Name Christopher Jackson | Role Actor | |
Awards Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance Nominations Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album Similar Lin‑Manuel Miranda, Olga Merediz, Mandy Gonzalez, Robin de Jesus, Andrea Burns Profiles | ||
Christopher Neal Jackson (born September 30, 1975) is an American actor, singer, musician, and composer best known for his roles in Broadway theatre. Specifically, Jackson is known for starring alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda in Miranda's original productions of In The Heights in 2008 and Hamilton in 2015, as well as a singing role in Disney's Moana in 2016. Jackson received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical nomination for his role as George Washington in Hamilton.
Contents
Early life
Jackson attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
Career
In 2015, Jackson originated the role of President George Washington in the musical Hamilton on Broadway. He was nominated for a Tony Award and concluded his run on November 13, 2016. Jackson has previously performed on Broadway in In the Heights, Bronx Bombers, After Midnight, The Lion King, Holler If Ya Hear Me, and Memphis.
For the 2016-2017 season, Jackson plays Chunk Palmer in the CBS courtroom drama Bull. Jackson's film and TV work includes Moana, Tracers, The Good Wife, Person of Interest, A Gifted Man, and Nurse Jackie. Jackson is also a member of hip-hop group Freestyle Love Supreme. He has been nominated for three Emmy Awards for composing music and lyrics for television; he won the “Outstanding Original Song” Emmy Award in 2011 for his lyrics to “What I Am,” which he co-wrote for Sesame Street with Bill Sherman.
Personal life
Before the first run-through of the Off-Broadway production of In the Heights, Jackson learned that his son had been diagnosed with autism. Jackson and his wife, Veronica Vazquez-Jackson, are advocates for the organization Autism Speaks; they have one son and one daughter. Jackson is 6'2" tall.