NEED TO KNOW
Jonathan Bailey got to go full music geek for Jurassic World Rebirth.
The 37-year-old actor stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, June 25, where he revealed the story behind his clarinet solo on the upcoming movie’s score.
“This really was a highlight of my career. The nerd in me erupted like Vesuvius,” he began, before launching into how it all came to be during his run of Richard II in London.
As Bailey recalled, Rebirth director Gareth Edwards told him they’d be recording Alexandre Desplat’s new score (incorporating some from John Williams’ iconic original) at nearby Abbey Road Studios.
And once he arrived, “I sat with my mate at the top just to watch, and got goosebumps” as he took in the “105-piece world-class orchestra,” the Bridgerton star told host Jimmy Fallon.
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“As the week progressed,” Bailey continued, “I came back and I was like, ‘Can I bring my clarinet?’ I played the clarinet in school. And on the Friday, they said, ‘Look, you can come.’ ”
“I just wanted to play one — even if it was, like, one slightly sharp note. … Would’ve been my dream come true,” the actor said.
That wish-granting came to fruition (and then some) when a clarinet solo came up. Bailey admitted he was at first hesitant and declined Desplat’s offer to play while being surrounded by “world-class musicians” — but he felt immediate regret.
So once another clarinet solo came up, “[Desplat] said, ‘It’s now or never.’ And I just went, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’ And I ended up playing the theme of Dr. Henry Loomis, the character I play [in the film] … on the clarinet, which is in the score.”
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Bailey’s clarinet skills go back to his childhood more than 30 years ago — in 1993, the same year Jurassic Park premiered — when his grandfather gave him his first version of the instrument.
“I got given a plastic clarinet by my granddad,” said the Wicked star, continuing with a laugh, “who I think won it in a pub. And I started playing then.”
“It just shows that if you find something you love and you commit to it, you never know how it comes full circle,” Bailey added. “But honestly, it was so emotional.”
Jurassic World Rebirth stomps into theaters July 2.
