Laura Donnelly on the Most Rewarding Part About Performing in 'The Hills of California' | Tony Awards 2025 - video Dailymotion

The Hollywood Reporter

At the 2025 Tony Awards red carpet, Laura Donnelly chats with THR and breaks down the morning of Tonys nominations. Plus, she shares the most rewarding part about playing her role in 'The Hills of California.'

Transcript

00:00How special is it to be here tonight and be representing your show as a nominee?

00:04It's so wonderful. I mean, I finished in my play before Christmas, and so to get to come back

00:11and revisit it and just remember how amazing that experience was and get to celebrate it,

00:17it's a beautiful thing.

00:19Take me back to nomination morning. Where were you when you found out who was the first person

00:23you told?

00:24I was in California trying not to know anything about it. I'd been on a night shoot the night

00:29before, and I had a night shoot the next night, and I was trying to sleep, so I put my phone

00:33on Do Not Disturb, but I knew. My body woke me up anyway, because I was like, I have to

00:38know. I have to know how the play did as a whole, and it was fantastic. I was really amazed

00:45that we got seven nominations for our play, and that was a really incredible thing, like

00:50I say, because we had closed back in December, and yeah, I can't even remember who the first

00:56person was I spoke to. Probably somebody at work.

01:00What's been the most rewarding part about this role for you?

01:04Always just the long-term playing of it. That's always the most rewarding aspect. The relationships

01:11that I form in the theater, what I get to know about myself in the process. I mean, in

01:18this particular job, our playwright rewrote the entire third act just before we came to

01:24Broadway, and that was the most terrifying thing that I've ever had to face, and yet

01:28I did it, and it went brilliantly, and so I feel like I found something out that I thought

01:33I couldn't do, and it turns out I can. So those learning moments are always massive.

01:37Is there one person that you would especially like to thank tonight for championing your love

01:42for the arts and getting you here?

01:44My, who is now no longer with us, but my Irish dancing teacher when I was a kid, Patricia Mulholland,

01:51was the first one that made me realize that there was a possibility of actually being on

01:56the stage for your life.

01:59So many incredible shows and productions this season. Is there another one outside of your

02:05own that really wowed you?

02:07I saw Nicole in Sunset Boulevard just when I'd come into town in September. It was the

02:15only one I really had a chance to see, and she was spectacular. She absolutely blew me away.

02:22I didn't get a chance to see all the ones that I would love to see because we have to leave

02:27town immediately after we've finished, and this is the first time I've been back, so I'm hoping

02:31to maybe catch some this week on my trip here.

Laura Donnelly on the Most Rewarding Part About Performing in 'The Hills of California' | Tony Awards 2025

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