Luckily Ryan Murphy has a great track record of really having his finger on the pulse of pop culture in a way that very few people do. And he is able to work things into stories in a ridiculously timely way - sometimes, before anybody else thinks it's going to be a thing, he is able to create these moments on television. I was thrilled to get to work with him, and I knew he would be able to tell that story with that same energy.

Andrew Rannells

Categorized in : Thinking People Track

This is a musical, ma'am. If there's no gay, there's a problem.

Andrew Rannells

musical gay problem

So much of being an actor is trying to force yourself into these roles and sometimes it's a good fit, and sometimes it's not a good fit... you have to get clear about what it is that you do and not try to be a bunch of other people. Not try to be that guy or try to play that part; find the roles that you do well.

Andrew Rannells

guy play people

Always my fallback is - I'm gonna move to a poor town and open a scone shop... Sometimes after some bad auditions I think, you know what - time to open that scone shop! Let's start baking.

Andrew Rannells

baking moving thinking

I figure, oftentimes the best way in is through humor, and you can deal with serious situations a lot easier, or at least bring up the conversation.

Andrew Rannells

situation serious

Even though I'm from the Midwest, the majority of my life has been spent on the coasts where being gay wasn't really much of a conversation.

Andrew Rannells

midwest majority gay

I don't want to be lofty, but it was groundbreaking, in many ways, for musical theater, so that was really thrilling to be part of The Book of Mormon . And Girls felt very much the same way - there was an excitement about it as we were doing it; I knew it was something special.

Andrew Rannells

musical girl book

I'm happy to say I haven't received that much negative feedback. I'm always thrilled when I get feedback from young people, particularly from The New Normal, young gay people - when they say they want that when they grow up, that means a lot to me. As a kid growing up, I didn't really have a lot of gay role models on television, so it's nice to be part of a movement that gives some more of those.

Andrew Rannells

growing-up nice mean

My only goal is to make the crew laugh, basically. It's the only litmus I have to know, is this good or not?

Andrew Rannells

goal laughing

I can't wake up at all without caffeine.

Andrew Rannells

caffeine wake-up i-can

I am mildly addicted to Mucinex-D. I feel like I should just come clean about that.

Andrew Rannells

clean should feels

When I talk to Ryan Murphy or Ali Adler about my past or things in my personal life, occasionally pieces of that will end up in the script, and I think that's true of everybody. It's true of that entire writer's room, certainly of Ryan and Ali. I think that he writes really well for actors, for his actors, and he writes to their strengths. I always feel very well taken care of with him.

Andrew Rannells

taken writing past

If you get into multicultural sort of casting for no other reason than to diversify, then it seems false.

Andrew Rannells

multicultural casting reason

I've certainly played those leading man or male juvenile roles, where you're not supposed to make people laugh.

Andrew Rannells

laughing men people

Always my fallback is - I'm gonna move to a poor town and open a scone shop.

Andrew Rannells

towns poor moving

I think Girls is so great, because versions of it are close to my own experience of moving to New York. It's a fun. You know - get to be messy and silly and irresponsible, but also wrap that up at the end of the day and be an adult. It's a fun time, but not necessarily one you want to stay in for too long.

Andrew Rannells

girl silly fun

I used to do community theater with Conor Oberst.

Andrew Rannells

theater used community

I think as a young person, you're kind of game for whatever sometimes.

Andrew Rannells

kind games thinking

I love doing both theater and television.

Andrew Rannells

theater television

Girls was the first television show I got to be a part of, and that was here in New York. Getting to work with Lena Dunham, and to work with HBO and Judd Apatow, and then being a big fan of Ryan Murphy, I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity than this.

Andrew Rannells

murphy girl opportunity

I haven't really made up my mind concretely about having kids.

Andrew Rannells

made mind kids