'Rent': Meet the Cast of Fox's Upcoming Live Production | THR News - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

Jordan Fisher, Vanessa Hudgens, Brandon Victor Dixon and the rest of Fox's live musical cast tell The Hollywood Reporter about their favorite scenes, biggest challenges and favorite songs from the Tony-winning Broadway musical.

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00:00In 1996, a musical named Rent debuted on Broadway and quickly became one of the

00:16most culturally important works of art of the time. The musical captured the hearts

00:21of fans everywhere, helped to break down the stigma of AIDS and had a killer

00:25soundtrack to boot. The musical, set in New York's East Village in the 90s, follows a

00:29group of 20-something starving artists who are struggling with identity, sexuality,

00:34addiction and HIV and AIDS and inspired one of the most passionate fan bases ever.

00:39So, the cast members of Fox's upcoming live production know there are a lot of people

00:43out there they do not want to disappoint, especially in a time where the issues explored

00:47in the production are more pertinent than ever.

00:49To prepare for Sunday night's production, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Rent stars

00:53Vanessa Hudgens, Jordan Fisher, Brandon Victor Dixon, Valentina and more about the biggest

00:58challenges they're facing, their own history with the musical and their favorite songs

01:03from the Tony-winning Broadway smash.

01:05I'm kind of the dad of my friend group. I like to have everybody over and cook meals.

01:09That's how I do it. It's very different than Mark.

01:11Jordan Fisher plays Mark Cohen, an aspiring filmmaker and the narrator of the story whose

01:16girlfriend Maureen leaves him for a woman.

01:19The essence of Mark for me is, as the narrator of the story, to allow America and anybody that's

01:23watching the show to go on this journey with him through his eyes, through the lens of his camera

01:28and to see what he really deals with, the actor told THR.

01:31And, fun fact, when Fisher was 10 years old, he told an acting mentor that he wanted to play

01:35the first Mark Cohen of color on Broadway. So, dreams do come true.

01:39I've been there. I've been in Nashville as a professional songwriter for many, many years

01:43and writing that one song that's going to change my career has been a struggle.

01:48Brennan Hunt plays Roger Davis, Mark's roommate, an HIV-positive rock musician and former addict,

01:53who falls for Mimi. In order to get into the character, Hunt has been channeling some of

01:57his favorite rock stars for the role.

01:59I'm a big fan of the grunge era, so a little bit of Chris Cornell, a little bit of Eddie Vedder,

02:03a little bit of Kurt Cobain, but I've also always been a fan of the show, so I love what Adam

02:08Pascal did. I love what Will Chase did. I'm taking pieces of things that I really love what they did

02:13and then my whole little spin on it.

02:15It feels like such an honor to be a part of this show because of the amount of weight and focus

02:21that it has in the LGBT community.

02:24Former high school musical star Vanessa Hudgens plays Mark's ex, Maureen, an outspoken

02:29performance artist who falls in love with the buttoned-up Joanne.

02:32While Hudgens played Mimi in the 2010 Hollywood Bowl production of Rent, this time around as

02:37Maureen, working with Fisher has been a highlight of her experience.

02:41I feel like we both have such a love for musical theater and a love for Rent even before we came to it,

02:46and it really just translates, she says. Also, the fact that we have a relationship already and Maureen

02:51and Mark have had a relationship in the past, it all goes hand in hand. It all works perfectly.

02:57I think the spirit of Mimi is something that I can bring to the table. She's just carefree,

03:01she just wants to have fun, she wants to live her life and just, like, be.

03:05Tanajay will take on the role of Mimi, an HIV-positive stripper and heroin addict who falls in love with Roger.

03:11The singer said she is hoping to embody a powerful but still emotional Mimi. Mimi has these great

03:16performance moments where she's feeling fearless and sexy and like, I am woman, hear me roar,

03:21which is me when I do my stage shows. But it's also been fun because she does have those nuances

03:26of emotion and other sides of her, and to be able to have that juxtaposition, I think,

03:30is what makes it extra special.

03:33And I know Mimi better be wearing some blue leather pants or a lot of people are going to be real mad.

03:37I think it's also really exciting to show what it means to be a hard-working queer black woman.

03:42Kiersey Clemons will be stepping into the character of Joanne, a Harvard-educated lawyer

03:46who falls in love with free-spirit Maureen.

03:48Clemons' Joanne plays tribute to the women who played the role before her.

03:52I'm channeling the OGs, you know, Tracy Toms and Freddie Walker, just trying to infuse the two,

03:57says the actress. They both play Joanne in different ways, and the way that they love Maureen,

04:02it's nice to try to balance out the two. And then, of course, just add a little Kiersey Flair,

04:06whatever that means. I don't know. We're going to find out.

04:09The message of Rent is that love transforms disease, and the foundational message of this show

04:15is that you measure your life in love.

04:17Brandon Victor Dixon will play Tom Collins, Mark and Roger's old roommate,

04:20an NYU professor living with AIDS who falls in love with Angel.

04:24The Broadway vet, who was nominated for an Emmy for his performance as Judas in NBC's

04:28live Jesus Christ Superstar, says,

04:30I always tell people that Rent is the greatest unfinished musical, right?

04:34So the challenge with this show is that you really only get one shot to tell all these people,

04:39an audience that's familiar with the show, something new that they haven't thought about in a while,

04:43and also a whole new audience to this show that have heard so much about it,

04:47and now you have a bar to measure up to. It's very easy to start singing these songs,

04:52but that's not the point. The point is to communicate the emotions and the characters

04:56and the struggle that they're going through, these lessons of empathy, these lessons of love.

05:01Being on this show gives someone out there hope that they can achieve that and do it too.

05:05Valentina is taking on the role of Angel, a drag queen with AIDS who falls in love with Collins.

05:10The RuPaul's Drag Race star knows this is the role of a lifetime

05:13and has been leaning on her on-screen love, Dixon, to walk her through the acting process.

05:18He's there making sure that we're always connected and making sure that I'm okay

05:22and always giving me his professional advice because he's an amazing singer

05:26on what could help me and letting me always know that I'm doing a great job, she says.

05:30How about love?

05:35Mario will be playing Benny, Mark and Roger's old roommate who married into a wealthy family

05:40and is now his old friend's landlord and demands the year's worth of back rent they owe.

05:45The R&B singer, he found it easy to relate to Benny despite having not seen the show

05:49until he was cast in it.

05:51Of course, I was moved by it, he says. Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, you know,

05:55seeing poverty-stricken areas, witnessing a lot of my family members who suffer from

05:59substance abuse and then at 15, 16 traveling the world, touring and seeing the different

06:03perspective but then coming back to my city and realizing like there's a lot of things I would

06:08change about this whole situation. I can relate to that in Benny.

06:11Viva la P-O-M!

06:15Rent airs Sunday at 8pm Eastern on Fox.

06:18To read more about the new cast of the iconic musical, head to THR.com.

06:22For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Lyndsey Rodrigues.

'Rent': Meet the Cast of Fox's Upcoming Live Production | THR News

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