Spotlight on HAMILTON: Catching Up with Christopher Jackson
By: Nicole Rosky Jul. 01, 2020
Hamilton is coming! In just a matter of days (July 3), Disney+ will broadcast the hugely-anticipated Hamilton, captured live on stage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in 2016.
The original Broadway cast appearing in the film include Tony Award winners Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton; Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson; Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler; Leslie Odom, Jr. as Aaron Burr; Tony Award nominees Christopher Jackson as George Washington; Jonathan Groff as King George; Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton; and Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds; Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison; and Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton.
History may have its eyes on Hamilton, but today, we have our eyes on the history of its stars. Below take a deep dive into the career of the general himself, Christopher Jackson!
Born and raised in Illinois, Jackson attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. He began his career in 1995 starring in the Off-Broadway musical Time and the Wind by composer Galt MacDermot. He made his Broadway debut in 1997 as an ensemble member in the Original Broadway Cast of Disney's The Lion King. He remained with the show for several years, ultimately taking over the role of Simba in 2000.
After spending several years doing theatre in the midwest, he returned to New York in 2007 to join the cast of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Off-Broadway musical In the Heights as Benny. He continued with the show when it moved to Broadway in 2008.
In 2012 he returned to Broadway as Delray in Memphis, and in 2013 he replaced Everett Bradley as "Diga Diga Doo" in the Broadway musical After Midnight. In 2014 he made his Broadway play debut as Derek Jeter and Bobby Sturges in the Eric Simonson's Bronx Bombers. Later that year, Jackson portrayed Vertus in the short lived Broadway musical Holler If Ya Hear Me which was based on the life of Tupac.
In 2015, Jackson teamed up with Lin-Manuel Miranda again to originate the role of George Washington in Hamilton. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 2016 and concluded his run on November 13, 2016.
Jackson currently plays Chunk Palmer in the CBS courtroom drama Bull. His other film and TV work includes Moana, Tracers, The Good Wife, Person of Interest, A Gifted Man, and Nurse Jackie.
He has been nominated for three Emmy Awards for composing music and lyrics for television; he won the "Outstanding Original Song" Emmy Award in 2011 for his lyrics to "What I Am," which he co-wrote for Sesame Street with Bill Sherman.
Sign up for Disney+ today for your chance to catch Leslie and even more of the original cast of Broadway's biggest hit from home on July 3!
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