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Heavy Favorite Jonathan Groff Wins Tony Award for Best Actor In a Musical for Merrily We Roll Along

Jonathan Groff, perhaps best known for his voice role as Kristoff in the iconic animated classic Frozen and as Holden Ford in the superb Mindhunter, has picked up the Tony Award gong for Best Leading Actor in a Musical category for his role of Franklin Shepherd in Merrily We Roll Along.

He performs alongside Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez in the Broadway revival of the classic Stephen Sondheim show, and the emotion of the event understandably got to Groff, who broke down in tears when receiving his first-ever Tony Award.

The 39-year-old American had been the heavy favorite with the online betting sites to scoop the award, and so it proved. He was first nominated for a Tony back in 2007, failing to win the Best Actor award for his role in Spring Awakening. In 2016, he was once again nominated, this time for Best Actor in a Feature Role in a Musical for his portrayal of King George III, but it was clearly a case of third time lucky for the talented actor.

There was not a dry eye in the house after Groff’s acceptance speech, during which he laid out his childhood journey to the stage and screen,

"I grew up in a house surrounded by cornfields in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I was raised by my parents, Jim and Julie Groff, and my brother David, and the three of them are sitting right there," 

"Thank you for letting me dress up like Mary Poppins when I was three. Thank you for letting me act out scenes from I Love Lucy on my 10th birthday. Thank you for always allowing my freak flag to fly without ever making me feel weird about it,"

"Even if they didn't always understand me, my family knew the life-saving power of fanning the flame of a young person's passions without judgment."

"I walk through life with an open heart because you let me know that I could. Thank you, I love you." Groff concluded.

He beat off stiff competition to land the Tony Award, with Eddie Redmayne being nominated for his role in Cabaret, Brian d’Arcy James for Days of Wine & Roses, Brody Grant for The Outsiders and Dorian Harewood for The Notebook. 

Merrily We Roll Along received a total of seven nominations, winning four. As well as Groff securing a win, the production won the award for Best Featured Actor, with Daniel Radcliffe winning, and also won for Best Orchestrations and Best Revival.

Groff’s latest screen role of note came in the new season of Doctor Who, and he is set to revive his role as Kristoff in Frozen III, which is currently in post-production. 

The stars of the show, Groff and Radcliffe, recently performed key special roles as their Merrily We Roll Along co-star Lindsay Mendez got married. Groff acted as officiant as she wed fellow actor J Alex Brinson, while Radcliffe was the ring bearer for the special occasion.