Full Name William Swenson Name Will Swenson | Role Actor | |
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Occupation Actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer, singer Children Bridger Swenson, Sawyer Swenson Movies The Singles Ward, Sons of Provo, The Switch, The RM, The Singles 2nd Ward Profiles | ||
William "Will" Swenson (born October 26, 1973) is an American actor and singer best known for his work in musical theatre. He also has developed a film career, primarily in LDS cinema.
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Career
Swenson was born in Provo, Utah. He is best known among Mormons for his role as Jonathan Jordan in the LDS Cinema movie The Singles Ward (2002) and its sequel, The Singles 2nd Ward (2007). Swenson co-wrote, directed and acted in the LDS Cinema feature film, Sons of Provo (2004).
A grandson of Nathan and playwright and actress Ruth Hale, Will Swenson was born in Utah and moved around a lot throughout the United States during his childhood. He attended Brigham Young University and later served as a Mormon missionary in Ecuador. However, as of 2008 he was no longer a practicing Mormon.
Swenson appeared on Broadway in Lestat, 110 in the Shade and Brooklyn. Off-Broadway, he played the role of Stacee Jaxx in the musical Rock of Ages but did not go on to perform the role on Broadway because he was offered the starring role of Berger in the Broadway revival of Hair. He played Sir Sagramore in Camelot at Lincoln Center and Chris in the second national tour of Miss Saigon.
He played the role of Berger in the Off-Broadway 40th Anniversary Concert of Hair opposite Karen Olivo. In 2008, Swenson was again cast as Berger in The Public Theater's revival of the show in Central Park. He went on to reprise the role when the production moved to Broadway in March 2009. He received critical acclaim for his performance on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. He played the role of Berger again in the West End revival of Hair which began performances on April 1, 2010, and ended his limited engagement on May 29, 2010. Audra McDonald and Swenson reprised their roles in a two-week fundraising production of 110 in the Shade at the Hale Center Theater in Orem, Utah.
On October 8, 2009, Swenson appeared as in the guest cameo slot for the extension performance of Katie Thompson's R.R.R.E.D.: A Secret Musical, as part of the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival. In 2010, Swenson played the lead role of "Tick"/"Mitzi" in the pre-Broadway North American company of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert in Toronto, Canada.
In October 2013, Swenson was cast as Inspector Javert in the 2014 Broadway revival of Les Misérables, which opened in March 2014 at New York's Imperial Theatre, where the musical had previously run for 13 years.
Since 2012, Swenson has largely appeared in a number of stock photographs for human resources training videos, featured by such companies as HP.
Personal life
Swenson met his first wife Amy (née Westerby) while they were both in one of his grandmother's comedies, Hopsville Holiday. The couple have two sons, Bridger and Sawyer, but have since divorced.
Swenson and actress Audra McDonald became engaged in January 2012 and were married on October 6, 2012. In October 2016, McDonald and Swenson welcomed their first child, Sally.