You may have noticed the site has new themes! I put it up a few days ago and have been busy working on stuff around the site! It is not completely done yet! The themes were designed by Night Blooming Designs. Hope you love them as much as I do!

The gallery is back on the site! I am currently moving the gallery that was at my Lea & Jonathan Online site over here. I am making some major changes over there. Not everything in that gallery is on this site. I reorganized some stuff around and deleted some stuff but most of the stuff that was on that gallery is still there. Everything should be viewable and working except for most of the Glee screencaps! Be patient! The new gallery updates will mainly be Jonathan ones!

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Ryan tweeted a pic of Lea and Jon today! It’s nice they are hanging out today. I have added it to the gallery.

My Valentines! Cory, I’m so sorry you had to work! Xo pic.twitter.com/XIDKqj3j

Lea hung out with Jon recently and tweeted about it. Check out the tweet below:

Perfect best friend filled day:) Lunch with J Groff and dinner with @steph_hart! #perfection

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As you may have noticed lots of changes happening behind the scenes to the site, I have decided to make changes to my Lea & Jonathan Online site. The gallery is now on this site! The gallery is now online but I am still moving pics onto this site! Pretty much everything is done except for the Glee pics!

The new url to the gallery: www.jonathan-groff.net/gallery! I am glad to have the gallery back on the site!

This is a sticky post. Read below for latest updates.Tweet

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Jonathan will be starring as Patrick in HBO Comedy pilot from Michael Lannan. Let’s hope the show gets picked up and we will see Jonathan back on our TV screens again

Glee’s Jonathan Groff is heading to San Francisco via HBO.

The actor has been tapped to star in the premium cable network’s comedy pilot about a group of gay friends from Bored to Death’s Sarah Condon and writer Michael Lannan, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively.

Groff will play Patrick in the untitled Lannan vehicle about three thirty-something friends living in San Francisco who grapple with all the options in contemporary life and the complexities of the modern gay experience. Patrick is described as a gay man with a successful career as a video-game developer who is less successful in his personal life.

In addition, Juilliard grad Frankie Alvarez will co-star as Augustin, an artist’s assistant and Patrick’s best friend, who has a strong ego and for whom politics make it difficult to settle down with his boyfriend.

The comedy hails from Condon and David Marshall Grant (Brothers and Sisters), with Lannan (Remember Me) onboard to pen the script. Andrew Haigh will helm the pilot, which is based on Lannan’s feature script Lorimer.

Groff, repped by WME, most recently was a regular on the second season of Starz’s recently canceled Kelsey Grammer drama Boss. His credits include episodes of The Good Wife and features Taking Woodstock and The Conspirator. He next voices the lead character in Disney’s upcoming animated feature Frozen and the David Sedaris adaptation C.O.G. On Broadway, the Tony nominee’s resume includes Spring Awakening.

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Check out Jonathan’s interview with Backstage to discuss C.O.G. during Sundance Film Festival.

How exciting is it that you’re the star of the first David Sedaris movie?
Jonathan Groff: It’s crazy because we just finished shooting it in November and now we’re here at Sundance. It’s really the experience you want to have where it’s like, Really? This is happening? We had no expectation to be here at all this year.

Was there added pressure because it was the first Sedaris movie?
The idea of it was, coming into it. But the actual doing of it was not. Once we were on set and working, I felt creative, excited, happy, inspired. And I didn’t feel that pressure at all. So the anticipation I had about playing the role vanished when I actually got to do the work. Which is the case in life, generally.

And you learned so many new skills during filming!
How to pick apples. How to work in a factory. How to separate apples. How to cut jade. The apple thing, there’s a very specific sack you have to put on. It’s actually very difficult to get on and off. Thankfully for me it looked good if I didn’t know what I was doing. And being in the factory, not really knowing which apples were which kind of worked to my benefit. So ignorance sort of worked in my favor!

