An actor congratulated Jonathan Bailey on his

David Corenswet and Jonathan Bailey recently sat down for a wide-ranging chat as part of Variety’s Actors on Actors series.

And at one point during the 42-minute conversation, David and Jonathan bonded over the fact that they both filmed air kissing scenes.

Of course, David played the titular Superman in James Gunn’s 2025 release, while Jonathan played Fiyero in Wicked: For Good.

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In the musical, which premiered last month, Fiyero is carried into the air by Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) as they sing “As Long As You’re Mine.”

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And during their conversation, David told Jonathan that he was surprised at how “masculine” he seemed during the scene. “You had the biggest challenge. Cynthia is carrying you. She’s levitating you,” he began.

“Every man would think, There’s no way you can look masculine and powerful and in control when a woman levitates you,” he continued, to which Jonathan replied, “My greatest privilege.”

“Somehow, in that moment, when she picks you up by the arms… you somehow maintain your masculinity,” David said, adding, “It was amazing.”

“Well done, buddy. Because it’s a lot easier when you can hold the girl,” he told Jonathan.

In response, Jonathan paused briefly and then said, “Oh my gosh, yes. It was a total honor. And also, I mean, listen. Cynthia and Ari would carry me for the rest of my life if I could. What a pleasure to be able to come and do my part, but also share a moment like that.”

David’s comments quickly went viral and sparked mixed reactions online. “I understand what he was trying to say but the way he said it,” one person tweeted. “Jonny tries to redirect David from the strange masculinity comment by saying it was his greatest privilege and he would gladly be carried by both Cynthia and Ari and then David doubling down is painful to see ngl,” another user said.

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“I got sick real quick from this video,” someone said, while another person echoed, “‘Somehow you kept your masculinity’ is so disgusting. There’s nothing to keep up.”

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Several other users came to David’s defense, with one person writing: “Being stuffy and vulnerable is not what society would consider masculine at all, so David, as a man, compliments Jonathan. Men are allowed to have opinions about their shared experiences, that doesn’t make it anti-woman/femininity.”

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“he literally says that SOCIETY AND ESPECIALLY MOST MEN would see that as emasculating??? which is true??” another post said, while one more user echoed: “Isn’t he literally saying that the movie does a good job of conveying how he can still appear masculine even though the female character is the one with much more power and controls him? He seems to be complimenting the movie for not adhering to toxic male roles.”

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