MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff WriterThough he wasn't given an individual Emmy Award for his royal performance in "Hamilton," actor and Ronks native Jonathan Groff joined producers and original cast members of the musical on stage at the television awards Sunday night as the filmed version of the Broadway play won the Emmy for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded).
Groff was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie for his role as King George III in the filmed version of the "Hamilton" stage musical. Evan Peters won that award for his role as a Delaware County police detective in the HBO Max series "Mare of Easttown."
The acting nod was Groff's first Emmy nomination. Also in his category were fellow "Hamilton" cast members Anthony Ramos and Daveed Diggs along with Thomas Brodie-Sangster of "The Queen's Gambit" and Paapa Essiedu of "I May Destroy You."
Groff could also be seen in the audience participating during the opening number of the 73rd Primetime Emmys — an audience sing-along of "Just a Friend" by recording artist and producer Biz Markie, who died in July.
Because of pandemic restrictions, the Emmys were held at L.A. Live’s Event Deck — where groups of nominees could sit at tables — instead of the usual venue of the Microsoft Theater.
When Groff's Emmy nomination was announced in July, he told LNP|LancasterOnline in an email, "I am completely surprised and thrilled by the nomination for 'Hamilton!' To celebrate, I went over to my parents' house for dinner in Ronks, PA, and played chess with my Dad. He won."
You can see the "Hamilton" acceptance of the award here, with Renée Elise Goldsberry (Angelica Schuyler in the show) speaking for the cast:
Original cast filmed
Groff was part of the original Broadway cast of "Hamilton" starting in 2015, and earned a Tony Award nomination for his work in the show. He and other principal soloists in "Hamilton" won Grammy Awards for their work on the cast album of the show.
The "Hamilton" movie, streaming on Disney+, was filmed over a three-day period in the summer of 2016, when most of the original Broadway cast was still in the show. Groff had left the show, returned to his royal role — which totals about nine minutes of stage time — for the filming.
Groff was also nominated for a cast album Grammy as the star of the 2019 off-Broadway revival of "Little Shop of Horrors."
Groff, who voiced Kristoff the mountain man in the animated "Frozen" movies for Disney, was also nominated for a Tony award for his lead role in the Broadway musical "Spring Awakening."
Groff starred in two seasons of the Netflix series "Mindhunter," and can be seen in the recently released trailer for "The Matrix Resurrections" film sequel set to open in theaters in December.
He had a recurring role on "Glee" and a starring role in HBO's "Looking." His other film appearances include "Taking Woodstock" and "The Conspirator."
Groff, a 2003 Conestoga Valley graduate, performed on local theater stages before becoming a Broadway, film and television actor.
Last month, Groff officiated at the wedding of "Frida" and "Spider-Man 2" actor Alfred Molina and Academy Award winner Jennifer Lee, who directed Groff in "Frozen" and "Frozen II" for Disney. Groff co-starred in the play "Red" with Molina in Los Angeles in 2012.
On Instagram, Lee credited Groff for the couple getting together.
