Andrew Rannells

Andrew Scott Rannells (born August 23, 1978) is an American actor, voice actor, and singer.

Andrew Rannells
Rannells at the PaleyFest 2015
Born	(1978-08-23) August 23, 1978 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Education	Creighton Preparatory School
Alma mater	Marymount Manhattan College
Occupation	Actor, voice actor, singer
Years active	1995–present
Known for	The Book of Mormon Falsettos Pokémon Live!
Television	The New Normal Girls Black Monday
Awards	Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album The Book of Mormon

Rannells was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance as Elder Price in the 2011 Broadway musical The Book of Mormon. He won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album as a featured soloist on the musical's original Broadway cast recording. He received his second Tony nomination in 2017 for his performance as Whizzer in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. Other Broadway credits include Hairspray, Hamilton, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jersey Boys, and The Boys in the Band.

Early life

Rannells was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Charlotte and Ronald Rannells.[1] He is the fourth of five siblings, with three sisters and an older brother.[1][2] His ancestry is Polish and Irish.[3]

Rannells attended Our Lady of Lourdes grade school in Omaha, and then Creighton Preparatory School,[1] an all-boys Roman Catholic school in Omaha.[2][4] His family lived in the Hanscom Park neighborhood in Omaha.[1]

As a child, he took classes at the Emmy Gifford Children's Theater and performed at the Omaha Community Playhouse and the Firehouse Dinner Theatre and the Dundee Dinner Theatre.[1][5]

Rannells was 11 when he acted in his first play. He did community theater with fellow Omahan and Creighton Prep alumnus Conor Oberst.[6] He did voice-over work and commercials, including a 1996 Grease spoof with Amy Adams.[2]

Rannells moved to New York City in 1997 after high school, studying theater at Marymount Manhattan College for two years before he started auditioning full-time and began landing roles.[7]

Career

Rannells played the character James in Pokémon Live! from September 2000 to August 2001, which he is embarrassed about, joking in 2019 that he would have rather starred in a porn film or snuff film instead and that he only took the job for the pay.[8][9]

For about three years, from 2001–04, he worked with 4Kids Entertainment, a New York City animation production company, where his Omaha voice-over work served him well. He also directed a small number of video games, "Kirby" and "Sonic the Hedgehog."[1]

As a voice actor, Rannells appeared in several 4Kids and DiC television programs and video games, such as Yu-Gi-Oh!.[6]

Before winning his first Broadway role, Rannells had parts in a number of regional theater productions, including Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Miss Saigon, and Thoroughly Modern Millie.[10]

For his turn as Hedwig at the Zachary Scott Theater Center in Austin, Texas, in 2002,[11] he won best actor in a musical at the B. Iden Payne Awards in September 2002, which honor outstanding achievements in Austin theater.[12]

In 2006, he won the role of Link Larkin in the Broadway production of Hairspray.[13] This was his first Broadway show, what he considers his big break. Rannells followed this with some regional performances.[2]

Rannells in 2009

Rannells played Bob Gaudio in the First National Tour of Jersey Boys. His last performance with the tour was on December 6, 2008, in Toronto. In January 2009, he reprised the role of Gaudio in the musical's Broadway production.

Rannells originated the role of Elder Price in The Book of Mormon, a musical written by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez. For his performance, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for his performance in the musical's Original Broadway Cast Recording. His last performance was June 10, 2012.[14]

Rannells played a stripper in the 2012 film Bachelorette[15] and played a lead character, Bryan Collins, in the 2012-13 television series The New Normal.[16][17]

Rannells played the recurring role of Elijah on the HBO television series Girls.[18]

Rannells temporarily replaced Jonathan Groff in the role of King George III in Hamilton on Broadway from October 27 to November 29, 2015, while Groff fulfilled pre-arranged filming commitments.[19]

Rannells played the role of "Whizzer Brown" in the Broadway revival of Falsettos directed by James Lapine. He was joined by Christian Borle and Stephanie J. Block who played Marvin and Trina, respectively.[20] The musical ran from October 27, 2016 (with previews beginning September 29), to January 8, 2017.[21][22]

Personal life

Rannells is openly gay.[23] Rannells has said he has known he is gay since high school.[2] He came out to his family when he was eighteen, and by then they had already figured it out.[24] He also came out to his theater friends, but not at the all-boys Catholic school.[2] As of 2014, he lives in New York City after temporarily residing in Los Angeles to film The New Normal.[2] Since 2019, he has been in a relationship with actor Tuc Watkins.[25]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Sex and the City 2	Wedding Chorus
2012	Bachelorette	Manny
2015	The Intern	Cameron
2016	Why Him?	Blaine Pederman
2018	A Simple Favor	Darren
2020	The Stand-In		Completed
2020	The Boys in the Band	Larry	Post-production
2020	The Prom	Trent Oliver	Post-production

