-Jesse Williams, welcome.
Welcome to the show.
-Thank you.
Um, wow.
-Yeah. I took it off.
-You're a brave man.
I would feel like a naked mole rat if I did that.
[ Laughter ] -Would you really?
-It does not suit me. No.
But you're wearing it well.
-Well, I think you are a very sexy man.
[ Laughter ] You can do any--
-That escalated quickly, yeah. -You can do any --
[ Cheers and applause ]
You can do anything with that. I have -- yeah.
-I need something. -Yeah. No, I don't.
I tried that full thing and now I don't know.
I just go to extremes. But, yeah, I'm happy.
I'm happy to be sitting
next to such a handsome man after such a change.
-Wow. Nice little live change.
It's kind of like Broadway.
You're just out here, just risking it all.
-Yeah, exactly, just risking it all.
Yeah, just do it. Hey, by the way, I just heard
that you got cast in
"Only Murders in the Building" season three.
-Yeah, yeah. [ Cheers and applause ]
Yeah, I'm excited.
-What do you know about that?
-I don't -- I don't know a lot.
We actually have a table read next week.
I'm -- I'm over the moon.
I mean, Martin Short, Steve Martin.
It's... -Come on.
-I grew up, like, sneaking down the stairs
to watch them on "Saturday Night Live"
over my mom's shoulder. Like, that was their --
-Really? -Absolutely.
-Was TV a big thing for you growing up?
-We were not really allowed to watch TV.
Well, we had a system. It's actually quite admirable.
I think about it now, as a parent.
My mom would cut like four cardboard squares
that represented a half hour of television,
and you get four half hour blocks of television a week.
And you put them in a jar, and when you use them --
You can use them whenever you want.
I used them for Saturday morning cartoons, pretty much.
And like, then when "The Simpsons" came out,
like, "The Simpsons."
But I was not allowed to watch "SNL,"
but I would, like, sneak down the stairs
and my mom always watched -- my parents always watched "SNL."
And I would get the bonus, and I would watch, you know,
Ed Grimley and the synchronized swimming
and Wild and Crazy Guys, and now I get to work with them.
So, I'm excited. -That's what it's all about.
-I'm pretty excited. -That's great. I love that.
-Yeah. [ Cheers and applause ]
-A lot of people know you from "Grey's Anatomy."
-Sure.
-And do people, when you're doing Broadway, do they --
do they say hi to you after the show and like,
"Hey, we just came because we're 'Grey's Anatomy' fans"?
-There's a lot of "Grey's" fans at the stage door.
It's kind of a...
One cool thing, I think, is that it's bringing a lot of folks
from all over the world, surprisingly,
that have never seen a Broadway play,
coming to see it because they're big fans of "Grey's."
And, you know, we have fans that are 12 and 72.
I mean, we have the whole -- we have four generations of folks,
primarily women, who come and see the --
[ Laughter ] ...come and see the show.
And they come, "Yeah, I'm from Chile, and we love the show,
and we just wanted to come." Because they know there,
they're going to see you in real life.
-They know that they can stand there...
I don't want to solicit this, because it's a lot of people.
But, like, they can stand in one spot
and I'm going to be there every night.
And so, it's a pretty cool experience for them.
And it's a hell of a show, honestly.
So, I'm excited about it. -And you're back doing it.
I mean, this is -- -Yeah, that was not expected.
-It takes so much work, by the way, to do a Broadway play.
I mean, it's just -- any Broadway play,
but especially what you're doing in this role.
It's unbelievable.
Did you have a second thought where you're like,
"I don't know if I -- if I can physically can come back
and do this"? -Well, I mean,
when we were almost done the first run earlier this year,
they came to my dressing room.
I remember, our director, Scott Ellis --
incredible director -- came to our dressing room and asked,
you know, do we -- It was probably May.
"Do you want to" -- I mean, they're talking about
extending it, because it was a big success.
It went really well. -Yeah.
-And I -- It's such an emotionally exhausting role.
It's just so -- It just beat the hell out of me.
I was just like, "No, get out of my dressing room."
-Yeah, you're like, "I cannot do this."
-Like, "No, I'm tired. I'm tired."
I want-- I could not wait to --
I loved it, but I need a -- -Exactly.
-It was beating the hell out of me.
I got a summer with my kids.
I got to kind of decompress, get some perspective.
And it was just still in me. I was running the lines.
I was still -- It was just -- You carry it with you.
-In the summer? -Yeah, throughout.
I was still running the lines, working around the house,
messing around, and I just --
We left on such a high, I knew we had more in the tank.
And we just -- Well, how rare --
Like you just said, it's such a rare opportunity.
-Yeah. -Once in a lifetime
to be a lead in a Broadway play with incredible actors.
This company is so fantastic.
When do you get a chance to do that again?
That's not promised. -But also, here's...
Here's your Little League team.
I just want to take a look with you.
-[ Laughs ] -Yeah, there you are there.
[ Audience awws ] -Ahh.
-And now, here you are wearing a uniform.
-I was tan, man. I had a little color back then.
-But here you are wearing a uniform on Broadway.
-Yeah. Yeah. -And did you ever think
this kid -- Were you ever like,
"Oh, my gosh, I'm gonna be playing" --
-I think at that point I thought
I could play in the major leagues.
-Yeah, real big. I'm gonna be a real --
Not an actor baseball player. -I was deluded, yeah.
And then second to that, I'll be a fake player
or a real player, was the hope. -[ Laughs ]
-Well, can we talk just about -- What is "Take Me Out"?
Can you tell everyone what it's about?
-Yeah, "Take Me Out," it follows essentially,
kind of like the New York Yankees.
It is the best player on the best team,
championship-winning team, at the height of his career,
with everything ahead of him.
He's on top of the world.
And as a surprise to everyone, he comes out as gay.
Doesn't warn anybody.
And the play begins just in the immediate aftermath of that.
And it's just an examination of male relationships
after a word is said.
Because nothing behaviorally changes about this player.
He's the alpha on the team, the alpha in the league.
He doesn't -- there's no -- there's no kind of affectation
or gimmick for men to hide behind
with their, like, homophobia and the disorientation around.
It's not like, "Well, it's cool, but I wish he didn't do this"
or "I wish he didn't talk like that," or "I wish" --
I'm not doing anything.
It's just how men struggle to handle a relationship,
and what is a relationship if you can't be your true self
in front of each other? And it's...
And there's a lot of growth,
and it's very much an homage to baseball.
And I grew up playing baseball, you know, year-round.
It was very, very sacred in our household
and a huge bonding experience for me and my father.
-Me too. -I definitely --
I definitely was conscious of doing -- choosing to do the role
as part of an homage to my dad and, like, our relationship.
-Did he get to see you in the role?
-He's been to two -- twice already.
And he's coming -- -Really?
-Yeah, he's coming again. -What does he think?
-Yeah. He loved it. He loved it.
And, you know, he complimented the swing.
You know, he approved. [ Laughter ]
He approved of the mechanics. -He liked your stance?
He's like, "Yeah, I taught you well."
-He's a mechanics guy.
And, but no, he loved it.
And it's -- it's a hell of a play.
It's really, really compelling. So, I'm proud of it.
-You're fantastic in it, and I'm happy that you're here.
Good luck in season three. -Thank you so much.
-...of "Only Murders in the Building."
-Thank you. I appreciate it.
-Come back, please. -Thank you, man.
-Jesse Williams! "Take Me Out" is playing
at the Schoenfeld Theatre through February 5th.
We'll be right back with stand-up from Mary Mack.
Stick around, everybody.