Grant Gustin's Ride with Water for Elephants Is Nearly Done, But a Broadway Group Chat Is Forever

Three weeks out from his final performance as Water for Elephants’ circus stowaway Jacob Jankowski, Grant Gustin spent a breathless 48 hours at home in Los Angeles for his daughter’s third birthday. Twenty-four hours in, “Purple Carpet Vs. the People”—his group chat with costars Isabelle McCalla and Paul Alexander Nolan—was already awash in birthday content (McCalla apparently laid claim to a dressing room with particularly hideous purple carpeting and the legacy lives on). “We’re like siblings,” Gustin said of his onstage love triangle, with whom he’ll be performing for the last time on September 1 (Kyle Selig takes over the lead role September 3). “It’s been a lot of fun.”

As Gustin’s Broadway debut, Water for Elephants put a button on his decade as TV’s the Flash. “I underestimated how hard it would be,” he said of the physically and vocally demanding role that is constantly surprising him with new aches and pains. But it’s exactly what he was looking for when he packed up his car and drove east last winter. “I knew I wanted theater,” he said, looking back to the cross-country trip that kicked off this new chapter of his career. “I felt like I needed it to wake me up again as an actor.” Six months of a Broadway schedule has left him wide awake—and with a new baby ready to greet him the moment he steps off stage, he may never sleep again.

Read more highlights from Gustin's time on Broadway, including the show's most iconic line flub, its most illustrious backstage visitor and the circus job Gustin could confidently jump into at a moment's notice. 

After September 1, what's the most mundane thing you'll miss about going to the Imperial Theatre every day?

I probably don't even know exactly what little things are that I'll miss right now. I've got a lot of tattoos on all my arms, and I cover them for the show and I'm sure just the act of being alone in my room, starting that process. Doing the steps where I’m by myself before all the craziness starts.

Which of the Water for Elephants songs do you think will take the longest to get out of your head?

It all depends on my daughter. They've been doing the album every night at bedtime. I thought my wife was exaggerating, but I’m home so I was doing bedtime with her last night and my daughter was so excited to prove to me that she knew all of these songs—and she does. She can sing the whole album. So it depends on the day, but probably “Silver Stars.” It's my one big solo ballad moment and I think that's probably the one my daughter sings the most. And during the rehearsal process, “Silver Stars” was the one that I was drilling the most, so I feel like “Silver Stars” is going to be the hardest to kick out of my body.

What's been the most memorable onstage mishap?

Paul presents Izzy with a box of jewelry right before he sings “You've Got Nothing” in Act 2 and she says, “You shouldn't have.” And he says, “How do you know? It could be a can opener.” One show months ago, the two of us could see the word leave his brain. And he's like, “How do you know? It could be a candlestick.” Somehow, it happened again three weeks ago. I left a note in his dressing room the first time it happened that just said, “How do you know? It could be a candlestick” and I dated it. It's hanging on his mirror.

Who was your favorite backstage visitor?

Probably [Steven] Spielberg. Spielberg came with [West Side Story star] Mike Feist, which was cool. They just happened to be there the same day and came back stage together. Lin-Manuel [Miranda] also came. I had met Lin a couple times before, but it’s pretty special when he comes to see a show.

You, Paul and Izzy have been a tight trio throughout this whole experience. What have you learned from each of them?

Paul is just such a free actor. He's so bold and brave, but also simple. I'm always listening, but I don't consciously go in thinking, “I'm going to do stuff I've never done.” You never know what Paul's going to do, and I think that's affected me a bit. Izzy's that way too. And she's so emotionally available every night. It feels like she is going on this journey for the first time, and I think that that helps ground me. It’s a good reminder every night to just be as vulnerable as possible.

Now that you’ve been living in a fictional circus world for six months, what job at an actual circus do you think you’d be qualified for?

The first job we see Jacob do at the beginning of the show is shoveling horse sh*t. I could probably do that. That would be my gateway job, and we'd see if I developed any new skills along the way. But that's probably about it without training: sh*t shoveler.

Have you learned any circus skills from your castmates?

They've asked me a few times if I wanted to do this or do that, and I'm like, “No, I'll keep my feet on the ground.” I have no interest in potentially hurting myself goofing around. Izzy on the other hand—she does all that trapeze work in the show and she’s evolved it and tried to convince Shana Carroll, our circus choreographer, to let her do more and more. She's tried my ladder jump at the beginning of the show so many times just because she's interested in learning all these skills. She’s the little sister of the group. She's the crazy one.

What are you most looking forward to in your post-eight-shows-a-week schedule?

[Before rehearsals started,] I drove cross country because I brought our two dogs and a lot of my daughter's stuff and whatnot. The first day of the drive is when my wife told me she was pregnant, and I was about to be in New York for eight months. So it was pretty much like, “Alright, well, as soon as I'm done, there will be a new baby.” Literally within days of me finishing is the due date. I'm excited to come home and just be with my girls again, but we’ll also be welcoming a new baby. There will be no rest.

I know you came into this show with some worries. How is your confidence level as you reach the finish line of your Broadway debut?

For me, the scariest thing going in was the singing. I feel like people in L.A. think of me as someone that sings because I was introduced on Glee and we've done musical stuff on Flash. But I've never thought of myself at all as a singer. Coming into this, my imposter syndrome was strong. I was really worried that in the first month they would realize they made a huge mistake. I have found so much confidence for the first time ever as a singer because I had no other choice but to be confident. I hope I can hold onto it and carry that forward if I get an opportunity to do another musical on Broadway someday.