Okieriete Onaodowan

Okieriete "Oak" Onaodowan^[1] (/ɒˌkɛdiˈɛteɪ oʊˈnaʊdəwɑːn/ o-KED-ee-ET-ay oh-NOW-də-wahn^[2][3]) is an American actor and singer known for his work in musical theatre and television. On the stage, he's known for originating the dual roles of Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in the 2015 Broadway musical Hamilton. He starred in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 as Pierre Bezukhov on Broadway in 2017. On television, he's known for the role of Dean Miller in the ABC drama and Grey's Anatomy spin-off series, Station 19. He also appeared in the main role of Ade in the Amazon Prime Video series Jack Ryan. He returned to Broadway in 2023 as Nills Krogstead in A Doll's House.

Okieriete Onaodowan
Onaodowan in 2015
Born	Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Other names	Oak Onaodowan
Education	Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Occupation(s)	Actor, singer
Years active	2010–present
Known for	Hamilton and Station 19

Early life

Onaodowan was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Nigerian parents.^[4] He and his five sisters^[5] were raised in West Orange, New Jersey,^[6] He attended Gregory Elementary School and Roosevelt Middle School and West Orange High School, graduating in 2005.^[5] Onaodowan briefly played football for his high school, but he stopped after an injury during practice. As a result of the injury, Onaodowan started to explore acting as an alternative extracurricular activity.^[7] While attending high school, he began performing with the New Jersey Youth Theatre. After high school, Onaodowan auditioned for and was accepted to the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. He attended for one year.^[8]

Career

Onaodowan had roles in Rocky the Musical and Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway and was in the ensemble of the first national tour of American Idiot.^[9] He had the leading role in Young Jean Lee's 2009 play, The Shipment,^[10] and played the title role in J.C. Lee's Luce.^[11][12]

By 2015, Onaodowan was an experienced stage actor.^[13] He also had several screen credits, including Lou in the feature film Thanks for Sharing and roles in the TV series Gravity and Blue Bloods.^[14] He originated the roles of James Madison and Hercules Mulligan in the musical Hamilton on Broadway.^[15][16][17] He won a Grammy Award as part of the cast album of Hamilton.^[18]

On July 11, 2017, he took on the role of Pierre in the musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, replacing the outgoing Josh Groban and Dave Malloy.^[19][20][21] He took his final bow in this musical on August 13, 2017.

In 2018, he began playing the role of firefighter Dean Miller in the Grey's Anatomy spin-off Station 19. On November 11, 2021, he exited the series, and his character was killed off onscreen. Deadline reported that Onaodowan had asked to leave in order to pursue other opportunities.^[22]

In 2023, he made his return to Broadway as Nills Krogstead in the revival of A Doll's House.^[23] In February 2024, he played Buddy Bolden in the Encores! production of Jelly's Last Jam.^[24]

Credits

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Thanks for Sharing	Lou
2017	Person to Person	Lester
	The Super	Cal
2020	Hamilton	Hercules Mulligan / James Madison
	A Quiet Place Part II	Ronnie
2021	Generation Wreck	Brandon
2023	Molli and Max in the Future	Moebias
	American Fiction	Van Go Jenkins

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Gravity	Sam	Episode: "Old People Creep Me Out"
2012	NYC 22	Anton Barke	Episode: "Turf War"
2014	Blue Bloods	Damon Williams	Episode: "Forgive and Forget"
2016	Ballers	Anthony	2 episodes
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Cash Lewis	Episode: "Broken Rhymes"
2017	Girls	Raneed	Episode: "Painful Evacuation"
	The Get Down	Afrika Bambaataa	3 episodes
	She's Gotta Have It	Slick Willie	Episode: "#DaJumpoff (DOCTRINE)"
2018–2021	Grey's Anatomy	Dean Miller	5 episodes
2018-2021, 2024	Station 19		Main role (season 1-5) Guest role (season 7); 64 episodes
2019	BoJack Horseman	Mike (voice)	Episode: "The Kidney Stays in the Picture"
2020–2021	Robot Chicken	Abraham Lincoln / Night King / Grim Reaper / various (voice)	2 episodes
2020	Social Distance	Reggie	Episode: "Delete All Future Events"
2021	Tuca & Bertie	Timbourine Toucan (voice)	2 episodes
2022	Billions	Leon Sherald	Episode: "Hostis Humani Generis"
	Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous	Mr. Gold (voice)	2 episodes
2023	Jack Ryan	Adebayo 'Ade' Osoji	6 episodes, Season 4
	Scavengers Reign	Station Chief (voice)	Episode; "The Signal"
2024	Law & Order	Mike Keyz	Episode: "Report Card"

