Colton Ryan (born June 10, 1995) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his performance as Conrad Roy in Hulu's miniseries, ''

The Girl from Plainville ''The Girl from Plainville'' is an American biographical crime drama television miniseries created by Liz Hannah and Patrick Macmanus. The series stars Elle Fanning, Chloë Sevigny, and Colton Ryan. It premiered on Hulu on March 29, 2022. A po ...

'' (2022), for which he garnered critical acclaim, and for playing Connor Murphy, a role which he understudied in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musical ''

Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important rol ...

'' and reprised in the 2021 film adaptation. He is also known for playing the main role of Samuel on the

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

series '' Little Voice'' and originating the roles of Gene Laine in ''

Girl from the North Country "Girl from the North Country" (occasionally known as "Girl ''of'' the North Country") is a song written by Bob Dylan. It was recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City in April 1963, and released the following month as the second tr ...

'' and Jim Doyle in ''

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

'', the latter of which earned him a nomination for the

Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a musica ...

Early life

Ryan was born and raised in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. He attended the School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCAPA) for grades four through twelve, where he majored in vocal music and minored in theatre. He also is a

Governor's School for the Arts The Governor's School for the Arts is a regional secondary arts school sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education and the public school divisions of Chesapeake, Franklin, Isle of Wight County, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Southampton County, S ...

2011 alumnus for musical theatre. His acting career took off in 2015 while attending

Baldwin Wallace University Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio, United States. Established in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin, it merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace ...

, when he played Dickon in the Idaho Shakespeare Festival production of ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...

''.

Career

He made his Broadway debut in 2016 as the standby for

Evan Hansen Evan Hansen is the Title character, titular character and main protagonist of the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical ''Dear Evan Hansen'' by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. A bullied 17-year-old high schooler with social anxiety and ...

, Connor Murphy and Jared Kleinman in ''

''. He remained with the show until 2017, when he graduated with his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Baldwin Wallace University. That same year, he made his television debut in a guest role on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and then played the recurring role of J.J. Elkins on the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

series ''

Homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

'' the following year. In 2019, he originated the role of White Rabbit / Alfred Hallam / March Hare in the

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production of ''Alice By Heart'' and made his film acting debut in ''The Social Ones'' and ''

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

''. In 2020, he starred in the

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

musical ''

'' as Gene Laine, a role in which he originated in the 2018 Off-Broadway production, but the production was shut down that May due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2020, he starred in the main role of Samuel on the

series '' Little Voice'' and as Bruce in the Amazon Studios film '' Uncle Frank''. It was also announced that year that he would reprise the role of Connor Murphy in

Stephen Chbosky Stephen Chbosky (; born January 25, 1970) is an American film director, screenwriter, and author. He is best-known for writing the bestselling coming-of-age novel '' The Perks of Being a Wallflower'' (1999), and writing and directing its 2012 fi ...

's film adaptation of ''Dear Evan Hansen'', which premiered as the Opening Night Gala Presentation of the

2021 Toronto International Film Festival The 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the 46th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 9 to 18, 2021.Barry Hertz"TIFF planning ‘substantially bigger’ 2021 film festival compared to last year’ ...

, and was followed by a theatrical release on September 24, 2021. In 2021, he was cast opposite

Elle Fanning Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. Her works include both independent films and blockbusters, and her accolades include a National Board of Review Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and ...

in the Hulu drama series ''

'', based on the

death of Conrad Roy Conrad Henri Roy III (September 12, 1995 – July 12, 2014) was an American marine salvage captain who died by suicide at the age of 18. His girlfriend, 17-year-old Michelle Carter, had encouraged him in text messages to kill himself. The case ...

. His work in the series received critical acclaim, with ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' listing it as one of the 20 best TV performances of 2022. Ryan was nominated for the

in 2023, for his performance as Jimmy Doyle in ''

Acting credits

Theatre

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Colton 1995 births 21st-century American male actors American male musical theatre actors American male film actors American male television actors Living people Baldwin Wallace University alumni Male actors from Lexington, Kentucky Musicians from Lexington, Kentucky Theatre World Award winners