Leslie Odom, Jr. on ‘Hamilton’ Broadway Comeback, Fatherhood and Finding Joy

Summary

Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

Episode: Leslie Odom, Jr. on ‘Hamilton’ Broadway Comeback, Fatherhood and Finding Joy

Date: September 28, 2025
Host: Willie Geist

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Episode Overview

This special episode finds Willie Geist sitting down with Leslie Odom, Jr. inside the Richard Rodgers Theatre, marking both the 10th anniversary of “Hamilton” and Odom’s celebrated return as Aaron Burr. In a warm, nostalgic, and insightful conversation, Geist and Odom reflect on the original run, the transformation in Odom’s career and life, and the emotional resonance of returning to a Broadway phenomenon. Odom opens up about artistic evolution, fatherhood, joy, personal growth, and the enduring cultural impact of “Hamilton.”

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Returning to ‘Hamilton’: Full Circle (04:17 – 06:44, 08:23 – 10:41)

• Odom describes the experience as an “odyssey,” sharing joy in performing with a new cast and revisiting the material at a new stage in life.
  • “I'm having a wonderful little odyssey up here with this new cast of people, revisiting this material at this time in my life. I'm having a great time.” (04:17)
• Coming back to Broadway evokes memories of his younger self, especially the 17-year-old who moved to New York to pursue theater.
  • “That 17-year-old kid... He had a pure heart... he made a way for me to do this. He studied, he prepared, he loved this thing.” (05:08)
• Geist notes the standing ovations, the emotional impact, and the changed relationship with the audience—now seasoned fans who know every lyric.

2. Growth and Change: Comparing 2015 to 2025 (08:11 – 10:41; 14:27 – 15:46)

• Odom reflects on how the pressures of being in a new, unproven show have given way to a “healing cherry on a delicious cake” of gratitude, joy, and celebration.
  • “The pressure is washed away, the worry, the fear... all of those questions now, 10 years later, have been answered, and they've been answered affirmatively.” (08:23)
  • “This celebratory party, this healing cherry on a delicious cake that I've been eating little bites of for the last 10 years.” (10:22)
• Notable Quote:
  • “The only thing that’s left is love... The pressure is washed away.” — Leslie Odom, Jr. (08:23)
• Finding new meaning and depth in the performance, aided by experience, self-acceptance, and greater capacity for joy.
• Physical and emotional preparation has also evolved:
  • “It’s not the same body. I have access to parts of my instrument that I just didn’t have before... There’s a kind of warm-up and cool-down I have to do that I wasn’t so concerned about 10 years ago.” (14:34)

3. The Homecoming: Cast, Ghosts, and Legacy (17:54 – 23:00)

• Returning to the same theater but with a new cast, Odom describes the stage as haunted by “ghosts”—both characters and beloved original cast members.
  • “There’s ghosts everywhere you look... I think that the experience has deepened for me and that there are just more ghosts here.” (18:23)
• Staying connected to his former castmates, even if they haven’t yet seen him back on stage:
  • “None of them have been yet. A lot of them are going to... we’ve never lost touch. We’re in touch all the time.” (21:53)

4. The Role of Host and Teacher: Odom’s Sense of Purpose (23:00 – 27:06)

• Odom articulates how he views the role of Aaron Burr (and his general approach to performance) as “hosting” the experience for the audience.
  • “If you are in front of me, if you are in my space, I just care deeply about the experience that you have, that you feel seen, that you feel valued, that you feel listened to.” (25:07)
  • “I host this evening, it’s my responsibility to introduce you to my friend, Alexander Hamilton...” (25:38)
• He draws a parallel between his work and a hotelier’s hospitality, revealing that before “Hamilton,” he considered entering the hospitality business.
  • “I went to hotels. I was applying to work in the hospitality industry... I care about the guest experience.” (24:35)

5. ‘Hamilton’s’ Relevance in 2025: America Then and Now (27:06 – 32:09)

• Discussing changes in American culture and the Constitution since the premiere, Odom observes that some lines resonate differently today.
  • “We definitely feel there are some lines that hit differently than hit 10 years ago.” (27:42)
• The core message of inclusivity and collective American identity endures:
  • “It just struck me about how this... show is about all of us. It is about the idea of America, and so there’s no one that isn’t welcome here. And we ponder it together... we look at the things we’ve done right, the things we can do better.” (28:28)
• Insight: Healing oneself makes a stronger contribution to the nation as a whole.
  • “As time goes on, maybe the best thing you can do for the experiment is to heal yourself... what is in one is in the whole.” (31:35)

