The first time you saw the show, did you know you'd want to play Mark?
No, that never crossed my mind, especially the first time I saw it. Not even close. I mean, when I first saw the show, I couldn't have felt more removed from these characters. I was 11 years old -- I didn't understand half of the show to begin with, and I was so unexposed to that sort of world…I don't know if I'd ever been in the East Village, and I certainly wasn't exposed to those types of people. I had maybe just learned what AIDS was in school. And even as I got older and I came to understand the show and understand these characters and grew to love the show, I still never envisioned myself in it because I associated RENT with a rock star quality and edginess. I never felt like I was cool enough to be in RENT, basically! And then when the audition came along, and I actually looked at the role of Mark as a person, I came to realize how much I do relate to this character, and I think it does make sense now for me.

NEXT SLIDE