Jonathan Groff

Jonathan Groff
Gender:	Male
Age:	33
Born:	March 26, 1985
Character:	Jesse St. James
Occupation:	Actor, Singer, Songwriter
Years Active:	2006-Present

Jonathan Drew Groff, born March 26, 1985, is a 33-year-old actor and singer. He is known for the originated role as Melchior Gabor in Spring Awakening, had a recurring guest starring role as Jesse St. James on Glee between 2010 - 2012 and again in 2015 and voicing Kristoff in Frozen. He played King George the Third in the hit broadway musical Hamilton up until April 9 2016.

Personal life

Groff's parents, Jim and Jules, own a farm in Pennsylvania and even named one of their goat's Lea Michele. He has an older brother, named David. He is best friends with the Glee star, Lea Michele. 

He was raised in Lancaster, PA as a Methodist. He first decided he wanted to work in show-business when he was 10 years old and saw a production of Annie Get Your Gun with his school. Before deciding he wanted to be an actor, Jonathan aspired to be a professional trumpet player.

In October 2009, Groff told Broadway.com during the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., that he is "gay and proud."

Groff was in a relationship with Zachary Quinto, Quinto confirmed it, until a reported break-up in July 2013.

Career

He appeared in twelve episodes on Glee for two years on-off between 2010 and 2012; he would return for an episode in 2015. Groff lent his voice in the animated film, Frozen, in 2013.

Groff was casted in the new HBO series, Looking, in February 2013 and it received an eight-episode order.  Looking began production in San Francisco in September 2013. It debuted on January 19, 2014 and was picked up for a second season after a month of airing. However, Looking was cancelled after the second season and will wrap up with a HBO special. He is in pre-production of a new series, O.T.P.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	One Life to Live	Henry Mackler	Recurring Guest Star (11 episodes)
2008	Pretty/Handsome	Patrick Fitzpayne	("Pilot")
2009	Taking Woodstock	Michael Lang
2010	The Conspirator	Louis Weichmann
	Twelve Thirty	Jeff
	Glee	Jesse St. James	2010 - 2012, recurring guest star (12 episodes) and 2015, guest star (1 episode)
2011	Glee Encore	Jesse St. James	archive footage from Glee
2012	The Good Wife	Jimmy Fellner	("Live from Damascus")
	Boss	Ian Todd	series regular (10 episodes)
2013	C.O.G.	Samuel / David	film
	Frozen	Kristoff (voice)	film
2014	The Normal Heart	Craig Donner	TV movie
	Looking	Patrick Murray	2014 - 2015; series regular (18 episodes)
2015	American Sniper	Young VetMads

Quotes

“	No one knows you better than your best friend. Lea and I have shared pretty unique experiences since we met eight years ago. We've simulated sex more than 1,000 times on stage in Spring Awakening. We've performed everything from show tunes to "Like a Virgin" on Glee. I've seen her sing for the President and accept Billboard's first Triple Threat Award, and I've seen her laugh so hard she peed in her pants. Since Glee, she's inspired people across the world with her unapologetic ambition, insane talent, and astonishing grace. Me, especially.	”
—Jon on Lea and their friendship., "Spring Awakening" article, Teen Vogue March 2014.

“	When Lea and I carved our names in the theater, she said something so sweet. I still remember it because it meant so much to me. She said, "I would give up this entire experience for our friendship."	”
—Jon on Lea and their friendship., "Spring Awakening" article, Teen Vogue March 2014.

Trivia

• He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor for Spring Awakening in 2007.
• He remains very good friends with his Spring Awakening costar, Lea Michele and says that she is his best friend.
• Groff, along with other openly gay actors (including Sean Hayes and Neil Patrick Harris), were the target of a highly controversial April 2010 Newsweek article by Ramin Setoodeh that argued gay actors are not convincing playing straight characters. The article created a huge media backlash with many public figures (including Groff and Hayes' co-star, Kristin Chenoweth) decrying it as homophobic and defending Hayes's, Harris's, and Groff's performances as straight characters.
• While Jonathan Groff was raised Methodist, his father was raised Mennonite.
• He recently starred in Deathtrap in London.
• He never went to college.
• He starred in Broadway's production of Spring Awakening with best friend and Glee co-stars, Lea Michele, Phoebe Strole and Skylar Astin.
• He was ranked number 7 on After Elton's hotlist 2011.
• His favorite thing about LA is the traffic as it gives him opportunities to blast his music very loud and sing along with it on the way to work with the windows down.
• Jonathan moved to LA recently after falling in love with the place while doing Glee, but he still has a place in NY because he claims he can never leave NY.
• He has a 5 inch scar on his biceps because his dance partner for Bohemian Rhapsody accidentally scarred him with her stilettos.
• Lea Michele stated that Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Calliat is her and Jonathan Groff's theme song.
• His star sign is Aries.
• Jenna used to call Jonathan "Grofflicious" since they go way back and are old friends.
• He was called out by Lea while she doing an interview with Jimmy Kimmel since he forget to call her on her 26th birthday.
• Jonathan appear along with co-star Idina Menzel in Disney's animated movie Frozen. He voiced the character Kristoff, the love interest of Menzel's character's sister.
  • Jonathan was the first openly gay actor to voice a major Disney character.
• Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton, calls Jonathan Groff, "Groffsauce".

Gallery

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Videos

Jonathan Groff 2011

Jonathan Groff Interview

Jonathan Groff - Anything Goes

'Spring Awakening' Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, and original cast reunite

Backstage at "Spring Awakening" with Jonathan Groff

Digital Ham4Ham 3 30 -- Hamilton Pillow Talk with Lea and Groff