Jonathan Groff Recalls Turning Down GLEE to Ryan Murphy

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Tony-Award-nominated actor Jonathan Groff discussed a few of his projects, including his current role as Franklin Shepard in the Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along. Groff also revealed some details about the massively popular musical series Glee.

Though Jonathan Groff ended up playing the recurring character of Jesse St. James on the show, he was initially offered a main part- one that he rejected.

"I was 23, and Ryan Murphy had told Lea Michele and I that he had written this show Glee for the two of us, and would we be interested in doing that?" Groff recalled. 

"I really felt like I didn’t want to sign on to be a singing teenager again for another seven years, which I had just done for two years in Spring Awakening."

Groff starred alongside Michele in the original Broadway production of Spring Awakening and was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance.

He says that Spring Awakening "changed me from the inside out as a person. I came out of that experience feeling like, Ooh, I want to keep doing this. I want to keep stretching and growing and challenging myself as an actor."

Read the full interview HERE.

Jonathan Groff is an Emmy and two-time Tony Award nominee. He is currently starring as Franklin Shepard in the Broadway production of Sondheim and Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along. In 2019, Groff starred as Seymour Krelborn in the award-winning Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors, for which he was an Outer Critics Circle Award honoree, and Lucille Lortel and Drama League "Distinguished Performance Award" nominee. In 2015, Groff originated the role of King George III in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Pulitzer Prize-winning Hamilton on Broadway, for which he received a Tony nomination, as well as an Emmy nomination for the Disney+ film adaptation. In 2006, Groff gave an award-winning breakout performance in the Broadway production of Spring Awakening (Theatre World Award winner; Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Drama League Award nominee). On-screen, Groff is the voice of Kristoff and Sven in the Disney animated films Frozen and Frozen II.

Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas