In many respects, Andy Mientus became a Broadway star in spite of himself. Although he can be seen as Marius in the current revival of “Les Misérables,” the 28-year-old actor-singer preferred the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash over show tunes as a teen. His early turns in modern musicals like “Big River” and “Spring Awakening” allowed him to show off pop, rock and folk stylings not usually associated with live theater.
“I’m not from a musical family, we didn’t go to musicals and didn’t have those movies or those types of albums playing in our house,” Mientus, best known for his role on NBC’s Broadway dramedy “Smash,” told The Huffington Post in an interview. “For a while, I thought that musicals were just a concert with a story. [‘Les Misérables’] is the first time I’ve ever had vibrato onstage and gotten paid for it.”
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“He’s one of the only out [gay] characters in the DC Comics universe, and he’s incredibly complex and really fascinating. He goes back and forth between his good and bad sides so you never really know what team he’s playing for,” he said. “Hopefully I’ve done the fans proud.”
