Will Chase

Frank William Chase (born September 12, 1970) is an American actor, director, and singer, best known for his work on Broadway and for his role as country superstar Luke Wheeler on ABC's Nashville.

Early life and education Chase was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, to Betty and Jerry Chase, and is the youngest of three sons. He graduated from Western Hills High School and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied conducting with Robert Spano and percussion with Michael Rosen.

Career Chase started his acting career in Chicago, performing in regional theater productions and received three Joseph Jefferson Award nominations. He then played Chris in the 2nd National Tour of Miss Saigon. He first performed on Broadway in 1998 as the Squeegee Man and Mark/Roger understudy in Rent, and went on to star as Roger in the final Broadway company of Rent, which was recorded for the theatrical release entitled Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway. His additional Broadway credits in the early 2000s include Miss Saigon (with the original star Lea Salonga playing Kim to close the Broadway production); The Full Monty (2001); Aida (Radames replacement, 2003–04); and Lennon (2005). Tony in Billy Elliot the Musical. He was also in A Little Princess the Musical as Captain Crewe. In 2005, he played Neville Craven in the 2005 World AIDS Day The Secret Garden concert.

In 2006, he starred in High Fidelity on Broadway, and played Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, for which he received a nomination for the 2009 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor.

He appeared in The Pajama Game opposite Kate Baldwin at The Muny (St. Louis) in July 2007. He starred in Oklahoma in 2007 at the Lyric Theatre opposite Kelli O'Hara, and on Broadway in the short-lived musical The Story of My Life in 2009. Starting in 2009, Chase played the role of Tony in Billy Elliot the Musical until 2011. In August 2012, he temporarily filled in for Matthew Broderick as Jimmy Winter in the Broadway musical, Nice Work If You Can Get It.

At the 2013 Tony Awards, he was nominated for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as John Jasper/Mr. Clive Paget in the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Chase guest starred as Michael Swift in the NBC series Smash. He then went on to star for 3 seasons as country superstar Luke Wheeler on the television series Nashville. His other television appearances include Quantico, HBO's The Deuce, the recurring role of Pat Mahoney on Rescue Me, Cupid, Canterbury's Law, Law & Order, Third Watch, Conviction, and Queens Supreme, Hallmark's The Lost Valentine, alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt and Betty White; the 2011 season finale of Royal Pains (USA); Blue Bloods (CBS); and the ABC drama Pan Am. In 2012, he appeared on the series White Collar, in the episode "Neighborhood Watch", and appeared on the series Unforgettable, in the episode "The Comeback".

He played the title role in the 2013 film Butterflies of Bill Baker, winning Best Actor at the 2013 Chain Film Festival. Chase also voiced the wolf Angee in A Warrior's Tail (2016).

In 2016, Chase assumed the role of William Shakespeare from Christian Borle on Broadway in the musical Something Rotten!, while simultaneously filming both HBO's The Deuce, and the ABC drama Time After Time, in the series regular role of Griffin Monroe.

He played abusive father Neil Hargrove in the second season of the American supernatural horror-science fiction television series, Stranger Things, which premiered in late 2017, and in 2018 appeared in HBO's drama Sharp Objects as Bob Nash.

He starred as Fred Graham/Petruchio opposite Kelli O'Hara in the 2019 Broadway revival of Kiss Me, Kate.

In 2020 and 2021, he wrote and directed the award- winning short film Dagger, co-starring Jack Davenport, and Trunk Show, which featured his children, actors Daisy and Gracie Chase, winning Best Short Film at the 2021 Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival. Also in 2021, he played Michael Friedman in Danny Strong’s Pulitzer Prize-winning series Dopesick.

In 2022, he played Kurt Dockweiler in the first season of Bosch: Legacy. That same year he finished production on Apple TV's The Crowded Room, starring alongside Tom Holland and Emmy Rossum which premiered in June of 2023.

