“I’m broke and I ain’t got a job”: Story of ‘Twisters’ Star Anthony Ramos Getting His Most Life-changing Role on the Same Day as Losing a Job is One for the Movies
- Anthony Ramos is currently enjoying the spotlight as a cast member of Twisters.
- Hours after losing a job, Ramos received the casting call for a life-changing role in Hamilton, which earned him an Emmy.
- Ramos was unsure if he would land the Hamilton role considering that the people behind it had rejected him for a different show.
Anthony Ramos is turning out to be one of the emerging stars in Hollywood. He is currently in the spotlight for starring in the Glen Powell-led feature film Twisters. However, his breakout acting role defined his career once and for all.
Ramos is widely known for his performance in the dual roles in the Broadway musical Hamilton. He once revealed how the offer for the role came in at a very convenient time as he had been one of the many actors who had been laid off after a stage production was canceled.
Twisters Actor Anthony Ramos Landing the Role in Hamilton Was a Blessing in Disguise
Fresh out of the musical theatre program in 2011, Anthony Ramos landed roles in several regional and touring productions. Years later, he was working in Heart and Lights at Radio City Music Hall, a dance show with the Rockettes. Unfortunately, the show got canceled during the previews.
That same year, he appeared in the dual roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the stage production of Hamilton. Interestingly enough, in an interview on LiveKellyandMark in 2021, he revealed he had gotten the offer to do this project on the same day as he got the sad news that Heart and Lights was not moving forward.
Upon being inquired about what it was like when he got the call regarding his Hamilton role, Ramos said:
I had been auditioning for Hamilton though, kind of on the low. I went, I lost my job at like one o’clock, and then they were like, ‘Yo, we heard you like got fired do you want to come do this thing called The Hamilton mixtape’, I was like, ‘Yeah, yo, I’m broke and I ain’t got a job.’
When asked if he would have done the role if he had not been fired from Heart and Lights, he said that he had no idea how that would have gone. He also mentioned that the casting director Bethany Knox believed he was best for the role even though the schedule was going to be hectic.
Knox seemed to be right because Ramos earned an Emmy nomination for his performance. He has also starred in a supporting role in A Star is Born, the musical film In the Heights, the action movie Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and most recently, the disaster film Twisters.
Anthony Ramos Was Initially Doubtful About Landing the Hamilton Role
In an interview with W Magazine, Ramos revealed that he had auditioned for the role of Lin-Manuel Miranda for In the Heights, but did not get the role. Later on, while performing on a Caribbean Cruise ship, he learned that the same people as In The Heights were hiring for Hamilton.
I was 22, and I thought, If they didn’t want me then, why would they want me now? But I went for it anyway. I did four auditions. At the last one, I sang “Grenade,” by Bruno Mars, at 10 in the morning. At the time, I was about to start performing in the Spring Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.
The Spring Spectacular refers to Heart and Lights, which got canceled on the same day as his last audition for Hamilton‘s. The cast of the former show had a huge pity party that also involved alcohol, and by 4 PM, Ramos was employed again.
Twisters is now in theatres.
