Alex Newell

Alex Eugene Newell (born August 20, 1992) is an American actor and singer. They are known for their role as Unique Adams on the Fox musical series Glee and Mo on Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Newell also starred as Asaka in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island at the Circle in the Square Theatre in 2018. For their role in Shucked, Newell won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Newell and J. Harrison Ghee were the first openly non-binary actors to be nominated for and win the Tony Award.

As a singer, Newell has released tracks with Clean Bandit, Blonde, and The Knocks.

Early life Alex Newell was born on August 20, 1992, in Lynn, Massachusetts. Newell's father, a deacon, died of cancer when they were six years old, and Newell was subsequently raised by their single parent mother.

After four years of education in the first class of Kipp Lynn Academy, Newell moved on to and graduated from Bishop Fenwick High School in 2012, where they were involved with the school's choir, improv club, and costume club. Newell was also a member of the church choir at Zion Baptist Church in Lynn, Massachusetts, later also directing the youth choir. Newell had no formal voice lessons before working on Glee, and has credited Donna Summer, Sylvester, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, and Beyoncé as influences. Eventually, they became the series’ first runner-up. Nevertheless, the producers were so impressed that they decided to bring them on Glee for two episodes. Newell first appeared on Glee in the third season episode "Saturday Night Glee-ver". They were cast in the role of Wade "Unique" Adams, a transgender teenager who was assigned male at birth. The shy, outcast Wade expressed their female identity through music as the bold, brave alter ego, Unique. Wade broke ground by being one of the most visible transgender characters on television and one of the first on a network prime time show. Newell's performance was described as "bold", with "remarkable restraint and powerful vocals."

On his nightly show The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly expressed concern that children watching the show unsupervised might be encouraged to experiment with what he termed "alternative lifestyles," which he said the show glorified. Newell commented, "My mother said, 'If Bill O'Reilly said something about you, you are doing something right.' He just showed the public and conservative viewers me. There are more people seeing me now... There are people like Wade and Unique, and [they're] being themselves. If kids want to go and do that, that is them expressing who they are." In the sixth and final season, Newell was not a part of the regular cast, but did appear as a recurring guest star. A highlight of the sixth season was Newell singing "I Know Where I've Been" from Hairspray with the Transpersons Choir of 200 performers in the episode "Transitioning".

2014–2016: Music career and Power EP Over the years, Newell sang at numerous events, such as the Coachella Festival, but also at many LGBT events and pride festivals. They also performed at the Governors Ball Music Festival and BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend.

Newell announced in October 2013 that they had been signed by Big Beat Records and that they were going to release Newell's debut album. It was also revealed that it was going to be produced by Adam Anders. Their debut single, a cover of Sigma's "Nobody to Love", was released on June 3, 2014.

In 2015, Newell embarked on a series of cover songs and collaborations. In March, they alongside Sean Bass provided feature vocals for the re-issued version of "Stronger", a song by Clean Bandit for their re-release of their album New Eyes. Later in the same month, they produced a disco-house stylization of Robin S.'s single "Show Me Love" together with Russian DJ Matvey Emerson. Over the summer, they worked with the British electro duo Blonde by featuring vocals in their single "All Cried Out". They then began to collaborate with the US electro duo the Knocks on the song "Collect My Love", "a soaring disco standout" where they reached "staggering heights."

"This Ain't Over" was announced as the first track off their debut extended play called Power, featuring production from the pop artists Diane Warren, Nile Rodgers, MNEK and DJ Cassidy.

Newell supported fellow Glee alum Adam Lambert on The Original High Tour from February 23 until the April 2 finale at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre in 2016.

In 2019, Newell was cast in NBC's musical dramedy Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist in the role of Mo, a genderfluid DJ and the protagonist Zoey Clarke (Jane Levy)'s next-door neighbor. In June 2021, the series was canceled by NBC after two seasons. In December 2021, The Roku Channel released a two-hour holiday film, Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas, concluding the story of the NBC series. Newell reprised their role of Mo for the film.

In 2023, Newell premiered in the role of Lulu in the musical comedy Shucked on Broadway in the Nederlander Theatre. The show opened April 4, 2023, and ran through January 14, 2024. In June 2023, they won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for their performance in the role at the 76th Tony Awards. They and J. Harrison Ghee for Some Like It Hot were the first openly non-binary actors to be nominated for and win a Tony Award. These concerts featured a guest appearance from Marisha Wallace.

Other work and awards Newell played the title role in NBC's comedy pilot Imaginary Friend, which was expected to air in 2016. It was passed on and no other network picked it up so it did not air. They contributed with music to the HBO TV series Vinyl on a track also featuring DJ Cassidy and Jess Glynne.

They are committed to helping other LGBT youth and regularly performs at benefit concerts, most notably for The Trevor Project,

Personal life Newell is gender nonconforming, and in May 2020 said they relate to their character Mo in Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, who is genderfluid. Newell has said they go by all pronouns, and identifies as gay.

Discography

EPs + List of albums, with selected information Title Album details Peak chart positions USDance/ USHeat PowerReleased: February 19, 2016 Label: Atlantic Records Formats: digital download411

Singles As lead artist

As featured artist

Soundtrack album appearances Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2 (2011; 20th Century Fox, Columbia) Glee: The Music, The Complete Season 3 (2012; 20th Century Fox, Columbia) Glee: The Music, The Complete Season 4 (2013; 20th Century Fox, Columbia) Glee Sings the Beatles (2013; 20th Century Fox, Columbia) Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical (World Premiere Cast Recording) (2016; Sony) Once On This Island (New Broadway Cast Recording) (2018; Broadway) Music From Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2021; Lakeshore) Shucked (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (2023; Haystack on Broadway, Masterworks Broadway) Hazbin Hotel: Season Two (Original Soundtrack) (2025)

Soundtrack EP appearances Britney 2.0 (2012; 20th Century Fox, Columbia) Glee: The Music Presents Glease (2012; 20th Century Fox, Columbia) A Katy or a Gaga (Music from the Episode) (2013; 20th Century Fox, Columbia) Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 4 (2013; 20th Century Fox, Columbia) Glee: The Music, City of Angels (2013; 20th Century Fox, Columbia) Glee: The Music, Transitioning (2014; 20th Century Fox, Columbia) Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 1, Episode 4 (Music From the Original TV Series) (2020; Lionsgate, Republic) Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 1, Episode 7 (Music From the Original TV Series) (2020; Lionsgate, Republic) Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 1, Episode 11 (Music From the Original TV Series) (2020; Lionsgate, Republic) Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 1, Episode 12 (Music From the Original TV Series) (2020; Lionsgate, Republic) Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 2, Episode 2 (Music From the Original TV Series) (2021; Lionsgate) Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 2, Episode 6 (Music From the Original TV Series) (2021; Lionsgate) Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 2, Episode 9 (Music From the Original TV Series) (2021; Lionsgate) Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 2, Episode 10 (Music From the Original TV Series) (2021; Lionsgate) Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 2, Episode 12 (Music From the Original TV Series) (2021; Lionsgate)

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theater

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result Screen Actor's Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy SeriesGlee Grammy Award Best Musical Theater Album Once on This Island Critics' Choice Television Award Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Performance in a MusicalShucked Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical Tony Awards Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Grammy Awards Best Musical Theater Album