6. Letting Go, Moving Forward, and Artistic Process (34:41 – 41:07)

• Emphasizes the ephemeral nature of theater—the beauty of letting go—and his lack of fear about what comes next.
  • “It is a thing that we are letting go the whole time that we have it... I am not afraid again to let it go.” (35:24)
• Discusses career achievements since the original run: more Tony nominations, an Oscar nomination, bestselling albums and books, and fatherhood.
  • “The world really embraced us... It had things about it that were new and made a difference.” (36:46)
• Recognizes “Hamilton’s” revolutionary impact (“its own little revolution”), educating and inspiring audiences of all ages.
  • “It changed the way people thought... about what they thought was possible.” (36:49)
  • “It really opened the door to a lot of people to go read more and study and be invested and interested.” (37:46)

7. Reflecting on Fame, Impact, and the “Holy Mystery” (41:07 – 43:23)

• On the phenomenon of “Hamilton”, Odom avoids explaining it mechanically—“it’s a holy mystery.”
  • “There’d be Hamiltons up and down the street... It is, it’s divine. It was inspired and we’ve been blessed for 10 years and it’s still going.” (43:07)

8. Personal Roots and Evolving Rituals (43:23 – 47:05)

• Looks back fondly at his younger self’s dreams (“He just wanted a place among them”) and marvels at how much more he’s achieved.
  • “He knew that these were his people... and he just wanted a place among them.” (43:53)
• Compares his backstage rituals from “rolling in hot” to now arriving early and using the Hypervolt massager—playful banter about aging.
  • “I used to get dressed five minutes before... Now I get here... warming it up, checking notes, massaging the knees.” (44:45)
• Strong intention as foundation for success:
  • “A strong intention, buried in the foundation of the work... putting the idea of freedom... buried in the foundation.” (47:05)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On returning to the stage:
  • “On that night, I just imagined [my 17-year-old self] looking to his left and his right and behind and he just would have asked, are they clapping for you? ...They're clapping for you.” — Leslie Odom, Jr. (05:08)
• On joy and making space for feeling:
  • “Joy is a hard thing to take too... Some people... can't find the place even for the joy. And this is a lot... I have more room in my life for joy now.” (19:46)
• On healing and collective progress:
  • “As time goes on, maybe the best thing you can do for the experiment is to heal yourself... what is in one is in the whole.” (31:35)
• On “Hamilton’s” success:
  • “There’d be Hamiltons up and down the street, but there’s not. It is, it’s divine. It was inspired and we’ve been blessed for 10 years and it’s still going.” (43:07)
• On founding ideals:
  • “Words build worlds... These are founding documents that made this nation. Every night we come here, we read from a document that Lin Manuel gave us.” (47:05)

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Timeline of Important Segments

• 00:50 – 03:26 – Willie Geist sets the stage, recounts Leslie Odom's first appearance as the show’s inaugural guest.
• 03:26 – 04:17 – Reunion inside the Richard Rodgers Theatre; setting up the tone of nostalgia and continuity.
• 04:17 – 10:41 – Odom reflects on returning to “Hamilton” and the changes in self and performance over ten years.
• 14:27 – 15:46 – The physical demands of returning; new rituals and wisdom with age.
• 17:54 – 23:00 – Homecoming with a new cast; the presence of “ghosts” and legacies.
• 23:00 – 27:06 – Odom’s reflection on being a “host,” his sense of purpose, and hospitality toward the audience.
• 27:06 – 32:09 – “Hamilton’s” place in contemporary America, inclusivity, and communal healing.
• 34:41 – 41:07 – Letting go, theater’s fleeting beauty, and post-Hamilton career achievements.
• 41:07 – 43:23 – On “Hamilton’s” phenomenon as a holy mystery.
• 43:23 – 47:05 – Early dreams, evolving backstage routines, and the importance of strong foundational intention.

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Tone and Style

The conversation is characterized by heartfelt connection, mutual admiration, playful humor, and philosophical depth. Odom’s warmth, humility, and generosity of spirit shine throughout, matched by Geist’s genuine curiosity and appreciation.

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Concluding Thoughts

Willie Geist closes with gratitude and congratulations, underscoring Leslie Odom’s continued good fortune and legacy. Odom’s journey—personal and professional—mirrors the broader themes of “Hamilton”: growth, community, legacy, and striving to live up to one’s ideals.

Final Toast:
“Ten more. Here’s to ten more.” (49:31)

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For fans of “Hamilton,” Broadway, or thoughtful artist interviews, this episode offers a generous, insightful window into art, identity, and living with intention.

Transcript

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

If you could hear love, what would it sound like?

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[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah, Dad, I think we should. Helping those closest to you think about their excessive drinking. Maybe that's what love sounds like.

[Willie Geist]

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[Leslie Odom Jr.]

