckless.” The makeup is heavier and more theatrical than Bailey’s usual clean-faced look, and the tailoring exaggerates his frame so he moves differently on screen.

Is Fiyero’s look connected to his character?

Completely. Fiyero is introduced as someone who performs confidence, and the styling does the same. The hair is too big, the smile is too easy, and the clothes are just slightly overdone. It is a visual shorthand for a character who is trying to convince everyone, including himself, that he has no worries at all.

The pattern: The visual transformation is a surface clue to a deeper psychological performance.

Did Jonathan Bailey do his own singing and dancing in Wicked?

• Yes, Bailey performs his own singing and dancing in the film.
• He trained vocally by Zoom while filming Fellow Travelers.
• He spent seven weeks rehearsing the choreography for “Dancing Through Life” (The Gainesville Sun (film interview)).

Did Jonathan Bailey train as a dancer?

Yes, and this is where his résumé gives him an edge that most film actors would not have. Bailey trained with the Royal Ballet when he was younger, so he can move like a dancer, not just like a movie star who took a few months of lessons. That training is visible in the “Dancing Through Life” sequence, which requires the actor to sing while swinging, sliding, and climbing.

How did the production capture Bailey’s vocals?

The film uses a mix of live vocal captures and studio-recorded vocals, a standard approach for movie musicals. The key point is that the voice on screen is Bailey’s. He trained the songs while working on another project, and the choreography was rehearsed as a single, long take that the production then reassembled in editing.

Bailey’s ballet training turned a potentially awkward adaptation into a physically assured performance. The seven weeks of rehearsal were not a luxury; they were the difference between a singer who moves and a dancer who sings.

Who in the Wicked cast is LGBTQ?

• Jonathan Bailey, who plays Fiyero, is openly gay.
• He has spoken publicly about growing up gay and supporting LGBTQ+ youth through advocacy connected with Just Like Us (Sky News (broadcaster)).
• Other cast members’ identities are not all publicly documented, so the only reliable label is the one each actor has claimed themselves.

Is Jonathan Bailey openly gay?

Yes. Bailey has been open about his sexuality for years, and he has described the fear he felt as a gay student at school. He has never treated his identity as a secret or a controversy, and he has spoken about the responsibility he feels toward LGBTQ+ young people who see him in major roles.

Which other Wicked actors have publicly identified as LGBTQ?

Beyond Bailey, the public record is thinner. Several cast members have been the subject of fan speculation, but speculation is not a source. The only responsible answer is to say what is documented: Bailey is openly gay, and discussing anyone else’s identity without their own public confirmation would be invasive and inaccurate.

What can be noted without guessing is that the discourse around the cast has been intense. One member of the U.S. House of Representatives drew criticism after making social media posts about the film’s LGBTQ+ content, and the response to those posts became part of the film’s news cycle (The Hill (political newsroom)). The controversy tells you more about the culture war around representation than it does about the film itself.

Is Wicked about two lesbians?

• The official plot centers on the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda.
• Fiyero is a central male love interest, especially to Elphaba.
• The musical does not explicitly depict Elphaba and Glinda as a couple.

Are Elphaba and Glinda in love in Wicked?

The show leaves room for interpretation but never makes the romance explicit. In the stage version, the emotional climax is about Elphaba and Glinda choosing each other as friends, not as partners. Fiyero remains the character who kisses Elphaba and later sacrifices himself for her, and the story does not rewrite that dynamic for the film.

What is Fiyero’s role in the story?

Fiyero is the male love interest, but he is also the character who interrupts the Elphaba-Glinda friendship. He is initially drawn to Glinda, then to Elphaba, and his arc is what forces the two women to choose between their own bond and their competing desires. His role is structural as much as romantic: he is the catalyst that makes the central friendship the real story.

The root of the question: The fan desire for a romance speaks to the emotional depth of their duet, not to an explicit plot point.

Timeline: From casting to Scarecrow

• 2024: Wicked (Part I) releases, introducing Bailey as Fiyero Tigelaar.
• 17 Nov 2024: IndieWire publishes a conversation with Bailey about the role (IndieWire (film editorial)).
• 2025: Wicked: For Good brings Bailey back to complete Fiyero’s transformation (Backstage (actor resource)).

What this means: the 2024 film is only the setup. Fiyero’s real dramatic payoff is in the sequel, where the charming prince has to become the Scarecrow. That two-film structure is why the casting mattered: the production needed an actor who could hold the audience’s attention in a glamorous musical number and then break their hearts with a transformation that strips away all the charm.

Confirmed facts vs. what’s still unclear

The record is clear on some things and genuinely open on others.

• Bailey plays Fiyero in both films.
• He sings and dances on screen.
• He is openly gay and has spoken about his advocacy for LGBTQ+ youth.
• The sequel is confirmed for 2025.

What is not confirmed: the exact hair and makeup choices used to change Bailey’s appearance, the full list of LGBTQ+ actors in the cast beyond those who have publicly identified themselves, and whether the creative team intended Elphaba and Glinda’s bond as a romance. Those are the questions where speculation tends to outrun evidence.

In their own words

“It’s dancing through life, but the dancing is character. It’s about someone who doesn’t know how to be still.”

Jonathan Bailey, in an interview with W Magazine (W Magazine (performer interview))

Bailey also told Reuters the film reconnected him with two core passions of his: singing and dancing (Reuters (news wire)).

The through line in both sources is the same: Bailey refuses to separate the physical performance from the emotional one. That is what separates his Fiyero from a standard romantic lead.

What the sequel means for Bailey

In one carefully staged story, Jonathan Bailey gets to do something rare: show the same character as a dazzling prince and as the Scarecrow. That arc is the real reason his casting generated so much conversation. The sequel will have to deliver on the promise of the first film’s strongest performance.

Jonathan Bailey is Fiyero Tigelaar, the Winkie prince who becomes the Scarecrow. Fans of the musical get the same arc they know; fans of Bailey get proof that his Bridgerton charm was never the limit of his range. Watch for the sequel to make that explicit.

The consequence: Bailey’s arc across two films is a masterclass in musical theater adaptation.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• Jonathan Bailey in Wicked: Singing & Scarecrow Transformation
• Jonathan Bailey Wicked: Singing, Transformation & Personal Life