Bay Area native stars as Alexander Hamilton in hit Broadway show
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - We sat down with Bay Area native Austin Scott just a couple of hours before the curtain rose at the Richard Rodgers Theater on Broadway in NYC. And while playing Alexander Hamilton on Broadway is a job, Scott will tell you he's living the dream.
"It's the best work I've ever done for sure, but when I step outside and I see the fans or I talk to people and I am reminded what I am a part of and that's, I have moments like that all of the time where I got to pinch myself because I was a fan before I did it and I knew how much I loved the show and now to know that I am a part of bringing that to people, that's crazy," Scott said.
There have been a lot of "pinch me" moments for Scott. His ride has been incredible but unconventional.
"I tell people often, I think I am the worst musical theater person that there has ever been," he explained. "I don't know a lot of shows."
Scott grew up in Benicia and as a student at Benicia High school he says he did more basketball and improv than theater, so you can't call him a theater kid.
"I only did one theater show that last year so I don't think they would call me the theater kid but that dude that did a little bit of everything. I was weird and I was funny and I kind of tried to make friends with everybody," he said.
He has however always been someone who loves entertaining. Scott credits his parents for their unwavering support, "crazy support,' he called it. "I'm so lucky."
And while he didn't do a lot of theater growing up, he did do some commercials and acting.
"I did technically start when I was 8 I would say this is what I wanted to do and my mom and dad started taking me to auditions and I don't know how many auditions I've been on probably well over 400," he said.
Out of those he says maybe 2 percent worked out. But he kept trying all while considering other careers.
He went to San Francisco State and majored in interdisciplinary studies. A year later he got an agent and that took him to Los Angeles. Something he says wouldn't let him, let go of the dream.
"So I think ever since I left high school I knew that there would be some part of me that would never feel fulfilled if I wasn't doing some form of performing. I thought about becoming a physical therapist because that's what my mom does and some other jobs rattled around. I just never feel more like me than when I am on a stage or in front of a camera or something like that," he said.
So he auditioned and danced and sang and then he started auditioning for Hamilton.
"The first time I went out for Hamilton I went out for different roles I think George Washington and maybe Jefferson, a couple of different roles. And I had probably a string of 8 call backs for Tommy and Lin and eventually they were like no, same thing too young for Washington, too whatever, but we like you and we'll keep you in mind," he said.
Two years later, he was asked to read for Hamilton. And the no turned into a very big yes. He was asked to play Hamilton on tour.
"That's the ultimate, yes it's such a huge jump, so fast and yeah I was just floored but I couldn't tell anyone for four weeks." A requirement he stuck to, sort of. "Well I wasn't supposed to tell my parents sorry producers I immediately called my parents and my girlfriend.'
In January of 2018, he made his debut on tour, and then last February, he took the stage as Broadway's Hamilton. He says he had so many emotions when he took the stage that first night. "I'm the leading man on one of the most popular shows on Broadway and I was like don't mess it up."
And yes the turntable stage of Hamilton keeps him on his toes,
"They'll be some times where I'll miss a cue and one leg will go that way and another leg will go that way."
But In the whirlwind of his life the pinch me moments continue.
"Sometimes it's when I come out when they say what's your name and I say Alexander Hamilton and all the lights shift to me and all the focus is on me and sometimes that is the moment and sometimes it's at the end when everyone is clapping and crying and I realize what we just did."