Meet the 11 New Broadway Stars Turned Tony Nominees

Every Broadway season brings fresh faces to the stage, but this year’s Tony Awards spotlight several standout performers who are not only nominated — they’re making their official Broadway debuts. Let’s take a closer look at the 2025 acting nominees who are dazzling Broadway audiences for the very first time this season...

Tala Ashe

Up for: Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Ashe made her Broadway debut as 'Elham' in Sanaz Toossi's English, which concluded its limited engagement on March 2. 

Ashe on her debut: "During the curtain call it all kind of came flying back, and I was really overwhelmed. I looked out into the audience for the first time and I saw my parents in the third or fourth row, and I was really overwhelmed with emotion. It was really moving to have them there to witness this moment that means so much to me that they’ve obviously been so essential in making happen."

George Clooney

Up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Clooney made his Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck, which he leads and also wrote with Grant Heslov.

George on his debut: "The fun part about this is that we get to do a play about a subject matter that is very close to our hearts, which is telling the truth and holding truth to power. It's a play we are very excited to do. It's not a civics lesson, it's entertainment... I'm older by 40 years than everyone else in the play!

Cole Escola

Up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Escola made their Broadway debut as the title character in Oh, Mary!, which they also wrote. 

Cole on their debut: "I feel so lucky and happy and stupid and excited- all of the corny things that you think you would feel. Everyone in the cast is treating this play like it's the freaking Cherry Orchard, and that's what makes [this experience] so rewarding an exciting. They see what I'm going after and they go for it!"

Tom Francis

Up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Francis made his Broadway debut as 'Joe' in Sunset Blvd. after winning an Olivier Award for his performance last year.

Tom on his Broadway debut: "I am so aghast to be here. [Opening night] was incredible and I'm not going to forget it. When I took my first bow, I was like, 'This is a feeling that I'm never going to forget.'"

Jak Malone

Up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Malone made his debut as 'Hester' in Operation Mincemeat after picking up an Olivier Award for his performance last year.

Jak on his Broadway debut: "Being on Broadway is huge- it's something I never foresaw for myself. People use the words 'living the dream' a lot,' but I am living my one, singular, biggest dream and it's more than I can think about... I didn't know that the Broadway community was going to be so warm and generous. It is truly a community and I'm delighted to be a part of it."

Louis McCartney

Up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

McCartney made his Broadway debut as 'Henry Creel' in Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a role he reprises after originating in London.

Louis on his Broadway debut: "I feel ecstatic! I feel so lucky right now to be here on Broadway. [This cast] is my family! I can't believe it's today. The Broadway community has been nothing but welcoming of me... I'm just having a great time." 

Marjan Neshat

Up for: Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Neshat made her Broadway debut as 'Marjan' in Sanaz Toossi's English, which concluded its limited engagement on March 2. 

Marjan on her debut: "It feels like a cliche to say that being on Broadway is a dream come true, but nothing in my life of being an immigrant kid was leading to this. It feels really special. It feel like this is a play that actually is about Middle Easterners, but could be about anyone who is trying to learn a language or fit in."

Bob Odenkirk

Up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Odenkirk made his Broadway debut as 'Shelly' in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross.

Bob on his Broadway debut: "I knew this part was a wonderful part and a part I felt connected to. When you're my age, it can be a little hard to see that you're entering your third act, because you hopefully still have a lot of good energy. I'm playing Shelly with all of that self-belief that has not yet left him, but will in the third act."

Jasmine Amy Rogers

Up for: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Rogers made her Broadway debut as the title character in Boop! The Musical- a role she originated in Chicago. 

Jasmine on her Broadway debut: "I feel so connected to [Betty]. My soul feels a part of the show. When I got turned down for the role the first time, I was so crushed. I thought if I had to sit and watch someone else do it, it would kill me." 

Nicole Scherzinger

Up for: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Scherzinger made her Broadway debut as 'Norma' in Sunset Blvd. after winning an Olivier Award for her performance last year.

Nicole on her debut: "I'm living the dream. I've always dreamed of coming to Broadway and I couldn't imagine a better role, production, cast, company... Every single night is a magical, very special moment and exchange that I get to have with the audience."

Sarah Snook

Up for: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Snook made her Broadway debut playing 26 roles in The Picture of Dorian Gray, for which she won an Olivier Award last year.

Sarah on her Broadway debut: "Broadway is something you always dream of, and you hope that maybe it could happen someday, somehow, but you don't know when. To be doing it with an Australian production, and post-the West End run that was successful and acclaimed- it feel like quite an amazing expansion to something that only existed in fantasy or dreams."