To watch Jeremy Jordan perform is to witness confidence and swagger personified, whether leading the newsboys’ strike in Newsies, exploring childhood imagination in Finding Neverland, or charming his way through a string of heists in Bonnie & Clyde. So you might be surprised to learn that this 32-year-old actor is actually someone who prefers to shy away from the spotlight when he is away from the stage. I recently spoke to Jordan about such topics as his accidental foray into theater, the evolution of his acting, how playing Jack Kelly in Newsies pushed him towards being a leader, and standing up for LGBT rights and against mental health stigma.
When did you know you wanted to be an actor?
Probably a little bit later than most. I was always a singer. I did a couple of small shows when I was a kid. I was really just goofy, making faces, I wasn’t really acting. My junior year I auditioned for The Fantasticks on a whim and I got cast as The Mute, which is a non-singing role, he orchestrates the play without words. I was a little bit confused because I usually sang, I didn’t understand what I needed to do. That role taught me how to listen. From then on, I had the bug.
So getting into acting was accidental.
Totally accidental! I had always liked theater but it was never anything I had considered pursuing.
Can you talk about the experience of playing Tony in the 2009 revival of West Side Story?
Tony was a big step for me in terms of learning to be an emotional actor. Up until that time, I had played more character roles, he was really my first leading man type role. It took me probably my entire run with that show to reach a level of performance I was happy with. I knew I had great moments but overall I was still searching throughout the 8 or 9 months I did the part.
Josefina Scaglione and Jeremy Jordan in West Side Story (Photo credit: Joan Marcus)
Can you talk about your experience creating the role of J.M. Barrie in the ART production of Finding Neverland?
That was definitely the hardest role that I ever got to create. He had a sense of depth and a sense of wonder to him and at the same time this weird, child-like quality, growing into a man all in the course of a couple of hours. I did a lot of research and I knew so much about him. There was a lot of off-stage battling because we were creating the show for the first time. It was difficult in certain aspects because I would try to creatively fight for him [the character of J.M. Barrie] and mostly have to settle for what I was given. It’s weird to try to project a real-life person’s story within the constraints of show that you don’t have a whole lot of control over. I had to really find what was between the lines and try to bring out aspects of him intrinsically that weren’t necessarily on the page. I felt that I had to raise myself up to meet the challenge of the character but also find ways to elevate the material at the same time. Usually it’s one or the other. Usually the material is “meh” and you have to make it something better or the material is so good that you have to step up your game. It was kind of a little bit of both for me in this one.
It was also just incredibly emotional from the very beginning. The day we opened the show my agent called me saying that they had heard that Matthew Morrison would be playing the role on Broadway. The whole time I had been looking over my shoulder thinking that I had to earn the part. It made for some heavy, emotional performances but it also added a lot of unneeded stress to the whole situation.
Jeremy Jordan and Laura Michelle Kelly in Finding Neverland (Photo credit: Evgenia Eliseeva)
Newsies has an avid fandom. Why do you think the show has resonated so much with audiences?
The movie in the 90’s was this total flop but became this cult classic. The music is one part of it in that it’s very anthemic and uplifting and gets your blood pumping. It’s a bunch of strong boys dancing which is not something that you see often. For me it was empowering as a kid seeing that. As a “dude” I always loved doing that kind of stuff but never felt like that was cool but they made it look cool. On top of that, there’s a great underdog message. I think the show gives people hope. I receive a lot of messages from folks saying that they listen to the song “Santa Fe” when they need to feel inspiration. I think it is one of the examples of theater and art taking you out of whatever is hurting you or upsetting you in real life and transporting you to another place where you can feel better about yourself. Sometimes that can translate into making change in your own life. People talk about theater as an escape. I think that’s great but I think when it’s truly powerful it provides an escape that feels so right that it inspires actual change in the real world. I feel like that is happening a lot more lately, too.
Screen shot of Jeremy Jordan in the film release of Newsies
You perform songs in the show, such as “The World Will Know” and “Seize the Day” with such passion. Can you talk about finding the intensity within Jack Kelly?
Jack is a fictional character but he is inspired by a couple of real life newsies and the story is inspired by real life events. For me, it’s the energy of the piece and the energy of the kids around me. I’ve never really been in a situation in life where I had to be a leader and the second I stepped into Newsies, everyone suddenly was looking to me because I was one of the older kids in the cast and had already been in a few shows on Broadway. I was thrust into this leadership role, figuratively and realistically. I just had to step up.
That moment that you are talking about in “The World Will Know” is a moment that is not really for himself. Jack, of all of the newsboys, is probably doing the best. He is most concerned for everybody else at this point. He feels like a lot of these kids cannot stand up for themselves and they need somebody to look up to. He has to put his other stuff aside and turn it on and jump in full force. Seeing all of the kids around me, imagining their pain and their actual circumstances really gave me that feeling.
Jeremy Jordan and the cast of Newsies (Photo credit: Deen van Meer)
You are a vocal advocate for LGBT rights. Why is that an important issue to you?
I grew up in south Texas where nobody was really out of the closet and I didn’t know a whole lot about it until I moved to college. So many of my friends are part of the LGBT community. Seeing how their lives have been impacted in so many negative ways. I have always gravitated towards social issues and equality and justice.
Growing up, a lot of people assumed I was gay because I was a musical theater actor. Honestly, I used to be a little annoyed with but now I just don’t care and in fact just embraced it. When I first moved to New York City, I worked as a waiter in Hell’s Kitchen [a neighborhood in Manhattan that has a predominant gay community] and I was the most sexually ambiguous waiter that you could imagine.
Which you did recently with the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) #IDONTMIND campaign. Can you talk about how you got involved with that? Why do you think it’s important to fight mental health stigma?
My buddy Chris Wood, he’s on the show Supergirl with me, it’s his campaign. He and his buddy created it as part of Mental Health Awareness week in October. It’s another platform for people to feel like they can express themselves. It’s very much akin to the LGBT platform because people don’t want to speak out, they don’t want to actually admit things about themselves. There is a negative stigma around mental health and it’s perpetuated by television and movies and social media. I want to be a part of changing that.
You can find out more about fighting mental health stigma by clicking on #IDONTMIND .
