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If you haven’t watched Netflix’s Bridgerton yet, you’ve at least heard about the British actor making everyone swoon. Regé-Jean Page stars as the “Duke of Hastings” in the romantic period drama series where there are plenty of NSFW scenes. The world has seen him “in the flesh” but who is the actor? Here’s everything we know about Page.
Page is 31 years old and the son of a Zimbabwean mother who was a nurse and an English father who was a preacher. He was born in London and raised in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, and went to school and spent his adolescents in North London. After returning to the UK he took up acting as a hobby during Saturday school but quickly fell in love with it, per Interview. He trained at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and after 2 years of auditioning, he was accepted into the Drama Centre London where he graduate in 2013. Then he moved to America and spent much of his 20’s acting in Los Angeles, California, per Square Mile. His experiences left him with a keen international perspective and versatility that fuels his acting. Page was even recognized by TIME, as a 2021 TIME100 NEXT.
Page started his career on stage then quickly established himself as one the most exciting and best-looking British actors of his time. According to his IMDB, he gathered rave reviews in his break-out lead role as “Chicken George” in the award-winning event series ROOTS. Page then went on to star in Shonda Rhyme’s legal thriller For The People. He starred in Mortal Engines, and Sylvie‘s Love, before partnering up again with Rhymes again for Bridgerton. According to his friend and former colleague Malachi Kirby, “He’s one of those old-school actors,” says Kirby. “He can sing, he can dance, he can act, he can do it all. He writes. He’s just an artist. It’s not so common to come across real artists, especially in our generation.”
The cast of Bridgerton is noticeably diverse which is exactly how it should be. Page is a black man and in an interview with Square Mile he explained, “the show has people of color in it because people of color existed in the 19th century.” Page also thinks people should stop saying they “don’t see color,” explaining, “I don’t think it helps when folks say that they don’t see color. It was very popular in LA for a while, ’hey, we don’t see color, my kids don’t see color.’ Please do. Because if you don’t you don’t see me. And you don’t see how I walk through the world or have any way of understanding any of the conversations that we’re having about color, because to you it doesn’t exist.”
As for his personal life, of course, everyone wants to know who he is dating. Earlier this year he shut down rumors that he was getting romantic off screen with his Bridgerton co-star Phoebe Dynevor. Now there is photographic proof that he is dating soccer player Emily Brown. Entertainment Tonight confirmed the news after photos surfaced of pair packing on PDA in London hugging and sharing a kiss. The sweet embrace reportedly went down before he headed to New York. Page just appeared as a first-time host on Saturday Night Live and had an epic monologue featuring the SNL ladies who gushed over his presence. Then… he sang. Watch the hottest 5 minutes in SNL history here: