Jeremy Pope (born July 9, 1992) is an American actor and singer. Pope is the sixth person in Tony Award history to be nominated in two categories for separate performances during the same year, when he received nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his role as Pharus Jonathan Young in Choir Boy and Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for his role as Eddie Kendricks in Ain't Too Proud in 2019, the latter of which also earned him a nomination for a 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.[1][2]

Jeremy Pope
Pope in 2019
Born (1992-07-09) July 9, 1992 (age 31)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
Years active2013–present

In 2020, Pope starred in the Netflix miniseries Hollywood, which earned him a nomination for a 2020 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.[3] In 2023, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the film The Inspection.

Life and acting career edit

A native of Orlando, Florida,[4] Pope attended Timber Creek High School and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.[5] He made his Broadway debut in 2018 as Pharus Jonathan Young in the play Choir Boy, soon followed by a role as Eddie Kendricks in the jukebox musical Ain't Too Proud.[6] In 2019, he became the sixth actor in Tony Award history to be nominated in two categories during the same year, garnering nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his role as Pharus Jonathan Young in Choir Boy and for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for his role as Eddie Kendricks in Ain't Too Proud.[7] In 2019, he landed a lead role in Ryan Murphy's new Netflix series Hollywood, for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.[3][8] In 2021, he also had a main role as Christopher, Blanca's boyfriend in the third and final season of Murphy's TV series Pose. In 2022, Pope returned to the theater, starring as painter Jean-Michel Basquiat opposite Paul Bettany as pop artist Andy Warhol in The Collaboration.[9]

Personal life edit

Pope began portraying Pharus Jonathan Young, his character in Choir Boy, at age nineteen. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he described the role's personal significance to him, "as he himself was growing up Black and gay".[6]

Acting credits edit

Theatre edit

Year Title Role Venue Notes
2013 Choir Boy Pharus Jonathan Young New York City Center Off-Broadway
2014 Alliance Theatre Regional
Geffen Playhouse
2015 Invisible Thread Griffin Second Stage Theater Off-Broadway
2017 The View UpStairs Wes Lynn Redgrave Theater
Ain't Too Proud Eddie Kendricks Berkeley Repertory Theatre Regional
2017–18 The Kennedy Center
Ahmanson Theatre
Princess of Wales Theatre Toronto
2018–19 Choir Boy Pharus Jonathan Young Samuel J. Friedman Theatre Broadway
2019 Ain't Too Proud Eddie Kendricks Imperial Theatre
2022 The Collaboration Jean-Michel Basquiat The Young Vic London
2022–23 Samuel J. Friedman Theatre Broadway

Film edit

Year Title Role Notes
2018 The Ranger Jerk
2020 One Night in Miami Jackie Wilson
2022 The Inspection Ellis French
2023 The Collaboration Jean-Michel Basquiat Post-production

Television edit

Year Title Role Notes
2020 Hollywood Archie Coleman Main role
2021 Pose Christopher Main role

Music edit

A singer known for his passionate vocal style, Pope credits his music aspirations to his early years of singing in church, as well as during theater productions and talent shows at school. He also cites music as a constant mainstay in his life.[10] Outside of his acting and Broadway theatre work, he writes and records his own music. His music gained attention with his first independent single, the self-written, acoustic pop-oriented "Wait For You",[11] which also debuted as a YouTube video[12] in 2015. In 2018, he independently released his second single, the R&B-flavored "New Love",[10][13] for which he also produced its music video[14] in 2017. That same year, in 2018, he released his third independent single, "Feel So Good"[15] and produced its music video.[16] He is a featured vocalist on "Be Great",[17][18] the 2019 single by actress and singer Laura Dreyfuss (under her pseudonym Loladre). He is a principal soloist on Broadway cast recordings for The View UpStairs and Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, the latter of which garnered him a nomination for Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2020.[19] Though he has covered music by several artists, including Lady Gaga and Maroon 5, he is said to be working on an EP with accompanying production work from various producers.[10] On May 7, 2020, he released his fourth independent single, a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time".[20]

Singles discography edit

Title Year
"Wait For You" 2015
"New Love" 2018
"Feel So Good" 2018
"Be Great" - Loladre (Laura Dreyfuss) (Jeremy Pope as featured vocalist) 2019
"Time After Time" (Cyndi Lauper cover) 2020
"September" (Earth, Wind & Fire cover) 2020

