Jonathan Bailey made sure to bring one Bridgerton castmate to the Wicked set.
Bailey, 36, requested that his previous animal costar, Jack the horse, join him on the set of the new movie musical.
The actor revealed on the Tuesday, Nov. 5, episode of The Popcorn Podcast that he worked with Jack on the Netflix series. Then, on Monday, Nov. 11, the official Wicked TikTok account shared a sneak peek of Bailey as Prince Fiyero Tigelaar in the upcoming movie musical, with the actor’s voiceover describing his and Jack’s bond.
Wicked Movie/Tiktok
“I went around to see [Wicked director] Jon M. Chu before we started filming, and I said to him, I said, ‘I think I know who the horse is.’ And he was like, ‘What do you mean?’ ”
Bailey explained, “It’s Jack, the horse that I’d ridden in Bridgerton, who I had an amazing relationship with.”
The TikTok post cut to a brief clip from the upcoming film of Bailey as his character Fiyero arrives in the woods on horseback.
“People say, don’t work with kids and animals. But if it’s Jack, I’d say, ‘Take the job. He’s a legend,’ ” Bailey concluded.
Bailey told The Popcorn Podcast host Tim Iffland that he and Jack “built a trust and a rapport.”
“He’s incredibly focused and can deliver a very sort of stable scene partner,” he said.
Bailey added that with Jack as his scene partner, he “felt confident just to sort of go for gold” with Fiyero’s entrance. “I thought you know you need to start with a strong entrance.”
NICK BRIGGS/NETFLIX
Bailey, who stars as the main love interest in the musical, previously told PEOPLE that he rehearsed one of the film’s larger musical numbers while on the sets of Bridgerton and Fellow Travelers.
“I’ve got videos on my phone of me practicing on long-haul flights,” Bailey said in PEOPLE’s new special Wicked edition of practicing his character’s big ballroom number, “Dancing Through Life,” amid his other projects.
Bailey stars in Wicked alongside Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. (The musical’s original Broadway cast included Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in the roles, respectively. Norbert Leo Butz originated Bailey’s role on Broadway.)
The highly anticipated film also stars Ethan Slater as Boq, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Bowen Yang as Pfannee and Bronwyn James as ShenShen.
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Buy PEOPLE’s Wicked special edition here. Wicked will be released in two parts, with the first arriving in theaters on Friday, Nov. 22.
