NEED TO KNOW
- Jonathan Bailey is putting his passion project first
- In a new interview, the 37-year-old English actor has revealed his plans to take some time off from acting and explains why
- “Not only is it fun and creative, it can also make a real difference,” he said of his latest venture
Jonathan Bailey is putting his acting career on pause.
In a new interview with British GQ published Wednesday, Sept. 3, the 37-year-old English actor announced he was taking a break from the big screen to focus on running his charity, The Shameless Fund.
“I’ve been working solidly for about three years now, which has been amazing and mind-blowing,” Bailey said. “But with everything happening in the world right now, I’m going to stop acting for a bit next year and just focus on The Shameless Fund.”
His most recent blockbuster was July’s Jurassic World Rebirth opposite Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali. The Gareth Edwards-directed film topped $800 million worldwide, according to Variety.
Bailey said he already has a plan for how he wants to grow his passion project.
“Over the next few months, I’ll be focusing on staffing and making sure we get all the right people in all the right places,” the Fellow Travelers actor said.
He admitted that the design for his Shameless Fund shades that he’s created with England-based eyeglass manufacturer Cubitts has been making appearances for quite some time.
“There’s a lot of room for expression in it,” he said of cycling before switching gears.
“It’s colorful, and I love color,” Bailey continued. “I feel like it’s something that should be embraced more. That’s why when we’re working on the Shameless Fund, the color pink is so important. It’s an expression of joy and happiness, and it’s incredibly flattering – a reason why I wore it so much during the Wicked press tour.”
And it hasn’t just been him wearing the shades with distinctive pink frames; he’s also enlisted the help of his famous friends.
His Wicked costar Cynthia Erivo posed for a selfie in a pair for a photo shared on the Shameless Fund’s Instagram account on Aug. 25. Johansson, 40, also appeared in a selfie — shared with Bailey, who pretended to bite her neck for the snap.
While discussing the importance of the mission, Bailey told British GQ, “There’s this statistic: out of every £100 raised in the UK, only 1p goes to the LGBTQ+ community. You really have to dig to find solutions, and I genuinely think The Shameless Fund is exactly that. That’s why this collaboration with Cubitts has been so amazing. Not only is it fun and creative, it can also make a real difference.”
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Before announcing his break from acting, the Bridgerton star told PEOPLE exclusively that he’s had a busy summer on the stage.
“I’ve just recently finished Richard II, and we did, like, 103 performances. I didn’t miss a show, but I knew that the day after I finished, I’d go to Italy with my friends,” Bailey told PEOPLE exclusively while announcing he was the new face of Martini.
His other summer plans to unwind included “a couple of weeks of just cycling around, going to beautiful places, [and] eating amazing food.”
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