Miguel Cervantes (actor)
Miguel Cervantes | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 9, 1976[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | actor, singer |
Notable work | Hamilton |
Miguel Cervantes is an American actor, singer and activist best known for originating the role of Alexander Hamilton in the Chicago production Hamilton, a role he played from September 2016 until the production closed in January 2020. He currently plays the role in the Broadway production.[2]
Career[]
A Dallas native, Cervantes graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in 1995 before attending Emerson College.[3]
Prior to Hamilton, Cervantes had performed in the Broadway casts of American Idiot (musical) and If/Then.[4] He was called to audition for Hamilton while the show transitioned from The Public Theater to Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre and then called back to perform a second time in front of a group that included producers and Hamilton writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda. He subsequently booked the role in the Chicago production.[3]
Critic Maureen Ryan praised Cervantes' "coiled intensity" in the role.[5] The Chicago role also resulted in him being named "Chicagoan of the Year in theater".[6]
Cervantes has also performed in the digital musical A Killer Party: A Murder Mystery Musical.[7]
Cervantes' screen career includes appearances on Madam Secretary, Person of Interest, and The Blacklist.
Personal life[]
Cervantes and his family relocated to Chicago in the years following his casting in Hamilton. They have one son, Jackson. A daughter, Adelaide, suffered from infantile spasms, a severe form of epilepsy associated with developmental delays, and died in October 2019 at the age of 3.[8] Adelaide's diagnosis happened around the time Cervantes was cast in Hamilton.[9]
Kelly Cervantes is chair-elect of the Chicago nonprofit Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, an organization with which Miguel Cervantes is also active.[10]
Cervantes became an avid golfer while in the Chicago production of Hamilton and, with co-star Andrew Call, conceived the Shu Caddy, a combination tee holder, divot tool and ball marker.[11] It can clip onto a golfer's shoe or belt.