In the hit musical Hamilton, the roles of the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson are played by the same actor. Now that a filmed version of the show is available on Disney+, Hamilton newcomers may be surprised to see actor Daveed Diggs return in the second act with jazzy new clothes, a different hairstyle, and no sign of his former French accent.
Created by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton tells the story of the birth of the United States of America - and the years that followed - from the perspective of founding father Alexander Hamilton. The show begins with Hamilton leaving the Caribbean and arriving in New York, and ends with his death in a duel with Aaron Burr. The Marquis de Lafayette was a French nobleman who led troops in the American Revolutionary War, while Thomas Jefferson was another of America's founding fathers and the third president of the United States.
The reason for Diggs and other actors being cast in dual roles has to do with the structure of Hamilton. Act I is about the war, and Act II is about Hamilton's life in the decades afterwards, leading up to his death. The Marquis de Lafayette returned to France after the war, and Hamilton's second act kicks off with Jefferson's return to America after spending five years in Paris negotiating America's foreign policy. As Miranda explained on Twitter: "I realized early that characters that were important early in his life fade away while others appear later. The double casting was so that we’d be INSTANTLY invested. 'Jefferson? Hey that’s Daveed!'"
The other dual roles in Hamilton follow a similar pattern. For example, John Laurens died towards the end of the Revolutionary War, and Hamilton's eldest son Philip was born just eight months earlier. Anthony Ramos plays Laurens in Act I and Philip in Act II, and his proclamation in the opening song - "Me, I died for [Hamilton]" - is true for both roles. In Diggs' case, both the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson roles represent America's relationship with France. In Act II he even references his Act I character, asking, "Did you forget Lafayette?" when Hamilton argues against America offering assistance in the French Revolution.
As well as getting the audience immediately invested in Jefferson as a character because they recognize Diggs, the dual roles also have the benefit of keeping actors from Act I present in Act II, rather than having them simply disappear and introducing a host of new actors just for the second half of the show. This way, all of the actors who introduce Hamilton in the show's opening number are present from beginning to end, and the two acts feel much more closely connected than they would if the roles were recast.