Andrew Rannells

Career

1994–2002: Early career and voice acting Active in community theater, Rannells got his start as a professional actor as a teenager through voice acting. In the mid-1990s, 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. He continued to work in the medium for a number of years while pursuing theater. Rannells worked with the New York City-based production company 4Kids Entertainment from 2001 to 2004 and did voice acting for several English dubs of anime series such as Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!,

In his 2019 memoir Too Much Is Not Enough: A Memoir of Fumbling Toward Adulthood, Rannells admitted that playing James on Pokémon Live! was a miserable experience, as he found the character to be an offensive depiction of a gay man. 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. For his turn as Hedwig at the Zachary Scott Theater Center in Austin, Texas, in 2002, he won best actor in a musical at the B. Iden Payne Awards in September 2002, which honor outstanding achievements in Austin theater.

2005–2012: Broadway debut and The Book of Mormon

In 2005, 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. He played Bob Gaudio in the First National Tour of Jersey Boys. His last performance with the tour was on December 6, 2008, in Toronto. In January 2009, he reprised the role of Gaudio in the musical's Broadway production.

In 2011, Rannells originated the role of Elder Price in The Book of Mormon, a musical written by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez. For his performance, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for his performance in the musical's Original Broadway Cast Recording. His last performance was June 10, 2012.

2012–present: Work in television and theater

Rannells played a stripper in the 2012 film Bachelorette and played a lead character, Bryan Collins, in the 2012–13 television series The New Normal. In one of his most well known roles, he played the recurring role of Elijah on the HBO television series Girls.

In 2015 Universal Pictures acquired a comedy that was to be written by Rannells with Mike Doyle and produced by Judd Apatow. He temporarily replaced Jonathan Groff in the role of King George III in Hamilton on Broadway from October 27 to November 29, 2015, while Groff fulfilled pre-arranged filming commitments.

Rannells played the role of Whizzer Brown in the Broadway revival of Falsettos directed by James Lapine. He was joined by Christian Borle and Stephanie J. Block who played Marvin and Trina, respectively. The musical ran from October 27, 2016 (with previews beginning September 29), to January 8, 2017. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance.

He played Larry in the 2018 Broadway revival of The Boys in the Band. It was a limited run, in honor of the play's 50th anniversary. It won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. He revived his role (along with the rest of the revival cast) for the film adaptation for Netflix, which was released on September 30, 2020.

On the television show Black Monday Rannells played Blair Pfaff, one of the leading roles and was also a producer. The show premiered on January 20, 2019, on Showtime. In April 2019, the series was renewed for a second season that premiered on March 15, 2020. In October 2020, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered in 2021. In January 2022, it was confirmed by cast member Paul Scheer that the show was cancelled by Showtime.

During this period, he also returned to voice acting; notable credits include main roles in Netflix's Big Mouth (2017–2025) and Amazon's Invincible (2021–2025). He played Trent Oliver in Netflix's 2020 movie musical The Prom, an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. Rannells' role in Invincible would latter be recast in the fourth season of the show, being replaced by Brandon Scott Jones.

In 2022 Rannells made his London stage debut originating the role of Jim Bakker in the musical Tammy Faye at the Almeida Theatre. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2023. Originally announced to reprise this role for the Broadway transfer in the fall of 2024, he dropped out of the production after contract negotiations failed and was replaced by his Falsettos co-star Christian Borle.

He reunited with his The Book of Mormon co-star Josh Gad for a limited Broadway production of Gutenberg! The Musical! from September 15, 2023, to January 28, 2024.

Rannells published his first book, a memoir titled Too Much Is Not Enough, in 2019. It is a series of essays about his childhood in Omaha, Nebraska, and his years spent in New York leading up to his 2005 Broadway debut in Hairspray. His second book Uncle of the Year: & Other Debatable Triumphs, again a memoir in the form of essays, was released in 2023.

He made his directorial debut with season 2 episode 7 of Modern Love, titled "How Do You Remember Me?" He also wrote the episode, adapting an essay he wrote for the New York Times column (which appeared in his first memoir).

During an interview on a podcast called 4Kids Flashback, Rannells revealed that he was never called up to reprise his role as Tao Ren for the English dub of Shaman King.

In 2026, Rannells joined the cast of the dark comedy crime series Deli Boys, portraying district attorney Andrew Chadwater.

Personal life Rannells is gay, mentioning that he had known about his sexual orientation since high school. He also came out to his theater friends, but not his all-boys Catholic school. The two met the year before while playing a couple in the Broadway production of The Boys in the Band. They reprised their roles for Netflix's film version of the show and also worked together on Black Monday in 2020.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2010 Sex and the City 2 Wedding Chorus 2012 Bachelorette Manny 2015 The Intern Cameron 2016 Why Him? Blaine Pederman 2018 A Simple Favor Darren 2020 The Boys in the Band Larry The Prom Trent Oliver The Stand In Nico 2023 Our Son Matthew Trolls Band Together Veneer Voice 2024 I Don't Understand You Cole 2025 Another Simple Favor Darren 2026 Miss You, Love You Jamie Simms Filming

Television

Anime † indicates the release date of an English language version. This list is incomplete. Year Title Voice role Notes 2001–2006† Pokémon Morty, Harley, Additional voices English dub 2001 Shaman King Len Tao, Luchist Lasso English dub 2001†Tama and Friends Tama Main cast; 28 episodes; English dub 2001–2005 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Mako Tsunami, Noah Kaiba, Leon von Schroeder / Leon Wilson English dub 2002–2006 Kirby: Right Back at Ya! Nightmare, Chef Bookem, Gengu, Herder Cappy, Rick, Narrator English dub 2002 Knight Hunters Eternity Toudou Hijiri English dub 2003–2006 Sonic X E-102 Gamma, Additional voices English dub 2004–2005† Pokémon Chronicles Shinji, Forrest, Tomm English dub 2005† Tokyo Mew Mew Dren, Wesley J., Coolridge III English dub 2005 Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Wheeler the Chimpanzee, Belowski, Additional voices English dub2009†Dinosaur KingD'ArtagnanEnglish dub

Video games Year Title Voice role Notes 2002 Cubix Robots for Everyone: Showdown Conner English dub Additional characters English dub One Piece: Pirates Carnival Bellamy English dub; uncredited 2006 Bully Bif Taylor

Theatre

Awards and nominations