OUR NEXT GUEST IS A GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING PERFORMER
WHOSE NEW MOVIE "HONEST THIEF" WILL BE OUT OCTOBER 9.
WE LOVE HIM HERE ON THIS SHOW SO MUCH.
PLEASE WELCOME THE REMARKABLE, ANTHONY RAMOS!
HE'S HERE!
HOW ARE YOU, YOU GOOD?
>> SO GOOD TO SEE YOU, MAN.
>> James: WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE YOU RIGHT NOW?
>> BUDAPEST RIGHT NOW SHOOTING, FILMING, WORKING.
>> James: WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING?
>> A SPACE MOVIE CALLED "DISTANCE."
>> James: ANY MOVIE ABOUT DISTANCE IS PERFECT FOR THE
CORONAVIRUS.
>> COULD NOT BE MORE RELEVANT SO I HOPE EVERYONE LIKES IT WHEN IT
COMES OUT IN 2086.
>> James: 2020 HAS BEEN TERRIBLE FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE BUT
YOU HAVE HAD A QUITE INCREDIBLE SUMMER.
OBVIOUSLY, "HAMILTON" WAS RELEASED ON DISNEY +.
IT'S BEEN A STAPLE IN MY HOUSE WITH THE KIDS THE WHOLE SUMMER.
I'M INTERESTED TO KNOW, WHEN YOU WATCHED IT BACK, HOW DID IT FEEL
FOR YOU WATCHING IT, HAVING DISTANCE BETWEEN WHEN YOU WERE
LAST PERFORMING ON STAGE?
>> I MEAN, IT WAS WILD, MAN.
IT WAS A BLAST FROM THE PAST.
JASMINE AND I WATCHED IT AT OUR APARTMENT, AND WE INVITED
HURRICANE LEASE MULLIGAN OVER.
WE SAT THERE AND THE MOVIE ENDED AND WE GOT EMOTIONAL.
WE HELD EACH OTHER.
WE CIRCLED UP AND HELD EACH OTHER FOR AT LEAST, LIKE, THREE
TO FIVE MINUTES, MAN.
JUST REALLY, LIKE, WE COULDN'T BELIEVE WE MADE THAT, MAN.
IT'S CRAZY.
JUST FIVE YEARS LATER, WATCHING ON THE SCREEN.
AND BASICALLY, LIKE, YO, THIS IS IMMORTALIZED.
>> James: BUT WHEN YOU AUDITIONED FOR THE SHOW, YOU
DIDN'T EVEN HAVE AN AGENT WHEN YOU MET MANUEL MIRANDA.
THAT'S GOING TO ANNOY LOTS OF YOUNG ASPIRING ACTORS OUT THERE.
HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN?
HOW DID YOU COME TO BE IN "HAMILTON"?
>> I WAS DOING A CRUISE SHIP, A ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISELINE,
LIBERTY OF THE SEAS, I WAS DOING SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, THE
MUSICAL.
I WAS ON THERE NINE AND A HALF MONTHS.
I COME OFF THIS SHIP AND THEN I HAD GOTTEN A JOB DOING A SHOW AT
RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, THEY EQUIVALENT TO THE CHRISTMAS
SPECTACULAR, BUT IT WAS FOR SPRING.
SO WE'RE IN REHEARSALS.
THESE ARE ON OPEN AUDITIONS.
I'M CASTINGS, BACKSTAGE, WHENEVER YOU COULD FIND THE
AUDITIONS IN NEW YORK.
I AUDITION AND GET THE JOB, EVEN BEFORE I LEFT THE SHIP, I GOT AN
EMAIL WHILE I WAS IN ITALY.
OH, WE WANT YOU.
THANK GOD BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO AFTER THE
SHIP.
BUT BASICALLY THE SHOW GETS CANCELED A WEEK BEFORE PREVIEWS.
BUT WHILE WE WERE REHEARSING FOR THE SHOW I WENT TO ANOTHER OPEN
AUDITION AT ANOTHER CAST COMPANY IN NEW YORK, AND I SANG AIN'T
TOO PROUD TO BEG FROM THE TEMPTATIONS.
CAST DIRECTOR SAID GREAT JOB.
HE HAD RED GLASSES AND SAT SO FAR AWAY.
I SAID, COOL.