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[Willie Geist]

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down Podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. I've got a very, very special interview for you this week with a man who was the very first guest on our show Sunday today, nearly 10 years ago. Our show premiered in April of 2016 and our first guest was one of the actors at the center of the hottest show on Broadway, maybe in the history of Broadway, Hamilton. Right in the heat of Hamilton mania. Leslie Odom Jr. Who plays Aaron Burr to Lin Manuel Miranda's Hamilton in that Broadway musical, came on our show. Couldn't have been a bigger musical, couldn't have been a bigger pop culture thing at that time. And he came on as our very first guest. Didn't even have the podcast back then, so you can't go back and listen to the original. It's been lost to the ages. Archeologists will find it someday if they decide to start looking for podcasts. Leslie now back because he is back in Hamilton reprising the role of Aaron Burr 10 years after it premiered. The show is now 10 years old. He was in it until summer of 2016. Has gone on to big things in the decade since. Of course, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in One Night in Miami. He's released four albums. He's had two children since then. He's written a New York Times bestselling book, been in a bunch of TV shows and movies. Has kind of launched off of the success of Hamilton and now a short run back as Aaron Burr on that stage. So we thought what better place to get together than in the Richard Rogers Theater on Broadway where they've been putting on Hamilton Hamilton for a decade now. We sat together on the stage, same place we walked together 10 years ago and chatted as he was in the middle of that first run and now kind of on the other side of it, he talks about the differences in playing Aaron Burr this Time as opposed to 10 years ago. The audience knows all the songs, they're singing along. It's become an iconic album where they know all the words. And when he comes out for those first several nights, he's the first song of the show. Generally has to pause for a little bit because of the ovation he gets. So, so fun to be back together with Leslie, both of us a decade older and marginally wiser, I guess you could say. Such a smart and thoughtful guy. Think you'll enjoy my conversation once again ten years later with Leslie Odom Jr. On the Sunday Sit down podcast.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Leslie Odom, it is great to see you.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Good to see you.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

This is a crazy moment. As I was telling you, you are kind of one of the founding fathers of our show. You were the first guest on this show almost nine and a half years ago. We talk about you all the time and it's so happy to see you again.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

What an honor. What an honor. What a wild thing. It's hard for me to imagine that somebody would have chosen me as their.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

First guest, but, well, we chose wisely and the show's still here, so you were a good luck to us.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

That's right.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

And it almost lines up with this Milestone for you 10 years later at Hamilton and here you are again. What is it like to be back on this stage playing Aaron Burr, healing?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

It's tremendous. It's just a wonderful, I'm having a wonderful little odyssey up here with this new cast of people revisiting this material at this time in my life. I'm having a great time.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

When you walked out on your first night back, the ovation was so loud you kind of had to pause a little bit. I'm sure after 10 years you had some of the butterflies.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

What did that feel like in that moment?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

You know, anybody that's familiar with talk therapy, you know, eventually you're going to get around to your childhood self and reconnecting with that younger you. And I was just thinking about that 17 year old kid that came to New York City. I got invited to join a Broadway show, a hit Broadway show at the time that meant so much to me. And this was the center of the universe for him. You know, Broadway was not a means to an end for him. He was not doing a Broadway show because he wanted to be in a movie or because he wanted to be on a TV show. This was the TV show. This was the end all be all for that guy, for that kid. And he had a pure heart. And so on that night, I Just imagined him looking to his left and his right and behind and he just would have asked, are they clapping for you? And you know, and he's with me now, you know, and so like in my conversation with him, I've told him, they're clapping for you, they're clapping for you. He was, he made a way for me to do this. He studied, he prepared, he loved this thing. You know, he had a persistence and a diligence that has made a way for me and so I'm very thankful to him. I was just really thinking about him.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Is it true you still have pictures up in the dressing room here of that 17 year old who came and by the way, you're being humble. It was rent that you were in, not just any show.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Just to stay in touch with that kid while you're out here now.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Do I have any pictures of him? You know, I don't have any pictures of him in my dressing room right now, but I carry him with me. I mean, 10 years ago there was. I hadn't even begun to really think of anything like that, integrating my adult self with my childhood self and you know, the handshake between grown up me and childhood me. So that's taken some work. But in my, at home I have lots of pictures of him and that's been the work. That's been one of the, one of them. I think what I come back here with to the, to the Richard Rogers, I'm lighter and more joyful version of myself and, and I make no, I have no judgments about the way the guy did it 10 years ago, that version of me. He also, you know, did the very best that he could and he made a way for me in his way as well. But yeah, I've been just thinking about the kid a lot.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

That's interesting too that you're comparing this performance to the one originally 10 years ago. How are they different as you see it?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Well, I mean, Lynn kind of said it after the Tonys. It's like, I don't remember the exact quote that he said, but, you know, there's. The only thing that's left is love, you know, it's the only thing that's left of it. The pressure is washed away, the worry, the fear. Are people gonna like it? Are they gonna like me in it? Are we gonna be around? Are we going to have careers after? Are we going to stay in touch? Are we going to be friends? Are we going to lose touch with, you know, is that going to be, you know, what was that? Was that real, you know, the film in the middle of the pandemic. The film, you know, Disney plus and the producers made the choice to make it available to people on streaming, which was wonderful for so many people we know. But it was kind of a bummer for us because we had dreamed of, like, oh, man, you know, we're gonna get to get together and celebrate that thing one day. But we, you know, we were watching it at home. Will we get to celebrate that altogether? Will we have that moment? Right? So all of Those questions now, 10 years later, have been answered, and they've been answered affirmatively. I'm celebrating this show now most nights with 1400 people that love this thing as much as I do, if not more. That wasn't the experience the first time around. Right. You know, there was a tension, a good tension, but, you know, it was mostly brand new audiences that we had to. That were kind of with their hands folded, you know, that we had to not prove. But it was just a different. It's a different thing. And that was what it was in that season. And what it is in this season is this, you know, this celebratory party, this healing cherry on a delicious cake that I've been eating little bites of for the last 10 years.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

So what brought you back, Leslie? Because I'm thinking on the one hand, I get why you're back. This is the biggest show ever, and it's so much fun to do, and you're an established star and a character that people love. On the other hand, you did it, and you did it really well, and that has its place in the history of Broadway and the history of art, really. So what were the early conversations like when. Whether it was Lynn or someone else who approached you and said, hey, I got an idea.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Well, I've kind of been. Ever since that first invitation that I got to come to New York, I feel like I've been collecting experiences. You know, how many new experiences can I have? How many new perspectives can I have on this thing that I love so much? And so joining a phenomenon, my question was, I wonder what it's like. I hope someday I get to be a part of something like this from the ground floor. I remember when I was in college studying, and I was like, who gets to do a Broadway play? A play on Broadway? Okay, there's a musical, which I had done by the time I got into college. But if you're in a play on Broadway, I mean, my God, who gets to do that? You must be the greatest actor in the world. Only get to do plays on Broadway. And so two seasons ago, you know, coming back to Broadway with Pearly Victorious, that you guys let me come on the show. So coming back with this Ossie Davis masterpiece, this American classic hadn't been done on Broadway in 62 years, but it was a play right. Where I got to. The only singing I did was through that language. I had to find the melody and the, you know, in the. In the rhythms and the rhymes of the text only. So I got to have that experience. I've gotten my Broadway flop, Warren Light and I did. We did a show called Leap of Faith, which ran for two and a half weeks on Broadway. So I've had that. I don't need any more of those. There you go.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Okay.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

I think we're on the wall. We're on the wall. There's a famous restaurant in town that has a wall of Broadway flops. The only. Only posters of major failures go on the wall.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Wow.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

And Leap of Faith is up there.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Okay. They're not gonna let you forget it.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

So we got that. But this thing, when do you get to do this? When do you get to. I mean, wonderful, successful, amazing shows open every year. You'd be hard pressed to circle the block and find, I mean, to spin the block 10 years later and to find that show occupying the same real estate. It's a very, very rare thing. This is a most likely a once in a lifetime opportunity, an experience that I get to have to reconnect with this work that was so dear to me 10 years ago and really has only deepened its relationship with people in the last 10 years. And it's still here, and I can kind of still do it. And it's not the 20 year anniversary, you know, I can kind of still do it. And so, I mean, when else would I get to do this? You know, the next show that I do that runs a decade? I don't know. You know, that's not something you can take for granted. So it's kind of like now or never, really.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Is there a physical aspect of it? Like, do you have to get ready for this in a way, maybe you didn't have to 10 years ago, for sure. Yeah.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah. A very wise mentor of mine, she warned me before I was in the swing of it, she's been performing for a very long time and she's been able to maintain a certain level of excellence for all this time. And she said, it's not the same body. And it was. Don't, don't think or forget that it is not the same body. You have to take care of yourself. And so preemptively I just decided to take that as wisdom and listen to her. And so I've been taking care of myself and I definitely feel the difference. But in the same way, there's things that I can do now that I couldn't do then. You know, I have access to parts of my instrument that I just didn't have, but I didn't have them before. So yeah, there's a kind of a warm up and a cool down that I have to do that I wasn't so concerned about 10 years ago. But I can also do. I have access to things that that guy really was only playing out. He was only dreaming about.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Right?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Right.

[Willie Geist]

Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Leslie Odom Jr. Right after the break.

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[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Welcome back.

