Aw, Jonathan Bailey was brought to tears playing a raindrop in his stage debut as a kid

Jonathan Bailey says his first-ever acting gig was playing a raindrop in a school play.

While chatting with pal Phoebe Waller-Bridge for Interview magazine, he shared his acting debut was playing a little dab of water in his primary school production of Noah’s Ark. It went a bit method when missing his cue brought him to tears.

Seeking clarification, she asked: “Jonathan Stewart Bailey, I’d like to jump straight in with the fact that the first professional job you had was playing a teardrop or a raindrop?”

“There were teardrops, but yeah, I was playing a raindrop,” Jonathan said.

“You were a crying raindrop,” Phoebe said, to which Jonathan confirmed, “A crying raindrop in Noah’s Ark.”

Of his younger self,  Jonathan dubbed himself wise beyond his years, telling  Phoebe that he was “five going on 29”. Jonathan admitted that he got incredibly diva-like in his behaviour. After enduring the indignity of getting his moment in the spotlight damped, he was permitted to come out after the curtain call to re-do his bit again.

He continued: “I was really upset because it didn’t rain. The bitch that played Noah, she forgot the cue for the rain to come. So my dance didn’t make it, but at the end of the show, they allowed me to do it once everyone had applauded.”

After his school acting days, Jonathan starred in the Channel 4 sitcom Crashing, which centred on the antics of six twenty-somethings living in an abandoned hospital as property guardians. Phoebe, who created the series, starred as Lulu, while Jonathan played Sam. The show also stars Julie Dray, Louise Ford, Damien Molony, and Amit Shah.

Jonathan called his time working with Phoebe as “being on the constant edge of an orgasm and also hysteria”.

Phoebe added that the show “did have a wild, beautiful energy” and revealed that she has never been able to recreate the show’s magic despite her critical and commercial global triumph of Fleabag.

“I haven’t had that in quite the same way since, where everyone has equal importance in the story. That’s the thing that feels quite rare, actually, there’s like six of you, and they’re all as fucked up as each other,” she said.

She recalled his trying out for his role, labelling him a “fireball”, and praised him for having “no embarrassment” and seeming so “free”. His list of credits, which include titles such as Bridgerton, Fellow Travellers and All of Us Strangers, prove that this assessment of himself is rather apt. The screen and audiences love him!

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