Leslie Odom, Jr.

Leslie Odom Jr. is an American actor, singer, and songwriter born on August 6, 1981, in Queens, New York City. His family later relocated to the East Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, where he was raised. He attended Julia R. Masterman School for middle school and the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts for high school. During his youth, Odom studied theater and performed in musicals at the New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia, and sang solos in the choir at Canaan Baptist Church in the Germantown section of the city. He went on to earn a degree with honors from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Odom made his Broadway debut at the age of 17, playing Paul in the 1998 production of Rent. In 2001, he appeared in the ensemble of a one-night Broadway concert version of Dreamgirls. He spent subsequent years building his career across theater and television, including a recurring role as Joseph Kayle in nine episodes of CSI: Miami between 2003 and 2006, ten episodes of Vanished as Maliko Christo, and nine episodes of Big Day as Freddy from 2006 to 2007. He also appeared in guest roles on Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural, and The Good Wife, and had a supporting role in the 2011 television film Poe.

While working in Los Angeles theater, Odom originated the role of Isaiah Sturdevant in Leap of Faith, which transferred to Broadway in 2012. Around the same time, he appeared in the 2012 war film Red Tails as Walter Hall. His television work continued with a recurring role as Sam Strickland in the musical drama series Smash, a role that was elevated to a starring part for the show's final season in 2013. He also appeared in eight episodes of Person of Interest as Peter Collier in 2013 and 2014, and played Reverend Curtis Scott in seven episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit between 2013 and 2015. During this period, Odom also performed Off-Broadway in Venice and in Witness Uganda, later retitled Invisible Thread, at A.R.T., and worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda in the Encores! Off-Center production of Tick, Tick... Boom!, playing Michael. He additionally played Nat King Cole in a 2015 one-night Actors Fund of America benefit concert of Bombshell.

Odom's career reached a turning point when he was cast as Aaron Burr in the workshop production of Hamilton at the 52nd Street Project in 2014, having declined a leading television role to take the part. He reprised the role in the off-Broadway production at The Public Theater in 2015 and in the Broadway production at the Richard Rodgers Theatre from 2015 to 2016, performing alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, Christopher Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Anthony Ramos, Ariana DeBose, and Jonathan Groff. His final performance as Aaron Burr took place on July 9, 2016, after which he was replaced by Brandon Victor Dixon. For the role, Odom received a nomination for the 2015 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. His performance was also captured in a Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton, which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role in a Limited Series or Movie. Beginning May 19, 2016, Odom hosted the Broadway.com web series Aaron Burr, Sir: Backstage at Hamilton with Leslie Odom Jr., with new episodes released weekly for eight weeks.

Following Hamilton, Odom expanded his film career, playing Dr. Arbuthnot in Kenneth Branagh's 2017 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express and portraying abolitionist William Still opposite Cynthia Erivo in the 2019 historical drama Harriet. That same year, he starred alongside Freida Pinto in the post-apocalyptic romance Only. In 2020, he starred in and executive produced the four-part Freeform miniseries Love in the Time of Corona opposite his wife, Nicolette Robinson, with production beginning virtually on June 29, 2020, and the series premiering on August 22, 2020. Also in 2020, Odom voiced Owen Tillerman in the Apple TV+ animated musical-comedy series Central Park, earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. He additionally guest starred as Kwame in the second season of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder on Disney+.

Odom portrayed soul singer Sam Cooke in Regina King's film adaptation of One Night in Miami, released in theaters and on Amazon Prime on January 15, 2021. The performance earned him nominations for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song for writing the film's song "Speak Now." Additional film credits include The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), and The Exorcist: Believer (2023).

Odom returned to Broadway in 2023, taking on the title role in Purlie Victorious, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play. His recording career spans five albums: Leslie Odom Jr. (2014), Simply Christmas (2016), Mr. (2019), The Christmas Album (2020), and When a Crooner Dies (2023). He published his autobiography, Failing Up, in 2018.