Yahoo Lifestyle Jonathan Van Ness Is Actively Trying To Be Cast on 'Bridgerton' (Exclusive)
Jonathan Van Ness is ready to trade in his quaffed brown locks for a powdered wig. Queer Eye's resident grooming expert is eying his next project with Netflix, and he wants to go full regency romance on Bridgerton.
Of course, Van Ness has a better shot than most at landing a role on the saucy period drama. That's because he's good friends with one of the series' stars Nicola Coughlin, who plays Penelope Featherington, the Season 3 love interest and Lady Whistledown herself. The two met years ago via Instagram after the Derry Girls star tagged Van Ness in a comment after watching Queer Eye, and the rest is history.
In an interview with Parade, Van Ness confessed that he's angling to make an appearance on Bridgerton with Coughlin.
"I've been pushing for, like, a Where's Waldo? principal extra cameo," Van Ness said. "Like, I don't know if Nicola's in charge of casting things. She's literally Lady Whistledown, so you think she's quite powerful. I have gotten to go visit set, and look, I laid the seeds. Have they sprouted yet? I don't think so. I don't know if they're going to."
With Season 4 on the way, but presumably eight seasons in total if the show follows Julia Quinn's book series, Van Ness has plenty of sexually charged balls to potentially appear at, and he's got ideas for his role.
"I think me in a really fierce dress," Van Ness mused, "I can shave my beard so I don't stick out, not that I want to dim my shine, but I get it. I can go full drag queen for it, full female impersonator."
Another (less tantalizing) idea would be to move the other direction on the non-binary spectrum.
"Should I go full male impersonator and wear, like, a regency suit?" he continued. "Suits are the only thing that really gives me gender dysphoria. I hate it, but I'll do it if that's what I have to do. I just want to walk through the back of the scene. That's what my vision is."
Certainly JVN in a powdered wig and ball gown doing the quadrille isn't too much to ask? Especially since it was Van Ness who got Coughlin her gig as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race UK (which Van Ness would also love to appear on). Van Ness previously partnered with Drag Race's production company World of Wonder on his series Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness.
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"I'm the one that got Nicola as a guest judge on Drag Race UK," Van Ness told Parade. "I literally coordinated that with World of Wonder in a Getting Curious meeting. I was like, 'Nicola's the world's most obsessed person with Drag Race, and she has to be guest judge.'"
Van Ness has surprisingly not been a guest judge yet on Drag Race, but now that he's got nine seasons of Queer Eye, not to mention a New York Times bestselling memoir and a brand new stand-up comedy special, Fun and Slutty on Veeps, Van Ness is looking for some new adventures. While he'd love to give Dancing with the Stars a spin as well, there's one series he'll be avoiding: The Traitors.
"I think if I had to pick between The Traitors and Dancing with the Stars, I would totally do Dancing with the Stars," Van Ness said, "Because whenever I lie, I shove my tongue in my mouth because I just want to laugh. I really am like the world's worst liar. I just get too nervous. My heart beats. I feel like I start to fart. My stomach hurts. I really am the worst liar."
No need to send a gassy JVN to the Round Table. Noted.
Fun and Slutty premieres at 8 p.m. ET on Jan. 23 on Veep. All Access subscribers can access the special for free as part of their subscription, while individual tickets for the livestream are available for $19.99 with a 7-day rewatch period.
