Cole Escola

Cole Escola (born November 25, 1986) is an American comedian, actor, and playwright. They are best known for their cabaret work and appearances on the television series Difficult People (2015–2017), At Home with Amy Sedaris (2017–2020), Search Party (2020–2021), and Big Mouth, as well as for writing and starring in the play Oh, Mary! which opened on Broadway in 2024. Escola received two nominations for two Tony Awards for their work on Oh, Mary!, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. They were also named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and won a Laurence Olivier Award when the play moved to the West End.

Early life Escola was born and raised in Clatskanie, Oregon. They are of Finnish and Norwegian descent. When they were six, their father chased the entire family out of their mobile home with a gun, after which Escola, their mother, and their brother subsequently lived in government housing. Their sister was not living with them at this time.

Escola participated in community theater and starred in high school productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Les Misérables, and Little Shop of Horrors. After graduating from R. A. Long High School in 2005, Escola moved to New York City to study humanities at Marymount Manhattan College, dropping out after one year. They subsequently performed at children's birthday parties and worked at the Scholastic bookstore.

Career Stage From 2008 to 2012, Escola was a regular guest performer in the Our Hit Parade cabaret series, and later began performing monthly solo shows at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre. They appeared in Scott Wittman's 2012 cabaret show Jukebox Jackie at La MaMa and played an unborn fetus in Bridget Everett's 2014 cabaret show Rock Bottom at Joe's Pub. In a sketch called Queers in History, Escola strutted "jauntily across the stage wearing a newsboy cap and underwear."

In 2024, Escola wrote and starred in their play Oh, Mary! at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, in which they played First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. It was directed by Sam Pinkleton and also starred Conrad Ricamora and James Scully. The show transferred to Broadway in July 2024, marking Escola's Broadway debut as an actor and playwright. At the 2024 Outer Critics Circle Awards, Escola was awarded the John Gassner Award for Oh, Mary!. The piece was a 2025 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Escola won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 2025, for their performance in Oh, Mary!, becoming the first openly non-binary performer to win a Tony in that category.

In October 2024, Escola was included in the TIME 100 Next list of the world's most influential rising leaders.

On May 26, 2026, it was announced that Escola would be succeeding Catherine Tate in the West-End production of Oh, Mary!.

Television In 2008, Escola met fellow comedian Jeffery Self in New York; bonding over a shared love of theater and 1990s sitcoms, they began creating surreal, semi-scripted YouTube videos under the moniker "Very Good Looking (VGL) Gay Boys." The sketches, in which Escola often played the demented comic foil to Self's straight man, received over 100,000 views, prompting coverage in New York magazine and a development deal from Logo TV.

From 2015 to 2017, Escola played Matthew on the Hulu television series Difficult People, a role that series creator Julie Klausner wrote with them in mind.

In 2025, Escola was announced for the role of Bon Clay in the third season of the Netflix television series One Piece.

Film Escola is currently writing a Miss Piggy film, in collaboration with producers Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence.

Personal life In 2021, Escola came out as non-binary.

Acting credits Film

Television

Theater

Awards and nominations