Regé-Jean Page can perhaps attribute his recent role as Carmichael in The Gray Man to Joe Russo’s wife watching Bridgerton, the actor reveals.
Actor Regé-Jean Page explains how his Bridgerton performance got him his role in The Gray Man. The Gray Man is an action film from acclaimed action directors Joe and Anthony Russo, a.k.a. the Russo Brothers. The Gray Man focuses on a CIA agent (Ryan Gosling) who finds himself with a bounty on his head when he discovers dark secrets from within the agency. Page plays Carmichael, the film’s main villain who hires assassin Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) to kill Gosling’s character. The Gray Man also stars Ana de Armas, Shea Whigham, and Billy Bob Thornton.
Page, 34, has been on the acting scene for a number of years now, but his breakout role was in the Netflix series Bridgerton. Page plays Simon Basset on Bridgerton, and the actor has now become somewhat of a heartthrob since appearing on the show. Page went on to score an Emmy nomination for his role in Bridgerton, but the actor decided not to return to the role to focus on other projects.
It turns out that Simon Basset may have been his ticket to The Gray Man, though, as Page reveals in a recent interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. While Page has been told multiple versions of the story of exactly how he came to be cast in The Gray Man, all roads lead to Bridgerton. The Russos have spun tales to Page about how Joe’s “wife watched Bridgerton” or “where he watched it with his wife.” Anthony has also recalled another version where he was hearing about Page and Bridgerton through mothers of other kids when picking his own kids up. Check out the full quote from Page below:
“I mean, there’s different versions of the story. So like, there’s a version that Joe tells where his wife watched Bridgerton, there’s a version where he watched it with his wife. There’s a version where Anthony says he was out picking up his kids and all the mums were talking about me, and he was like ‘I need to know who this dude is.’ I mean, the common thread is essentially some powerful men had the women in their lives talk to them and we all know who run the world at this point.”
As Page alludes to, whatever the exact version is, the “common thread” clearly rests in Bridgerton. Based on Page’s career trajectory, some version of this story with the Russos makes a lot of sense. Given the Russos’ high profile—they have in fact directed some of the biggest action films of all time, including Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame—the two directors could likely get just about any actor they wanted to play Carmichael in The Gray Man. Without Bridgerton and the attention it garnered from the women in the lives of the Russos, Page would likely not have had enough notable credits to his name to be at all recognized by the Russo brothers.
This story with the Russos hopefully bodes well for the rest of Page’s career. With Bridgerton his first prominent credit, Page is likely to continue to get roles based on directors (or directors’ spouses) who have seen Bridgerton in the coming years. With his role in The Gray Man, those looking to cast Page will have a great example of how the actor can succeed beyond the Downton Abbey-esque period drama world of Bridgerton, and Page can become the bigger action star that he has the potential to become.
Source: The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
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