I thought I was gonna be the only one in the tshirt today and I was nervous I was
like man they're gonna think I'm a scrub and then Leslie walked in the end of the
green room with the t-shirt on I was like yeah this man has a Tony and a
Grammy and he's still chilling when I say Tony and Grammy winner does that
even like make sense to you given where your life was only a few years ago um it
sort of does it sort of doesn't mean just cuz I get to look at Antoinette
that's her full name Antoinette Tony's full name the Grammy we I still haven't
gotten my Grammy yet what I know I have to get somebody on that suspect I know
everybody else in the cast got theirs I have anybody in this room I know there's
a lot of powerful people in this room you you are in the room where it happens
I know so there's enough power that we can find it for you before you got your
Tony and Grammy and got this hot potato opportunity at Hamilton you were in a
really interesting place that a lot of actors a lot of creatives find
themselves in where you were running up against walls and feeling like maybe I
should walk away and do something else you know talk a little bit about where
you were at and what that decision really took yeah it was that that Saturn
Returns thing if anybody you know knows about that thing right before you turn
30 you know you had that I didn't know that it was the Saturn Returns thing
while I was going through it but I was just tired of the up and down you know
the business is you know the highs are high and the lows are low you know oh
and I just was tired of the you know the roller coaster not I wanted to know that
I was gonna get a check on Thursday I wanted to know what the numbers were
gonna be on the cheque you know I was just looking for something else to do
like I said my mentor is now my father-in-law he said I'd love to see
you try first before you quit and I looked at I'm like it was crazy but what
he meant was that he said I you know I know you pretty well and I think what
you do is you give great meeting and so when your phone is ringing when
somebody calls - with an opportunity you prepare and you show up and you do the
thing but what did you do today the phone didn't ring what did you do today
and I didn't I don't have an answer for him he was absolutely right there was
half of my business you know it's just the the dynamic and you know in this
line of work is very different than the sisters that were up here before you
know their self-starters which I had to learn to be out you know I was in a very
I was in a place of waiting for the agents and the managers to call with the
audition and you know out then I'll show up and do a great job but what are you
mad when they didn't call right when the you know when they didn't call it was
like you know I I didn't know what to do so it was just about getting me off my
couch and so now I'm I'm never ever sitting at home I will never wait for a
phone to ring ever again I think dr. Angela Duckworth is gonna be
calling you for the sequel of grit I mean that's great
literally grit esque hit me up what is it about this play I'll tell you a story
when I first heard about Hamilton I had some friends who were associated with
the production and it was off-broadway innocent you know that we're doing this
this this musical about Hamilton and space in hip-hop you're gonna love it
and my first thing was like ah yeah that sounds like a horrible idea
that could go really really really badly yeah I was scared yeah
so then flew to New York I live in Los Angeles and I got a text message that
said hey be at the theater we got ticket for you I literally went home dropped
off my bags and I went to the theater and I went to support them but my inner
voice was like I don't know bruh when I tell you that by the end of this musical
I was that dude standing weeping like just full tears it was one of the
greatest experiences and your performance what you brought to this
character in Aaron Burr with this oak was was so powerful and moving then it
changed the way I look at even the theater mmm what do you think it is
about this play this ensemble the diversity in casting all these little
things that it took taking the this American classic tradition in
hip-hop and using it to tell a historic story what what about it made these
things come together you think well Hamilton is a miracle Hamilton is a
miracle that show that show is a miracle it you know we had a genius at the helm
in lin-manuel Miranda I'm sure he'll sit in the in this you know seed at some
point when are they watching right now it's true when his schedule clears up
but you know - it would be hubris for me to sit here and say well this is exactly
how we did it you do this and this and that's how you get a hit because if that
was true we'd have won every year and not once in a generation you know
they're there when something comes together when a rent comes together when
a Hamilton comes together you know these fiddler on the roof you know when these
things come they are a miracle because I'll tell you this story
Lynne and Tommy have a list that they call the people who can still fuck it up
list and what that is is you know a list of everybody involved in the production
Lynn's name is at the top his name gets crossed off first because he delivers
the Bible his work is done before anybody else's work and then Tommy's
name is on there and the choreographer and the musical director and the Ranger
and every actor and the costume designer because any one of those things you know
if we've gotten the costume slightly wrong you know if the set if the
calculation of the set was slightly corny or wacky you know any one of those
things could have derailed it and made it something different so it is a
miracle that it happened and and when when a hit like that I you know some get
very lucky now I get to go to colleges and universities and speak and do really
cool things and this brother asked me at one of the at ASU he said you know you
know so how do you stay so humble you know I was like you know I wish I could
be on some trip right now like oh you know we did this thing but I'm just so
acutely aware of the miraculousness of it the fact that you know we all needed
each other so desperately and and how lucky we were that we were
a part of it and that you guys embraced it you know that it that you you took it
into your lives and you came and you gave us a shot even though you even
though a suspect even you gave us a shot and you know people gave us a chance
yeah I bought CDs that night and it's the only thing that's the only compact
disc I own that I've bought in the last five years and it's in my car presently
always rotating thanks man people like why is that dude
I was so happy in his car singing Hamilton with that success that was very
unexpected as a cast you guys were able to come together and do something that
no one's been able to do really and negotiate a back end for this thing that
you were invested in at the front end that does not happen very often in this
business how did that happen well there's some stuff legally that I can't
