John Lloyd Young
John Lloyd Young
John Lloyd Mills Youngis an American actor and singer. In 2006, he won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role as Frankie Valli in Broadway's Jersey Boys. He is the only American actor to date to have received a Lead Actor in a Musical Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Award for a Broadway debut. Young sang lead vocals on the Grammy-award winning Jersey Boys cast album, certified Platinum by the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActor
Date of Birth4 July 1975
CountryUnited States of America
The thing early on that you think is 'wrong' with you, that makes you not fit in with everyone else, becomes the key to your career as an actor. Start embracing it.
My mother died of cystic fibrosis before I knew her. I was two years old, and I don't remember her. I do remember, though, when it was just my father and me, before he met the woman who would become the mother who raised me, before my younger sister, Gillian. It was just the two of us, and he was my whole world.
I was the first guest star asked to appear on 'Glee,' which we all know became huge.
My interest in acting came from seeing Broadway shows on summer trips to New York as a child. It was the original production of 'A Chorus Line' in an easy tie with the first 10 -15 minutes of Dustin Hoffman in 'Tootsie' that hooked me on the romantic idea that the impossible, difficult life of a struggling actor was for me.
I did have a falsetto, but I only used it when I was joking around with friends or to annoy my girlfriends, or in the shower, because no one else was around. Or in college. I'd go to karaoke bars and sing Tina Turner songs in the original key.
Something in me was instinctively drawn to the life of a misunderstood, brilliant and wilful artist. I wanted to become one.
During 'Jersey Boys,' I discovered one of the most rewarding ways to use your goodwill is to motivate fans and friends into lending support to charity.
I think that of musicals - especially the big, splashy ones - require an actor that's also part cheerleader, too, and that's really tough to do if it's not something that really grabs you and your heart's not in it.
My natural mother passed away from cystic fibrosis when I was a toddler, so I feel a great deal of empathy for people who are struggling with disease.
It was a surprise to me and a happy accident that it was such a skill [natural falsetto] - a latent skill and that there was a way to exploit it. And it was a key to playing great role Frankie Valli in such a huge show.
It's funny - Frankie Valli's story and that advice that he was just getting from, you know, Christopher Walken's character, is very true for someone who's in a creative field.
I was a Hollywood musical fan as a kid, and I know how rare it is for someone who originates the Broadway role to get to then do it on screen.
I know, for me, you know, my generation - I never would have known anything about Robert Preston's performance in 'The Music Man' if there hadn't been a film where he played the part. I just heard how great he was on Broadway way before my time.
I'm kind of happy to know there may be some kid or teenager now who might never have had the chance to see my Broadway performance, but gets a taste for what it might have been like now, because they can see Clint Eastwood's film."