Jesse L. Martin Signs on for ABC's HALLELUJAH
According to Deadline.com, Broadway veteran Jesse L. Martin has signed on to reprise his role from the pilot of Marc Cherry's 'Hallelujah.' As described by Deadline, 'Martin's talent deal will make him available to reprise his role in the pilot, which tested very well, should the reworkEd Hallelujah be picked up.'
Martin made his Broadway debut in Timon of Athens, and then performed in The Government Inspector with Lainie Kazan. While employed at the Moondance Diner, he met the playwright Jonathan Larson, who also worked on the restaurant's staff. In 1996, Larson's musical Rent took the Theatre World by storm, with Martin in the role of gay computer geek/philosophy professor Tom Collins. The 1990s update of Puccini's La Bohème earned six Drama Desk Awards, five Obie Awards, four Tony Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize.
From 1999 to 2008, he played Det. Ed Green on Law & Order. He had a brief hiatus at the end of the 2004-2005 season while he was filming the movie adaptation of Rent in which he reprised the role of Tom Collins. Martin's final episode of Law & Order aired April 23, 2008, as he was replaced by Anthony Anderson. Martin returned to NBC a year later, as the co-star of The Philanthropist.