What really struck me about the movie is that your character can be kind of a jerk, but you don’t mind it. And that moment when he accepts Christ into his heart during church was very strange, but I loved that it wasn’t explained. It was just there.
When Kyle and I first sat down, I was asking about that scene where he has his religious moment. And I was like, “Is it genuine? Is this really real or is he just putting it on?” That’s how I felt when I read it. And he said, “I really hope that the movie makes people think and ask questions without necessarily answering or stating anything.” It’s a movie where there are religious people in it, atheists in it, my character at times is a real asshole. So it’s a mix, like life, and shows you all of it without shoving an opinion down your throat.

And the sexuality, as well. It’s a gay movie; the lead of the movie is gay, but the sexuality is sort of not the forefront of the self-discovery, which is another thing I loved about the movie. It’s him struggling with his sexuality and figuring it out, but that’s not the focus of the film. Hopefully we’ll have more of that, where there are gay characters but it doesn’t feel like we’re making a statement about homosexuality. Like that movie “Weekend.” I love that movie so much because it was two guys coming together and it felt completely universal. And I think this movie, too, any straight or gay person could go for the summer and have a self-exploration moment in Oregon.

But when will you have another self-exploration moment on Broadway?
I’m dying to! The last time I was on stage was a year and a couple months ago when I did “The Submission” Off-Broadway, and I had such a good time doing that play. There is really nothing like doing a play in New York. It’s where my heart is, it’s what I want to do the most, and I want to come back soon. But there’s a lot of similarity between the independent film community and the Off-Broadway community. Because both are all people who are passionate about work, not people who are trying to be famous, but want to tell a unique story that maybe will make people laugh or think in ways that other projects don’t. And when I was working on “C.O.G.,” I kept thinking to myself, This is so great because it reminds me of an Off Broadway experience. It was such a great, scrappy, we’re-all-in-it-because-we-love-it vibe.

And since this is for Backstage, any terrible audition stories you wouldn’t mind sharing?
You know I subscribed to Backstage! Backstage is probably the reason I’m here right now. When I was a senior in high school, I worked at a theater where they hired New York actors. And they told me about Backstage and so I got my school in Pennsylvania to subscribe. And there was an audition for a tour of “The Sound of Music,” and I got the job. Deferred my admission to college just to go on tour. And when the tour was over I moved to New York and then I got “Spring Awakening.”

But bad auditions… Musical auditions are always the worst because you have to sing and act, and that’s so stressful. Trying to sound good at 10 a.m. is the worst. I was auditioning for “The 60s Project,” up at Goodspeed. Andrew Rannells actually got the role I was auditioning for. And I had to sing “Unchained Melody.” And that note, it’s like a G and it was early in the morning, and I cracked in a way that I’m surprised I still have a voice. It was the most epic crack. Like Bobby Brady. Then I was supposed to go back and sing the second verse, and the piano player just played it out and then stopped, and they were like, “Thank you.” I was mortified.

And obviously dancing auditions were bad for me. You could go for the open singer call or the open dancer call, so I would go to the singer call and I wouldn’t hear anything back from them, so I would call myself back to dance. And I would go back to the dancer call, and I’m not a trained dancer. I’m a singer who moves well. So that was a total crapshoot. There are a lot of embarrassing moments I remember. Like with jazzpants.

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You can buy tickets to see Jonathan perform at this year’s Miscast Gala:

MCC Theater’s annual Miscast gala is one of the most exciting and unique theater events in town. Broadway’s hottest stars perform songs from roles in which they would NEVER be cast. And the results are thrilling!

“The year’s funniest revue!” –The Huffington Post
“One of 2012’s Most Galvanizing Theater Moments!” –The New York Times

Miscast 2013 will honor Tony® Award winner Judith Light (Other Desert Cities) for her illustrious screen and stage career (appearing on Broadway this year for the third straight season), her work with MCC Theater (acclaimed performances in Colder Than Here and Wit), and her impassioned advocacy of several causes, including Arts in Education.

