Andrew Scott Rannells born August 23, is an American actor. He received his second Tony nomination in for his performance as Whizzer in the Broadway revival of Falsettos. The Musical! In , he began starring in Black Monday on Showtime.
Rannells moved to New York City in after graduating from high school, studying theater at Marymount Manhattan College for two years before he started auditioning full-time and began landing roles.
Active in community theater, Rannells got his start as a professional actor as a teenager through voice acting. In the mids, he found work with the animation production company DIC Entertainment through an Omaha casting call. He was subsequently cast in a number of their television productions in main voice roles. When asked about his experience in , he jokingly said that he would have rather starred in a porn film or snuff film instead and that he only took the job for the pay.
Being a gay man himself, he felt the role was not only a hurtful insult towards his orientation, but also a bad role model for any gay kid who watched the show when it was on tour. He also admitted that he only starred in the show because he was broke and needed the paycheck. Before winning his first Broadway role, Rannells had parts in a number of regional theater productions, including Hedwig and the Angry Inch , Miss Saigon , and Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Iden Payne Awards in September , which honor outstanding achievements in Austin theater. In , Rannells made his Broadway debut when he first understudied and then assumed the role of Link Larkin in the Broadway production of Hairspray. He followed this with some regional performances. His last performance with the tour was on December 6, , in Toronto.