In 2024 Chase directed Mick Lynch's one-man show An Irish Goodbye at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, and in 2025 directed the feature documentary Coming Home: The Guggenheim Grotto Back In Ireland, which won the Jury Award for Best Short Film at the LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival and Best Director of a Documentary at Chain Film Festival. In 2027 he will direct the musical short film Here, Bullet, which he co-wrote with composer Kurt Erickson, based on Erickson's prize-winning song cycle of the same name, which was adapted from the original anthology of 2005 Beatrice Hawley Award-winning poems, "Here, Bullet", by renowned American poet Brian Turner. Alongside Erickson and Turner, Chase co-created and is a teaching artist for Finding Voice & Vision, a creative arts therapy program for veterans, sponsored by the California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2025, it was announced that Chase would be joining Jamie Foxx and Andrés Baiz in the Netflix feature film Fight for '84.

Personal life Chase has two children, actors Daisy and Gracie Chase, with the late Lori Davis, to whom he was married from 1996 to 2008. He was married to actress Stephanie Gibson from 2009 until their divorce in 2012.

He and Debra Messing dated from 2011 to 2014.

Chase has been in a relationship with musician Ingrid Michaelson since 2015.

Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released

Actor

Director

Year Title Notes 2020 Tigers and Young men Music video 2021 Dagger Short film (Best Score-Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival) 2021 I'm Right Here Short film 2021 Trunk Show Short film (Best Short Film-Ridgewood International Film Festival) 2021 Today Segment Director 2022 Lawrence of Arabia Music Video 2025 Coming Home: The Guggenheim Grotto Back In Ireland Documentary (Best Short Film-LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival) (Best Director of a Documentary-Chain Film Festival) 2026 A Gift For Ethan Documentary (Best Documentary-Katra Film Series) 2026 An Afternoon Wake Short film2027 Here, Bullet Short film: Pre-production

Theatre credits

YearTitleRoleNotes 1996–1998 Miss Saigon Chris Scott US National Tour 1998 Rent Steve / Ensembleu/s Roger Davisu/s Mark Cohen Broadway 1998–2000Miss SaigonChris Scott Broadway 2000–2001 Cultural Center of the Philippines 2001–2002 The Full Monty Jerry Lukowski Broadway 2003 Aida Radames Broadway 2004 Lennon John Broadway 2005 The Secret Garden Dr. Neville Craven Manhattan Center 2005–2006 Rent Roger Davis Broadway 2006 High Fidelity Rob Broadway2008 Kiss of the Spider Woman Valentin Signature Theatre (Helen Hayes Award Nomination) Rent Roger Davis Broadway 2009 The Story of My Life Tom Broadway 2009–2011 Billy Elliot the Musical Tony Broadway 2010 Bells Are Ringing (musical) Jeffrey Moss Encores! 2012 Nice Work If You Can Get It Jimmy Winter Broadway 2012–2013 The Mystery of Edwin Drood John Jasper / Mr. Clive Paget Broadway (Tony Award, Outer Critics Award Nominations) 2015 The Music Man Harold Hill Cincinnati Music Hall 2016 Something Rotten! William Shakespeare / The Bard Broadway 2019 Kiss Me, Kate Fred Graham / Petruchio Broadway 2024 Once Upon A Mattress Sir Harry Broadway

Awards and nominations Tony Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2013 Best Featured Actor in a Musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Other awards Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2008 Helen Hayes Award Outstanding Lead Actor Kiss of the Spider Woman 2013 Chain Film Festival Best Actor Butterflies of Bill Baker 2013 Outer Critics Circle Awards Best Featured Actor in a Musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood 2021 Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival Best Short Film Trunk Show (written and directed by Will Chase) 2025 LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival Best Short Film Coming Home: The Guggenheim Grotto Back in Ireland (Directed by Will Chase) 2025 Chain Film Festival Best Director of a Documentary Coming Home: The Guggenheim Grotto Back in Ireland (Directed by Will Chase) 2026 Katra Film Series Best Documentary A Gift For Ethan (Directed by Will Chase)