I'm a walking contradiction on so many levels. I'm gay, black, and a Christian.
— Tituss Burgess
You put it out there, you go film it, you go write it, you go record it... but the fans are the ones who decide it.
Why invite you to dinner if I can't cook?
I'm very involved in church and social-justice issues, and my personality is far more introspective.
We were always in church, and always singing, so once I realized that music was something that I had a knack for, I sort of latched onto it, and it helped give me an identity and figure out who I was as a person. It informed my way into theater, which informed my way into television.
If I stayed in Florida, I would have a house and a dog and a partner. And, honestly, I was so bored.
I enjoy my alone time, but I'm an open book.
I'm not one of those people to outgrow my initial blessings.
I get to play some zany, multilayered, very complex individuals.
So much of what I do is inspired by and for the LGBTQ community and for everyone but, just, being a theater kid and wanting to do stuff that represents us in a positive light.
My mom is quite religious, and she got the name Tituss from the Bible. It's one of the smallest books in the Bible. I don't know why she added an 's,' but she just did.
I'm comfortable airing my laundry. I don't think one thing's dirty or clean. It's just what I wear.
I do not like attention. Oddly enough, I do everything I can to avoid it.
Black people, if I may, we don't get a lot of opportunities to do a lot of different things outside the norm, outside of what is expected of us. Black women on Broadway are expected to put themselves downstage center and tear the roof off.
I'm obsessed with the 'Real Housewives ATL,' sorry about it. It's one of my favorite shows of all time.
I hover closer to earth than I do the clouds.
I fell asleep during 'The Dark Knight Rises.' I fell asleep during 'The Hunger Games,' all of them. I cannot stay awake. As soon as a movie starts, I'm asleep!
Often times, if you're a bit of a crossover artist, audiences see you as only one thing.
I'm a person who does not like to journal; I don't like to sit down and write... I don't even like sending emails.
I don't want to sound pretentious or meta or anything, but I don't write until it comes to me... People know when something is inspired and when something is not, and I don't want to waste anyone's time.
Here's what I'm going to say about that: my personal thought about the brilliance of 'Peeno Noir' as proven by the fans' appreciation is that, when watched back, what makes it so exciting is the random locations and the random costume changes and the multiple shots that we've done all over the city.
I came from the Sticks, literally. I grew up in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, just outside Athens, Georgia.
People have to work to maintain happiness. It's easy to be miserable. It's easy to stay miserable. It's easy to live in a place where nothing's working and not being able to work your way out of it. It's much harder to choose happiness, to choose laughter, to choose a positive.
Miserable people tend to act out.
I will work for Tina Fey forever.
I am one of the lucky ones, to work with comic giants.
Sondheim is New York.
I prayed fervently for a series regular job on a show that had the perceived caliber of talent that '30 Rock' had.
I could not leave Georgia fast enough.
I never had any trouble being myself. Myself was a problem for a lot of people, but I didn't have a problem.
'Penny Dreadful' is so realistic. The tonality is so earthy and so real that I actually believe it is in the realm of possibility for all these extra species to exist among us.
I don't go out much. I have people over, and I cook dinner, or we play the piano, or we watch TV.
I never had trouble within the audition room. That is a room that I control. So while I certainly experienced versions of what Titus Andromedon was going through, I never experienced the self-doubt.
I'm writing a musical. I am. I was able to buy the rights to 'The Preacher's Wife,' which starred Whitney Houston... I'm writing a whole new score and all the lyrics for it.
It's important for me to talk about my life as a gay man, not gay themes per se, in my work.
I have always thought to do my best work.
Outside stimulation makes me nervous!
My microphone went out in the 2009 Tony Awards. It was my big moment, and I was so excited to perform and lead the cast; I sang 'Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat.' Every actor dreams of standing front and center on the Tony Awards, and I start to sing, and you hear this crackling. I had no idea what to do - were they going to stop a live telecast?
Actors are a peculiar breed.
The people I've met have been inherently delicious and warm and appreciative. It makes those 14-hour-days so worth it.
I am well aware of my good fortune, and I only hope to diversify so I can do what I'm already doing for more people as opposed to being so large and so great that I no longer want to do the thing that got me here.
Even on my worst days... the influx of joy that I get from interactions with fans... is a treat.
Taking care of children was not something I was good at.
For me, having walked through Times Square so many times as a broke and starving artist, as a TV star, and now having other hopes and dreams, it just represents possibility and the moment of full circle.
I feel most at home when I'm alone. That's not sad. It's just I feel closest to source and connection when I'm by myself.
The level of comfort that people feel with me has taken some getting used to.
I get to do some unbelievably layered things. The material that I'm given is so complex, and I'm so grateful for it, so I welcome any opportunities to push boundaries.
I love 'Bates Motel.' I'm a huge Vera Farmiga fan, and I'm a huge Freddie Highmore fan. In fact, that entire principal casting.
I had this one audition - I won't say the casting director's name, but she was on the phone the whole time I sang. I was literally doing my audition, and she was on the phone. So I guess whatever it is she was ordering for lunch was more important than the high C's I was belting out.
The first role that I got on Broadway was supposedly for a white man. But I had some producers who fought for me and allowed me to come in.
