Stunt Casting is Taking over the Bright Lights of Broadway

Lead roles in Broadway shows are slowly being filled by influencers from popular platforms such as TikTok, rather than trained actors. Photo by Lilian DeFilippis '26

Broadway is a major attraction in New York City; the theater district has featured live performances for nearly 300 years. With 41 official Broadway theaters and approximately 60 Off-Broadway venues, the area offers a wide range of productions.

Most actors have spent their whole lives training to get to Broadway, between high school theater, college, community theatre and years of auditions. While landing a major role can mark a turning point in a performer’s career, established celebrities have increasingly been cast in leading roles. 

Now more than ever, Broadway shows have been stunt-casting roles instead of welcoming fresh talent. Stunt casting refers to hiring a well-known public figure, often in a leading role, to attract media attention and increase ticket sales, particularly for shows facing declining attendance or a possible closing. These celebrities may include film and television actors, social media influencers or other widely recognized personalities.

In the past year, celebrities like Peyton List in “Heathers,” Milo Manheim and Joshua Bassett in “Little Shop Of Horrors,” Charli D’Amelio in “& Juliet” and most recently, Jake Shane in “All Out: Comedy About Ambition,” have been stunt-cast in shows while having no prior Broadway experience. 

At the same time as these castings, Leslie Odom Jr. reprised his Tony Award-winning role of Aaron Burr in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton after 10 years. Unlike those who are given roles from stunt casting, Odom Jr. attended Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, where he got his Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Acting and Musical Theatre, perfecting his craft. 

“It took ten years of backbreaking hard work to get an opportunity like that. One thing leads to another. You find yourselves in these rooms,” Odom Jr. told Howlround. It was Odom Jr.’s dedication and persistence that helped him get the role that would change his life forever.

While performers like Odom Jr. train for years to reach Broadway, celebrities are sometimes cast based largely on name recognition or social media following. This raises the question of how stunt casting affects a show financially, and the results vary.

A well-known celebrity can increase ticket sales and media attention, but the boost is not guaranteed. Since COVID-19, rising production costs have left many shows in a difficult financial position from the start, making casting decisions more consequential than ever.

“Compared to the 2018-2019 season, gross numbers of theatre attendance have decreased by 17%, according to the Hollywood report,” the King Street Chronicle stated. Audiences play a crucial role in theatre because they can determine a show’s success or failure. When a production fails to capture people’s interest, it is often a sign that it is already beginning to struggle.

Having these familiar faces reaches more people, especially tourists, to snag a ticket and see celebrities on the stage.

“The inclusion of a celebrity in the cast of a Broadway play in a given week improves the revenue of the production by $250,000,” said the King Street Chronicle.

In 2020, the musical adaptation of the popular movie “Mean Girls” welcomed social media creator Cameron Dallas to the stage to play the role of Aaron Samuels. With Dallas not having any singing or Broadway experience in the past, the show was forced to remove all of the characters' singing parts, creating more work for the other actors. 

It was reported by Casey Wiederhold in The Quinnipiac Chronicle that the show lost an average of $98,000 in the month of Dallas performance. Once Dallas departed the show, Kyle Selig returned to the role, earning the show $75,000 just from his return alone. 

Other celebrities, such as Jordan Fisher or “Stranger Things” actor Gaten Matarazzo, bring a different side of stunt casting forward. 

Both Fisher and Matarazzo got their start with youth theater, giving them early acting credentials. While Fisher starred in various Disney Channel shows and movies, he was also able to return to the stage in productions such as Hamilton, Moulin Rouge, Hadestown and Sweeney Todd because of his stage experience.

Additionally, before Matarazzo became one of the stars of the Netflix show “Stranger Things,” he established himself as a legitimate theater performer with his first role being at nine years old as Benji in “Pricilla, Queen of Death.” Matarazzo would also star in the Broadway production of “Les Misérables.”

So when it was announced that Matarazzo would star in the revival of Sweeney Todd starring Josh Groban, fans weren’t skeptical about his performance.

Stars like Fisher or Matarazzo offer fans a good middle ground of both getting to see one of their favorite celebrities, but also getting a performance by a professional Broadway actor. 

But this poses the question: What does this mean for the future of Broadway actors?

“Stunt casting is something that I enjoy from time to time because I love seeing my favorite celebrities,” said Olivia Locarno ‘28.

She, along with many other audience members enjoy the thrill of sitting in a theater watching their favorite celebrities act on the stage instead of on the screen, bringing a new fondness to them.

“But from a performer's standpoint, it can be frustrating because you are seeing big roles that people work their whole life training to do being filled by people with half the skills,” said Locarno, as a performer herself. 

“As much as I do feel like there are more talented people that should be cast over these people being stunt cast, there are also ensemble members, swings and understudies that are rarely stunt cast, so I feel like it wouldn’t necessarily take that many jobs away,” said Megan Metivier ‘28, voicing a different perspective on the situation. 

Performers still strive to be on Broadway, not letting the idea of stunt casting stop them from their dreams. Broadway continues to take the city by storm, offering shows for everyone to enjoy the magic of theatre, no matter who's on the stage.