Leslie Odom Jr.

“An artist spends their whole life trying to get back to the place where their heart was first opened up,” says Leslie Odom, Jr. of one of his all-time favorite quotes. “Rent opened my heart up and Hamilton put me right back in that place.” The actor, who has been nominated for a Tony for his role in the smash hip-hop musical hit, talks to André Leon Talley about making his big Broadway debut in Rent at the ripe young age of 17 and the similarities between the two shows, specifically, the rebellious nature. “I think there was something about it that must have seemed to me like something that my parents wouldn’t have liked,” reveals Odom, Jr. “I didn’t want to pay rent either when I turned 21.”

While Odom, Jr., admits to having a few hangups with authority as an adolescent, he also talks about how his mother influenced his decision to take a beat from the stage in order to go to college, plus the wise words of advice he received from his now-father-in-law that kept him from quitting the business....

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