Jurassic World co-stars Jonathan Bailey and Scarlett Johansson sent tongues wagging after sharing not one, but two, kisses on the red carpet for their new movie. 

First up, the pair locked lips at the blockbuster film’s London premiere on 17 June, and then repeated the PDA display at the New York premiere on 23 June. Fans freaked out, particularly as Scarlett Johansson’s husband, Saturday Night Live writer Colin Jost, was in attendance in New York looking on at the pair. 

Red carpet etiquette is an interesting dynamic – with critics suggesting that such affection being shown may be inappropriate. One even posted ‘So its okay for a married woman to kiss a gay man on the lips? You have some real weird customs in the States not gonna lie.’ Another wrote: ‘Just because you played in a movie together doesn’t give you the right to just kiss each other when you see each other at celebrity events.’

It feels like fans are clutching their pearls at a mere display of platonic affection between two friends. Admittedly, in the past, we’ve seen similar speculation around various examples of red carpet PDA, from celebrity couples such as Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet to Pedro Pascal and Alexander Skarsgard’s cheek kiss at Cannes this year, which also went viral. 

These exchanges absolutely can be fraught with power dynamics, particularly when it comes to co-stars canoodling on the red carpet. However, the final word on any celebrity PDA should come down to consent and mutual understanding between the two PDAers. 

After all, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, when asked about the kisses Bailey – who is openly gay – put speculation to bed by opening up about the importance of expressing your platonic love to your friends.

‘Absolutely, I believe in being able to show the love in all different ways and if you can’t kiss your friends… life is too short not to,’ he said, describing his experience of filming Jurassic World: Rebirth with Johansson as ‘amazing’.

‘The people that you meet along the way make extraordinary experiences even better, and her and Mahershala, it’s been amazing to get back together and to celebrate all of the experiences we had on the screen,” he said. ‘But Scarlett is endlessly fun, hilarious, sensitive, intelligent, and Mahershala is just, they’re both icons, and I’m very lucky to be a part of their tribe.’

Johansson was equally as loving and complimentary in her description of working with Bridgerton star Bailey. ‘He’s a lovable guy, what can I say?’ she said in a Today interview, confirming his attractiveness but also explaining her rationale behind their red carpet PDA. ‘We’re just friendly people… Yeah, I’ve got a lot of love to give.’

She also talked up Mission Impossible and Indiana Jones writer David Koepp, who wrote the script for Jurassic Park: Rebirth. Koepp also wrote the original Jurassic Park and the third in the trilogy, The Lost World.

‘He returned after like 30 years to write the script,’ she said. ‘He’s so passionate about it, which is so awesome,’ she gushed. ‘I’m such an enormous fan of the franchise and a huge nerd for it. I’m just like, I can’t even, I’m pinching myself.’
Johansson also opened up about how badly she wanted to be part of the Jurassic Park world. ‘I’ve been trying to get into this franchise in any possible way for over 10 years.’

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bailey opened up further about navigating Hollywood, and co-leading the latest Jurassic movie, as a gay man.
‘You have to unlearn a lot of narratives about yourself that an industry tells you,’ he says, including the belief that ‘if you’re gay, there’s a glass ceiling.’

‘There’s moments where, yes, you have to be excellent to prove that you can do it. And it’s not like I haven’t felt that,’ he continued. ‘There’s the weight of history, and there’s endless brilliant people who have come before you who have changed the way that people see sexuality.

‘Any sort of sense of prejudice against sexuality is something to fight against, and what better way to do that than to go and play any kind of character,” he said. ‘Being an out gay actor, historically, meant that you wouldn’t be able to play straight and there weren’t any gay parts to play anyway. That’s obviously changed massively.’

As well as the close bonds established on set, Bailey was described to have brought the crew to tears during an improvised moment while filming, when he approaches a dinosaur in a very tender moment.

‘Isn’t that what all humans are really trying to find in their life, the equivalent of their passion in its natural environment?’ Bailey said of the emotional scene. ‘It doesn’t get more pure than that.’

While Jurassic World: Rebirth director Gareth Edwards hadn’t seen Bailey in Bridgerton before casting him, his girlfriend certainly had.

‘I mentioned Jonathan Bailey was someone they’re talking about. Her eyes lit up and she was like, “That’s fantastic! Is that for real? Is that going to happen?”’
It looks like both Edwards’ girlfriend and Johansson are in the firm ranks of Bailey fans – as are we.