This year’s roster of performers includes Tony® Award winner Christian Borle (Peter and the Starcatcher, “Smash”), Jason Danieley (Next to Normal, Curtains), Jonathan Groff (“Glee,” Spring Awakening, MCC’s The Submission), Megan Hilty (9 to 5, Wicked, “Smash”), Cheyenne Jackson (Xanadu, “30 Rock”), Jeremy Jordan (Newsies, “Smash”), Tony® Award winner Jane Krakowski (Nine, “30 Rock”), Tony® Award winner LaChanze (The Color Purple, Ragtime), Jesse L. Martin (Rent, “Law & Order”), Marin Mazzie (Kiss Me Kate, MCC’s Carrie), Nicole Parker (Wicked, “MADtv”), Patrick Wilson (All My Sons, The Full Monty) and many more! The evening will be hosted by Victor Garber (NBC’s “Deception,” Argo, ABC’s “Alias”).

Buy tickets now!
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Check out Jonathan’s interview with Teen Vogue talking about his upcoming movie, C.O.G.

I first met Jonathan Groff when he was starring in Spring Awakening on Broadway. Fun fact: Jonathan’s first photo shoot was in Teen Vogue with his fellow Spring Awakening castmates Lea Michelle, Jonathan B. Wright, and John Gallagher Jr. Flash forward six years, and there we were, together in snowy Park City talking about his Sundance debut in the David Sedaris essay-turned-movie, C.O.G. Groff plays a young David Sedaris, working on an apple farm in the Pacific Northwest.

What’s this film about?
“My character goes to Oregon with the intention of being an apple picker to have the quintessential American experience. It goes terribly awry, and so he’s moneyless and jobless in a small town. The movie is very quirky, very upbeat, and there’s something really special about it. When I sat down with Kyle, who is our director, I knew that I had to do it. I’d seen his movie Easier with Practice, which is the only other movie he’s done, and I thought it was really amazing, especially for a first film. Plus I knew that not only was the script really interesting and the character really interesting, but it’s the first time that a David Sedaris piece of writing has been turned into a film.’”

Did you shoot in Portland?
“Yeah. It was 18 days. I think that it set the record for making it into to Sundance. I remember our last week of shooting, Kyle was like, ‘We can get it in by the deadline if, after we wrap in two weeks, we could have something ready.’ It took him two weeks to do a rough edit, then we were in. I screamed. I couldn’t believe it! Not because I didn’t think the movie would be great, but just because it got done so quickly. It’s kind of unheard of.”

Wow! Did he sleep?
“He did not sleep. He has a real eye for editing. As a director, while he was watching it, he was editing it in his mind and he knew which takes he wanted to use. I think, through the course of shooting it, he had a basic idea of what it was going to look like.”

How did you like Sundance?
“It’s winter, but there’s a summer camp vibe to it. It’s a fun energy to be around.”

What was it like to shoot in an orchard?
“We filmed in orchards in Oregon and a lot of the extras in the scenes where we’re picking the apples are actual workers from the farm. We were shooting late in the season, and so at one of the apple farms they did not pick the apples off the trees—they saved them for us, but in a different area. Gary, our production designer, had to tie hundreds of apples on trees with little, green twisty ties because the apples had fallen off. But it looks real in the movie!”

Was Portland gorgeous in the fall?
“It was so beautiful. The movie has really amazing shots of these huge, expansive orchards. Portland is such a beautiful city, especially when you get into the nature of it. The mountains, and the fields… it’s really a special place.”

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Check out Jonathan and writer/director, Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s interview with MSN Movies to talk about C.O.G. during Sundance Film Festival.

MSN Movies: How do you get to be the first guy to make an official David Sedaris film?

Kyle Patrick Alvarez: It’s been a long sort of … I’ve always wanted to do it but it’s always felt at arm’s, you know, it always felt kind of just out of reach. And after I finished the first movie (“Easier with Practice,”) I thought well maybe now’s an opportunity to try. I have something else. I have some way in. And at first all his representation were like, “It’s a policy. He just doesn’t say yes to these things.” And I was trying to say, “Well this one’s different.” And then they were just, “Yeah, we’ve heard that one before.” And I was like, “No, but it really is.” And it was that kind of back and forth for a really long time to the point where I just had to go to a book signing of his, hand him a copy of “Easier With Practice” and say, “Hey I’ve got…” You know, I didn’t pitch it to him. I just sort of said, “I have some ideas. If you like the film I’d love to talk to you.”

