# Phillipa Soo

Phillipa Anne Soo (/ˈfɪlɪpə ˈsuː/ FIL-ip-ə SOO; born May 31, 1990) is an American actress and singer. Known for her leading roles on Broadway primarily in musicals, she has received two Grammy Awards along with nominations for a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Soo gained prominence for originating the role of Eliza Hamilton in the musical Hamilton on Broadway. She earned a nomination for the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and received a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album that same year. Her performance was captured in the Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton which was released in 2020 for which she earned a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.
Soo's other Broadway credits include the title role of Amélie Poulain in Amélie (2017), Rebecca in The Parisian Woman (2017–18), Cinderella in Into the Woods (2022), and Guenevere in Camelot (2023). She also originated the role of Natasha Rostova in the Off-Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (2012) as well as the role of suffragist Inez Milholland in Suffs (2022).
Soo has appeared in the films Over the Moon, The Broken Hearts Gallery (both 2020), and Tick, Tick...Boom! (2021). She made her television debut in the NBC series Smash in 2013 and currently has a main role starring as nurse Avery Morgan in the ABC/Hulu medical drama series Doctor Odyssey (2024). She has also taken supporting roles in the Hulu miniseries Dopesick (2021) and the Apple TV+ series Shining Girls (2022).

## Early life and education

Phillipa Soo was born in Libertyville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Her father is Asian American (her paternal grandparents emigrated from China to the United States) and her mother is European. Her father is a doctor and her mother, who is from Southern Illinois, is involved in the arts.
Soo attended Libertyville High School from 2004 to 2008. She graduated from The Juilliard School's acting program in 2012.

## Career
### Theater

After graduating from Juilliard in 2012, Soo was cast as Natasha Rostova in the Ars Nova production of Dave Malloy's Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, based on Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. The show went on to transfer from Ars Nova to another Off-Broadway space, Kazino, a tent custom-built for the show.
After seeing Soo's performance in Great Comet, director Thomas Kail and composer and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda asked her to take part in an early 2014 reading of the musical Hamilton, where she read the part of "Eliza" (Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton). Soo played Eliza when the show premiered Off-Broadway at The Public Theater and on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theater. For her performance in Hamilton, Soo received a nomination for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical at the 70th Tony Awards. Soo played her final performance in Hamilton on July 9, 2016, and the role of Eliza was taken over by Lexi Lawson.
Soo played the titular character of Amélie Poulain in the pre-Broadway engagement of Amélie at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from December 2016 to January 2017. Soo reprised her role when Amélie began preview performances on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on March 9, 2017, opening officially on April 3. The show closed on May 21, 2017. That same year Soo returned on Broadway as Rebecca in The Parisian Woman, an original play by Beau Willimon. The production began preview performances at the Hudson Theatre on November 7, 2017, and opened on November 30 for a limited run through March 11, 2018.
In 2022, Soo portrayed suffragist Inez Milholland in Shaina Taub's musical Suffs. The production premiered Off-Broadway at The Public Theater to positive reviews. Entertainment Weekly declared, "Soo, best known for originating the role of Eliza Schuyler in Hamilton, grounds the story with her poignant voice, infusing Inez Milholland with emotion and vulnerability so striking, you're reminded of why she's so closely associated with another woman who wrote herself into the narrative." The production opened on April 6 and ran a limited run through May 29, 2022. Soo did not reprise her role when Suffs transferred to Broadway.
On May 26, it was announced Soo would play Cinderella in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods at the St. James Theatre. Soo starred opposite Sara Bareilles, Brian D'Arcy James, Gavin Creel, Joshua Henry, Patina Miller, and Cheyenne Jackson. She received acclaim for her role, with The Hollywood Reporter critic David Rooney describing her performance as, "one of her best roles since her shattering performance as the original Eliza in Hamilton." She remained with the show through September 4, 2022. Soo would go on to win her second Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards for her work in Into the Woods.
On August 2, 2022, it was announced that Soo would play Sarah Brown in a revival of Guys and Dolls at The Kennedy Center. The cast included Soo's husband, Steven Pasquale, as well as James Monroe Iglehart, Jessie Mueller, Rachel Dratch, and Kevin Chamberlin. In The New York Times article on the Best Theatre of 2022, Scott Heller praised Soo as "a gift to the musical theater" and that in that year she "showed more sides to her talent than ever".
On November 1, 2022 it was announced Soo would star as Guenevere in the Broadway revival of Camelot opposite Andrew Burnap, and Jordan Donica. The production debuted in March 2023 at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center with Bartlett Sher as director and Aaron Sorkin with a revised book.

### Film and television

In 2013, Soo was cast in a small recurring role in the NBC television series Smash as the character Lexi. She appeared in five episodes in the second season before the show's cancellation. She had a small supporting role as Nia in the 2014 television pilot Dangerous Liaisons, but it did not get picked up to series.
In 2018, it was announced that Soo had been cast in the CBS series The Code. The show aired for one season before its cancellation in July 2019. In 2021, she received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie nomination at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards for her performance in the Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton which was released in 2020.
In 2024, Soo was cast as Avery Morgan in ABC medical drama series Doctor Odyssey.

