This Netflix movie marks Lin Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut. It tells the story about Jonathan Larson, who feels like his life is going wrong as he nears his 30th birthday. As he races to make it to the showcase, pressure mounts. New York City is also being destroyed by the AIDS epidemic.
Larson first performed the show in 1990 solo. He is best known for his composition Rent which premiered on Broadway in April 1996. , the Tony winner, died three months earlier after suffering an aneurysm in his aorta. This was due to an undiagnosed genetic condition.
Miranda often speaks out about how Larson's early work influenced his own. He was initially signed on to direct the film in January 2018. After Netflix had acquired the rights, it was announced in October that Garfield would assume the lead role.
"I'm not a musical theatre guy in my past -- it's something that I haven't been exposed to until the recent years," Garfield told The New York Times September 2021, as he thought back to his conversations with the Hamilton filmmaker about the film. Lin gave me a copy the music and lyrics and wrote that it wouldn't make sense right now but it would. Siempre, Lin. Siempre, Lin.
After seeing Garfield's "transcendent performance in Angels In America 2018, the Pulitzer Prize winner was convinced that Garfield could bring Larson's vision into reality.
Miranda said The New York Times, "I just left thinking," "I didn’t know if it was possible for him to sing, but I felt that he could do everything. He was there in my mind for at least a year before I spoke to him.
, the Academy Award nominee, felt out of his element during rehearsals with a cast of "pros," which included Vanessa Hudgens.
"I can remember Alex Lacamoire, the musical arranger, saying, "Woo, Andrew!" And everyone else behind him was like, "Yeah baby. That's it baby! It's done, baby! I turn beet-red and it takes five minutes for me to realize that I was wrong. The Silence actor then recalled, "Hey guys, sorry." "I start to cry, and I tell him, "I don't know how I've ever felt so happy in my whole life, to be surrounded with the most supportive liars that I have ever known." "
Garfield was not familiar with Larson’s creation before joining Miranda. However, Miranda has been thinking about it for many years. He told Today that he saw the show his senior year of college as a theatre major, and it was like a preview of my 20s. Jonathan Larson told me, "Here's how difficult it is, here is how joyful it is, and here's what it's for, kid."
Scroll down to find out more about Garfield’s musical debut in Tick, Tick...Boom!