[Willie Geist]

Now more of my conversation with Leslie Odom Jr.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

The. The idea of homecoming is interesting. You've called this kind of a homecoming, which it is, obviously. Back on this stage. Sometimes you go back to homecoming at your high school, and the building's the same, but the teachers are different, the kids are different.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

What has it been like to come back here? But Lynn's not there and Naveed's not here and Chris isn't here, and Renee and Philippa and that original cast. Did that take some getting used to for you?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Well, the nature of this show, the nature of the way Lyn decided to tell this story is, you know, it's really a conjuring of burrs. You know, he's conjuring these memories of these people that have been with him throughout his life. And so it's already a haunting. There's ghosts everywhere you look and, you know, wait for it. I kind of think of almost as. I mean, he's kind of singing in the graveyard about his grandfather, the fire and brimstone preacher and his mother, the genius. You know, everyone who. He says, everyone who loves me has died. I'm willing to wait for it. So those ghosts, I think that the experience has deepened for me and that they're just more ghosts here. You know, it's not only. It's not only Alexander and Burr and Washington and Eliza and Angelica, but it's also, yeah, my. Thank God they're still with us.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

I know what you're saying.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

You know what I'm saying? But their spirits are here. Even when I, you know, David is here. You know, he left something. We endeavored to leave something of ourselves here so that it would go on so that people would be able to pull from it. I mean, take it. It's yours. You know, this new. When we celebrated here on the 6th, there were dozens now of people. There's probably 50, 50 to 100 guys that have played Bird now. There was a time when there was only one or two of us. You know, tomorrow there'll be more of us. So anyway, this experience for me now is about how much of all of that I can hold me. How it's. It's about courage really, because. Yeah. How much of the, you know, joy is a hard thing to take, too. A mentor of mine talks about people that are capacity strapped. You know, some people that like, kind of can't find the place even for the joy. And this is a lot that you talk about that opening. That's a lot of joy to take to make room for that. I didn't quite know how to do that 10 years ago. I know how to do. I have more space now.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

I have more room in my life for joy now. And I've made room for the sorrow. I've had my. You know, I've had my heart broken now a time or two. I've got these babies now that, you know, they're with me to. They're. They're in my mind, you know. So anyway, it's just. It's a. They're all here.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

And. And if I can make space for all of them and all of it, then I'm making good use of this time.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

That's a great way to put it.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Do you hear from your former castmates? Have they seen it yet?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Oh, yeah. None of them have been yet. A lot of them are going to. I wanted them to wait, like, let me figure out what I'm. What I'm doing first. But I hear from them all the time. We've never lost touch. We're in touch all the time. I was texting with Philippa this morning, and Renee and I talk all the time. David and I talk. Talk all the time. Oak, Anthony, Lynn.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

You know, they were excited about this for you.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

They were, yeah.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

I'm sure they were. I'm sure. It's funny, you're so right. That sitting out there a few nights ago, different than it was when I saw it 10 years ago, is these are fans, right. They know this music. That's an iconic album now. For 10 years, people have lived with it. They know the songs back to front. So when you hear the first bars of. Wait for It.

[Ingrezza Advertiser]

The whole.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Oh, yeah, this one, you know.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

And so I guess you're right. It is a little bit of a different experience, I'm sure, for you, even up here, because out there, we all know every word to every song. It's like going to see your favorite band or something, you know?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah. So we can. We jam on it together. We can love it together. I was sharing something that I love. You know, there was something about. I speak of my mentors all the time. You know, one of my mentors, he talks about the thing that you do in your life beyond what your business card says. You know, he has this idea that, you know, some of us are educators. A teacher is a teacher is a teacher. And so while at one point you were a teacher and then you were an administrator, and then maybe you went into sales, and then maybe you started your own business. Right. But a lot of times you might find when you really look back, you're kind of still teaching.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Like, that's what your heart. That's what you're meant to do. And that concept really blew my mind when I thought. Thought about this, because I think, I think about myself, that quite possibly, maybe one of the things that I'm meant to do here is to host. I'm talking to one of the great hosts. I don't necessarily mean like you, but I just mean, I'll say this. When I was like, so shortly before Hamilton, when I was going to quit the business, when I was looking for something else to do, I was thinking, you know, what do my skills, what might I apply that to? What can I do with this? You know, what do I do beyond singing and acting? And I went to hotels. I was applying to work in the hospitality industry. I thought I would start at the front desk and. And then in a few years, I'd be running this hotel. Yeah. Because I care about the guest experience.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

