‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ Director Lin-Manuel Miranda On Honoring Jonathan Larson’s Legacy With Support From Stephen Sondheim

The last time Andrew Garfield was shortlisted for Leading Man was in 2016 for his role as true-life pacifist hero Desmond Doss in Mel Gibson’s war drama Hacksaw Ridge. His performance in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s tick, tick… BOOM! could not be more different. In this stylized, unconventional biopic, he stars as Jonathan Larson, a playwright working in musical theater who died in January 1996 on the morning of the biggest day of his life—the first preview of his Broadway hit Rent. Many expected tick, tick… BOOM! to tell the story of that artistic and commercial triumph, but no—it tells instead of the myriad failures that Larson experienced, with dogged determination, in the run-up.

The Oscar nominations in the Original Song category unveiled Tuesday feature a high-wattage lineup that sets up intriguing potential performances at next month’s Oscarcast.

Lin Manuel-Miranda is so close to hitting a major milestone!

The 2022 Oscar nominations are in.

The 2022 Oscar nominations are in.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorLin-Manuel Miranda is one step closer to achieving EGOT status after earning an Oscar nomination in the best original song category for “Encanto’s” “Dos Oruguitas.” Miranda already has Emmy, Tony and Grammy awards.Should he succeed in winning the Oscar, he would join the elite group of artists who have achieved the status, including John Legend, Marvin Hamlisch and Robert Lopez. Composer Alan Menken was the most recent artist to achieve EGOT status in 2020, when he won an Emmy for outstanding original song in a children’s, young adult or animated program for “Waiting in the Wings” from Disney’s “Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure.”Miranda also has the rare distinction of winning a Pulitzer Prize for “Hamilton.” There are currently only two other people in the world who hold that honor, Hamlisch and Richard Rodgers.

Lin-Manuel Miranda saw his second career Oscar nomination today in the Best Song Category for “Dos Oruguitas” from the Disney animated movie Encanto, putting him on track once again to reach EGOT status. Encanto counted three noms this morning overall with noms for Best Animated Feature and Germaine Franco’s Original Score.

Clayton Davis Sensing a potential trend in the possible nominations of three major Oscars categories — best director, actor and actress — we could see a first-time occurrence for the Academy Awards on Tuesday. However, if you read the tea leaves put forth by the nominations for the DGA and SAG, there’s a strong possibility that all three of those categories may not include a first-time nominee — a first in Oscar history.For best actor, the SAG lineup recognized all former nominees and winners — Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”), Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick … Boom!”), Will Smith (“King Richard”) and Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”).

Wilson Chapman editorLin-Manuel Miranda will receive the 2022 Changemaker Award from the Greenwich International Film Festival, the festival announced Thursday. The Pulitzer Prize-winning “Hamilton” creator has been selected for the Changemaker award for his work with the Miranda Family Fund, which supports causes such as education, the arts and social justice, and has been particularly focused on rebuilding efforts in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Marlee Matlin (“CODA”) and Bradley Whitford (“Tick, Tick … Boom!”) sat down for a virtual chat for Variety’s Actors on Actors, presented by Amazon Studios. For more, click here.They met 20 years ago in a fictional Oval Office and have stayed real friends. On Aaron Sorkin’s hit TV drama “The West Wing,” Bradley Whitford played deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman, who crushes on Marlee Matlin’s whiz pollster Joey Lucas.

Hulu has given an eight-episode series order to Up Here, a musical romantic comedy from Tony-winning playwright Steven Levenson (tick, tick… BOOM!), Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (The Carmichael Show, My Name Is Earl), Tony-winning Hamilton director Thomas Kail and Oscar, Emmy and Grammy-winning duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (Frozen, WandaVision). 20th Television and Kail’s Old 320 Sycamore Productions co-produce the series, which is currently casting with production set to begin this summer in New York.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorIn “Tick, Tick, …Boom!” the song “Therapy” is performed by Jonathan Larson, played by Andrew Garfield and Karessa played by Vanessa Hudgens. The number intercuts mid-argument between Larson and girlfriend Susan (Alexandra Shipp), as they fight over Jonathan’s reluctance to understand that he has been shutting Susan out of his life as his musical’s workshop gets closer.Director Lin-Manuel Miranda says the song, a Fosse-style inspired moment, is a charming number that pokes fun at counselor therapy speak, and the best way to tell your partner you’re ticked off at them.

What do Jennifer Lopez, Steph Curry, and former First LadyMichelle Obama all have in common? They want you to get out and vote in the 2022 midterm elections! The 58-year-old former first lady named J.Lo, 52 and Steph, 33, as well as musicians H.E.R., Bretman Rock, and Becky G as co-chairs for her When We All Vote organization and called on fans to make sure they’re ready to cast their ballots in the 2022 midterm elections in November.

elections.“Are you ready for the midterm elections?” the former first lady asks in a video announcement Monday.H.E.R., Curry, Lopez, Becky G and Bretman Rock are the newest co-chairs of Obama's When We All Vote initiative. They join Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks, Liza Koshy, Janelle Monae, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chris Paul, Megan Rapino, Shonda Rhimes, Kerry Washington and Rita Wilson.The volunteer co-chairs use their platforms to help boost voter registration and education with the goal of helping increase turnout for congressional and state elections in November.

Lin-Manuel Miranda made a virtual appearance on “The Tonight Show”, which led to an embarrassing moment while playing a musical game with host Jimmy Fallon.

Lin-Manuel Miranda could see right through Andrew Garfield‘s lie!

EXCLUSIVE: Killing Eve and A Discovery Of Witches star Edward Bluemel, Dune actress Sharon Duncan-Brewster and newcomer Eddie Karanja (After Ever After) have joined Sterling K. Brown, Iola Evans and Ernest Kingsley Jr as series regulars in Hulu drama series Washington Black, we can reveal.