Leslie Odom, Jr. Interview on DCMetroTheaterArts

I still find it odd that Leslie left Hamilton so soon. The way he left and so soon after winning the Tony, I can't help think he didn't leave on his own terms. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but this quote sort of confirms my suspicions.



"I have a Christmas album coming out on November 11th. I’m also in talks to shoot a film soon. Basically, I’m just looking to grow. I’m walking towards things that are challenging. It doesn’t mean my next project is going to be as successful as Hamilton or as popular. It’s not about that but it has to be a place where somebody wants me to continue where I left off. I don’t want to go backwards, that’s all."



Why leave so soon?

Updated On: 10/18/16 at 02:00 PM

Dave13 said: "I still find it odd that Leslie left Hamilton so soon. The way he left and so soon after winning the Tony, I can't help think he didn't leave on his own terms. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but this quote sort of confirms my suspicions.



"I have a Christmas album coming out on November 11th. I’m also in talks to shoot a film soon. Basically, I’m just looking to grow. I’m walking towards things that are challenging. It doesn’t mean my next project is going to be as successful as Hamilton or as popular. It’s not about that but it has to be a place where somebody wants me to continue where I left off. I don’t want to go backwards, that’s all."



Why leave so soon?



Dave19, you are reading way too much into his departure. He obviously had a year contract and he honored it. He was not obligated to stay longer than that.

He wants to move on to other things, he's a performer.

He was in Hamilton for a long time - - - we're talking workshops, then the Off-Broadway run which extended multiple times and then the Broadway. That's a good chunk of someone's life right there.

After awhile it can get pretty exhausting for a performer doing the same show night after night...when they have exhausted every possibility of what they can do with their role a performer ca begin to feel stuck and that can be the worst position for a performer to be in because then they are not giving their best up on that stage. They begin to "go through the motions."

Whatever his reasons were, it was time to go...and he did.

You didn't really expect him to stay in it forever, did you?



P.S. Minnie Fay, you are beyond ridiculous and obnoxious with that trash talk.

Updated On: 10/18/16 at 02:16 PM

Plus, Leslie and Nicolette just announced they're expecting. Sometimes you want to take a step back from a crazy work life to focus on family life with a slower-paced work life. He has his music as well as Murder On the Orient Express.

CarlosAlberto said: "Dave13 said: "I still find it odd that Leslie left Hamilton so soon. The way he left and so soon after winning the Tony, I can't help think he didn't leave on his own terms. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but this quote sort of confirms my suspicions.



"I have a Christmas album coming out on November 11th. I’m also in talks to shoot a film soon. Basically, I’m just looking to grow. I’m walking towards things that are challenging. It doesn’t mean my next project is going to be as successful as Hamilton or as popular. It’s not about that but it has to be a place where somebody wants me to continue where I left off. I don’t want to go backwards, that’s all."

Why leave so soon?

Dave19, you are reading way too much into his departure. He obviously had a year contract and he honored it. He was not obligated to stay longer than that.

He wants to move on to other things, he's a performer.

He was in Hamilton for a long time - - - we're talking workshops, then the Off-Broadway run which extended multiple times and then the Broadway. That's a good chunk of someone's life right there.

After awhile it can get pretty exhausting for a performer doing the same show night after night...when they have exhausted every possibility of what they can do with their role a performer ca begin to feel stuck and that can be the worst position for a performer to be in because then they are not giving their best up on that stage. They begin to "go through the motions."

Whatever his reasons were, it was time to go...and he did.

You didn't really expect him to stay in it forever, did you?

P.S. Minnie Fay, you are beyond ridiculous and obnoxious with that trash talk."

Thanks, Leslie!

For all I know, Leslie Odom Jr. is insufferably arrogant and people in the industry all know it.

But as an outsider, the only impression I have is that Odom is a polite but proud man who was more upfront about his role in the negotiations for more money with the Hamilton producers, and hinted that he might not be in the filmed performances before something was worked out. That suggests there were some tensions, although the impression I get is that it didn't just involve him (see the Bloomberg story). Maybe the producers didn't want him to continue beyond his year, but he also had other plans. And as noted, Daveed Diggs left a few days after Odom Jr., Miranda, and Soo. Goldsberry is gone. Christopher Jackson is leaving. Every Tony-nominated performer is now gone or going, taking advantage of opportunities.

Odom Jr. said the grind of the role - and it seems like a grueling part - wore him down. So now he has a fan base, he's touring the country on an album tour, he just got a film role, a baby on the way. And oh yeah, he got a Tony and Grammy for being the lead actor in the hottest Broadway musical in decades. Things don't seem so awful.

Moreover, he has repeatedly expressed gratitude for getting the part, and praised Miranda for the complexity of the role, especially as a person of color.

And just as an aside, his performance at the end of "The Room Where it Happens" in the show I attended was my favorite moment of any musical I have ever seen. Months later, I still get chills thinking about it.

So if he's arrogant, he has the talent to back it up.

Pretty disheartening to hear him talk about performance in terms of being "chained" down and then "free." Like... really?

Also, I've felt for a long time like he left Hamilton feeling supremely holier-than-thou, and that statement really proves it.

I get what he meant. Live theater is a huge undertaking and if he's going to do it again, it's going to be for only a part that challenges him and makes that commitment worth it, worth the rest of his life, family, his own music-- not "just" to be on Broadway again.



I don't think it sounds holier than thou at all -- life is about choices.

But as an outsider, the only impression I have is that Odom is a polite but proud man who was more upfront about his role in the negotiations for more money with the Hamilton producers

I saw him at a small Q&A at Drama League and this is exactly the impression I got. He was very thoughtful, and quietly proud of his abilities and accomplishments (and of Hamilton). He didn't come across as arrogant at all. I don't think there's anything wrong with a talented person knowing he's talented. I was also impressed that he acknowledged the conflict and negotiations for more money. Nothing wrong with demanding what you're worth, and I admire anyone willing to take a leadership role in something that difficult.

I think he's a great singer, but a terrible actor, and those things often get confused - Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls.