Jonathan Groff

Biography

Jonathan Groff (born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1985) is an American actor and singer best known for musical theatre on Broadway and for his work on television and in film. He is recognised for two Broadway roles, Melchior Gabor in Spring Awakening and King George III in Hamilton, and for his recurring part as Jesse St. James in Glee. His career has moved from the stage to the screen, with credits for Disney, HBO and Netflix.

Raised in a Mennonite family in Pennsylvania, he developed an early interest in theatre, partly through the Disney musical films he watched as a small child. He performed in local productions in Lancaster and Ephrata and graduated from high school in 2003. Before settling in New York he toured with The Sound of Music. His Broadway debut came in 2005 with In My Life, a musical that critics panned. His breakthrough was Spring Awakening in 2006, which brought him nominations for the Drama Desk and Tony awards.

On television, alongside Glee, he starred in Looking, HBO's series about gay men's lives, and in Netflix's Mindhunter as an FBI agent. His film debut came in 2009 with Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock, followed by Robert Redford's The Conspirator and the animated Frozen franchise, in which he voiced Kristoff. Later he appeared in The Matrix Resurrections and M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin. His Disney+ recording of Hamilton earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination.

Groff has moved comfortably between musical, drama and comedy, alternating stage work with film and television. His performances in Spring Awakening and Hamilton place him among the most recognised younger performers in American musical theatre.

Key films

• Taking Woodstock (2009), directed by Ang Lee: he plays Michael Lang, the organiser of the Woodstock festival, in his film debut.
• The Conspirator (2010), directed by Robert Redford: he plays Louis J. Weichmann in a supporting role in this historical drama.
• Frozen (2013), Disney: he voices Kristoff, the reindeer herder.
• American Sniper (2014), directed by Clint Eastwood: he appears in a supporting role in this war drama.
• The Matrix Resurrections (2021), directed by Lana Wachowski: he returns as Smith in the fourth instalment of the franchise.
• Knock at the Cabin (2023), directed by M. Night Shyamalan: he plays a father held hostage in a cabin.