In Greenroom Confidential, reporters and editors at TODAY.com share a look at what actors, authors, performers and more guests told us behind the scenes at TODAY. This week, stars like Leslie Odom Jr., Paige DeSorbo, Hannah Berner and Lake Bell all rolled through Studio 1A. Take a peek!
Leslie Odom Jr. on his ‘Hamilton’ return — and his kids coming to see the show
Leslie Odom Jr. visited TODAY on Monday to exclusively announce his return to Broadway’s “Hamilton” as Aaron Burr. He joked while talking to TODAY.com that he will “find all the bootleg YouTube videos” of other performers in the role to inspire him this time around. He noted that when the show first came out in 2015, the cast “had no perspective.”
“We had what we were trying to make based off of the theater that we love, which is a lot. That’s a fair amount. But what these performers have had since we’ve left is the perspective,” Odom Jr. explained. “They can see what we made. They can see the blind spots. … They can see the things that we couldn’t, and in some cases, maybe even be better than us. And so, I’m stealing everything from them.”
Odom Jr., who recently rereleased his book, “Failing Up,” in paperback, is also a proud father to two kids with wife Nicolette Robinson: daughter Lucy and son Able.
When asked if his children will see him return to “Hamilton,” Odom Jr. said, “You better believe it.”
He said his daughter is about to turn 8 and that while his son is just 4, “the show might stretch the limits of his attention capacity.”
“But I feel like he will be in competition with his sister,” Odom Jr. said. “And so, he will not tap out. He will try to hang in as long as she hangs in.”
The one thing Tyra Banks’ son does that she can’t get enough of
Tyra Banks, who was guest co-host on TODAY with Jenna & Friends this week, sat down with TODAY.com on Thursday to tell us about her ice cream business Smize & Dream, wellness and life at home with her family. (Her partner, Louis Bélanger-Martin, also stopped by for a quick hello!)
When asked about her 9-year-old son, York, Banks said, “My son is extremely loving. And sometimes he’ll just look at me and say, [whispers] ‘I love you.’ And I’m like, you’re 9! How? Where is that coming from? That little micro ‘I love you,’ and just looking in my eyes or just squeezing my hand, and I’m just like, wow.”
Paige DeSorbo and Hannah Berner kept us giggling
After “Giggly Squad” podcast hosts Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo spoke Tuesday to Jenna and Tyra Banks about their new book, “How to Giggle,” they graced us with a reading of Hannah and Paige-isms straight from their book’s pages. Gird your loins and get your affairs in order, because it’s quite the ride.
How Lake Bell is teaching her daughter to think of her epilepsy as a superpowerActor Lake Bell joined Jenna & Friends on Thursday to share about her debut picture book, “All About Brains: A Book About People,” which celebrates all types of neurodiversity. She told TODAY.com after the show that the book was “wholly inspired” by her 10-year-old daughter, Nova, who has epilepsy, a seizure disorder.
Bell shared how her family is teaching Nova to feel a sense of power about her epilepsy after a time when she apologized for a seizure. “That was the moment where I was like, no, we can’t. It’s not the enemy, right?” Bell recalled.
Bell pointed Nova to Joan of Arc, who some historians believe had epilepsy, as a figure that she could look up to.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, so when you have a seizure, actually, that’s just your brain being more elevated — your sparkling wisdom and strength — and that’s you, activated at a higher level than all of us,” she said.