Stage

Year	Show	Role	Notes
2009	The Shipment	Omar / Michael	The Kitchen
2010	The Last Days of Judas Iscariot	Pontius Pilate	Richmond Shepard Theatre
	Neighbors	Sambo Crow	Off-Broadway
	Langston in Harlem	Cuban Balladeer
2010–2011	Ruined	Simon	Huntington Theatre Company
			La Jolla Playhouse
			Berkeley Repertory Theatre
2011	American Idiot	Rock & Roll Boyfriend / Ensemble u/s Favorite Son	US National Tour
2012	Cyrano de Bergerac	Pastry Cook / Cadet / Sentry u/s Cuigy u/s Musketeer u/s Carbon de Castel-Jaloux	Broadway
2013	The Brothers Size	Oshoosi Size	Old Globe Theatre
	Luce	Luce	Off-Broadway
2014	Rocky the Musical	Dipper Riley / Apollo's Cornerman u/s Apollo Creed	Broadway
	Hamilton	Hercules Mulligan / James Madison	The 52nd Street Project, Workshop
	The Royale	Fish	Old Globe Theatre
2015	Hamilton	Hercules Mulligan / James Madison	Off-Broadway
2015–2016			Broadway
2016	Frozen	Kristoff	Pre-Broadway Workshop[25][26]
2017	Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812	Pierre Bezukhov	Broadway replacement
2023	A Doll's House	Nills Krogstead	Broadway
2024	Jelly's Last Jam	Buddy Bolden	Off-Broadway Encores!

Awards, nominations and recognition

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2016	Grammy Award	Best Musical Theater Album	Hamilton	Won
	Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards	Favorite Breakthrough Performance		Nominated

Onaodowan was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list in 2016 for his acting in Hamilton.^[27]

References

1. Sally, Henry (July 26, 2015). "HAMILTON Meets Disney Meets WICKED in New #Ham4Ham Lottery Performance, Featuring Okieriete Onaodowan". Broadway World. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
2. "Meet The Cast of Ruined: Okieriete Onaodowan". La Jolla Playhouse. December 2, 2010. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
3. "To Walk a Mile in My Shoes You Must First Take Off Your Own | Okieriete Onaodowan". TEDxPaloAlto. May 3, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
4. Canty, Erin (February 25, 2016). "How a second-generation immigrant conquered Broadway as one of America's Founding Fathers". Upworthy.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
5. Herzog, Laura (May 2, 2016). "Broadway baby: 'Hamilton' star returns to N.J. alma mater". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media. Retrieved June 13, 2016. Onaodowan grew up in West Orange with his parents and five sisters, and attended Gregory Elementary School, Roosevelt Middle School, and West Orange High School, graduating in 2005, school officials said.
6. Kletnoy, Sergio (July 13, 2015). "Founding Father Alexander Hamilton's Life Is Now a Hip-Hop Musical". Cosmopolitan.com. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
7. Kyman, Vicki (June 12, 2016). "The gentle giant of 'Hamilton': Meet N.J.'s Okieriete Onaodowan". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media.
8. "The gentle giant of 'Hamilton': Meet N.J.'s Okieriete Onaodowan". NJ.com. NJ.com. June 12, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
9. "Okieriete Onaodowan". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
10. Scheck, Frank (January 27, 2009). "Lods of Quality Material". New York Post. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
11. Scheck, Frank (October 22, 2013). "'Luce' fizzles out despite performances". New York Post.
12. Isherwood, Charles (October 21, 2013). "Once Their Son, Now a Riddle J C Lee's 'Luce' at Claire Tow Theater". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
13. Hebert, James (December 3, 2015). "The breathtaking 'Hamilton,' and its bloodlines with 'Allegiance'". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
14. "Meet the Cast of The Public Theater's HAMILTON". BroadwayWorld.com. January 31, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
15. Kennedy, Mark (July 17, 2015). "3 presidents in 'Hamilton' put 'blood into the statues'". limaohio.com. Lima, Ohio: AIM Media Midwest Operating, LLC. AP. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
16. Lee, Ashley (July 28, 2015). "'Hamilton': Lin-Manuel Miranda Repeatedly Rewards Lottery Hopefuls With Unique Pre-Shows". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
17. "Q&As with Your Favorite Broadway Stars- HAMILTON's Okieriete Onaodowan". BroadwayWorld.com. October 2, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
18. "2016 Grammy Award Nominations". cbs.com. CBS News. December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
19. @GreatCometBway (February 15, 2017). "We're thrilled to announce one of the original stars of @HamiltonMusical joins @GreatCometBway as Pierre starting July 3! #WhatAboutPierre" (Tweet). Retrieved February 15, 2017 – via Twitter.
20. Paulson, Michael (February 15, 2017). "A 'Hamilton' Star Is to Replace Josh Groban in 'Great Comet'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
21. Sblendorio, Marissa (June 30, 2017). "HAMILTON's Okieriete Onaodowan Will Make His GREAT COMET Debut on July 11". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
22. Andreeva, Nellie (November 11, 2021). "'Station 19' Original Cast Member Exits As Firefighter Drama Reveals Who Dies In Latest 'Grey's' Crossover". Deadline. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
23. Tony Nominated, Jessica Chastain-Led A Doll's House Revival Finishes Broadway Run June 10
24. Okieriete Onaodowan to Star in Jelly's Last Jam at New York City Center Encores!
25. Betsy Wolfe, Patti Murin & Okieriete Onaodowan Led Lab of Broadway-Bound Frozen
26. HAMILTON's Okieriete Onaodowan Takes Part in FROZEN Lab; Lopezes to Pen New Songs for Broadway
27. Viagas, Robert (January 5, 2016). "Hamilton Actors on Forbes' "30 Under 30" Power List". Playbill. Retrieved January 23, 2018.

External links

• Okieriete Onaodowan at IMDb
• Okieriete Onaodowan at the Internet Broadway Database