Accolades edit

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2013 Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Choir Boy Nominated
2019 Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role in a Play Nominated
Theatre World Award Outstanding Debut Performance Won
Tony Award Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play Nominated
Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical Ain't Too Proud Nominated
Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Award Nominated
2020 Grammy Award Best Musical Theater Album Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Hollywood Nominated
African-American Film Critics Association Breakthrough Performer Won
2022 African-American Film Critics Association Best Actor The Inspection Won [29]
2023 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Actor Nominated [30]
Black Reel Awards Outstanding Actor Won [31]
Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male Won
Golden Globe Award Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated [32]
Independent Spirit Awards Best Lead Performance Nominated
Santa Barbara International Film Festival Virtuosos Award Won [34]

In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named him among the fifty heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people”.[35][36]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Facts & Trivia". www.tonyawards.com. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  2. ^ "Jeremy Pope". GRAMMY.com. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  3. ^ a b "72nd Emmy Awards Complete Nomination List" (PDF). Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  4. ^ Palm, Matthew J. (January 8, 2019). "Central Florida actor makes Broadway debut... times two". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  5. ^ "Jeremy Pope Is the Breakout Star of the Broadway Season". The Hollywood Reporter. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  6. ^ a b "Jeremy Pope is Broadway's MVP this season, and that's an amazing thing". EW.com. Retrieved 2019-06-15. the play asked a lot of the then-teenage-aged Pope, he tells EW, as he himself was growing up black and gay.
  7. ^ "Facts & Trivia". www.tonyawards.com. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  8. ^ Sneider, Jeff (2019-09-04). "Exclusive: Ryan Murphy's 'Hollywood' to Star Broadway Sensation Jeremy Pope". Collider. Retrieved 2019-09-04.
  9. ^ Maitland, Hayley (February 2, 2022). "Jeremy Pope On Bringing Jean-Michel Basquiat Back To Life At The Young Vic". British Vogue. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
  10. ^ a b c "Interview: Jeremy Pope introduces himself to R&B fans with 'New Love'". AXS. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  11. ^ "Wait For You - Single by Jeremy Pope". Apple Music. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  12. ^ "Jeremy Pope - Wait For You (Acoustic)". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  13. ^ "New Love - Single by Jeremy Pope". Apple Music. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  14. ^ "Jeremy Pope - New Love". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  15. ^ "Feel So Good - Single by Jeremy Pope". Apple Music. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  16. ^ "Jeremy Pope - Feel So Good". YouTube/Vevo. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  17. ^ "Be Great (feat. Jeremy Pope) by Laura Dreyfuss". Apple Music. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  18. ^ "[OFFICIAL] LOLADRE - "Be Great ft. Jeremy Pope"". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  19. ^ "2019 GRAMMY Awards Winners & Nominees for Best Musical Theater Album". GRAMMY.COM. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  20. ^ "Time After Time - Single by Jeremy Pope". Apple Music. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  21. ^ "Jeremy Pope Biography". Broadway World.
  22. ^ Skethway, Nathan (May 24, 2019). "Inside the 2019 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill.
  23. ^ McPhee, Ryan (May 2, 2019). "Jeremy Pope, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Bonnie Milligan, More Earn 2019 Theatre World Awards". Playbill.
  24. ^ a b McPhee, Ryan. "2019 Tony Award Nominations: Hadestown and Ain't Too Proud Lead the Pack" Playbill, April 30, 2019
  25. ^ "Network's Bryan Cranston, Hadestown Among 2019 Drama League Award Winners". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  26. ^ Meyer, Dan (January 26, 2020). "Hadestown Cast Recording Wins 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  27. ^ Hipes, Patrick (2020-07-28). "Emmy Awards Nominations: The Complete List". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  28. ^ Licuria, Rob (2020-08-23). "2nd Annual AAFCA TV Honors: Winners are Sterling K. Brown, Viola Davis, 'Insecure,' 'For Life'". GoldDerby. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
  29. ^ Complex, Valerie (December 8, 2022). "The Woman King Tops The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) List of the Ten Best Films of the Year". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  30. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (January 5, 2023). "'Banshees of Inisherin,' 'Everything Everywhere,' 'Women Talking' Tie for Most Wins at Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards". Variety. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  31. ^ Complex, Valerie (December 15, 2022). "Black Reel Awards Nominations Announced For 23rd Annual Ceremony; 'The Woman King' And 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Lead With 14 Nominations". Deadline. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  32. ^ "Golden Globes Reactions: The Silence Is Deafening". Deadline. December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  33. ^ Fang Tham, Su (November 22, 2022). "They're Finally Here! The 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards Film Nominations Announced!". FilmIndependent. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  34. ^ "Austin Butler, Ke Huy Quan and More Among Santa Barbara International Film Festival Virtuosos Award Honorees". Variety. November 1, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  35. ^ "Queerty Pride50 2020 Honorees". Queerty. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  36. ^ Reddish, David (2020-06-01). "Meet the world-class performers who are diversifying LGBTQ representation". Queerty. Retrieved 2020-07-28.

External links edit