talk about but I can talk about it in general terms you know I can talk about
being an actor who had done some television and a little bit of film work
before Hamilton I knew you know and and having been on that roller coaster I
recall it mailbox money it you know in my in my line of work I knew how vital
that is for an actor because when when it when the work dries up you know which
you have is your little tiny investment in your Law & Order SVU
or your CSI Miami you know when that you know after you haven't worked for a few
months you know when that $3,000 check shows up it is water in the desert and
we all banded together and made that happen but you know I do think it was in
it was it's important when when the when the leads when when the marquee names as
it were none of us were marquee names but you know when when the people who
are maybe out front you know join in the fight too because there were some that
that may have said that I didn't have to worry because I've been very lucky you
know just being in the show alone I've been able to do other things and stuff
but there were you know people in the back in the dark who may not have had
those same opportunity so it really it's
possible there's a there's a little clause in the Union that that allows for
a 1% you know we're not talking about a whole lot of money we're talking about a
1% stake in something that you helped build you know it's a really
collaborative effort to make the theater or not and I think it's something that
it should be available to to these actors that help make these shows last
thing I'll say is it's you know we we also know that you know producing is a
is a bloodsport and it is really you know difficult and pretty shows rarely
make money so you know in the situations where nothing's making money nobody
makes any money right like who cares we're not talking about those times
right we're talking about the times when you are lucky enough to help make star
wars like you should get a tiny little piece of Star Wars just a little
something in my opinion pull some on it Congrats Thanks do you think that the
success of this meet of this this play this musical will affect the way these
shows are cast and written and get a chance to be on Broadway in the future
and when I say that I mean for people who don't normally look like us prior to
this there were not a lot of brown folks on Broadway yeah I hope so
theater is theater is slow just the nature of the way theaters developed it
makes it a really slow you know took Lynn six years to write Hamilton q-tip
came backstage after a show at the public and I was you know I was there I
saw the whole thing he's like in a daze shoot it and he says to Lynn you did it
man and Lynn like yeah he was like how'd you do it man like and Lynn was like six
years six years yeah you have to walk it down and so when a show when it when a
project takes you six years to make you know you you're not gonna necessarily
see a bunch of hamilton's right away but I'll be looking six years from now I'll
be looking in ten years I'll be looking you know rent was the show
that inspired Lin and I don't know 15 years later or so we had in the heights
we got to see what that show that show inspired this young rider and here was
the result so we'll see you know years from now the show that some kid right
now is you know putting in work he's putting in his say she's putting in her
six years to you know deliver Hamilton 2.0 or something we all it's coming yeah
it's coming rent which by the way you were also in at 16 years old
time comes where this great thing comes to an end this part of the story I
couldn't imagine what that is like to let go and then look look forward how
did you deal with that and where do you go now it took a second to I mean that
was a trip man you know that was it so it I I needed a
breath you know I needed to get off the ride for a second and take a breath none
of us you know nobody signs up for an off-broadway show thinking like is gonna
do this you know it so you know I Devi famously said towards the end when you'd
come out of the stage door you were beetle for a block you know I
mean like you come out of that stage door and it was in same the energy
coming towards you man like you know if you're not sort of you know if you don't
know who you are I had a newfound respect for that you
know I'd never experienced any kind of fame or anything like that that's not
why I got into this but that thing will rip you apart
that's a whole lot of people projecting something at you that really doesn't
have much to do with you I tell you this story this what I mean
towards the end especially you know there would be people that would like
you know elbow someone to knock someone over to get a picture with you for like
their snapchat or whatever and like as soon as they're done with the picture
they're done with you like it wasn't it wasn't about meeting me or an experience
with me at all it was about the picture for the staff
check and so like I had to stop doing the stage-door at a certain point cuz it
was just like you know didn't serve me but yeah III had to get off and it took
like it took a while to process what that whole thing was and for me now it's
about you know it took its take it took me 15 years or so to sort of you know
find my you know find this thing that I've been dreaming about for a long time
and so I'm gonna give myself at least 15 years to find the next one
mm-hmm you know we'll see we'll see what happens but I'm in you know I'm loving
the ride and it's opened doors that were never open before making solo albums
it's on tour around the country right now do people ever like just walk up to
you randomly and just start singing at you all of the show all the time a
couple a few times a week for sure but what is the what like what song is
usually at the top I pardon me are you amber sir you know and everybody thinks
they're the first and they think it's very clever
and you just you have to hold space for them and yeah clever it's so good yeah
but you know here's the I have friends in LA who you know at when you're
rolling the dice in this thing when you're just auditioning and trying to
get something you know you probably know some these people too you don't really
have control over the thing that's gonna make you famous I have plenty of friends
you know people that are famous from some sitcom that they like wish they
weren't damn that was the thing like I didn't know if I would have known that
that was gonna be the thing I might have made a different choice I'm so lucky and
grateful that it's I'll take part of me are you amber so for the rest of my life
yes if it's if it because this thing is meant so much to people I'm very
grateful that's amazing
are you busy tonight you want to stay for dinner I would love
to stay for dinner I I would love to yeah how about if you
stayed for dinner and maybe like performed for us as long as I don't have
to sing pardon me are you amber sir not in so you do it yeah yeah I'm all right
done deal we will see you Leslie Odom at dinner thank you for sharing univariate
ledger thank you