Cheyenne Jackson

Cheyenne David Jackson, born July 12, 1975, in Spokane, Washington, is an American actor and singer whose career spans Broadway, film, television, concert performance, and recorded music. Named by his father after the 1950s Western television series Cheyenne, he was the third of four children and grew up in Oldtown, Idaho, a small mill town in the rural northern part of the state near the Washington border. His father was a Vietnam veteran, and his mother introduced the family to music through artists including Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Presley. The household had no running water during his childhood. As a teenager, Jackson relocated to Spokane, and later moved to Seattle, where he worked as an advertising executive at a magazine while pursuing theater on the side, eventually earning his Equity card. After 2001, he moved to New York City to focus on acting full time.

Jackson's Broadway career began in 2002 when he understudied both male leads in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, followed by a standby role for the character of Radames in Aida in 2003. He then originated the role of Matthew in the New York Musical Theatre Festival workshop production of Altar Boyz in 2004, a role that was recast for the show's Off-Broadway run. His first Broadway leading role came in 2005 with All Shook Up, a musical built around the music of Elvis Presley, in which he played Chad. That performance earned him a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut, as well as nominations from the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle for Outstanding Lead Actor.

In 2006, Jackson appeared Off-Broadway in Nicky Silver's The Agony and the Agony alongside Victoria Clark. The following year, he stepped into the lead role of Sonny in the Broadway production of Xanadu less than a week before opening night, replacing James Carpinello, who had been injured during rehearsals. Jackson had previously participated in workshop productions of the musical alongside Jane Krakowski, though both had initially opted out of the Broadway run due to scheduling conflicts. His work in Xanadu brought him Drama League and Drama Desk nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor, and the production received multiple Tony Award nominations including Best New Musical, with the cast performing on the 62nd Tony Awards broadcast.

Jackson appeared in the New York City Center Encores! production of Damn Yankees in 2008, joining Jane Krakowski and Sean Hayes, and returned to Encores! in 2009 to play Woody Mahoney in a staged concert of Finian's Rainbow. That same year, he also participated in the development workshop of The Book of Mormon. In October 2009, he reprised the role of Woody Mahoney when Finian's Rainbow opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre, costarring with Jim Norton and Kate Baldwin. The production closed on January 17, 2010, and its cast album was released on February 2, 2010. The role earned Jackson a Drama Desk nomination.

In September 2011, Jackson joined a cast that included Morgan Freeman, Ellen Barkin, Matt Bomer, Christine Lahti, and John Lithgow in the Broadway premiere of Dustin Lance Black's play 8, directed by Joe Mantello. The following year, he starred opposite Krysten Ritter in Neil LaBute's The Heart of the Matter, produced by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. During the 2012–2013 Broadway season, Jackson appeared alongside Henry Winkler, Alicia Silverstone, Daniel Breaker, Jenni Barber, and Ari Graynor in David West Read's play The Performers at the Longacre Theatre, which ran for 23 previews and 7 regular performances before closing on November 18, 2012. In 2016, he appeared as Dr. Neville Craven in the 25th Anniversary Concert of The Secret Garden at Lincoln Center.

Jackson made his Hollywood Bowl debut in 2019 playing the Wolf and Cinderella's Prince in Into the Woods, opposite Sutton Foster, Sierra Boggess, Patina Miller, and others. He later temporarily filled in for Gavin Creel in those same roles during the 2022 Broadway revival at the St. James Theatre, a production that also featured Sara Bareilles, Brian D'Arcy James, Phillipa Soo, and Joshua Henry. In 2024, he portrayed Sir Harry in the Encores! production of Once Upon a Mattress at New York City Center, and in November of that year starred as Georges in the Pasadena Playhouse production of La Cage aux Folles. In October 2025, Jackson took over the role of Mary's Teacher in Oh, Mary! on Broadway, appearing opposite Jane Krakowski as Mary Todd Lincoln. The production also featured Jinkx Monsoon, who assumed the title role in January 2026, with Simu Liu set to replace Jackson in February. The 24 Hour Plays 2004 also appears among his stage credits.

In regional theater, Jackson's roles have included Tony in West Side Story, Billy Bigelow in Carousel, Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees, Rocky in The Rocky Horror Show, Joey in The Most Happy Fella, Cain in Children of Eden, Berger in Hair, and The Poet in Kismet, among others.

On screen, Jackson portrayed 9/11 passenger and hero Mark Bingham in the 2006 Academy Award-nominated film United 93, a performance that contributed to the film's Boston Society of Film Critics award for Best Ensemble Cast. He had a leading role in the 2014 independent romantic comedy Mutual Friends and appeared in guest roles on NBC's 30 Rock and Fox's Glee. Beginning in 2015, he became a recurring presence in FX's American Horror Story, appearing in its fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth seasons. He also portrayed Hades in Disney Channel's Descendants 3 and reunited with that production's director Kenny Ortega and castmate Booboo Stewart in Netflix's Julie and the Phantoms in 2020.

As a concert performer, Jackson sold out Carnegie Hall twice: with The Power of Two in 2010 and Music of the Mad Men Era in 2011. He has also performed in cabarets. His recorded output includes a joint album with Michael Feinstein, The Power of Two, released in 2008, and two singles, "Drive" and "Before You," released in 2012 ahead of his 2013 album I'm Blue, Skies. His third studio album, Renaissance, released in 2016, was adapted and expanded from his solo concert Music of the Mad Men Era.