Victor Alli is Hollywood’s Next Heartthrob

Text: Jeremy Whitaker

Photo: By Pip

It felt like fate when Victor Alli was cast as John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin in the newest installment of the Bridgerton series. 

At the time of his audition, he was on the West End alongside Amy Adams in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, and after sending in an audition tape, he got the role in under a week. “Even when I got the role, it was during the interval of the play, and my agent called and I was like, 'Shut up... Don't lie to me. It's not April Fools today,’” he laughs.

This casting would turn out to be spot on. Fans from around have voiced their undying love for the sweet and taciturn Earl who, unlike the other leading men of Bridgerton, approaches love from a place of introspection and quiet. Alli’s genuine charisma brings this character to life in ways that wouldn’t be possible without him. 

In conversation with the actor, it became evident that he has all the qualities of Hollywood’s next leading man. Kind, caring, talented, and yes, handsome, I predict it won’t be long before Victor Alli starts attracting accolades like a magnet. 

Ahead of the release of the second part of Bridgerton’s third season, Victor discusses two of his biggest roles, Bridgerton’s John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin, and The Glass Menagerie’s Jim O’Connor.

The Following Contains Spoilers from the Bridgerton Print Series:

JEREMYWHITAKER: Victor, am I right to think you're booked and busy right now?

VICTORALLI: Just busy with the press, it's actually been quite chill.

JW: It’s crazy that you say it's been chill because, obviously your performance in Bridgerton was a surprise to everybody and I've seen nothing but an outpouring on social media.

VA: It's been really nice. They've been really fun, the comments are crazy. I didn't expect John to have such a reception. I was taken by surprise as well, so it's nice.

JW: I definitely think it’s something you bring to the character. I was doing my due diligence prepping for this interview, and I don't want you to think I'm a Reddit person, but on the Bridgerton Reddit page, there's a whole thread called “Victor Alli Is Gorgeous,” and it felt endless.

VA: That's bizarre. I've got sent some of those Reddit’s really early on about fan castings and I think I saw Henry Caville was considered to play me or my cousin. I was like, gosh, if he was on the show, I'd have no chance. It’s Henry Caville, come on.

JW: Henry Caville could pick us up and split us in half with his bare hands.

VA: Easily, easily. So thank God he's not on the show. But you're right, people love the show and even the cast members have this real appreciation for this world and it's just nice to be a part of it.

JW: Were you a fan before? Were you streaming?

VA: I saw the first season, loved it, and the second season I watched whilst I was auditioning. I watched it and stopped. When I got the role I watched the rest of it and I watched it again to get into the space of the show. 

JW: I was chatting with Ruth [Gemmell] as well, and I asked her, 'Why do you think people are so connected to this show?' I'm going to ask you the same thing.

VA: I guess people don't feel like these characters are so far from them. Especially Hannah [Dodd] and I, our relationship and how we communicate. A lot of people appreciate that there are different versions of love, and they're not lost in the heap of other scenes like Rege [-Jean Page] and Phoebe [Dynevor], for example, and how they and their love is just so intense.

JW: It's like an explosion.

VA: It's a literal explosion. I remember reading some comments and someone said, 'Thank you, Jonathan and Francesca, for shining a light on introverts in your relationship.' People are obsessed with the show and the world, because even though it's not real, it's real to them and they can see themselves and they can relate. You wouldn't expect it to be a relatable show, but it is.

JW: Unexpected especially considering it's Regency, so it's not necessarily a society we can relate to. I do think there's a level of humanity in every single character.

VA: It's a massive ensemble, and what I love and appreciate that the writers have done is they have been able to tell everyone's stories in different ways at the same time simultaneously, alongside the stars of the season. What they managed to do is still have those subplots and draw us in, and then bring us back to the main sort of meat and then take us away and allow us to digest and breathe. It's so cleverly done. I don't feel like I'm lost. It's nice to be part of that world.

JW: What was it like coming in on season three? At this point, the cast is very familiar with one another.

VA: The first person I met from the cast was Hannah [Dodd], who played Francesca [Bridgerton]. I met her at the chemistry read. She was new as well, it was her first season. We were able to look after each other, but also everyone else was looking after us as well. The whole family, the Bridgerton family, the whole cast. I remember doing my first ball scene where everyone is there, and it was so intense. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that's Lady Danbury, that's Queen Charlotte.’ It was so intense, I didn’t know who to talk to. I just sat in my seat on my phone too nervous to speak to anyone. But then after we just started speaking, everyone just got along and even meeting last year’s heads of the show, Simone [Ashley] and Johnny [Bailey] they are so nice, so sweet. I didn't know how I'd feel, but I just thought I'd have to really work hard to try and fit in. It wasn't that at all. It was quite the opposite. When I went home I was actually brimming from ear to ear in the car.

JW: That's so reassuring because it's so clear that everyone has chemistry on screen. Everyone clearly loves each other from what I can see. To hear that that's actually the case speaks to the whole nature of the show. What was the audition process like? I imagine quite extensive.

VA: I want to say it was Jeremy, but you'd be surprised it actually wasn't really.

