| Jeremy Pope | |
| Birth Date: | 9 July 1992 |
| Birth Place: | Orlando, Florida, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 2013–present |
Jeremy Pope (born July 9, 1992) is an American actor and singer. Pope is the sixth person in Tony Award history to be nominated in two categories for separate performances during the same year, when he received nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his role as Pharus Jonathan Young in Choir Boy and Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for his role as Eddie Kendricks in Ain't Too Proud in 2019, the latter of which also earned him a nomination for a 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.[1] [2]
In 2020, Pope starred in the Netflix miniseries Hollywood, which earned him a nomination for a 2020 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.[3] In 2023, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the film The Inspection.
A native of Orlando, Florida,[4] Pope attended Timber Creek High School and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.[5] He made his Broadway debut in 2018 as Pharus Jonathan Young in the play Choir Boy, soon followed by a role as Eddie Kendricks in the jukebox musical Ain't Too Proud.[6] In 2019, he became the sixth actor in Tony Award history to be nominated in two categories during the same year, garnering nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his role as Pharus Jonathan Young in Choir Boy and for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for his role as Eddie Kendricks in Ain't Too Proud.[7] In 2019, he landed a lead role in Ryan Murphy's new Netflix series Hollywood, for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.[8] In 2021, he also had a main role as Christopher, Blanca's boyfriend in the third and final season of Murphy's TV series Pose. In 2022, Pope returned to the theater, starring as painter Jean-Michel Basquiat opposite Paul Bettany as pop artist Andy Warhol in The Collaboration.[9]
Pope began portraying Pharus Jonathan Young, his character in Choir Boy, at age nineteen. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he described the role's personal significance to him, "as he himself was growing up Black and gay".
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Choir Boy | Pharus Jonathan Young | New York City Center | Off-Broadway |
| 2014 | Alliance Theatre | Regional | ||
| Geffen Playhouse | ||||
| 2015 | Invisible Thread | Griffin | Second Stage Theater | Off-Broadway |
| 2017 | The View UpStairs | Wes | Lynn Redgrave Theater | |
| Ain't Too Proud | Eddie Kendricks | Berkeley Repertory Theatre | Regional | |
| 2017–18 | The Kennedy Center | |||
| Ahmanson Theatre | ||||
| Princess of Wales Theatre | Toronto | |||
| 2018–19 | Choir Boy | Pharus Jonathan Young | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre | Broadway |
| 2019 | Ain't Too Proud | Eddie Kendricks | Imperial Theatre | |
| 2022 | The Collaboration | Jean-Michel Basquiat | The Young Vic | London |
| 2022–23 | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre | Broadway |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | The Ranger | Jerk | ||
| 2020 | One Night in Miami | Jackie Wilson | ||
| 2022 | The Inspection | Ellis French | ||
| 2023 | The Collaboration | Jean-Michel Basquiat | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Hollywood | Archie Coleman | Main role | |
| 2021 | Pose | Christopher | Main role |
A singer known for his passionate vocal style, Pope credits his music aspirations to his early years of singing in church, as well as during theater productions and talent shows at school. He also cites music as a constant mainstay in his life.[10] Outside of his acting and Broadway theatre work, he writes and records his own music. His music gained attention with his first independent single, the self-written, acoustic pop-oriented "Wait For You",[11] which also debuted as a YouTube video[12] in 2015. In 2018, he independently released his second single, the R&B-flavored "New Love",[13] for which he also produced its music video[14] in 2017. That same year, in 2018, he released his third independent single, "Feel So Good"[15] and produced its music video.[16] He is a featured vocalist on "Be Great",[17] [18] the 2019 single by actress and singer Laura Dreyfuss (under her pseudonym Loladre). He is a principal soloist on Broadway cast recordings for The View UpStairs and Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, the latter of which garnered him a nomination for Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2020.[19] Though he has covered music by several artists, including Lady Gaga and Maroon 5, he is said to be working on an EP with accompanying production work from various producers. On May 7, 2020, he released his fourth independent single, a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time".[20]
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| "Wait For You" | 2015 | |
| "New Love" | 2018 | |
| "Feel So Good" | 2018 | |
| "Be Great" - Loladre (Laura Dreyfuss) (Jeremy Pope as featured vocalist) | 2019 | |
| "Time After Time" (Cyndi Lauper cover) | 2020 | |
| "September" (Earth, Wind & Fire cover) | 2020 |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Choir Boy | ||
| 2019 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | |||
| Theatre World Award | Outstanding Debut Performance | ||||
| Tony Award | Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | ||||
| Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Ain't Too Proud | ||||
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance Award | ||||
| 2020 | Grammy Award | Best Musical Theater Album | |||
| Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie | Hollywood | |||
| African-American Film Critics Association | Breakthrough Performer | ||||
| 2022 | African-American Film Critics Association | Best Actor | The Inspection | [21] | |
| 2023 | Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Actor | [22] | ||
| Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Actor | [23] | |||
| Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male | |||||
| Golden Globe Award | Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | [24] | |||
| Independent Spirit Awards | Best Lead Performance | ||||
| Santa Barbara International Film Festival | Virtuosos Award | [25] |
In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named him among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".[26] [27]