### Other

Soo co-wrote a children's book, Piper Chen Sings, with her sister-in-law Maris Pasquale Doran. The book was published by Random House Studio in 2024 and became a New York Times best seller.
Soo played the role of Fox on the 2024 concept album Warriors by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis.

## Philanthropy

Inspired by Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the character she played in Hamilton, Soo started the Eliza Project initiative in partnership with Graham Windham, the first private orphanage in New York City that is mentioned in "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story", the last song at the end of the show. Through the program, Soo plans to provide students at the Graham School with acting, dancing, and rap workshops. According to Soo, the core mission of "The Eliza Project" is "to use the arts as a means of expression, as an outlet for personal experience, and to uplift the creative spirit."

## Personal life

Soo became engaged to actor Steven Pasquale in February 2016. They married on September 24, 2017. In 2019, the two starred opposite each other in an episode of The Code. She has a dog named Billie, which she adopted for her 30th birthday in 2020. She and Pasquale practice Transcendental Meditation.

## Acting credits

Key :
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | Keep The Change | Karen | Short film |
| 2016 | Moana | Additional voices | |
| 2018 | Here and Now | Oona | |
| 2020 | The One and Only Ivan | Thelma | Voice role |
| 2020 | The Broken Hearts Gallery | Nadine | |
| 2020 | Over the Moon | Chang'e | Voice role |
| 2021 | Tick, Tick... Boom! | "Sunday" Legend | Cameo appearance |
| 2022 | Blue's Big City Adventure | Audition Person #4 | Cameo appearance |
| 2023 | One True Loves | Emma Blair | Also executive producer |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | Smash | Lexi | 5 episodes |
| 2014 | Dangerous Liaisons | Nia | Unaired pilot |
| 2019 | The Code | Lieutenant Harper Li | Main cast (13 episodes) |
| 2020 | Hamilton | Eliza Hamilton | Disney+ special of the musical |
| 2021 | The Bite | Cydni Estereo | Main cast (6 episodes) |
| 2021 | Dopesick | Amber Collins | 7 episodes |
| 2022 | Shining Girls | Dr. Jin-Sook Gwansun | Main cast (8 episodes) |
| 2024–present | Doctor Odyssey | Avery Morgan | Main role |

### Theatre

| Year(s) | Production | Role | Location | Category |
| 2012 | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | Natasha Rostova | Ars Nova | Off-Off-Broadway |
| 2013–2014 | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | Natasha Rostova | Kazino | Off-Broadway |
| 2014 | Hamilton | Eliza Schuyler Hamilton | The 52nd Street Project | Workshop |
| 2014 | A Little Night Music | Anne Egerman | Berkshire Theatre Festival | Regional |
| 2014 | Alice by Heart | Cheshire Cat / Tabatha / Caterpillar 2 | Theatre Aspen | Workshop |
| 2014 | The School for Wives | Agnes | Two River Theater Company | Regional |
| 2015 | Hamilton | Eliza Schuyler Hamilton | The Public Theater | Off-Broadway |
| 2015–2016 | Hamilton | Eliza Schuyler Hamilton | Richard Rodgers Theatre | Broadway |
| 2016–2017 | Amélie | Amélie Poulain | Ahmanson Theatre | Los Angeles |
| 2017 | Amélie | Amélie Poulain | Walter Kerr Theatre | Broadway |
| 2017–2018 | The Parisian Woman | Rebecca | Hudson Theatre | Broadway |
| 2020 | Tumacho | Catalina Vucovich-Villalobos | Connelly Theater | Off-Broadway |
| 2022 | Suffs | Inez Milholland | The Public Theater | Off-Broadway |
| 2022 | Into the Woods | Cinderella | St. James Theatre | Broadway |
| 2022 | Guys and Dolls | Sister Sarah Brown | Kennedy Center | Regional |
| 2023 | Camelot | Guenevere | Vivian Beaumont Theatre | Broadway |
| 2024 | Gutenberg! The Musical! | The Producer (One night only) | James Earl Jones Theatre | Broadway |

## Published works

* Piper Chen Sings (2024). ISBN 9780593564691.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | Nominated |
| 2014 | Lucille Lortel Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | Nominated |
| 2015 | Lucille Lortel Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical | Hamilton | Won |
| 2016 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Musical | Hamilton | Nominated |
| 2016 | Grammy Awards | Best Musical Theater Album | Hamilton | Won |
| 2020 | Critics' Choice Super Awards | Best Voice Actress in an Animated Movie | Over the Moon | Nominated |
| 2021 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie | Hamilton | Nominated |
| 2023 | Grammy Awards | Best Musical Theatre Album | Into the Woods | Won |
| 2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical | Into the Woods | Nominated |
| 2023 | Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards | Favorite Featured Actress In A Musical | Into the Woods | Won |
| 2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | Camelot | Nominated |
| 2023 | Helen Hayes Award | Outstanding Performer in a Visiting Production | Guys and Dolls | Won |