Jonathan Groff
In the first year in New York, I went to this amazing teacher named Jen Waldman. She does lots of different classes, but one of her classes was where you went and worked on a song. And suddenly I felt like an artist again, and because I had worked the whole song, when I went into the audition room, I could connect to something in the 16 bars.Collection: Amazing
I think the first Broadway show that I saw was 'Beauty and the Beast,' and that was in 5th or 6th grade. Our school would take bus trips up to see shows, and so it was on one of their bus trips that I got to see 'Beauty and the Beast.'Collection: Beauty
I smile a lot in my real life.Collection: Smile
I don't hate dating people, but I'm not on social media or anything.Collection: Dating
Dating can be painful, can be great, can be confusing, can be weird, but I don't do it online because I'm not really an online person.Collection: Dating
Even the first suitcase-off-the-train moment, it's easy to be discouraged, frustrated, annoyed, angry. Because you're waiting in freezing weather outside of an open call, and you're like, 'This moment of me right now is not the joy I felt when I was doing J. Pierrepont Finch in 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying' in high school.'Collection: Business
People create from different places. Some love to create from a tortured place, some from a joyful place. And when I feel like I'm a 5-year-old kid in my backyard playing pretend, that's when I'm happiest.
I believe in 'Backstage.' It changed my life.
Make sure that you always follow your heart and your gut, and let yourself be who you want to be, and who you know you are. And don't let anyone steal your joy.
I was obsessed with Nintendo.
I haven't had anyone say, 'No, we can't because he's gay.' In fact, it's been quite the opposite.
I was journaling in Florence, and I was like, 'Oh, I have to come out of the closet. I have to break up with this guy' - he was my 'roommate.' So that was my awakening moment, when I stepped into my own skin while in a foreign country by myself and had a very stereotypical moment of revelation.
When I was a senior in high school, I worked at a theater where they hired New York actors. And they told me about 'Backstage,' and so I got my school in Pennsylvania to subscribe. And there was an audition for a tour of 'The Sound of Music,' and I got the job. Deferred my admission to college just to go on tour.
Don't let the world define you. In the world of acting, and I think in any profession, really, people are really eager to put you in a box and categorize you as one particular thing.
Just follow your joy. Always. I think that if you do that, life will take you on the course that it's meant to take you.
I'm not on Twitter. I'm not on Facebook. I'm not on Instagram.
Obviously, gay projects play a special role for me because I am gay, so I'm doubly proud of them.
'Looking' is more than just a television show. It's contributing to the cultural conversation, and for me, those are the most exciting projects to be a part of.
Playing King George, for me, was a lesson in stillness and timing.
Alfred Molina is one of the nicest people on the planet and a complete master.
I guess I think of myself as an actor before I think of myself as a gay actor.
I can't think of a better bonding experience than to be able to sit on stage and to watch your fellow performers perform on stage every night.
There's not a lot of gay programming on TV.
It's daunting, taking on the task of representing the gay community, because there are so many different facets and different schools of thought and behavior.
Once I came out of the closet, it was sort of that thing of 'The truth will set you free.'
I wanted to work with Michael Mayer because I'd seen 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' six times.
I'm a singer who moves well.
I loved 'Weekend,' and it meant a lot to me when I saw it in the movie theater. I think 'Looking' feels more like that movie than any of those other shows, with a little more comedy thrown in than 'Weekend.' But it's certainly got the vibe and look and feeling of that movie.
I just don't know artistically - because I don't write my own music - I don't know artistically what an album would mean for me. I don't know what I would want to say with an album that would be unique to me - something that hasn't been done before. I'm just not sure what that is. But I'm absolutely open to it.
I love interacting with an audience. I love just being myself in front of a crowd.
I love the you-never-know-what's-going-to-happen aspect of doing concerts.
I can say that I've become a David Fincher disciple. I have been completely turned.
Personally, for me in my life, I think every journey should be an ongoing journey, for anyone.
When a piece of art gets really specific is usually when anybody can relate to it.
A 'Looking' musical would completely bring me back to Broadway. I would come back in a second.
For me, there's nothing more valuable as an actor, or better way to learn, than getting to perform in front of a live audience, no matter where you are. Whether it's on Broadway, in Florida, or doing a tour.
I did 'How to Succeed in Business... ,' 'Kiss Me Kate,' 'Godspell,' and 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown' in high school, all of which were fun.
There's kind of a gift in being gay because, if you come out, you're forced to express yourself.
I think about 'Will & Grace,' and I think about 'Modern Family,' and the way that being gay has become sort of middle America... in the way that they show gay people in their specific way.
There is really nothing like doing a play in New York.
I was definitely planning to go to college, but I deferred my admission to Carnegie Mellon to be in a non-equity tour of 'The Sound of Music.' But I made very little money in the tour, and college is really expensive, and I thought I'd never be able to pay off those loans.
I never look at myself online, and I don't read gossip Web sites.
When you're always onstage, you really have to focus on listening and reacting.
I've been fortunate that my career has developed through on-the-job training.
I'm very selective about television because you sign away so much of your life to it.
With every character, the first thing I want to feel is empathy.
Musical auditions are always the worst because you have to sing and act, and that's so stressful.
We didn't have a glee club at my school. It depends on what area of the States you're from. It's more in the Midwest.
I was born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania - in Amish Country!
I went to a local high school in Lancaster. Not much I can say about it; it was pretty much your typical public high school back in Pennsylvania.