Naomi Watts and Jonathan Bailey Empower Each Other on TV, From Explicit Gay Sex Scenes to Crying While Filming ‘Erotic’ Moments


At school, Jonathan Bailey studied “Mulholland Drive,” examining the nuances of Naomi Watts’ exceptional performance. Bailey now has the chance to talk to the Oscar nominee about her process. In “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans” from FX’s Ryan Murphy, Watts plays Babe Paley, the New York socialite and one of Truman Capote’s “swans,” whose falling out with the author was legendary. And after steaming up the screen in “Bridgerton,” Bailey embarks on another sweeping romance with Showtime’s “Fellow Travelers,” this time as Tim, an idealistic congressman who enters into a decades-long affair with a World War II veteran and a state. Department official.

NAOMI WATTS: I heard you were shooting three things at the same time: “Bridgerton,” “Fellow Travelers,” and “Wicked.” Is it true?

JONATHAN BAILEY: It’s true. (His voice cracks.) Did you hear? My voice just broke.

WATTS: Yeah, because you have PTSD?

BAILEY: Maybe? There is residual trauma there.

WATTS: It’s gymnastics, I can’t believe it! So you were filming in different countries – not just in different settings – with different accents.

BAILEY: Yeah, it was good back then. Then obviously it comes out in the wash at some point. I had a perm for “Bridgerton” and they straightened my hair for Tim.

Naomi Watts Variety Actors on Actors

Mary Ellen Matthews for Variety

WATTS: Oh my God! How do you manage to have hair left? Didn’t he fall?

BAILEY: I went on vacation and my hair looked like coral – like it was underwater, just floating. There were times where (doing all these shows) came together in a crazy way.

WATTS: In a madman, GOOD path?

BAILEY: There’s something to be said about free-falling, running out of time, and following your instincts. But it was gradual. There are videos on my phone that I cried watching: it’s me as Tim, in a ’50s tie and jacket, then in Nike sweatpants, learning the choreography (from “Wicked”) during the lunch break.

WATTS: Oh my God. I can’t imagine how you dreamed at night.

BAILEY: It was wild.

With Babe, there is such an incredible inner world. Your eyes are simply incredible – the ability to communicate with words but also non-verbal means.

WATTS: One of the most restrictive things was contact. I had brown contact lenses and my eyes are very sensitive. It was difficult to get them in.

BAILEY: In “Wicked,” I had to wear contact lenses.

WATTS: It’s horrible, isn’t it?

BAILEY: Especially if you know (your eyes are) something you can rely on to communicate what’s happening with the character.

WATTS: Because I had to go darker, it was like wearing sunglasses all day. I just felt like there was something between me and the other actor. Having to produce tears was even more difficult, as they dry out the eyes so much. Then smoking…

BAILEY: Don’t you think that sometimes it helps to smoke, because then the smoke gets in your eyes and you can cry and smoke?

WATTS: I love accessories. Little cheats.

Jonathan Bailey Variety Actors on Actors

Mary Ellen Matthews for Variety

BAILEY: But the transformation has been extraordinary. I didn’t realize you wore contact lenses. So nothing was lost in the performance.

WATTS: Oh good. I was really nervous about it. Then we had a lot of conversations about teeth, didn’t we? Is not it ? Ryan is pretty nervous about prosthetics in general, and I don’t blame him. It’s horrible when you see someone, and you can’t get lost in the story because…

BAILEY: …it’s distracting.

WATTS: I definitely never wanted to do that, but I wanted to try to be more like him. She had these incredibly perfect teeth because she had been in a car accident when she was very young, so she had false teeth. And my teeth just aren’t that nice – English teeth. Then I had to learn how to talk to them, because we have quite a lisp.

And with these long monologues, it was difficult because I was just afraid to remember the lines. I constantly felt pressure to pronounce my words well because they were such brilliant words. I wouldn’t want to ruin everything. So normally I’m pretty social on set, but I couldn’t be on this one, so I started knitting.

BAILEY: But it’s kind of nice to do something cognitive, isn’t it? Just to put your physical energy into it?

WATTS: Yes. And it creates a sort of barrier between you and others, but not in a rude way. It’s a polite way of saying, “I have to finish this row.” And I’m the worst knitter – literally, there are holes in it. But I managed to crochet a little hat for Gus and a little hat for Tom (Hollander).

BAILEY: There is such an amazing conversation in “Feud” about the role of women towards gay men. I found it really emotional and quite painful.

WATTS: (Babe and Truman’s) relationship is emblematic of a relationship that doesn’t always work, but when it does, it’s so beautiful. They are not brother and sister, but they are like peas in a pod. And there’s just this trust where they fall into each other. And there is no competitiveness with women.

