A Spring Awakening reunion is taking shape on the Parisian set of Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino‘s upcoming Amazon series Étoile.
TVLine has learned exclusively that newly-minted Tony winner Jonathan Groff is set to guest-star in the first season of the Palladinos’ ballet-themed dramedy, which boasts a cast that includes Groff’s Spring Awakening co-star Gideon Glick. Details on Groff’s character are scarce, but we can confirm that he will share the screen with Glick.
Groff and Glick were part of the original Broadway cast of Spring Awakening, which opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in December 2006 and ran until January 2009. The musical went on to win eight Tony awards. More recently, Glick filled in for Groff as Seymour in 2019’s Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors.
News of Groff’s Étoile gig comes as the series is winding down production on its eight-episode first season, production of which has been split between Paris and New York. (The show has already been renewed for a second season.)
Étoile follows the dancers and artistic staff of two world-renowned ballet companies as they embark on an ambitious gambit to save their storied institutions by swapping their most talented stars. (FYI: Étoile, pronounced āˈtwäl, is defined as a principal dancer in a ballet company.)
The ensemble also includes Luke Kirby who, like Glick, previously worked with the Palladinos on their Emmy-winning Amazon smash The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Source: TV Line
Jonathan Groff Joins Amazon’s Étoile as Guest Star
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Doctor Who: Episode ‘Rogue’ Behind the Scenes
Behind the ball! Find out how the cast and crew of #DoctorWho brought ROGUE to life… 🪩🎬 Also interviews with Jonathan Groff on set!
Jonathan Groff teases Rogue return: ‘I hope we see him again’
The Glee star made his Doctor Who debut in this week’s Regency-set episode.
*Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who Episode 6, Rogue.*
Jonathan Groff made his long-awaited first Doctor Who appearance in last night’s episode Rogue – and it likely won’t take long for fans to begin clamouring for a return thanks to the Glee star’s electric performance in the Regency-set outing.
Although his bounty hunter character Rogue appeared to sacrifice himself to save Ruby (Millie Gibson) at the end of the episode, the door was left firmly open for a return by his final remarks: telling the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) to “find me”.
And Groff himself certainly seems open to reprising his role in future episodes, as he made clear on the latest episode of Doctor Who: Unleashed.
“I hope we’re seeing Rogue again,” he says. “Rogue tells the Doctor at the end of the episode to find him, so it’s totally up to the Doctor. So, the ball is in his court, so to speak!”
That keenness to return will surely come as a boost for fans desperate to see further developments on what seemed like a budding romance between Rogue and the Doctor, so lets keep our fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, speaking about taking on the role, Groff revealed that he found inspiration from one of sci-fi’s most beloved characters.
“Rogue is basically an alien bounty hunter. So I’ve been thinking a lot about Han Solo in Star Wars,” he said.
Elsewhere in the interview, he picked out his dancing scene with Gatwa as the highlight from his time on set.
“The choreography was very much about the connection forming and vibing between the two characters,” he explained. “The day that we performed the dance is so far my favourite day on set.
“There’s a moment in the dance where the lights go out and it’s a spotlight on the two of us dancing, and I… there was no one else in the room but Ncuti.
“It was really transformational and took me to a completely different place with him. Like we were in the stars together dancing.”
For his part, it certainly seems Gatwa will be keen to reunite with Groff in future episodes, with the star calling him “an incredible actor”.
Meanwhile, showrunner Russell T Davies revealed that he was initially sceptical that Groff would appear in the show at all.
“You have those moments where they say, ‘Shall we send the script to Jonathan Groff?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, go on, waste my time,” he said. “And he read it and loved it. A superstar of a man!”
On Rogue and the Doctor’s dynamic in the episode, he added: “This is a chance for the Doctor to sizzle. We don’t often do this, but it’s like he meets someone who is just on the same… I mean, first of all, they’re enemies, then they’re friends – that classic… they go through classic romcom structures.
“The meet-cute and the arguing and the falling out, then the coming together and then the sacrifice.”
Let’s just hope this is a romcom that has a sequel…
Read the full interview at RadioTimes
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