-Last night was the big premiere of "Tick, Tick... Boom!"
here in New York City.
Man, I'm telling you, oh, my gosh.
We all know how talented you are, but you can do everything.
-I mean, I don't know about everything.
But, like, I grew up doing musical theater.
Like, that is my first passion, that is my love and my joy,
and nothing fills my heart more than doing musical theater.
And in the movie, I get to be, like, Jonathan Larson's backup
vocalist in his one-man play, "Tick, Tick... Boom!"
So the entire time, I'm literally just up there, like,
jamming, grooving, supporting my friend as Vanessa to Andrew,
but also, my character to Jonathan, it's all very meta,
and it didn't even feel like work.
-No, but let me tell you, that scene with
you and Andrew Garfield, that fast one
where you're both going and doing...
which must've taken, you know, 23 days just for that one scene.
It's amazing. It's a showstopper. It is so good.
-Thank you. It's choreographed down to our eyeballs.
-It actually is. -Actually.
-You dance with your eyeballs. -We danced with our eyeballs.
-How did you come across Lin-Manuel?
He was like, "Oh, we should talk about a project,"
or did you know him before? -Yeah, I had met him before.
My first time meeting him, I went to see "Hamilton."
[ Cheers and applause ] And it was right after --
Yes, of course. We love.
And it was right after I did "Grease Live!",
and so, Tommy Kail, my director, his director,
there was like a little connection.
I walk backstage and I turn the corner,
and Lin's standing there with his T-Birds, like, jacket --
leather jacket on, and I'm like,
"Oh, my God, you are the coolest person ever."
-He's just so fun and so creative and so positive.
-And so kind. -And kind too.
-And supportive and sees everyone.
-I feel like that would be an amazing director.
-Yeah, the best director because you feel safe.
Like, every day, he just, like, shows up and has so much energy,
I don't know where he gets it from,
because I'm sure he's not getting a lot of sleep.
-He doesn't stop.
-He would come up to us, tell us a note,
and be like, "Okay, good? Yeah."
[ Laughter ]
And you're just like, "Oh, we're doing steps now, okay."
[ Laughter ]
-He would just do fun stuff like that?
-He would do step routines all the time,
left, right and center.
-And did you know much of Jonathan Larson's story?
-I knew, like, a bit, yeah.
Like, I obviously know "Rent" intimately.
I did it twice. I played Maureen and Mimi.
-Wow.
-I love his work. I love his community.
I love his stories, and, like, he means so much to me
and my friends and my community,
of LGBTQ community and of the theater.
And it's just, like, it feels like none of this has been work
because we're talking about something that is so dear to us.
And it's just like I feel like I get to be a soldier of love
every day that I show up talking about this movie.
-Yeah, honestly, when people see it --
[ Light clapping ] Please sure.
I mean, it's amazing. [ Cheers and applause ]
-It's so good. -I think people will get that.
-Yeah. -Because, you know, I think
you started maybe coming on our show back --
It was "High School Musical," I want to say.
-Yeah. [ Cheers and applause ]
-And then "Princess Switch" was on Netflix.
That became the biggest thing in the world.
-Yeah, I have a new one coming out this Thursday.
-You do? -Yes, number three.
[ Cheers and applause ] There's still three of me.
-I mean, come on. -I know, it's crazy.
-But I mean, I don't know, I just love that you go like --
Usually, if you get one thing that's a pop culture moment,
it's like, "That's great." -I know.
-You got two massive ones, and now, this thing I think is
a whole new career, and just waking up and going,
"Oh, yeah, she knows how to do this."
You know how to act, and you know how to sing,
and when you see it, it's moving.
The story is amazing.
If you love, just, I think, like,
the American dream and the struggle.
-Yeah. And also, like, it focuses on a group of artists,
but the question that it asks is universal, which is, "Am I
doing what I should be doing with the time that I have?"
Because our time really is so limited and, like,
it makes you be mindful and really look at yourself
and be like, "Okay, what are my priorities?"
And that's beautiful. That's a gift.
-That's exactly right. [ Cheers and applause ]
I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Vanessa Hudgens in "Tick, Tick... Boom!"
Take a look.
♪ -If I thought that what you thought ♪
♪ Was that I hadn't thought about sharing my thoughts ♪
♪ Then my reaction to your reaction to my reaction ♪
♪ Would have been more revealing ♪
-I have been rehearsing all day.
I have been up since 4:00 this morning.
I've been trying to write a song for a week and I am nowhere!
♪ I was afraid that you would be afraid if I told you ♪
♪ That I was afraid of intimacy ♪
-I've been telling you how unhappy I am for months!
♪ -If you don't have a problem with my problem ♪
♪ Maybe the problem's simply co-dependency ♪
Everyone's unhappy in New York!
That's what New York is!
-Yeah! [ Cheers and applause ]
Vanessa Hudgens, everybody!
"Tick, Tick... Boom!"
is in theaters now and on Netflix this Friday.