Brian d'Arcy James

**Brian d'Arcy James** (born June 29, 1968) is an American actor and musician. James graduated from Northwestern University's School of Communication. He received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 2002 for his portrayal of Sidney Falco in *Sweet Smell of Success*, co-starring John Lithgow. He received an Obie Award for his performance in the one-man play *The Good Thief* by Conor McPherson.

Additional Broadway credits include playing Frederick Barrett in *Titanic*, Lincoln Center's *Carousel*, and *Blood Brothers*. Off-Broadway credits include Andrew Lippa's *The Wild Party* in 2000 opposite Julia Murney and Idina Menzel for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination, as well as Adam Guettel's *Floyd Collins* and the Gershwins' *Pardon My English*. He appeared in Martin McDonagh's *The Lieutenant of Inishmore* on Broadway, replaced Norbert Leo Butz in *Dirty Rotten Scoundrels*, and starred in *The Apple Tree* opposite Kristin Chenoweth. In 2004, he released a Christmas album titled *From Christmas Eve to Christmas Morn*. He was the Broadway version of Bob Wallace, whose character was originated by Bing Crosby, in *White Christmas* in 2004. He played the role of Dan Goodman in the new musical *Next to Normal* Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatrein 2008.[1][2] He then starred opposite Daniel Breaker, Sutton Foster and Christopher Sieber as the titular character in *Shrek the Musical*. The show began previews on Broadway November 8, 2008 and opened on December 14 at The Broadway Theatre after a tryout in Seattle.[3] For this role he won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.[4][5] He was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his portrayal.[6] He departed the cast after one year in the role and was replaced by Ben Crawford.[7]

James starred in the Broadway play *Time Stands Still*, which began preview performances on January 5, 2010 and officially opened on January 25 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.[8] The show ended its limited run on March 27, 2010.[9] For this role he won the broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite Featured Actor in a Play.[10][11] He reprised the role of Dan Goodman in the Broadway company of *Next to Normal* at the Booth Theatre. He replaced J. Robert Spencer beginning May 17, 2010.[12] James ended his limited engagement on July 18, 2010 and was replaced by Jason Danieley.[13]

On July 19, 2010 James performed in front of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at *A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House*, which also aired on PBS October 20, 2010.[14] He returned to *Time Stands Still* when the show returned to Broadway. It closed on January 30, 2011.[15]

James was part of the cast of the NBC musical series *Smash*, playing Frank, who was the husband of Debra Messing's character.[16] NBC officially picked up *Smash*as a series on May 11, 2011.[17] The program made its series premiere on February 6, 2012.[18] He did not return to the show as a series regular for its second and final season.[19][20] James starred in Torstein Blixfjord's 2012 short film *Bird In A Box*.[21]

He co-hosted the 57th Drama Desk Awards with Brooke Shields on June 3, 2012.[22]

James starred as Bick in the musical *Giant* which ran at the Public Theater from October 26 - December 16 2012.[23][24] For this role James received a nomination for Best Actor in a Musical at the Drama Desk Awards and Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.[25][26]

He also performed at the 29th birthday celebration of the New York Pops, which was a celebration called "Journey On", celebrating the work of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. He performed "Wheels of a Dream" from *Ragtime* with Andrew Rannells, Rebecca Luker, Liz Callaway, Kevin Chamberlin, Jason Danieley, Boyd Gaines, Lewis Grosso, Norm Lewis, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Darlene Love, Marin Mazzie, Tiler Peck, Nikki M. James, Rachel York, and LaChanze, along with Flaherty and Ahrens.[27]

He played Banquo in the Lincoln Center Theater production of *Macbeth*, which began previews in October 2013 and officially opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in November 2013.[28] He starred as the original King George III in the Off-Broadway production of the acclaimed musical *Hamilton*, with previews starting January 20, 2015 and officially opening on February 17. Actor Jonathan Groff replaced James in the Off-Broadway run on March 3, 2015.[29]

He starred in the Broadway musical *Something Rotten!*, which opened in previews at the St. James Theatre on March 23, 2015, and officially on April 22,[30] for which he received his third Tony nomination. James played Matt Carroll in the 2015 film *Spotlight*. In March 2016, James was cast in the CBS pilot, *Superior Donuts*,[31] but his role was recast after the show went through some retooling.[32] He reprised his role as King George III in the Broadway production of *Hamilton* for a limited engagement that began on April 13, 2017 and continued through July 16, 2017.[33][34]

In 2017, James portrayed Andy Baker in the Netflix drama series *13 Reasons Why*,[35] a role he later reprised in the second season of the show in 2018. Also in 2018, James played pilot Joseph A. Walker in Damien Chazelle's film *First Man*.[36] In May 2018, it was announced that he would star in the upcoming Fox series, *Proven Innocent*.[37] The following month, however, it was announced that Kelsey Grammerhad been cast to replace d'Arcy James in the role of Gore Bellows (previously Cole Bellows).[38]

James is set to star in the Broadway play *The Ferryman* at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre as Quinn Carney on February 19, 2019, replacing Paddy Considine, who originated the role.[39]