If you are in front of me, if you are in my space, I just care deeply about the experience that you have that you feel seen, that you feel valued, that you feel listened to. And I want to take care of your experience. Right. And so when I think of that and I thought about my responsibility in this show, about Burr's responsibility in this show that really I host this evening, it's my responsibility to introduce you to my friend, Alexander Hamilton, played by my friend, my brilliant friend, Lin Manuel Miranda. I have to introduce you to David Diggs, everyone. Give it up for America's favorite fighting French man. You know, I took great pride in that, great pride in that, in introducing these people that I had such tremendous respect for. And really, the show felt like a friend to me. The show felt like, how do you introduce someone that you really care about to a room full of new people that kind of care, that kind of. I want to prepare the way for you to meet. One second, I gotta tell you about them first. Right? And so, yeah, the fact that I've gotten all this affirmation and confirmation about who I am and what I can bring to this community. The fact that it's tied to hosting, you know, it's like been. It was. It's been clarifying, right.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Listening to that framing, it's so interesting because with a cast that by and large is new to the audience, Right. They have those other voices in their head from the soundtrack. You are sort of the anchor. Okay. There's Leslie. There's Burr. I know him. And you're doing that, aren't you? You're. Trust me, this guy's good.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Just you wait.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Just you wait. Just you wait. Yeah, that's exactly what you're doing. That's so interesting. The other thing that struck me sitting out there is thinking about how kind of different the context of the show is 10 years later, which is. I'm thinking about 2015 and 16. Our country has changed a little bit since then. Do you feel any of that just in terms of American ideals and the Constitution and immigrants? We get the job done. And all those moments that those themes were always important, but feel even more so here in 2025?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Sure. Yes. I think that. I mean, yeah, we definitely feel the audience. I mean, I'm new back. I just got here, but we definitely feel there's some lines that hit differently than hit 10 years ago. But the wonderful thing about this show, I had this experience. I saw the show from the mezzanine for the first time while I was doing Pearly. A friend of mine was playing Burr, and he really wanted me to come see him, so I came. I hadn't seen the show in a long time, and I'd never seen it from the mezzanine.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

And it just struck me about how this. This. This particular show is about all of us. This show's about all of us. You know, it is about the idea of America, and so there's no one that isn't welcome here. And we. We ponder it together, we turn it over, and we look at it, and we look at the things we've done. Right. The things we can do better. But, yeah, that's what struck me in the mezzanine. Sitting higher up, I had this, you know, more of a bird's eye view, you know, because down here, you're in it swirling around. That was what I didn't have 10 years ago. I didn't have any perspective of it. None.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Right. You're in it.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah. What do they like? You guys like this. Okay. You know. Yeah. This. Getting to sit back and getting to watch it at home in the pandemic, and then coming out of the pandemic and seeing people at the airport and how they react to it, and then seeing it up from the mezzanine, it's like, oh, yeah. What Lyn does so beautifully in this show is it starts and it's really about all of us. It's really about the founding of a nation, really about any nation, about the American Revolution, but any revolution. And then in Act 2, it's about one man and one life and one marriage and one heartbreak and one mistake, one tragedy, one death. Right. So it just, it gets, it gets tighter and tighter and more and more personal. More and more personal. That really the greatest thing we can do, that there is something that we're doing collectively in this American experiment, there's something that we're doing all together. And ultimately, as time goes on, maybe the best thing you can do for the experiment is to heal yourself, is to look at what's going on inside you, to look at where what inside you is. Needs fixing, needs washing, needs tenderness, needs loving. Right?

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Because what is in one is in the whole. And so coming back here, a more healed version of myself. I am more useful as we sit down at the table across from each other, more mature, more healed versions of ourselves. There's more we can get done.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Amen to that. Starts here.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

And you go wide with it.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

That's right.

[Willie Geist]

Stick around for more of my conversation with Leslie Odom Jr. Right after a quick break, my uncontrollable.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Movements called TD Tardive Dyskinesia felt embarrassing. I felt like disconnecting. I asked my doctor about treating my TD and learned about ingress, a prescription medicine clinically proven for retention reducing TD in adults. That's always one capsule once daily and number one prescribed. People taking Ingrezza can stay on most.

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[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Take control by asking your doctor about Ingrezza.

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[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Grezza.

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[Willie Geist]

Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Leslie Odom Jr. One of the.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Things I was watching our interview from nine years ago and one of the things I asked you was, are you scared about the end of this because you don't know what's on the other side of it that this thing is so big. How do you follow that up? And you immediately said, no, I'm not. I know what this is. It's a once in a lifetime experience. But I'm excited for what comes after. And boy, were you right. You know what I mean? I mean, you mentioned Pearly. You got a couple more Tony nominations, you got an Academy Award nomination, you released three albums, you had a New York Times bestseller, you had two beautiful children babies. Right? I mean, so did you really feel that way that day or were you worried about what was on the other side of Hamilton?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

