Culture Whisper Interview: Musical Actor Jeremy Jordan
Culture Whisper talks to musical theatre actor Jeremy Jordan about
Jeremy Jordan
Jeremy Jordan's story is worthy of its own musical: straight-A Texan schoolboy sings himself out of low-income housing and onto the Broadway stage. Works with Dolly Parton, Stephen Sondheim, Queen Latifah, Wynton Marsalis, Disney. Is nominated for a Tony. Gets the girl (he’s married to musical actress Ashley Spencer. They sometimes sing together) He even looks like Marlon Brando in his prime.
If the musical of Jordan’s life goes as planned, he’s just about to make it big. Perhaps as big as the Tony and Oscar-nominated Anna Kendrick (Twilight, Into The Woods, Scott Pilgrim, High Society), with whom he stars in The Last Five Years. The film, based on the cult off-Broadway musical, is mostly sung. Jeremy Jordan plays an ambitious artist vying for recognition in New York – perhaps rather close to home.
We sat down with the musical actor to talk about The Last Five Years, working with Anna Kendrick and the transcendental power of musicals.
CW: How was the shoot for “The Last Five Years?” Is preparing for a film similar to preparing for a Broadway show?
JJ: I wish that we’d had the same kind of preparation for the film that we have Broadway…. We got on set and had to do it on the fly. We only had three weeks to shoot the movie. And it was an indie movie so we didn’t have a big budget. So it was a lot of on your feet, seat of your pants kinda thing. Throwing it together. Instinctive work.
How was it working with Anna?
It was great. She is incredibly smart and very on top of it. It’s all sung live apart from a couple of songs. So that means singing all day; it’s a lot to deal with. She’s an incredible film actress. I learnt a lot from her about stillness and subtlety, which as a musical actor is not my strongest suit.
With films like Les Mis and Into the Woods, musicals are gaining a broader audience? Do you think there’s a growing interest?
I hope there’s a growing interest, I really do. It’s a great medium that people tend to push aside and marginalise. They say things like: “Oh well it’s a musical; all dancing and silliness and nothing real going on.
I think the opposite is true. We sing because what we have to say cannot be adequately expressed in words. Musicals have the ability transcend.
Which musical would you recommend to someone who hated musicals to change their mind?
This one. It’s intimate, it’s the opposite of what you see in the the theatre. Then you have Chicago, which is a really well-done movie. They pushed it to another level.
What are you up to at the moment?
Right now I’m developing a new cabaret show. But that’s just to film time. I shot a pilot a couple of weeks ago for CBS Warner Bros. So hopefully that gets picked up and if it does I’ll be filming that for 8 months or so. On top of that, I’m a musician and I’ve been working on putting out a solo album, of non-musical theatre.
Would you ever consider coming to London’s West End.
Absolutely! I would love to do something on the West End. And I’m sure the opportunity will presents itself. I’ve started doing my own cabaret show, and it’s getting a lot of calls on Twitter to come to the UK!
Jeremy Jordan with Anna Kendrick
If the musical of Jordan’s life goes as planned, he’s just about to make it big. Perhaps as big as the Tony and Oscar-nominated Anna Kendrick (Twilight, Into The Woods, Scott Pilgrim, High Society), with whom he stars in The Last Five Years. The film, based on the cult off-Broadway musical, is mostly sung. Jeremy Jordan plays an ambitious artist vying for recognition in New York – perhaps rather close to home.
We sat down with the musical actor to talk about The Last Five Years, working with Anna Kendrick and the transcendental power of musicals.
CW: How was the shoot for “The Last Five Years?” Is preparing for a film similar to preparing for a Broadway show?
JJ: I wish that we’d had the same kind of preparation for the film that we have Broadway…. We got on set and had to do it on the fly. We only had three weeks to shoot the movie. And it was an indie movie so we didn’t have a big budget. So it was a lot of on your feet, seat of your pants kinda thing. Throwing it together. Instinctive work.
How was it working with Anna?
It was great. She is incredibly smart and very on top of it. It’s all sung live apart from a couple of songs. So that means singing all day; it’s a lot to deal with. She’s an incredible film actress. I learnt a lot from her about stillness and subtlety, which as a musical actor is not my strongest suit.
With films like Les Mis and Into the Woods, musicals are gaining a broader audience? Do you think there’s a growing interest?
I hope there’s a growing interest, I really do. It’s a great medium that people tend to push aside and marginalise. They say things like: “Oh well it’s a musical; all dancing and silliness and nothing real going on.
I think the opposite is true. We sing because what we have to say cannot be adequately expressed in words. Musicals have the ability transcend.
Which musical would you recommend to someone who hated musicals to change their mind?
This one. It’s intimate, it’s the opposite of what you see in the the theatre. Then you have Chicago, which is a really well-done movie. They pushed it to another level.
What are you up to at the moment?
Right now I’m developing a new cabaret show. But that’s just to film time. I shot a pilot a couple of weeks ago for CBS Warner Bros. So hopefully that gets picked up and if it does I’ll be filming that for 8 months or so. On top of that, I’m a musician and I’ve been working on putting out a solo album, of non-musical theatre.
Would you ever consider coming to London’s West End.
Absolutely! I would love to do something on the West End. And I’m sure the opportunity will presents itself. I’ve started doing my own cabaret show, and it’s getting a lot of calls on Twitter to come to the UK!
Jeremy Jordan with Anna Kendrick
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