>> Hi!
>> Thank you so much!
>> I've been a big fan for a
while.
>> I know.
>> Pleasure to finally meet you.
>> We've never met.
>> I had a pleasure seeing you
on stage in the original run of
"Hamilton," of course.
You were killing it.
>> Thank you.
>> And also you were in the
short-lived show "Smash" on NBC.
>> Very short-lived.
>> But that with a great show!
It was a great show.
>> Yes, it was.
>> Coincidentally, musical
theater and the whole bit.
I loved all that.
>> I was sort of in "Hamilton"
with you.
>> We had that moment.
We had a moment.
>> Really?
>> Tell him what happened.
>> The night you came to see the
show, we locked eyes and I gave
you a --
>> I thought you meant you gave
her buhriz --
>> We locked and I'm like, we're
in the show.
>> Couldn't have done it without
Ju.
>> Uma Thurman was in front of
me.
But I'll say it was me.
>> Who I knew from "Smash."
>> This is cool about your new
music because you like, correct
me if I'm wrong, jazz.
>> That's right.
>> I like jazz and that had a
cool kind of jazzy-r&b feel.
>> Exactly.
>> How would you describe the
sound?
>> When we went to get the
record deal to sign the
contract, we said we wanted to
make the kind of music nat king
Cole might make, but it's nat,
it's cat Callaway, Billy
eckstine.
We think of their music as
throwback now, but at the time,
they were making contemporary
dance music, fun music, so
that's what we wanted to do.
>> Yeah, oh, nice.
>> What's going on with the
tour?
>> We start here in L.A. On
March 7th.
>> Nice.
>> We open in L.A.
>> Where are you performing?
>> At the el ray.
I'm super excited about that.
Then we'll be at 16 cities
across the country all through
March, and I can't wait.
>> Nice, man.
And with all that going on, you
got a little 2-year-old back
home, right?
>> Lucile.
>> I know, almost 3.
My gosh.
She just had her tonsils out.
She's a sweetheart.
>> It's fun, man.
>> It's so fun.
>> Do you sing to her?
Do you love her music?
>> She sings to me.
She's on the record.
There's a little Easter egg.
There's a song called
"Hummingbird" and I was looking
for -- I didn't know if I was
going to go to a playground and
record kids playing, but I
wanted joy across the center of
the soundscape, so we put a
little -- lulucile's on the
record, a little Easter egg, if
you listen.
>> Nice, man.
And what's the latest with the
"Hamilton" movie?
>> Oh, yeah.
>> Oh, yeah, that's going to be
so dope.
We shot that before we left, so
it's the original cast.
I can't wait to see it.
I hear they were amazing.
I never got to see them.
But I'm so excited to, like, sit
there with my little box of
popcorn and experience what
other people saw.
You know, I never got to see it
in that way, so I'm excited to
bring Lucile.
It's going to be super special.
>> Right.
>> It was incredible.
Because I was there at one of
the opening nights.
>> Yeah.
>> But Jay-Z and Beyonce,
everybody went to see the show.
Do you ever look out and see
who's in the crowd?
>> You know, sometimes -- I can
make out the first few rows of
people, but I liked to -- you
know, I really liked to perform
like Jay-Z and Beyonce were
there every night.
>> But did you know the night
they were there?
Was there a buzz around?
>> There was a tiny buzz and
there was some suspicion, but I
really -- I like to black out,
you know what I mean, and just
like perform like somebody's out
there that you care about every
night.
It's the same way we'll be doing
on the tour, you know.
>> Exactly.
>> Because you never know, you
know?
>> Exactly, exactly.
And obviously, it's always the
toughest ticket to get,
"Hamilton."
We actually have a little man
taj --
>> Oh, this is great.
>> Reactions of some people
trying to get tickets.
>> Okay.
>> I have to tell you, when I
saw "Hamilton," I was totally
blown away.
It was so amazing, I couldn't
wait to see it again, so I saw
it two weeks later and then six
months later and now I'm going
to see it again.
>> I love that.
>> Sup, sup?
>> Aw.
>> Oh, my god!
Oh, thank you!
♪♪
>> What's it say?
>> I'm going to see "Hamilton."
>> Aw.
>> Oh, that's great, man.
>> That's really sweet.
You know, the show that brought
me to the theater was a show
called "Rent."
>> Yes.
>> You know?
And I would have reacted that
way, if my parents had had the
dough to surprise me on
Christmas morning.
So it really is a full-circle
moment for me to be a part of
something that young people
connect to in that way, because
that's what brought me to the
theater.
>> I mean, I love the musical
theater background, too, but
you're also a very serious
actor, man.
I'm very excited.
You're going to be working on
"Many states of Newark," right?
>> That's right.
>> Prequel to "Sopranos."
Have you shot that yet?
>> We shot that all right.
>> Nice.
>> How was it?
>> It was amazing.
>> Oh, that's dope!
The period.
>> For those people -- yeah, for
them -- pardon the correlation,
but that was their "Hamilton,"
you know?
Like, that show changed their
lives.
It was more than a TV series for
them.
It really was like a landmark
moment in their lives.
>> Right.
>> So to have James' son playing
him, Michael gandolfini's
playing young Tony, it was
really special.
>> That has to be incredible.
Who are you in it?
>> Well, David chase will show
up and break my kneecaps if I
give away too much.
>> Oh, oh, so they got that sort
of "Game of thrones" silence
going on, really?
>> Oh, yeah.
I will say that I work for the
family.
I will say that.
>> Okay, fair enough.
Now, is it a movie?
Is it a miniseries?
What is it?
>> It's a movie.
It will be in the theaters.
>> Okay, got it.
>> And were you a fan of the
original?
>> Huge fan.
Doesn't get any better than
that.
>> It doesn't.
>> Talking about movies, and I
hope I'm right on this, but are
you still working on "One night
in Miami"?
>> That's right.
>> I'm fired up about this.
>> What is this?
Tell me.
>> He plays Sam Koch in this
movie.
And back in the day when
Muhammad Ali beat sonny Liston,
they were only allowed to stay
at like all-black hotels.
And it was a night where Ali,
Sam Koch and Malcolm X --
>> That's right, and Jim brown.
>> Oh, James brown --
>> Jim brown.
>> Oh, Jim brown, too, that's
right.
And Virginia king is directing,
right?
I'm fired up about that.
>> We shot it and we finished
it.
>> You finished it?
>> It was an intense six-week
shoot.
I'm super proud of it.
There were goose bumps moments
on the set.
>> Are you singing some Sam?
>> Oh, yeah.
>> Nice.
>> I'm doing all my own singing.
We'll see how that goes.
>> When can we expect that or
see that?
>> We'll see probably like early
next year, I hope.
>> I'm fired up about that one.
>> Look at Leslie, all this
stuff going on.
>> Congrats on that.
>> I can't wait for that.