Leslie Odom Jr. almost wasn’t in the room where Disney+'s Hamilton movie happened due to a dispute over pay equity for his transition from the stage to cinema.
Odom Jr., who played Aaron Burr in Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop Broadway phenomenon, recently explained on the podcast Armchair Expert why he drew this line in the sand. After being asked to star in Hamilton's live movie recording, he described the theater as "my area of expertise. This is all I have. This is my life's work on the stage too. And so I just can't sell it away for magic beans. I can't give it away."
Despite being part of one of Broadway's most profitable shows in recent memory, Odom Jr still had to deal with being paid less money compared to white actors. After consulting the CAA (Creative Artists Agency) over how much fellow actor Aaron Tveit received for Grease Live! by comparison, he told host Dax Shepard that "when I found out what he made, Dax, I didn't ask for a penny more. I didn't ask for one penny more, but I said, 'You must pay me exactly what that white boy got to do Grease Live! That's the bottom line.'"
Given how Odom Jr. appeared in the film as Alexander Hamilton's (Miranda) historical and narrative rival, his push for better pay ultimately paid off. He threatened to not show up the day before shooting, implying that his standard wasn't met until very late in the game. Odom described the importance of this choice as "a principle for me and sometimes it doesn't work out. Sometimes they look at you and go, 'We're just not paying it,' and you have to go, 'That's OK.’"
Directed by Thomas Kail, Hamilton stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Leslie Odom, Jr., Christopher Jackson, Jonathan Groff, Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan and more. The recorded performance is now streaming exclusively on Disney+