Regé-Jean Page is a movie star in the making whether he admits it or not. With his career taking off, the former Bridgerton standout recently explained why he feels at home on a Hollywood movie set. Long before Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the actor/producer began learning the business with a small role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. During a brief appearance, Page was happy to “spy” on the production and even picked up cues from Emma Watson along the way.
Regé-Jean Page was ‘undercover’ on the ‘Harry Potter’ set
Page had just turned 21 when production began on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the first entry of the two-part finale. Although he had already appeared in a few British TV shows at the time, Page boasts of the experience he had on the set of Deathly Hallows. He even credits the production with demonstrating some of the basics of the business.
“I remember essentially being undercover on sets ’cause I was doing background work at the time,” Page said during an IMDb interview for Dungeons & Dragons. “…I was just kind of picking up, just watching and learning and observing. It’s a great way to spy.” In an uncredited role, Page played a guest during the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour.
In addition to learning from director David Yates, Page also picked up some practical set tips. Page recalled watching Watson hide her phone under a napkin while filming the wedding sequence. Although he was an unknown on a set with an embarrassment of acting talent, the London-born actor was clearly taking mental notes and preparing for meatier roles in the future.
Regé-Jean Page went to a famous London acting school
Deathly Hallows was the first time Page was on a big-budget set, but he was far from an acting novice. Per The National News, Page lived in his mother’s hometown of Harare, Zimbabwe for much of his youth, returning to London at 14 and picking up acting for fun. He originally studied sound engineering, but Page began to get serious about acting when he was accepted into the British National Youth Theatre. “I pretty much immediately ran away from university to be an actor,” Page told Interview Magazine in 2016.
Seeing other students taking acting seriously was a spark for Page’s own acting ambitions. Page then took his education to the next level at Drama Centre London, one of the most prestigious acting schools in the world. Though it took him two years of auditioning to make it in, Page joined celebrated actors like Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy, Helen McCrory, and Pierce Brosnan, who all also went to the school.
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After small parts on several shows and a brief appearance in Deathly Hallows, Page gathered wider attention in two episodes of the 2016 Roots remake. Though Roots introduced Page to American audiences, it was his role as the Duke of Hastings in Bridgerton that changed everything. In just one season, Page earned an Emmy nomination and became a rising star, leaving fans devastated when he didn’t return for a second season.
Regé-Jean Page paid his dues in Hollywood before ‘Dungeons & Dragons’
Page was so convincing as the Duke of Hastings that audiences got the completely wrong impression of his post-Bridgerton life. “Everyone was shocked that I was not actually British royalty,” Page joked on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “And it’s like, ‘No, this is what poor L.A. actors look like. We’re dirty. We’re broke. That couch has ramen on it.’”
With a down-to-Earth approach and some experience, Page had another breakthrough moment when he co-starred with Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, and Chris Evans in the Russo brothers’ thriller The Gray Man.
Page then returned to the world of high fantasy with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, one of the biggest theatrical releases of the spring. Alongside Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez, Page stars as all-around badass Xenk. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 90%, Dungeons & Dragons looks like another big step for Page.
However, Page’s next acts could prove to be his most interesting yet. Page will star and executive produce in Amazon’s reboot of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Page will team with the Russo Brothers again for the project, which will co-star Glen Powell, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Whether a 007 tux is in Page’s future or not, we’re sure to see a lot more of his talents in the coming years.
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