Rege-Jean Page opens up on Bridgerton fame: ‘It was strange, intense and not normal’
Rege-Jean Page has described his experience of navigating global stardom following his breakout role in Netflix’s Bridgerton as “strange” and “very intense”.
The 38-year-old actor, who captivated audiences as the Duke of Hastings in the raunchy period drama, departed the series after its hugely successful first season.
Speaking to Esquire UK, Page reflected on adapting to life in the spotlight since the Regency romance propelled him to fame.
He said: “It is strange, it’s not normal.
“How I navigate it is very much about what is useful, what serves me in my job, in being able to deliver what I need to deliver to an audience, and a lot of that is just grounding.
“It does get quite loud on the inside, like it was very, very intense, that combination of conversation, and I think I worked quite consciously to be able to navigate that environment with some normalcy for myself.”
Since appearing in Bridgerton he has focused on his film career, starring in Netflix’s big-budget spy film The Gray Man (2022) alongside Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans.
Page has also launched a production company – A Mighty Stranger – and speaking about taking creative control in his work, he said: “I think there’s an illusion of how passive an actor’s role needs to be.
“We know all the writers on Beyonce or Taylor’s albums, but we also expect that that is their product that they crafted for us in an artistic manner.
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“It’s a fairly natural thing for most people to have authorship, some degree of authorship, over the stories they’re telling.”
Page also discussed his upcoming romance film You, Me And Tuscany, which will see him star alongside Halle Bailey.
The actor, who is of Zimbabwean descent, said: “I think it’s important to normalise your own existence.
“To normalise seeing two black leads in a film that is about a universal experience of escaping to find true love in Italy.”
He added that the film, directed by Kat Coiro, is a “very fun and frivolous ride with some integrity”.
The full interview with Rege-Jean Page is available in Esquire UK.
