Regé-Jean Page is making quite the graceful entrance into TV, starring as the s*xy, slightly scandalous Duke of Hastings in Shonda Rhimes’ new Netflix series “Bridgerton”.
Page has quickly attracted the attention of the masses, who’ve flocked to Instagram to glean any information they can on the rising star. So if you are a big fan of Regé-Jean Page, here are five things you need to know about him.
1. He started acting as a kid
Page, 30, grew up between Zimbabwe and the U.K., according to an interview with InStyle, and currently splits his time between London and Los Angeles.
He began acting at a young age, landing his first “role” as the Little Drummer Boy in his school’s nativity play. “And oh how I played! Such drums, such playing!” he joked to Netflix’s Queue & A. “I clearly had a career in musical theatre ahead of me and somewhere took a left turn and started getting all dour and serious and doing emotionally broken dukes.” He said
2. He wanted to “be an explorer” as a child
Page says he was first drawn to acting when he learned he wasn’t “very good at anything else at all,” he told Queue & A. “Also I wanted to be an explorer when I was a kid. That was my first idea of what would be a really great thing to do in the world: to discover unknown things and pick around in them and see what you could bring back home to go, ‘Look! The world is bigger than you thought it was.
Acting is the closest thing I found to that, honestly. It’s about exploring and getting the opportunity to live in worlds and understand people that I would have no reason otherwise to interact with. One day I can be a spaceman, the next day I can be president, the day after that I can travel 200 years into the past. It’s this really freeing profession. It’s a great way to spend your time as a human: learning about other humans and then sharing that knowledge.” he continued.
3. He’s a romantic
In case that wasn’t abundantly clear by his choice of recent projects, he spelled it out for fans and meddling mamas looking to marry off their daughters. In his chat with EW. “I’m a huge fan of romance as a concept. Romance is a wonderful thing and we need more of it in the world. Most things at their core are love stories anyway, whether they realize it or not.” he said.
In addition to reading the basis of “Bridgerton”, Julia Quinn’s novel “The Duke and I” (which is the first in a nine-book romance series), Page dug into his role by learning a host of new skills, from boxing to horseback riding to dancing in the style of the time, according to InStyle. He also does voice-over work, including as Kong Jr. in this trailer for a graphic novel.
5. He sings and hums
Page’s pipes deserve a category of their own. He and his brother, Tose, form a musical duo called TUNYA. According to their website, the brothers have “written together and featured in various bands since their teens, and now independently produce their own music and collaborations.” Page’s vocal talents are on display in the short film “Don’t Wait” by Lanre Malaolu featured on their website.
The song he sings in the short film came to him in a dream, he shared on Instagram. Recounting the dream, he explained in part, “I began to hum to myself. It’s a thing I do to manage stress or distress. I hum to myself in the dentist’s chair when they get the drill out or anything else that buzzes menacingly, but they told me they don’t mind, and I think they and the assistants are quite amused by it. It beats screams.” He continued.