on his behind-the-scenes look at Hamilton
The Hamilton star shares his step-by-step experiences of appearing in the hit West End show in his first book
It is the musical that has been applauded by audiences and critics alike. Now, Hamilton star Giles Terera, who won an Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role as Aaron Burr in the London version of the show, has written a tell-all book about his experience.
“Hamilton and Me is my personal account of being in the production,” Giles explains to hello!. “It’s my work journal, so it gives the reader a little bit of an idea of what it was like to be in that production.
“There is something about the experience which is so rich and so well rounded: you have this extraordinary music, you have amazing characters and there is a historical element as well.”
The actor, 44 – who last week was formally presented with his MBE by the Princess Royal at St James’s Palace for services to theatre – always keeps journals of his work to help him understand any stories or characters he is struggling with. And he certainly needed it when it came to tackling the highprofile role of Aaron Burr – Alexander Hamilton’s nemesis and one of the main characters in the production created by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“Hamilton is the most challenging thing I have ever done, so keeping a journal was useful in terms of giving myself time every day to work out what I was thinking and feeling.
“There is a lot to get your head around; there are twice as many words in Hamilton as there are in normal shows, so you really have to hone your storytelling skills to make sure the audience understands you.”
The book, he says, should also be of help to budding actors. “It’s always been important to me to encourage
‘It’s important to me to encourage actors who are starting out. I hope the book will inspire them to meet their challenges’
young actors who are starting out. If you are in musical theatre, there are very few things that are written as well as Hamilton. I hope that it will in some ways inspire other actors to meet their challenges, whatever they may be – whether it’s going to drama school or going into the industry or auditioning.”
The West End version had big shoes to fill, given the huge interest surrounding the original Broadway show, but Giles, who was born and brought up in London, says he knew it would work.
“We did our first run-through in the rehearsal room and that felt really good,” he tells us. “Partly because we were a tight-knit company who got on very well – we were a real team. When we performed it together for the first time, it felt special. Then once we got in front of an audience, they were really responding to the material and you could see we were connecting with them.”
The show, he says, isn’t just a historical piece of work – rather it is about universal themes. “It’s about human beings and their strengths and their weaknesses. The important thing is Hamilton and the way he messes up and how he tries to get it right – it’s the whole human experience.”
Despite having created a hugely respected body of work before playing Burr – he performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the National Theatre, as well as other West End musicals including The Book of Mormon, Rent and Avenue Q – he doesn’t mind that he is best known for Hamilton. “I am proud of the work I did.”
Over lockdown, Giles decided to take a few months off to regroup – but still managed to write Hamilton and Me and compose a song collection called Black Matter. Now that theatres are reopening, he is about to start rehearsals for a play he has written – and in which he will also star – called The Meaning of Zong at the Bristol Old Vic. And, if reports are to be believed, he could be returning to Hamilton – after leaving his role in the show in 2018 to work on other projects.
“What can I say?” he laughs when asked about the rumours. “I hope so! I would enjoy that and there is an element of unfinished business there. It’s such an amazingly written character, so I would be excited about that prospect.”
Hamilton and Me: An Actor’s Journal by Giles Terera is out now from Nick Hern Books.