And then after his tour, I think I handed it to him in September and I heard from him at the end of December. And it was just a really …he was just really gracious and surreal. Like it was surreal to me that he was really, you know, he was kind of open to it. We got along. I think he liked my pitch on it, which was “Okay. I’m not going to … it’s not really going to be you. It’s going to be your story, but it’s not going to necessarily look like you or sound like you. You know, I like this story even if you hadn’t written it. I would still want this story.” And in some ways it’s been amazing to have his support that way, and he (showed) support in a very different way. And he talked about it a little bit last night. He wasn’t supportive in the way he read through the script or came and visited the set. He was just supportive of me and very encouraging about it and very positive always about it and always getting together with me in town when he came through Los Angeles, which for me was such a motivator to be ‘Okay, this guy is believing in me do this and I respect him so much,” and that’s definitely what helped me get through the three years it took try to get people to let me make it.

And Mr. Groff, I’m curious about how you got involved and in touch with the material.

Jonathan Groff: I got sent the script, and Kyle said he wanted to meet with me. And when I read the script I was really confused because I knew it was a David Sedaris short story. And I just saw David Sedaris, and I thought, “I don’t look like him or sound like him, and I can’t do an impression of him, so I wonder why Kyle’s eager to meet with me for this film.”And we sat down, and he sort of explained that it was Sedaris’ story but he was not looking for an impression but for just someone to sort of inhabit the character. And when I sat down with Kyle he’s so … when he speaks about his work he gets so excited and so passionate that I knew that it was something that I had to be a part of because he was so inspired by the material and inspiring to talk to.

Samuel’s whole thing is … I can just picture him being one of those guys like me who likes Thoreau a bit too much with self-reliance, but what he really needs is self-awareness.

Alverez: Totally.

I mean how do you tap into…

Alverez: He does read “Walden.” That’s one of the books he’s reading.

Yeah.

Alvarez: Which I was bummed because I remember when they put up the trailer for “Upstream Color” it was passing over a table with a close up of “Walden”, and I was like the “Walden” references here’s …

Groff: (Laughs).

Alvarez: Thoreau — he’s hot, he’s sexy, he’s dead.

Groff: So hot.

Alvarez: So, so in, so right now. So dead author chic.

But I mean how do you tap into playing an intelligent, articulate cluelessness in a way that’s like human behavior and not a Will Ferrell character?

Groff: I think there’s an innocence to Samuel that is sort of the way, and it sort of makes him relatable. There was a line last night, last night was the first night I’ve ever watched it with an audience, and there was a line last night that played in the bar where he says, what does he say?

Alvarez: He’s like, “I just think people are so intimated by me.”

Groff: Yeah, and there’s sort of a complete unawareness that it’s humorous. And so I think that for me was the way and to sort of make him more likable and not so much of an a**hole. It was difficult though because he definitely, and David said it last night in the talk, he said, ” I forgot how pompous I was when growing up; watching this movie made me realize it.”

Right, but I mean the difference between pomposity and arrogance is like manslaughter versus murder. I mean there’s not a lot of intent there, right? Was there?

Groff: No, totally. It’s really, and I’ve said it couple of times today, (a thing) I think we can all relate to. I never went to college, but when I left home, when I left my hometown and struck out in the world I felt like I knew what I was doing. I had a plan because I had no sense of reality of what anything was actually going to be like. And I think that everybody can relate to being that age and sort of striking out thinking, “I’m going to take the world by storm,” or “I’m going to go to this small town and sort of honor them with my presence and my smarts,” and then they sort of end up teaching you a lesson. And I think even outside of that when you’re young even today we think we have our s**t together, but life introduces us to different people and puts us in different situations where we’re constantly forced to question who we are and sort of redefine who we are as we make our way through.

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Check out a couple more videos of Jonathan signing autographs with fans during Sundance Film Festival.

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Check out Jonathan and his fellow cast member’s interview during Sundance Film Festival with David Poland to discuss C.O.G.

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