JW: No way.

VA: No, I know. I was doing a play on the West End with one of my favorite actresses, Amy Adams, directed by the incredible Jeremy Herrin.

JW: Classic name.

VA: He's an amazing director, and I will jump in a heartbeat to work with him again. But I was doing this play when I got a call from my agent saying I've got this audition for Bridgerton. I shot it in my dressing room. I sent it, and then the same day I got a recall saying, you've got a chemistry read on Tuesday. So I went in and I got the role two days later.

JW: Clearly you were meant for this role because I expected it to be Marvel-level, where you don't even know what you're auditioning for.

VA: When I sent it, I literally said, ‘Okay, cool, I'm sending it. I'm not thinking about it anymore.’ Then when I got the call the same day for a recall, I was like, ‘Shut up, this never happens.’ Even when I got the role, it was during the interval of the play, and my agent called and I was like, 'Shut up, Alice. Don't lie to me. It's not April Fools today.' I just couldn't believe it because it just happened so fast, and I've just never had that experience where I've had a role like that come within a week.

JW: We all know the inevitable situation with your character, Lord John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin. On the Reddit page, someone said, "I love him, but he's going to break our damn hearts." What was the process of creating a character with this sort of inevitable end?

VA: It's weird, isn't it? Because we don't really think about death. That's not in our minds. It's such a weird thing as playing a character like John and knowing that I'm going to die, which is so sad. I guess you just sort of continue. He's still going to go to the balls. He's still going to live his life to the fullest. I'm not suddenly going to be tentative with how I portray the character, just let it happen when it happens. I don't know when it's going to happen.

JW: Maybe that's the lesson. The takeaway from this conversation is that your character, like any real person, is going to live his life until he doesn't anymore, and we should make the most of it while we can.

JW: This play on the West End was The Glass Menagerie, right? I have to hear about that experience. Amy Adams, Tennessee Williams, come on.

VA: Come on! Actually, three weeks ago, I started reading A Streetcar Named Desire just for the fun of it, because I just love Tennessee Williams. I love the language, I love the characters. The Glass Menagerie was the best theater experience I've ever had. The cast is amazing, and the process, the rehearsals, and the shows made me a better actor. I always feel that whenever I do theater, I've gone through a boot camp all over again. All these skills that I know I have, it’s sort of sharpening them, this process of rehearsing. Theater requires a different skill. You are on stage every day for four months every night doing a play, and your voice has to travel. You have to say the words as if they are for the first time. You have to get the audience engaged and not lose that wonder on stage and that mystery and that playfulness. Amy [Adams], she's incredible. I know it sounds so stupid, but she's so human.

JW: A dream.

VA: She's not Hollywood at all. She doesn't carry that sort of accolade on her shoulders. What the weirdest thing was, we're doing a voice class all together. It was led by our voice tutor, Hazel Holder, who's incredible, and she got us to roll around on the floor. Seeing Amy Adams just rolling around on the floor was just such a bizarre thing because you see her on the red carpet and you see her in films in amazing gowns and dresses. But just being an actor like me, just rolling around, getting in her body and humming and all that random stuff that we do, it was incredible. She was so kind on stage, and it was her first West End show.

JW: It sounds surreal. I have to say I feel like every British actor has such diverse work experience. I had an actress tell me that every actor has one really big highlight in the run of a show and one really bad lowlight. What was your highlight?

VA: Controversial, but press night. I really loved it.

JW: I find that shocking.

VA: Usually, people are bricking it, but I absolutely relished it. I just went for it. I'm going to give them the show they want. Now, one of the worst nights there were two crazy things, so I was very ill and I forgot half my speech and just ad-libbed the whole thing. I was like, I don't know what just happened, but let's just not talk about that night again.

JW: And here we are.

VA: And here we are.

JW: Was there a favorite scene? Your character, Jim, is privy to what I would say is the climax of the play.

VA: I'm not in the first act, so I come into the second act and I'm on stage the whole time, which is quite intense. In the first act, there's a moment between Amanda and her daughter, and I guess she's trying to uplift her despite her impediment. It's just such a sad moment because Amanda is so hopeful. She's a massive dreamer. When Jim comes over, she's like, let's dress you up, let's make you good. I think every night when I heard it, it mentally prepared me for when I came on stage.

JW: That hits where it hurts a little bit.

VA: It really does. I also think it's when Jim breaks her glass menagerie and breaks the unicorn. In that moment she says, ‘No, it's okay!' It's like, Jim, you idiot.

JW: Leading up to that, what is it he says? “Isn't the unicorn lonely” or “isn't it lonesome?”

VA: Yeah, “it must be lonesome.” Oh my gosh. All the memories. It's so heartbreaking.

JW: Now we're having this moment.

VA: Jeremy, are you crying!

JW: You know what, Tennessee Williams will always make me shed one dramatic single tear. What is next for you? More television, more film, or more theater?

VA: I'd love to do all of them again.

Photographer: By Pip 

Stylist: Sarah-Rose Harrison 

Grooming: Chad Maxwell using Augustinus Bader 

Clothing: AMI Paris, Loewe