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Urgent Messages Go Unanswered | With Andrew Rannells

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(Brian Rea for The New York Times)
(Brian Rea for The New York Times)

In October, our team brought a live performance of "Modern Love" to the Hot Docs Podcast Festival in Toronto. It featured readings by Andrew Rannells ("Girls"), Paul Sun-Hyung Lee ("Kim's Convenience"), and Hélène Joy ("Murdoch Mysteries").

In Part One of our two-part series from Toronto, Andrew Rannells reads his own essay, "During a Night of Casual Sex, Urgent Messages Go Unanswered."

Voices In This Episode

(Andrew Rannells/ Luke Fontana)
(Andrew Rannells/ Luke Fontana)

Andrew Rannells is a Grammy Award-winning stage, film, and television actor. Rannells recently joined the casts of the upcoming Showtime series “Ball Street,” opposite Don Cheadle, and Matthew Weiner’s new Amazon series “The Romanoffs.” He will also guest star on NBC’s revival of the beloved series “Will & Grace.”

Rannells is perhaps best known for his work on stage, having starred in a series of acclaimed Broadway shows. He began his stage career starring as ‘Bob Gaudio’ in the 2007 national tour of Jersey Boys. Next, Rannells originated the role of ‘Elder Price’ in The Book of Mormon, for which he received a Tony and Drama Desk Award nomination. As a soloist on the show’s original cast recording, Rannells also received a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Rannells continued his Broadway career as ‘Hedwig’ in the 2014 Broadway revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and ‘King George III’ in the acclaimed Hamilton. Rannells most recently played the role of ‘Whizzer’ in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos, for which he received his second Tony nomination.

On television, Rannells is best known for his role as ‘Elijah Krantz’ in the HBO series “Girls,” opposite Lena Dunham. As ‘Elijah’, Rannells played the ex-boyfriend and openly gay friend of Lena’s character ‘Hannah.’ He also appeared in season two of Steven Soderbergh’s “The Knick” on Cinemax and NBC's “The New Normal.” Previously, Rannells starred in a recurring role as ‘Darren’ on “How I Met Your Mother.” Other notable television credits include “Sofia the First,” “Welcome to the Wayne,” “Drunk History,” “Another Period,” and “Comedy Bang! Bang!.”

On the big screen, Rannells can be seen in films such as 2016’s "Why Him?", alongside James Franco, Bryan Cranston, and Zoey Deutch. The film follows a father who attempts to stop an immature tech-billionaire from proposing to his daughter. Rannells also starred in 2015’s "The Intern" alongside Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro and will next be seen in the upcoming Paul Feig feature "A Simple Favor."

In addition, Rannells has voiced numerous characters on the small screen. Rannells earlier credits include voice roles on the 2000-2005 “Pokemon” series, “Sonic X,” “Archie’s Weird Mysteries,” and “Yu-Gi-Oh!” He also reprised these roles for the series’ respective video games. Rannells has continued his voice work, more recently voicing various roles on Cartoon Network’s “Chaotic” and himself in the 2016 “The Simpsons” episode ‘How Lisa Got Her Marge Back.’ Rannells can be heard as the voice of ‘Matthew’ in the Netflix series “Big Mouth.”

Rannells recently lengthened his list of credits, announcing his first literary project, an untitled memoir which will be published in 2019.

Rannells currently resides in New York City.

Headshot of Caitlin O'Keefe

Caitlin O'Keefe Producer, Podcasts & New Programs
Caitlin O'Keefe was a producer of podcasts and new programming at WBUR.

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