According to a recent report, Regé-Jean Page turned down a significant pay raise when he decided to skip Bridgerton season 2.
As TheGrio reported on Monday, it looks like The Duke of Hastings will not return to grace our screens when Bridgerton returns for its highly anticipated second season. Page’s brooding leading man was a breakout character on the show, with many fans devouring Simon’s love story with Daphne Bridgerton, the eldest daughter in the Shondaland series.
Page’s absence from the upcoming second season was a blow to some fans, although his character is barely in the book, The Viscount Who Loved Me, that the second season will be based on.
Now, according to recent reports, Page turned down a hefty amount to return to Bridgerton in a limited capacity. Sources close to The Hollywood Reporter told the magazine that Page was offered a guest star contract for the show’s second season, including three to five episodes, with a rate of $50,000 per episode. Per the magazine, Page declined the role “for a multitude of reasons,” as the actor is “laser focused on his burgeoning film career.”
The actor’s film career is certainly beginning to heat up. From the latest Dungeons and Dragons flick and the upcoming big-budget Netflix film, The Gray Man, Page has been nonstop since the series premiered in December.