Television (live-action)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012–17	Girls	Elijah Krantz	35 episodes
2012–13	The New Normal	Bryan Collins	22 episodes
2013	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Quinn Abernathy	Episode: "Clark Gregg Wears a Navy Blazer & White Collared Shirt"
2013–14	How I Met Your Mother	Darren	2 episodes
2015	Glee	Himself	Episode: "Dreams Come True"
2015	The Knick	Frazier H. Wingo	4 episodes
2016	Another Period	Bertram Harrison Fusselforth VII	3 episodes
2016	Drunk History	John A. Roebling	Episode: "Landmarks"
2017	Will & Grace	Reggie	Episode: "Grandpa Jack"
2018	RuPaul's Drag Race	Himself / Guest Judge	Episode 8 (season 10)[26]
2018	The Romanoffs	David Patton	Episode: "Bright and High Circle"
2018	Live from Lincoln Center: Stars in Concert	Himself	Episode "Andrew Rannells in Concert" (Season 1)[27]
2019–present	Black Monday	Blair Pfaff

Anime

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000–2006	Pokémon	Morty, Harley, Additional characters	English dub
2001–2005	Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters	Mako Tsunami, Noah Kaiba, Leon von Schroeder / Leon Wilson	English dub
2005	Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys	Gurū	English dub
2001	Shaman King	Len Tao	English dub
2002	Kinnikuman	Additional characters	English dub
2002	Knight Hunters Eternity	Toudou Hijiri
2002	Tokyo Mew Mew	Dren, Wesley J. Coolridge III	English dub
2002	Liberty's Kids	Alexander Hamilton
2003–06	Sonic X	Narrator, Decoe, Bokkun, Additional characters
2005	Yu-Gi-Oh! GX	Wheeler the Chimpanzee, Belowski, Additional characters	English dub

Animation

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995–97	Street Sharks	Streex, Shrimp Louie
1999	Archie's Weird Mysteries	Archie Andrews
2001	Cubix	Connor
2003–09	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Additional characters
2016	The Simpsons	Himself	Episode: "How Lisa Got Her Marge Back"
2016–18	Sofia the First	Morris / Skye	5 episodes
2017–18	Welcome to the Wayne	Andrei	4 episodes
2017	Vampirina	King Peppy	Episode: "The Plant Predicament/Mummy Mayhem"
2017–present	Big Mouth	Matthew	24 episodes
2018	Bob's Burgers	Hayden	Episode: "Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now"
2020	Central Park	Griffin	2 episodes
2020	Invincible	William Cockwell	Upcoming

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
2004	Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Coliseum	Mako Tsunami	English dub
2005	Shadow the Hedgehog[28]	Additional characters	English dub
2006	Bully	Bif Taylor

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000–01	Pokémon Live!	James	Baritone/Tenor
2005	Hairspray	Fender, Link Larkin	Replacement roles[29]
2006	The 60's Project	Performer	Chester, CT (Regional): World Premiere
2007	Jersey Boys	Bob Gaudio	US Tour: 1st National Tour, replacement role[30]
2010	Lysistrata Jones	Michelangelo "Mick" Jackson	Originated role[31]
2011	The Book of Mormon	Elder Kevin Price	Originated role
2014	Hedwig and the Angry Inch	Hedwig	Replacement
2015	Hamilton	King George III	Temporary five-week replacement for Jonathan Groff (Oct 27, 2015 - Nov 29, 2015)
2016	Falsettos	Whizzer Brown	Broadway revival
2018	The Boys in the Band	Larry[32]	Broadway

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2011	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	The Book of Mormon	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical		Nominated
2012	Grammy Award	Best Musical Theater Album		Won
2013	OFTA Award	Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Girls	Nominated
	Gold Derby Awards	Best Comedy Guest Actor		Nominated
	Dorian Awards	Rising Star		Nominated
2014	Gold Derby Award	Best Comedy Guest Actor	Girls	Nominated
	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2015	Broadway.com Audience Awards	Favorite Replacement (Male)	Hedwig and the Angry Inch	Nominated
2016			Hamilton	Nominated	[33]
2017		Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical	Falsettos	Won
	Tony Award	Best Performance by Featured Actor in a Musical		Nominated

