Christopher Jackson’s powerful voice steadies a fledgling nation in Hamilton, the hit Broadway musical which had skyrocketed to fame since its Public Theater debut in 2015. As George Washington, he captivated New York City audiences who where gripped with anxiety over the country’s shifting administration and reminded them to hold on for “One Last Time.”
Now that Disney+ is gifting audiences at home with a filmed version of the original Broadway production, the actor spoke with Screen Rant about the epic creative journey that he took with longtime collaborator Lin-Manuel Miranda in order to craft the historic president as well as the personal connection that helped him understand the flawed man better.
How did it initially feel when you first recast as arguably the most famous historical figure in Hamilton?
Christopher Jackson: Confusing, because my casting happened in 2009. Lin and I were doing In The Heights actively on Broadway when he first told me about it. He told me about it on stage during the show. He's like, "I got my next thing." And I was like, "Well, what is it?" "It's about the treasury secretary." And that was it, because we had to go back out on stage and continue the show. Go through, like, 11 more numbers. I was like, "What? The Treasury Secretary?"
A couple of days later, before the show, Tommy approaches me and says, "Hey, G-Dubs." And I'm like, "G Dubs? What?" He's like, "Lin didn't tell you? You're gonna be George Washington." I was like, "Oh, okay. What is it?" You know what I mean? It took me a minute to kind of catch up, but as soon as they explained it to me, I went straight to Borders after a show and bought the Chernow biography about Washington, and I just started doing the work.
I didn't care that it was George Washington, I just wanted it to be right. It wasn't intimidating; it didn't bother me. I had to work through some things, like, what's it feel like to portray a slave owner - but the more I learned about the man, there was more than enough information to feel like I could bring something to it. And from that point on, it was off to the races.
What do you want people to learn about Washington after watching Hamilton?
Christopher Jackson: That's hard to say. I can say that my experience with him was that he was someone who was defined by a great deal of loss very, very early on in his life. All the male figures of any importance to him died before he was 16 years old, and I think that kind of propelled him to want to find ways in which to solidify his standing and his prospects.
I think he was a complicated man and that he was morally bankrupt in some very glaring ways. I don't think that you can look at one part of man and not the whole of him. Because we've gone 200 and some-odd years of only looking at him as this venerated guy with white hair, I think we have to look at the young man who at various points in his life may have made the wrong choices as much as he made the right ones. I think he found a way to ultimately get all the right people into the right room.
In what ways did you grow into the role from when you first started playing Washington until this film was recorded?
Christopher Jackson: I make the distinction about the loss that he experienced. My father, who I was estranged from and had a very complicated relationship with, passed at the end of the second week of previews. I went back to Illinois for the funeral and, on the plane ride back, I realized at that moment that I never want to perform ever again in my life. If I'm going to be on a stage - I don't mean not engage in performing, but I want the characters that I play to be bone-deep.
And that loss started a process for me by which I was able to see more of the man than I had before. I don't know if you have kids, but for anyone who has, there's a part of your life before you have children and then there's a time after you have children. Those aren't the same people. You look at the world completely different. You care about finding a way to protect this little being that you've brought it to the world, and it literally changes your DNA.
And that was my experience with this character, in that I saw him very differently downtown; I saw him very differently when we started. And then something in my life shifted, and it changed the ways I could get to that character. It deepened and hardened him in my eyes, and it gave me real access to the things that motivated him so fascinating and the story I got to tell.
Hamilton couldn't have come at a better time, as there's been a renewed focus on government and how roles in the cabinet and Congress can really affect people on an individual level. What do you hope people take away from Hamilton as we head into a presidential election?
Christopher Jackson: Well, first of all, I hope that it spurs them on to know more about the country that they live in. Secondly, Congress was a mess then; it's a mess now. I think the aspiration there, the aspect that we aspire and hope that they'll do better in, is the fact that we've always hoped that. That's the fight that you're always going to be engaged in. But our government is a mess. We shouldn't turn it around; we should make it better.
There were a lot of young people back then who were writing and who were in the streets and who were fighting the revolution, very much the way that they're doing right now. I'm sure there was a lot of establishment that was like, "You shouldn't do that. You should stay respectable. You shouldn't fight. The king takes really good care of us." And they said, "No, that's not the country we want." And so they took it to the streets, and they did it.
Rumor has it that you sang a killer rendition of "Listen" from Dreamgirls last year. If you could play any role in Hamilton besides Washington, female roles included, who would you want to play?
Christopher Jackson: Brother, after I saw this movie, I'm glad that I got to play Washington. I don't think I could play any other role. I'm gonna be honest, deadass with you. Because they make it look so easy, and it is everything but. It is not easy. When you have a singular vantage point, you're from side or you're up on the surround or you're upstage of someone, and you see them performing their number or interacting in a scene, you think they make it look so simple.
And then watching it from the front, I was like, "Oh my God. That's incredible." How did they do that? Look at that expression. Look at the specificity in Renee's face; listen to the vocal gymnastics that Leslie Odom Jr. is doing; look at Daveed just jump off that table and make you laugh 1000 times. You know what I mean? Just all of these nuanced performances. I feel like I got off easy. I don't know that I could do anything with any of those other roles, man. They're just incredible.
This year your past work is coming full circle on multiple projects. You're also a founding member of the Freestyle Love Supreme, and a new documentary focused on the group will be released this year. Can you talk to me about Freestyle Love Supreme and explain the foundation that led to Hamilton?
Christopher Jackson: We were working on In The Heights; developing In The Heights very early on. Tommy Kail had a theater company that brought Lin in and gave him a home and said, "Let's develop this." One of the guys that was his partner in that theater group, Back House Productions, was Anthony Veneziale. When we were doing two week long table reads, we'd have breaks built into the day. Me and Lynn and Anthony would go in the corner and freestyle and act crazy.
Anthony and Tommy both had a background in improv, and they were like, "We should do this in front of people." I said, "Y'all are nuts," so I didn't go to the first show. And then the second show, the blackout happened. We had a show that we were supposed to play at the People's Improv Theater, and the blackout happened, and they said, "Let's take this to the Drama Bookshop in Midtown," and they did.
Next thing you know, they called me up, and I finally agreed to do it. And we've been doing that ever since. We did it all while Lin was writing In The heights, and then we toured the world with it. Hamilton has happened, and we finished off a four and a half month Broadway run this last year. The documentary chronicles all of those things. And it chronicles all of us growing up, doing this crazy improv show around the world, and developing as artists and informing each other as artists. Having kids and just living life.
Andrew Fried, who directed it, is a spectacular human being and an amazing storyteller. And it's really just a great experience. We had to push the release of FLS back, but I think once people see Hamilton, there'll be even more interest for folks to see us do something different in a different time and kind of move through that space.