Jonathan Groff — biography, films, roles and trivia

Biography

Jonathan Drew Groff (born March 26, 1985) is an American actor and singer. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he has received several awards, including a Tony Award and a Grammy Award, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 2026, he was included in Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

He began his career on Broadway, making his debut in the musical In My Life (2005). He later received Tony Award nominations for his roles as Melchior Gabor in the original production of the rock musical Spring Awakening (2006), King George III in the original production of the historical musical Hamilton (2015), and Bobby Darin in the original production of the jukebox musical Just in Time (2025). In 2024, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Franklin Shepard in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Merrily We Roll Along. He also played Seymour Krelborn in the Off-Broadway revival of the musical Little Shop of Horrors in 2019.

On television, he began his career as a guest star playing Jesse St. James in the Fox musical comedy series Glee (2009–2015). He starred as Patrick Murray in the HBO comedy-drama series Looking (2014–2015), the network's first series about the lives of gay men, as well as in its subsequent television film Looking: The Movie (2016). He portrayed FBI Special Agent Holden Ford in the Netflix crime drama Mindhunter (2017–2019). He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the live-recorded theatrical production of Hamilton (2020) for Disney+.

Groff made his film debut playing Michael Lang in Ang Lee's film Taking Woodstock (2009). Since then, he has played Louis J. Weichmann in the film The Conspirator (2010), Smith in the film The Matrix Resurrections (2021), and a father taken hostage in the film Knock at the Cabin (2023). He also voiced Kristoff and Sven in the Disney animated franchise Frozen, including Frozen (2013) and Frozen 2 (2019). In 2022, he served as an executive producer of the HBO documentary film Spring Awakening: Those You've Known, which reunited the musical's original cast for a 15-year reunion.

Filmography

1

2017 MINDHUNTER Holden Ford

Interesting facts

7

1
Jonathan is the cousin of singer, composer and actor James Wolpert.
2
He has an older brother, David Groff.
3
Jonathan was born to Julie and Jim Groff; his mother is a physical education teacher, and his father is a driver and horse training specialist.
4
His full name is Jonathan Drew Groff.
5
In 2005, thanks to timely diagnosis and surgical intervention, Jonathan was able to beat the melanoma (skin cancer) found on his chest.
6
In 2003, Jonathan graduated from Conestoga Valley High School, a public high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and enrolled at the private Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but due to his nascent theater career he never began his studies.
7
Jonathan is openly gay.