Dannyka Manangan

Fil-Am actor Darren Criss reflects on Tony Award win for Broadway debut

Article (news)

E. Kristhoff Cagape

Push Team

<p>Filipino-American actor Darren Criss shared his thoughts on winning Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 2025 Tony Awards for his performance in his first Broadway musical, <em>Maybe Happy Ending.</em></p><p>In an interview with <em>Playbill</em>, Darren remarked that he did not anticipate the big win.</p><p>&quot;This wasn&#x27;t on the itinerary. This was not part of the plan. This is not why I said to the show and nobody will believe me if I say that, like sure. But like truly, there was a wonderful opportunity on a piece that I thought was beautiful. I was available. I got to work with friends,&quot; he pointed out.</p><p>The actor highlighted that if the award had gone to the other nominees, he would have been equally thrilled for them. &quot;If it went to any of the other guys tonight, I would have been thrilled, thrilled for those guys. I love those guys. I love their work.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DKsM-uWyeg4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA=="></a></div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-12" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DKsM-uWyeg4/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A12%2C%22os%22%3A6820802.999999999%2C%22ls%22%3A2412599.8999999994%2C%22le%22%3A2413062%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="746" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-12" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>Darren became the first Asian-American actor to win the Best Actor trophy at the Tonys.</p><p>In the same interview, Darren shared that venturing into musical theater was also something he did not anticipate pursuing professionally.</p><p>&quot;I liked musical theater, but I did not think I would do it professionally simply because I went to the University of Michigan... which was like the crown jewel of musical theater students... and I was not in the musical theater department,&quot; he relayed. &quot;Musical theater, I did not see this one coming but I thought of a lyric on the way over here so I have to quote the show: &#x27;And the trip might not turn out as I planned, but a trip should not end like it began.&#x27; So this is certainly not a trip I had planned on.&quot;</p><p>As per its official synopsis as published by <em>Playbill</em>, the synopsis of <em>Maybe Happy Ending </em>reads: &quot;Inside a one-room apartment in the heart of Seoul, Oliver lives a happily quiet life listening to jazz records and caring for his favorite plant. But what else is there to do when you’re a HelperBot 3, a robot that has long been retired and considered obsolete? When his fellow HelperBot neighbor Claire asks to borrow his charger, what starts as an awkward encounter leads to a unique friendship, a surprising adventure, and maybe even...love?&quot;</p>

<p>Filipino-American actor Darren Criss reflects on his Best Actor win at the 2025 Tony Awards for his debut performance in the Broadway musical 'Maybe Happy Ending.'</p>

Filipino-American actor Darren Criss reflects on his Best Actor win at the 2025 Tony Awards for his debut performance in the Broadway musical 'Maybe Happy Ending.'