I really felt that way, yeah. Yeah. Even this, this time around, it's 12 weeks only and I'm aware of that every show. That's the nature of the theater. It is a thing that we are letting go the whole time that we have it. That's what's so wonderful about what Tommy did with this film, you know, with this gorgeous preservation we have of this record of us here. We're gonna always be young. Tavit's gonna always be jumping off that table, always be the way we were. But normally the theater is a thing that you're letting go even while you're sitting in your seat. It's just this thing that's happening once, one good time. So no, that's just, that's part of the bargain. That's part of the magic of is what it is. And I am not afraid again to let it go. In 12 weeks it will become someone.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Else'S but professionally, you've done as well as you possibly could have hoped. I mean, when I talk about Academy Award nominations.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

I mean, it's gone really well post Hamilton. That's for sure.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

For all of us. That's for sure. The world was waiting with open arms for us. The world really embraced us. And not just the entertainment world. I mean, we. We were embraced all over the world by people who love this thing. And not to put too fine a point on it, but it had. It was its own little revolution. You know, it had things about it that were new and made a difference. You know, it made a mark. It changed the way people thought. It inspired and challenged, you know, about challenged people about what they thought was possible. So it was its own little mini revolution, this show about a revolution.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

So it also taught, which is talk about making history sexy. You got rap battles and R and B songs and Leslie Odom and Lin Manuel Miranda. I mean, I'm not just talking about kids either. Adults are like, wait, what happened with federalism? Oh, right. That was in the rap. I mean, it really, like, yes, for sure. At least opened the door to a lot of people to go read more and study and be invested and interested. For sure.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Absolutely. And, you know, giving credit where it's due to the great Ron Chernow, you know who did it first, Right. He. He highlighted all of that humanity, all of that. All of the foibles and the sexuality and the virility and ridiculousness and the. Right. He did it first in the book and that's what inspires Lynn Lynx. This has to sing.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

You know, so. But yes, it. That was the. That. That was the first layer of it for me. I remember. Yeah. Wow. They've really taken these. Ron Chernow and Lin Manuel have really, like, taken these statues that are everywhere, all around. You know, they've really just pulled them down off the pedestal and reminded us that they were human beings, that they had blood pumping through their veins and. And they. Some of them were slaveholders and some of them were. I mean, that's flawed. Deeply, deeply flawed.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

But aren't we all?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

And. And look at what they did. Even. Still, look at what they did. And so what can you do? I mean, even Burr, you know, people. I mean, I know he's the. You know, he's the villain in this story for good. We need a villain, you know, so he's. But what he accomplished in a day would. Would really. He would be astonished at how little some of us do, considering we walk around with computers in our pockets. You know, that he had to go to. You know, they were, they were, Alexander Hamilton was, was making law, you know, textbooks that people still use, they didn't exist. Yeah, like he was pulling case law and compiling books, books for himself so that he could reference when he would try cases, you know, that lawyers still use. I mean they were, they were writing the books. They were writing the books, writing the history. So my, my guy Burr, you know, on, on certain days, you know, even Burr, I can, I can allow it to inspire me. Okay. You know, there's more you can do today.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Without question. We have that line about the Federalist Papers that Hamilton wrote, the other 51.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

That's right.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

And he's just in there, just. God, they were prolific.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

They were prolific.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

They knew what they wanted. That's for sure. So with 10 years of perspective on that phenomenon, you look back on it. How do you explain the way it exploded, the way it blew up, the way it changed your life? Because sometimes you got to get far enough away from it to look back. Like you just said a minute ago, what was that? How do you look back on that version of it 10 years ago now? And the, just the swirl of these streets being full of fans and I mean they still are by the way, but just that explosion at the beginning when people couldn't believe what they were seeing.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

I don't try to explain it. I just say thank you. I heard this. I wish I could remember who said it. Somebody, Somebody look it up, tell me you said it. But I heard somebody say that. God. The God. You know, like, you know, that word has been used to abuse and just been politicized and. Right. That the word. And it's just a word. It doesn't even get at the thing that we're talking about. You know, maybe we should set the word aside for a while and just refer to it as the holy mystery. And so there's some things that are a holy mystery. There's some things that, because if, if, if I knew we could just do it again and again. We could just repeat it again. Right. We can tell them, oh, this is how we. Baby. Right?

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Here's the formula.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

There'd be Hamiltons up and down the street, but there's not. It is. It's a, it's divine. It is. It was inspired and we've been blessed for 10 years and it's still going.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

You were Talking about the 17 year old version of yourself, kid growing up in Philly Performing Arts.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

You get this phone call at like 16 or 17 years old. I think. You said an actual phone rang in your house, right? Like we had back in the day. You could never, ever have imagined being on this stage or getting that kind of ovation. But what was the dream for that kid? What did he think was possible?

