Jonathan Bailey's hair was so damaged from filming Fellow Travelers and Bridgerton back-to-back that he had to wear a 'big old toupée' in Wicked

Jonathan Bailey discovered an unexpected occupational hazard from being such an in-demand actor juggling major film and TV projects.

The 36-year-old Englishman was first forced to perm his short hair in order to reprise his role as Anthony Bridgerton in the eight-episode third season of Netflix's 1800s-set soap opera Bridgerton.

Jonathan then flew from England to Canada to play congressional staffer Tim Laughlin in the eight-episode 1950s-set miniseries Fellow Travelers where the on-set hairstylist straightened his damaged locks.

'I had four days holiday in between finishing in Canada and finishing Bridgerton and then I had four days of Christmas and then went straight into Wicked,' Bailey told Naomi Watts for Variety's Actors on Actors.

'I went on holiday and my hair looked like coral like — as in, it was underwater, just floating around.'

The 55-year-old Oscar nominee exclaimed: 'Oh, my God! How do you even have any hair left? Did it not fall out?'

The Laurence Olivier Award winner replied: 'I had a big old toupée! That's a big spoiler alert, but yeah, it's a toupée [as Fiyero in Wicked]. I'm in the choreography so it's flapping about!'

Naomi marveled at the sheer 'gymnastics' it took for Jonathan to shoot in different countries with different sets while using different accents.

'There were moments where [doing all these shows] meshed together in a kooky way,' Bailey explained.

'There's something to be said for just freefalling, not having enough time, and just going on instincts. But it was progressive. There are some videos on my phone that I was crying looking at: It's me as Tim, in a fifties tie and jacket, and then in Nike sweatpants learning the choreography [for Wicked] on the lunch break.'

Universal Pictures is scheduled to release the first part of Jon M. Chu's big-screen adaptation of the 2003 Broadway musical Wicked on November 27 followed by the second part on November 26, 2025.

The SAG Award nominee will also soon begin filming his role in Jurassic World 4 in Thailand.