Role playing at CMU graduation
Tony-winning actor Leslie Odom Jr. ‘evangelizes’ at his alma mater
If Leslie Odom Jr. sounded evangelistic Sunday while addressing Carnegie Mellon University graduates, maybe it’s because he is filming a pilot for the ABC network about three young pastors at a hip, diverse church in Los Angeles.
“Most of you will have no idea who spoke today,” Mr. Odom told the class of 2019 gathered in Gesling Stadium just after the crowd greeted him with sustained applause on a beautiful spring morning.
The actor, who won Tony and Grammy awards for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in the blockbuster Broadway musical “Hamilton,” joked that for a million dollars, he could not recall what Teresa Heinz Kerry, a philanthropist and environmental activist, said when she spoke during his 2003 graduation from CMU.
But he remembers well that Pittsburgh native Billy Porter, a Broadway star and fellow CMU alumnus, was among the school’s teachers who inspired him when he was one of seven students in the actor’s class.
Mr. Odom, who received a doctor of fine arts honorary degree for his achievements on stage and screen and in the concert hall, urged graduates to know their honest intentions and make sure, “your actions line up behind your intention.”
“I just wanted to be in ‘Rent.’ I didn’t know what my role would be — usher or curtain caller,” said Mr. Odom, who was 17 when he joined the Broadway musical’s original cast.
It’s a good idea to befriend ushers, Mr. Odom said, adding that in July 2013, an usher got him a coveted seat in the last row of a theater in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where composer Lin Manuel-Miranda was working on something called “The Hamilton Mixtape.”
As the cast performed “The Hamilton Mixtape” and he heard “The Story of Tonight” sung, Mr. Odom was moved.
“I had never seen four men of color on a stage singing about friendship and brotherhood,” he said.
In 2011, Mr. Odom was depressed, unemployed and thinking about leaving the stage. He talked it over with his mentor, Stuart K. Robinson, who, besides being his fatherin-law, is a successful Hollywood actor, teacher and casting director.
When Mr. Robinson asked his son-in-law what he had done to advance his career, Mr. Odom realized he could not sit home waiting for the phone to ring.
The actor stars in a post-apocalyptic film with Freida Pinto called “Only” that was screened at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
Recently, he has worked in New York, playing a role in a movie that he said is a prequel to the HBO television series “The Sopranos.” Mr. Odom plays a character who influenced young Tony Soprano; the movie is due out in 2020.
In “Harriet,” a movie set for release this fall, Mr. Odom plays William Still, the father of the Underground Railroad. To prepare, he read the written accounts that Still made about the hundreds of slaves he helped to reach freedom.
And, Mr. Odom just finished recording a third album of original music at Skywalker Ranch.
“It’s the kind of music that Nat King Cole might make today.” he said.