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Oh, he knew that he was supposed to be a part of this community. So it didn't matter to him if he was pulling the curtain or if he was shining a spotlight or if he was helping to build the sets. He knew that these were his people. He knew that those were his friends, and he just wanted a place among them.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

And you got a lot more than that now. A lot more than that. I know you got a show tonight, so I don't want to keep it. What does your routine look like these days? Because I know back in the day, you'd kind of roll in real hot right before the show.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Could you imagine? He was nuts. I used to get dressed five minutes before the. And I know what that was about back then, you know? Like, I sort of, you know. Yeah, it was this thing of, like. Yeah. I just didn't want to sit in it too long. Like, I wanted to, like. Yeah, get dressed, Go. Like, let's hit it.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

I get that.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Weird. Not weird. That was what he was doing. Kidding me? I get here, like, an hour before, 45 minutes before. I'm warming it up, checking notes, see if I have them massaging the knees. Yeah, no, it's. You know, the hypervolt.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Yes, bro. Yes.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

The hypervolt is the mvp that is. Like, me and the hypervault are doing this run together. So. No, it's. It is a longer preparation, and I also am only here for 12 weeks, and so there is something of, like, I'm. So Even the preparation, like, lengthens my time in the building, you know, I'm not. I'm not just running in and running out. I wanna. I wanna stay a while, live in.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

It a little bit.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Feel it. As long as you got the hypervolt.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Those attachments. Oh, my gosh. I'm using all the attachments, bro. There's like. Yeah, there's the deep tissue one, and there's the. There's the light one, the light touch one, where you can do, like. I can do my shins, and I can do, like, my. I could do my jaw, but you.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Get it up here.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yes, bro. The light touch. You can do your face.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Oh, this is not the conversation we had 10 years ago. A couple of old guys comparing notes at the hypervolt.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

It's true.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

When you finish here, you're going back out on tour. Right. That's amazing that you're.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah. The thing that I hear the most about after Hamilton, believe it or not, is these Christmas albums.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

And so, yeah, we. This is our second annual Christmas tour. I hope that I'm able to do some version of it every year, but last year it sold really well. People really flipped for it, so we're gonna go out again.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

You've got a good holiday sound and energy. It's smooth and soothing and all that. You've become a staple.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Yeah, we. We hope that we can make. I mean, Christmas that's perennial and it happens all over the world. So we hoped it would be something that you would like as you trim the tree, that it would be something you pulled out every year and share it with your family. And so far, so good that intention matters, I think. You know, like, if there's anything that I can take from Hamilton, I don't always have Lin Manuel, you know, writing my material, so I can't take Lin Manuel with me. But what I can take are some things about this process that I can repeat, and a strong intention like that, that goes a long way. A strong intention buried in the foundation of the work, buried in the foundation of something you're building, putting the idea of freedom. You know, took a while for America to make good on that idea, you know, but the idea of freedom is buried in the foundation. And so that's a good idea to bury in your foundation. You know, people can come and they can. They can and have helped us make good. Help America make good on those. On those ideals, on those promises. But, yeah, that's what I can take with me. So I bury a strong intention when I'm starting a new project. I create an environment where everybody feels seen and heard and valued. You make sure the writing that the written word, because words build worlds. Those are documents. These are founding documents that made this nation. Every night we come here, we read from a document that Lin Manuel gave us. And so there are things that I can take with me that we can all take with us from. From this success and do our best to replicate parts of it that we can live up to.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

The ideal.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Right.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Yeah. Well, it's so fun to see you back out here. It's so fun to watch you thrive over these last 10 years. And so good to see you again almost 10 years later.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Congratulations. 10 years is. That's no small thing. Congratulations to you.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Thank you, Leslie. I appreciate it. You started it. Good luck charm. Thank you.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

10 more. Here's the 10 more.

[Interviewer (Sunday Sit Down Podcast Host)]

Let's do it at least. You too. See you in 10 years. Talk about the hypervole.

[Leslie Odom Jr.]

Oh yeah.

[Willie Geist]

My big thanks to Leslie for a great conversation. Always, always wonderful to spend time with him. If you are lucky enough to lock down a ticket, you can catch Leslie as Aaron Burr in HAMILTON now through November 26th. My thanks to all of you for listening again this this week. If you want to hear our conversations with our guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday Today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews in full living color. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit down podcast.

[Public Health Announcer]

Here's a question. How can you keep from getting sick with a respiratory illness this season? The good news is everyday actions can help you stay well and stop the spread. Wash your hands, take steps for cleaner air, and try to avoid close contact with people who are sick. And talk to your doctor about what vaccines may be right for you so you can help keep yourself and your loved ones healthy. Learn [e-mail] respiratory illnesses a message from CDC.