TIGER IN A CAGE, OLI HIGGINSON

Bridgerton’s Footman John is Stepping Into the Spotlight as a Crossover Music Artist, Known as Modern Oli

Written by GAWAIN SEMLEAR

Taken from VALŪS Issue 004 Summer 2026 - order your copies NOW!

In each season of Netflix’s Bridgerton we have a taming of the rake, wherein a louche bachelor turns marriageable; it is now a familiar trope in the series. It meets its apotheosis with Benedict, the second eldest Bridgerton son, in the fourth and most recent season, as his free-spirited and licentious behavior is put aside in favor of his newfound love. 

But there is a peripheral yet no less impactful rake in the mix: Footman John, played by Oli Higginson. Dubbed the “most eligible bachelor of the downstairs world,” his character becomes a mouthpiece for what’s often overlooked in period dramas: the fraught and complicated desires of the servant class. 

Flirtatious and charismatic, Footman John charts an intrigue separate from the action upstairs. What started as a minor role in the first two seasons has blossomed into a character with frequent and weighted appearances. Not one to relegate himself to “just a Footman,” Higginson sees his role as an opportunity to imbue John with an interiority that allows audiences to identify with him. His method is to be a tiger in a cage. 

“You want people to be terrified of what you could do,” he explains to VALŪS. “I’m always trying to be as dangerous as possible, as funny as possible, as interesting as possible, as authentic as possible, as brave as possible… without overstepping the structure that’s been established by the writing and the director.” 

Higginson's role in Bridgerton was actually his first job out of drama school. He’s earned recognition in the past for his performances in The Last Five Years, Othello, and other productions at the Shakespeare's Globe, The Old Vic, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was drawn to the craft because of the “provocation of playing a character,” which fuels a self discovery where the parts of himself that may have otherwise laid dormant come out in an effort to embody a role. “We all have the capacity in us to be such mercurial, varied types of people. We have all the raw materials in a human body and brain to be anything. So for me, character was always an opportunity to look inside myself.” 

Not limiting himself to one art form, Higginson, like his great influence David Bowie, has embraced the duality of being an actor and a musician. “I'm so interested in the myriad of ways in which stories can be told and how they intersect and how they don't,” he opines. “The thing that drew me to music was losing yourself in something that's nonverbal.” 

Operating under the moniker “Modern Oli,” Higginson’s music traverses the messy realms of identity and desire, set to stimulating instrumentals that make for a sultry, beach pop kind of vibe reminiscent of contemporary artists like Harry Styles and The 1975. 

Higginson’s artistry, both on screen and in music, is heavily invested in sincerity. By navigating different personas on stage and set, he’s uncovering “a clearer, more Technicolor, more honest version of [himself].” The everyday iteration of Oli Higginson, he says, is “a lot more complicated” and ambiguous. Writing songs and telling stories is one way of answering the many questions he’s faced with. 

In addition to being on set, Higginson has a packed music itinerary over the next couple of months, with new songs coming out and gigs in Leeds, London, and Paris. His London concert, staged at the Oslo Hackney, will be his biggest yet and have “a lot of amazing surprises.” A caged tiger, powerful but tempered, with the introspective and poignant soul of a poet, Higginson is definitely someone to keep in your mental rolodex.

TEAM

Photographer | STEVE LIMONES

Wardrobe Stylist | KRISTOPHER FRASER

Men’s Groomer | VIRGINIE PINEDA at The Visionaries Agency, using R+Co and K18

Photo Assistant | NICK AHMET

Location | THE SUNSET MARQUIS

Style Assistant | KASEY MAKAL