‘Hamilton’ star Renee Elise Goldsberry almost didn’t audition for the role that changed her life [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW]
Renee Elise Goldsberry got her start as a background singer on the hit television series “Ally McBeal” and later earned a pair of Daytime Emmy Award nominations for her performance on the soap opera “One Life to Live.” She enjoyed a successful stage career as well for her work in such productions as “The Color Purple” and “Rent.” But it was Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical “Hamilton” that launched Goldsberry into the stratosphere. She originated the role of Angelica Schuyler in the Tony Award-winning show and on the strength of her show-stopping number “Satisfied” earned numerous accolades for her performance, including a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Grammy Award and now an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress for “Hamilton: The Movie” on Disney Plus. Not that she was convinced Angelica was even right for her when she was first approached.
“The first time I heard [‘Satisfied’] was a demo of it that Lin-Manuel Miranda sang on probably some spare room in his apartment and it was really the thing that spun my head around,” she tells Gold Derby in a new interview. “I was doing some other things personally in my life at the moment and didn’t think about going out for the role because I didn’t think they would cast me in it. It just felt sexier, quite honestly, than I felt at the moment.”
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But the power of the song simply won out. “I heard in that song — I hadn’t seen anything else, read anything else, I knew nothing else — but I heard in that song such a brilliantly perfect dramatic moment. That so much of a characters’ journey could happen in one song.”
Goldsberry’s performance in “Hamilton” was not necessarily expected to garner Emmy recognition this year. But the show’s power proved undeniable to voters, earning 12 total nominations including nine for its ensemble cast. In the Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or TV Movie category, Goldsberry is actually up against her fellow “Hamilton” Schuyler sister, Phillipa Soo.
“I kept telling myself it’s no big deal, it’s no big deal, it’s no big deal. And then I realized how much of a deal it was for me when I didn’t think I’d gotten one,” Goldsberry reveals of how she felt on Emmy nominations morning. The actress had been a potential contender in the Best Actress in a Comedy Series category for “Girls5eva,” but was not nominated for her acclaimed performance. “They don’t announce this particular category on television,” she says of her “Hamilton” nomination. So, “Everybody kept saying, ‘You didn’t get one.’ … So I just thought, ‘Well, maybe next year.’”
But after friends went online to see the full list of 2021 Emmy nominees, Goldsberry was elated to find she had made the cut. It’s her first Primetime Emmy nomination. “It was such a joy, I was so excited, and I’m still just spinning,” she says.
Goldsberry has never actually lost an award when nominated for “Hamilton.” But whatever the result next month, this year’s Emmy Awards mark the end of her awards run with the show. Future nominations for Goldsberry will have to come either for the forthcoming Marvel series “She-Hulk” or Season 2 of “Girls5eva,” the Peacock comedy that focuses on a former pop group who will reunite after 20 years of separation. Goldsberry plays the group’s resident diva, Wickie Roy, a self-styled queen of pop.
“I cannot wait to get back into Wickie’s wigs,” Goldsberry says when asked about Season 2. “I can’t wait to get back into her clothes. I can’t wait to have those brilliant words from [creator] Meredith Scardino back in my mouth. Most importantly, I cannot wait to play with those women.”
She adds, “I have no idea what they’re going to dream up because every episode I had no idea where we were going. I’ve thought a lot about what we could do next and I just don’t know what it is. Baked into the formula, it feels so good and I’m confident that we’ll continue what was so much love for the first season of our show. I feel like I know those women so well and I feel like there’s so much room for them to grow in terms of the deepening of their relationship and the absurdity of what they get themselves into.”
“Hamilton” is streaming now on Disney Plus.
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