No, Jonathan Bailey is not retiring from acting for good. The Wicked actor clarified his previous statement about taking a break from acting next year, explaining that he had simply "stepped away" from two upcoming movie roles to focus more on his charity, The Shameless Fund. This fund partners with global brands to raise funds for non-profit organizations supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
"I was interviewed while cycling between Rome and Pisa on my way to a friend's wedding, and the internet connection kept cutting out," Jonathan recalled in an interview with Esquire UK published on November 9th. "Unfortunately, there was a misquote that said I'd stopped acting for a bit. My intention was to say, 'Next year I'll be back,' but yeah, the ripple effect was extraordinary."
"By Monday, the headlines were 'Jonathan Bailey has quit acting,'" he continued. "I learned at that moment that you can't control everything."
Fans of Fellow Travelers don't need to worry about him being absent from their screens for too long. While the 37-year-old noted that it would be "correct" to assume he won't appear in any new acting roles in 2026, he'll be back to work at some point next year.
"I mean, as it stands right now, I'll definitely be back to work next year," Jonathan said. "I'm not taking the whole of 2026 off."
Jonathan's original comments about his career came during an interview published in September, where he reflected on his busy past few years. "I've been working solidly for about three years now, which has been amazing and mind-blowing," he told British GQ at the time. "But with everything happening in the world right now, I'm going to stop acting for a bit next year and just focus on The Shameless Fund."
Jonathan even specified what he wanted to accomplish with the fund during his period of refocusing. "Over the next few months, I'll be focusing on staffing and making sure we get all the right people in all the right places," he explained. "There's this statistic: out of every £100 raised in the U.K., only 1 penny goes to the LGBTQ+ community. You really have to dig to find solutions, and I genuinely think The Shameless Fund is exactly that."
