Mars Rucker

Mars Storm Rucker (born January 9, 1997) is an American actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, writer, musician, and filmmaker. Born in Richmond, Virginia and raised in Houston, Texas, Rucker identifies as a proud Black, queer, and nonbinary person whose gender identity draws from African and Indigenous understandings of gender. They use they/them pronouns.

Rucker began taking dance classes as a young child but was paralyzed by transverse myelitis at age six. Through rehabilitation and what Rucker has described as a miracle situation, they regained the ability to walk and dance, though some feeling in their left leg has not returned. The television series Glee drew Rucker toward musical theatre, and by their senior year of high school they had committed to it as a career path. During high school they received a nomination for Best Actor at the Tommy Tune Awards. Rucker initially studied musical theatre at the University of Oklahoma before transferring to the Manhattan School of Music for Musical Theatre.

Prior to their professional stage career, Rucker gained early recognition as the main vocalist in Jahari Stampley's YouTube cover group, whose recordings of songs including "Save Me" by BTS and "Gonna Be Alright" by Robert Glasper attracted a following. That visibility led to Rucker being selected as a soloist for Billy Childs, a 17-time Grammy nominee and 6-time Grammy winner, to present new work at the Manhattan School of Music.

Rucker made their Broadway debut in 2019 in the U.S. original Broadway production of Tina, portraying Alline Bullock, the sister of Tina Turner. The production received 12 Tony Award nominations. The role made Rucker the first out nonbinary and genderqueer person to originate a role on Broadway, a distinction that also made them the first out nonbinary person on Broadway overall.

In 2021, Rucker was cast as a featured dancer under Bill T. Jones's choreography at the Signature Theatre in Black No More, written by John Ridley with music by The Roots MC Black Thought, and served as alternate for Lillias White in the role of Madame Sisseretta. That same year, Rucker appeared in the short film Major, written and directed by Christopher Betts and executive produced by Tarell Alvin McCraney and Glenn Davis, which received a nomination for Best Dramatic Short at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. Also in 2021, Rucker released a sound healing EP titled Variations in Green on May 4.

Rucker's second Broadway credit came with A Strange Loop, in which they served as alternate for the roles of Thoughts 1, 2, and 3. They recorded a song from the show for the Broadway's Carol for a Cure album, and the production went on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical. Rucker remained with A Strange Loop through its closing on January 15, 2023.

Beyond Broadway, Rucker originated the principal role of Dasia in the world premiere of Amani, a new play produced jointly by National Black Theatre and Rattlestick Theatre, announced in December 2022. Rucker also served as choreographer for that production under the credit BluePrint Choreography. They appeared as themselves and served as a writing collaborator on TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney's Day 365 Live! show at the Rainbow Room in New York, a production that raised awareness and funds for the Trevor Project and also featured Rachel Brosnahan, Dominique Jackson, Jonathan Van Ness, Reneé Rapp, and L Morgan Lee.

In June 2023, Rucker was a featured model in Saks Off Fifth's Gender Neutral Capsule Collection Campaign and in the Human Rights Campaign's Sexual Health Awareness campaign. In August 2024, Center Theatre Group and Deaf West announced Rucker would play the role of Whatsername in their collaboration on American Idiot, alongside Milo Manheim, Daniel Durant, and Mason Alexander Park.

Rucker starred in Dreams in Nightmares, a film by Shatara Michelle Ford, which debuted at the Black Star Film Festival on August 1, 2024, and subsequently screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, the British Film Institute, NewFest, Frameline, Taipei Film Festival, and Champs-Élysées Film Festival, among others. The film also stars Denee Benton, Sasha Compère, and Dezi Bing. Rucker presented an extended introduction for a screening of the film at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts on November 6, 2024.

In March 2025, Rucker's music curation and song arrangements for ERYC Taylor Dance's ETD New Choreographer Grant concert were presented in collaboration with grant recipient Nhyira Asante at the Martha Graham Studio Theater. In June 2025, Rucker acted in and served as Head of DEI for the Sound and Scene cohort film Them That's Not, directed by Mekhai Lee and sponsored by NewFest. That same month, Rucker's debut film Echoes: The B Side was announced as a special presentation at IFC Center in a program curated by Lee Laa Ray Guillory spotlighting short films by Black trans filmmakers. The film screened at The New School Film Festival, where it received an award from Ifeyinwa Arinze, and was selected as an official entry in the 37th edition of NewFest and for the Queer Voices: New York City Film Festival. Deadline reported the film as runner-up for the audience award for Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Short. A screening at the City College of New York celebrating trans voices was accompanied by a citation for special achievement from the New York City Public Advocate. Rucker is currently pursuing a master's degree in Liberal Studies with a focus on multimedia and immersive performance.