Tomorrow there'll be more of us, telling the story of tonight the Heights! Hamilton mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda wants Grease: Live heartthrob and current Hamilton star Jordan Fisher to play Benny, the role originated by Tony nominee Christopher Jackson, in the film version of In the Heights. The certified genius recently sat down with The Huffington Post to discuss In the Heights' tenth anniversary; the Tony-winning musical opened off-Broadway on February 8, 2007 before transferring to the Great White Way in 2008.
“There’s certainly some incredible young Latino talent that were still babies when we were opening off-Broadway. But I hadn’t thought about it,” he told HuffPo. “I think Jordan Fisher would be a pretty good Benny. He’s playing Laurens for me on Broadway, and he’s a super-talented young man.”
As previously reported, the Weinstein Company-produced big screen adaptation of Miranda's musical is set to begin production in the spring. Also as reported, Fisher is scheduled to play his last Hamilton performance on March 5.
As for whether or not Miranda will take his portrayal of Usnavi to the screen, the Oscar nominee said, “I don’t want to play the role if it feels like it’s not age-appropriate with the rest of the cast. But Chris Jackson and I can be in the background playing dominoes during ‘When You’re Home,’ and that would be f*ing great.”
Spying Heights and Hamilton Broadway alums on the big screen sounds like our new favorite game. Here's hoping we get to play it soon! In the meantime, check out Broadway.com's One on One sesh with Fisher below.