See also

• LGBT culture in New York City
• List of self-identified LGBTQ New Yorkers

References

1. Fischbach, Bob (May 1, 2011). "He has drive — and now Broadway". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
2. Taylor, Aisha (February 11, 2014). "girl on guy 126: andrew rannells" (audio podcast). girl on guy. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
3. https://mobile.twitter.com/AndrewRannells/status/81386126954344448
4. Miller, Bruce R. (2011). "'Nebraska native finds stardom in 'Book of Mormon'". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
5. Francke, Warren (September 9, 2012). "Omaha's Andy Now in New Normal: Oompa-Loompa Before Mormon Missionary". The Reader (Omaha). Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
6. Rapkin, Mickey (June 9, 2011). "Q&A: The Book of Mormon's Andrew Rannells". GQ. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
7. Yi, David (June 9, 2011). "'The Book of Mormon' star Andrew Rannells: college dropout turned actor gets suited up for the Tonys". NY Daily News. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
8. Levitt, Hayley (July 15, 2016). "Flashback Friday: When Andrew Rannells Helped Pokémon Meet Broadway". TheaterMania. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
9. Andrew Rannells On Touring With Pokemon | Employee of the Month, retrieved 2019-11-09
10. Broadway.com Staff (December 30, 2008). "Andrew Rannells Tapped to Play Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys". Broadway Buzz. Broadway.com. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
11. "Hedwig and the Angry Inch".
12. Faires, Robert (October 4, 2002). "Articulations". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
13. Truitt, Brian (June 9, 2011). "Rannells relishes first Tony nomination". USA Today. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
14. Hetrick, Adam (June 6, 2012). ""Two By Two": Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells Will Be Succeeded By Jared Gertner and Nic Rouleau in Book of Mormon". Playbill. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
15. Ganz, Andrew (August 10, 2012). "Book of Mormon's Andrew Rannells Takes It Off in "Bachelorette" Film; Comedy Available on VOD Aug. 10". Playbill. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
16. Goldberg, Lesley (February 22, 2012). "'The Hangover Star Joins NBC's Ryan Murphy Comedy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
17. Miller, Bruce (November 24, 2012). "Andrew Rannells sends up boss in 'New Normal'". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
18. Lynch, Matthew (April 28, 2011). "Andrew Rannells: Keeping the Faith". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
19. "Tony Nominee Andrew Rannells Will Step In for Jonathan Groff in Hamilton on Broadway". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
20. Paulson, Michael. "‘Falsettos’ Revival Casts Its Leads: Christian Borle, Andrew Rannells and Stephanie J. Block" The New York Times, March 31, 2016.
21. Gans, Andrew. "Marvin’s Back with Whizzer, as 'Falsettos' Revival Begins" Playbill, September 29, 2016
22. Hetrick, Adam. "13 Shows Close as Broadway Gears Up for a Packed Spring", Playbill.com, December 29, 2016.
23. Siegel, Miranda (May 29, 2012). "Andrew Rannells on His Girls Character, Slapping Marnie, and His New Ryan Murphy Show". Vulture-New York. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
24. Martin, Denise (January 29, 2013). "Andrew Rannells: The Boy Scout With the Dirty Mouth". Vulture-New York. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
25. "Andrew Rannells and Tuc Watkins Make Their Relationship 'Instagram Official'". Towleroad Gay News. 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
26. "Shania Twain, "Broad City" Stars And More Join The Judges' Panel On "Drag Race" Season 10".
27. "Andrew Rannells in Concert". Live from Lincoln Center: Stars in Concert. Season 1. 2018. PBS. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
28. "Andrew Rannells". Behind the Voice Actors. Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
29. Joy, Cara (November 11, 2005). "Andrew Rannells to Star as Hairspray's Next Link Larkin". broadway.com. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
30. Aradi, Cathi (March 3, 2008). "JBB EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Andrew Rannells!". jerseyboysblog.com. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
31. Liner, Elaine (January 28, 2010). "The Dallas Theater Center's World Premiere, Give It Up! Asks The Audience To Give Up More Than Two And A Half Hours To Its Redbull-buzzed Idiocy". Dallas Observer. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
32. Clement, Olivia (December 15, 2017). "The Leftovers' Charlie Carver Joins Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, and More for Broadway's The Boys in the Band". Playbill. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
33. "Vote Now! Hamilton Breaks Record for Most Broadway.com Audience Choice Award Nominations". Broadway.com. April 29, 2016.

External links

• Andrew Rannells on IMDb
• Andrew Rannells at the Internet Broadway Database
• Andrew Rannells at Voice Chasers