Jonathan Bailey on Togetherness and Celebration

TIME

TIME celebrated 2025’s TIME100 Next honorees, spotlighting a diverse global cohort of emerging leaders across industries at a gala in Manhattan on Oct. 30.

Transcript

00:00Thirty years ago, aged six, I was scouted in a local village hall ballet class

00:06in which I was joyfully dancing in my sneakers like a feverish little fortune fish.

00:12My father was the first man in the family to go to university,

00:16and I was the first man in the family to do a plie.

00:19And as I squatted down in second position and my bottom touched the floor,

00:24the Royal Shakespeare Company scooped me up to play Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol in London's glittering West End.

00:32By the time I was 13, I'd done three plays with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

00:37And it was because of those local community ballet classes in a little village 90 minutes outside of London

00:45that I had been invited to feel the joy of sharing stories in a theatre full of people, and I was hooked.

00:52And here we are today, 30 years on, Tim is now 37 and not so tiny.

00:59And having played Shakespeare's Richard II earlier this year, I am still hooked on communal experiences.

01:06How quickly time passes.

01:10And when thinking about our lives and how fleeting they are in the context of the history of the natural world,

01:16I am reminded that it is the moments of unadulterated joy and the people that we share them with

01:22that warp time and blissfully slow it down.

01:27Right now, we are technically more connected, but in isolation.

01:32And I believe we should seize any opportunity to bring people together.

01:35So, here's to house parties.

01:44Here's to watching films in cinemas.

01:46To watching TV with friends.

01:48Here's to listening parties.

01:50To inviting people around to chat.

01:52Here's to slut-dropping in packs.

01:54And to meeting in parks.

01:56To experiencing life together.

01:58Because at this moment in time, sharing ideas, stories, and different perspectives in a room with other humans is a radical act.

02:08Might need a hand.

02:12So.

02:15Here's to this moment that we're sharing now.

02:17And here's to making time count in friendships and in shared experiences.

02:22In the famous, revered words of my trusted little guru, Tiny Tim, which is where it all started for me 30 years ago.

02:30God bless us, everyone.

02:33Cheers.

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