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“The biggest discovery for me is just how serious he is,� Bailey says. “His change and transformation is about the things we, as humans, experience. You have to move through eras in your life. And in order to really become someone who stands by a moral code and value system, you have to let go of the ability to be frivolous because suddenly things come into focus and they do mean a lot.�

When “Wicked: For Good� begins, Fiyero is in line to marry Glinda. He still loves Elphaba, but she has been marked as the Wicked Witch of the West, and he must lead the charge to find and destroy her. When he reconnects, he discovers he’s still in love with her. Making hard choices becomes his destiny.

“I wanted it to feel like he’s a burning sparkler that’s slowly dimming, but the heat is still there,� Bailey says.

Fiyero, he adds, is a misunderstood character in the world of “Wicked.�

“But the most inspiring thing, even for me, is the opportunity to show a masculinity that is kind of flawed," Bailey says. "Everyone is trapped by their own narratives that they either inherited or they put upon themselves. He’s evidence of someone who really has to find himself at such a taut and tight place of pain, misery and activation. He sacrifices everything for someone who’s completely vilified and marginalized. He knows what he has to do in that moment. What a privilege to play that part and know that if I ever find myself in that position I will know what to do.�

Recently named the “Sexiest Man Alive� by People magazine, Bailey approached that designation with the same lightheartedness as he did Fiyero before the first film was shot.

“There’s such a weird and brilliant contradiction between the sort of pop, pulsing melody of ‘Dancing through Life’ and the lyrics that say, ‘We should all just carry on because we’re going to die anyway,'� Bailey says.

Fiyero, he says, has low self-esteem and he’s too scared to feel things strongly. And then he meets Elphaba, “who’s … incredibly poised and dynamic and just pulsates with integrity.�

In the second film, Elphaba’s impact shows, and Fiyero does things that aren’t in keeping with that “carefree, twinkly� image he carried in the first film.

For Bailey, who started his performance career as a ballet dancer, the film has been a way to display his talents on a big stage. (He also won an Olivier Award for his work in the musical “Company.�)

Singing a duet with Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba, was a real game changer.

“It’s a great privilege when you kneel in front of her while she sings in your face," he says. "I think hair and makeup had to keep putting my hair back because of the force.�

In the course of the second film, Fiyero has to retain his love and admiration for both Elphaba and Glinda: “He placed himself at the front of the gale force to get to Elphaba first because the stakes are so high for him."

He’s at the peak of his powers as the man in Glinda’s life. “What a brilliant character to be able to communicate to people that it’s never too late to question the world and the ecosystem that you’re thriving in," Bailey says.

Because Fiyero doesn’t get as much screen time as Glinda and Elphaba, Bailey says there’s much more he’d like to explore.

“I’ll do that at home," he says. "But what a time to be alive for me as an actor — to play these roles that maybe wouldn’t have been available to me five or 10 years ago.