BAILEY: They can really support each other.

WATTS: The world is surrounded by informed stories, on and off screen. It was an anchor, that the writers and Gus all had something to bring to the story.

BAILEY: When you women are together – looking amazing and completely glowing and sexy – did it feel new and empowering?

WATTS: It was a feeling of empowerment because there are so many women in the same story, it’s rare – so many women of a certain age it’s so rare, and women who appreciate each other. They are women full of depth, darkness and challenges. It turned out to be one of the greatest experiences of my career and I feel very lucky to have had it at this point.

We all felt the pain, the beauty, the depth of these stories and…

BAILEY: …and I experienced it in different ways.

WATTS: It just ends up elevating it to another level.

So, in “Fellow Travelers,” I am so moved by the love story. It’s so powerful. Did you already know about the Lavender Scare?

BAILEY: I had heard of the Lavender Scare. I just didn’t understand the brutality of that era and of McCarthyism. As a Brit, there is so much about the American experience – but also specifically about politics and the queer experience within it – that I didn’t know. So it’s a catharsis. Because suddenly here we are – four gay men, a mostly gay creative team – and you think, “I’m here today because of my ancestors or because of an industry that’s changing.” »

People have loved gay actors, whether they can say they’re gay or not, for years. But being there with these guys…and then having the nuance of the conversation – a lunch break that’s not just about “How delicious the sweet potatoes are.”

WATTS: It’s “how delightful is this story and how does it move you?”

BAILEY: You don’t need to say it, but clearly people are bringing their personal stuff. It was incredible to have that space and the opportunity of eight hours of television to tell a pretty brutal but dark and charming love story for gay men. It’s new.

WATTS: It was so beautiful. I cried a lot. Some intimate moments, the dance scene, were so…

BAILEY: …tender and sweet.

There is something very specific that I want to ask you a question about. I had to do a scene that wasn’t included in the story, which ended up informing a lot about the character. It was me masturbating. And I remembered…

WATTS: Oh, “Mulholland Drive,” yes. I was traumatized.

BAILEY: Yeah me too. And it was really similar, actually. Anyway, I just remember laughing a lot and walking the line between feeling comfortable and not feeling comfortable, when the stakes are so high.

WATTS: I remember having to go to the bathroom several times because I thought I might have had something explosive or something.

BAILEY: Euphoria.

WATTS: Literally. I was so into butterflies. I was panicked and David (Lynch) knew it, but he didn’t want to miss the scene. I kept trying and saying, “I can’t do this, David. I can not do it. He was always across the room, in a black tent or something, and he actually made it very private for me.

BAILEY: And (this was) before the days where we had intimacy coaches and all that, right?

WATTS: Oh, forget it. No, it wasn’t like that. So I managed to feel a little safer because of that, but I continued to cry. And he didn’t want an emotional scene; he wanted someone who was angry and trying to reconnect with an erotic moment.

With “Traveling Companions,” you must have felt a certain level of euphoria from the response. The public and the critics received it really well. What does it do ?

BAILEY: I’m incredibly proud of it. A lot of people haven’t had that full queer experience in that way. Sometimes you have to go back 50 years to show everyone what’s happening (now). I’m proud of it, because I know that if I wasn’t there, I would have loved it. I also know that if I was younger it would have helped me a lot.

I also know that everyone in my life, and so I guess people who don’t understand the queer experience and are threatened by it, or who find it disgusting or hateful, or who think it’s going to come for them, can watch this and understand. Even sexuality is so important because it’s part of the gay experience, just like it’s part of the human experience. But you will also understand the nature by which men have these explosive, passionate, very hot, but also quite dangerous sexual relations.

WATTS: This was handled wonderfully.

BAILEY: I’m proud of it. And it was never an awkward moment. It’s funny, isn’t it, when you know the big changes you have to make, but in reality you trust them.

WATTS: So “Bridgerton” – was this the beginning? The launch pad that changed things?

BAILEY: It was a “Mulholland Drive” moment for me, where people see you. I have done theater, but the Netflix effect is a specific phenomenon, personally quite destabilizing. Because suddenly, it happens overnight. It’s wild.

WATTS: But it didn’t happen overnight, because you’ve been working since you were a child.

BAILEY: I’m so glad I had the opportunity to try things and make mistakes – especially in my own life – before TikTok and people coming after you. The opportunities that arise from this are brilliant. But then for something like “Fellow Travelers,” I described it as being quite punk – to go from a straight character to as gay a character as possible.

WATTS: Very punk rock.

BAILEY: It was a real balm.


Design and production: Keith Raywood



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