GOT AN EMAIL FOR "HAMILTON."
I SAID YOABTS WHAT THIS IS.
LOOKED AT IT, LIN-MANUEL, ALL THE SAME GUYS IN THE HEIGHTS.
NEXT THING YOU KNOW, FAST FORWARD, I DID FOUR AUDITIONS,
THEY CALLED ME BACK, THEY DIDN'T KNOW HOW IT WOULD WORK OUT WITH
THE OTHER SCHEDULE.
BUT I GOT FIRED FRIDAY AT 1:00, THEN AT 4:00, THEY'RE, LIKE, YO,
WE HEARD YOUR JOB CANCELED, WE WANT YOU FOR "HAMILTON"'S MIXED
TAPE.
>> James: OH, MY GOD.
THE WHOLE CAST, WE EMPTIED OUT ALL THE FRIDGES OF ALCOHOL,
ALL PARTYING, THE LAST HOORAH.
I GET THE CALL, MAN, AND I WAS, LIKE, MAN, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS,
YOU KNOW, SO THAT'S HOW IT HAPPENED.
>> James: ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE.
NOW YOU'RE IN THE HEIGHTS MOVIE WHICH WE HOPE SO MUCH IS GOING
TO COME OUT NEXT YEAR AND I FOR ONE AM GOING TO BE FIRST IN LINE
TO SEE IT.
THE TRAILER ALONE GOT ME HUGELY EXCITED.
BUT YOU'VE ALSO GOT THIS INCREDIBLE MUSIC CAREER AND
AFTER THE BREAK YOU WILL PERFORM YOUR NEW SINGLE "STOP."
TELL US ABOUT THE SONG.
WHAT'S THE MESSAGE BEHIND IT?
>> "STOP," YOU KNOW, "STOP" WAS WRITTEN FOR -- YOU KNOW, I JUST
DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT.
MY LIFE.
SOMETHING THAT I STILL AM WORKING ON.
THE SONG I WROTE BEFORE THIS PANDEMIC, LIKE, IT WAS -- I
WROTE THIS SONG ON MARCH 3.
I GUESS THE PANDEMIC WAS BEGINNING OR BEING PUBLICIZED AT
THAT POINT.
BUT MARCH 3, I WAS ON A TWO-MONTH TRIP FOR WRITING.
I WROTE THE SONG.
IT WAS ABOUT MY LIFE.
I WANTED TO LEARN HOW TO BE PRESENT IN THE MOMENT AND TAKE
IN EVERY MOMENT IN MY LIFE AND ENJOY IT.
IF I'M JUST SITTING WITH YOU AND TALKING WITH YOU, JAMES, I'M
WITH YOU AND NOT THINKING ABOUT NOTHING ELSE.
IF I'M ON A HIKE, THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING.
IF I'M BY MYSELF IN A ROOM, THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING, AND
REALLY TRYING TO CONTINUE TO DO THAT.
MARCH 4, I FRY BACK HOME, AND A WEEK OR TWO LATER, THE WORLD
STOPPED.
THE COUNTRY STOPPED.
THE COUNTRY SHUT DOWN, AND I WAS REALLY FORCED TO STOP.
AND THE SONG WAS JUST, LIKE, DANG, THIS FEELS LIKE THE
CRAZIEST FORESHADOWING.
THIS TOTALLY WAS NOT MEANT -- THIS WASN'T ABOUT THIS MOMENT IN
THE WORLD'S TIME, IT WAS ABOUT A MOMENT IN MY LIFE THAT HAS NOW
BECOME -- THIS SONG FEELS LIKE IT'S BECOME ABOUT THIS MOMENT IN
THE WORLD, YOU KNOW, AND NOT EVEN JUST IN AMERICA BUT AROUND
THE WORLD, WE ALL STOPPED TOGETHER.
AND FINDING THE DISWROIS AND THE LOVE AND THE BEAUTY IN THE
MOMENTS WHERE WE GET TO BE STILL.
>> James: WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH.
I'M SO HAPPY EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN YOUR LIFE AND
CAREER AND I'M SO HAPPY YOU WILL BE PERFORMING AFTER THE BREAK.
STICK AROUND, ANTHONY RAMOS WILL BE HERE PERFORMING RIGHT AFTER
THIS.
COME ON BACK, EVERYBODY.