Regé-Jean Page exits Bridgerton. All about the duke that seduced millions

He won the heart of Daphne Bridgerton and also the heart of every human being who's watched this new series on Netflix. For that reason, the internet responded with horror to the news that the Duke of Hastings is not returning in the series' second season. Here's all you need to know about Regé-Jean Page, the handsome duke from Bridgerton.

Regé-Jean Page was born in 1990. He spent his childhood in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, his mother's hometown. As a teenager, he moved with his family to London and soon after settled in Las Vegas.

His artistic career is promising, considering that he not only has talent for acting. Regé-Jean Page also sings, dances and writes. He even started a punk band with his brother!

Page does not want people to focus too much on his background and cultural identity. "I don't like sitting around waiting for people to appreciate my identity, because I don't think there's any intrinsic value in it," he told 'square mile' magazine. "But I think what you dó may have value."

Either way, Regé-Jean Page is already considered one of Hollywood's hottest men. His Instagram profile has more than 1.8 million followers.

Even his spoon has an Instagram account! Fans went crazy over a scene in which the Duke of Hastings licks a spoon. Within a few days, the account had over 10,000 followers.

In 2016, Regé-Jean Page had his first major role on television. He played Chicken George in the mini-series 'Roots' produced by the History Channel.

'Roots' co-star Malachi Kirby is all praise when it comes to Regé-Jean Page's work. He told 'square mile' magazine that Page is "one of those old school actors. He is just an artist. It is not so common to find real artists, especially in our generation."

What his fans probably don't know is that he appeared, as an extra, in a scene from 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1', released in 2010.

In 2015, Regé-Jean Page joined the cast of 'Waterloo Road', produced by the BBC, where he played an apprentice teacher. The series also featured Phoebe Dynevor, with whom the actor would later act in 'Bridgerton.'

With dreadlocks and in full action we saw a completely different Regé-Jean Page in the movie 'Mortal Engines' (2018). His character was named Captain Khora.

The film was a box-office failure that resulted in a 150 million dollar loss for the production company. It would not compromise the career of Regé-Jean Page, though.

In 2018, Regé-Jean Page played the lawyer Leonard Knox in the series 'For the People.' The ABC drama was produced by Shondaland Studio, a company run by writer and producer Shonda Rhimes.

Just before the covid-19 pandemic brought all sorts of difficulties to audiovisual production, Regé-Jean Page managed to show his talent in the drama 'Sylvie's Love'. The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Festival in January.

'Sylvie's Love' is available on Amazon Prime. Its star cast includes Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha and Eva Longoria. Page plays the character Chico Sweetney, a young man in 1950s' Harlem, New York.

After casting the actor in 'For the People', Shonda Rhimes let him return in 'Bridgerton.' The series, based on the historical romance novels by Julia Quinn, premiered on Netflix in December 2020. With 63 million households watching the show in its first four weeks, 'Bridgerton' quickly became immensely popular. It had the "fifth-best debut ever" for a Netflix production, Forbes says.

'Bridgerton' is ground-breaking in its inclusion of characters from different races. Some critics, in media like Vulture and Buzzfeed, find it problematic that interracial couples appear among the series' 19th-century upper-class characters but that color is never addressed explicitly. "It feels weird that the most subversive thing about a show adapted from a majority-white book series is that some of the characters are a few shades darker. It ultimately just feels hollow," Buzzfeed News reporter Michael Blackmon says.

In 'square mile' magazine, Regé-Jean Page says that the series' recognition of black people's presence in historic London is important. "I don't think it helps when people say they don't see colors," he argues. "If so, you don't see me. And you don't see how I walk around the world, nor can you understand any of the conversations we are having about color, because for you it doesn't exist."

At the same time, Page seems to find unnecessary that Black people appear in the series but that it's never discussed. In Women’s Wear Daily, a magazine cited by Buzzfeed, the actor said: “The most startling thing that I realized when I watched it was that [race is] the least relevant thing onscreen within seconds."

"You're just engaging with these characters on a very universal, human level, in terms of everyone is trying to find their sense of identity, despite the societal barriers and restrictions that are put in their way," he says.

In the next season of 'Bridgerton,' a return of the popular Duke seemed only natural. If they'd ask him, Regé-Jean Page had told Oprah Magazine, he would say 'yes.' Despite this, Netflix announced in April 2021 that the actor is not returning. We're devastated but hope to see him soon in another production!