Andrew Rannells on Going Door to Door as a Golden Boy Missionary in The Book of Mormon

With his boyish good looks, Andrew Rannells is currently delivering a slyly sunny performance as Elder Price, an optimistic young missionary sent to Uganda in The Book of Mormon. The new musical from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q’s Robert Lopez marks the first original Broadway role for Rannells, a veteran of Jersey Boys and Hairspray. Broadway.com recently met up with Rannells for coffee before a two-show preview day to discuss working in the world of Parker and Stone, researching the Mormon religion and the fun of playing a golden boy who may not be so perfect after all.

You’re drinking coffee! That's breaking the no-caffeine rule many Mormons follow.
I know, right? It’s one thing I can’t do without, so it’s a good thing I’m not "method."

How familiar were you with the Mormon faith before this show?
I read this really great book by [Into Thin Air author] Jon Krakauer called Under the Banner of Heaven, which is about the history of the Mormon religion. I was a huge fan of the book and became wildly fascinated by Mormonism. It’s an American religion, a new religion that’s been documented in a couple lifetimes [before] ours. I was raised Catholic, and that all seems so distant and mythical, but Mormonism is only a little over 100 years-old. Also, when I was cast I met with a couple missionaries here in Manhattan, which was very interesting. These poor boys would just stand in Times Square trying to convert people and get heckled and harassed. I felt so badly for them, but I got to learn a little bit more about the practicality of the day-to-day missionary stuff.

What was the most valuable lesson they taught you?
These guys were young, 19 and 21 years old, so it was interesting to see someone that age so passionate about their religion. It’s hard to imagine as a young person that you’d feel so adamant about anything, let alone God, that you’d be willing to spend two years of your life converting others. There was such a genuine sense of 100% commitment to being a missionary. This is a serious job for them.

Are you inviting the missionaries to come see the show?
They knew I was an actor, but I didn’t tell them I was going to be in a show called The Book of Mormon. They can see one show a year while they’re here, so they asked if they should go see Jersey Boys. I told them it’s a great show, but there’s a lot of language that they might find questionable. So they asked about Wicked and I said, “Yeah, go see Wicked. That’s probably a good bet for you.”

Show casts often have prayer circles before each performance. Is there anything like that happening backstage?
No, we don’t do a prayer circle, but I’ve been in shows with prayer circles. I don’t think it’s for any lack of reverence or gratefulness certainly. The most amazing thing about this cast is that it’s a group of actors who are aware of just how special this show is and how fortunate we are to be a part of it.

Is it difficult to maintain that cheery Mormon disposition every night?
The music and Casey Nicholaw’s staging of the show lends itself to being super chipper. I’m a midwestern guy, so being chipper is sort of in my DNA. The great part is that through the course of the show my character drops some of his cheeriness.

How do you feel about your missionary uniform?
I totally love it. I can’t complain at all because our ensemble members have so many quick costume changes and I stay in that outfit the entire time.

What has it been like to work with Trey Parker and Matt Stone on their debut musical?
I could not have been more intimidated going in and auditioning for Bobby [Lopez] and them, but they’re so gracious and really generous with us. I joined the project a little late, during the final workshop, and they were so great to adjust things for me. I can’t say enough good things about these guys.

The show has some pretty outrageous and potentially offensive jokes. Did you have any qualms about any of the material?
I didn’t find any of it wildly offensive because you have to look at the big picture. You can’t just read a scene or a song. When you read little bits of the [book], it sounds worse than it is, but the whole scope and arc of it makes sense. When you get to that end message, it’s actually a very positive show, and becomes less about Mormons and more about faith in general.

So you don’t have any reservations about inviting your family?
My family hasn’t seen it yet, but my mom and one of my sisters will be at opening night. I prepared them a little bit, but I want them to be surprised and be shocked and have the same experience that everybody else has.

You have a lot of voiceover experience on cartoons such as Pokémon and Sonic. Did that help at all in this South Park-influenced atmosphere?
That was sort of my introduction to show business as a teenager. I did a lot of anime dubbing and that gets kind of kooky. There’s so much of a quickness to how you work on those shows. I think that’s maybe why I worked so well with Trey and Matt. There’s a work ethic to it, so last-minute line changes didn’t really throw me. I feel like I just tapped into that part of my brain.

The church emphasizes the importance of teamwork between missionary pairs. Did you and co-star Josh Gad [who plays Elder Cunnigham] do anything special to bond?
Josh and I really hit it off from the beginning. We’re not doing any crazy things like never leaving each other's sides or spending all our breaks together, but he’s great and so much fun. We have similar comic sensibilities and I think we blend very well together. His life outside of the show is very exciting right now. He and his wife recently had a baby and moved here from Los Angeles. He’s got a lot going on right now.

Do you enjoy playing golden boys like Elder Price and Hairspray's Link Larkin?
Yeah, because there’s always a greater fall. I like [Price’s] confidence even though sometimes it’s completely misplaced. He’s so self-assured as he marches in [to Uganda] and thinks he knows what he’s doing. I can totally relate to that. When I first moved to New York I thought I was going to take the city by storm, and that’s not exactly what happened. It takes a while to get a job, it turns out! Link Larkin was really fun because it’s a similar idea. He thinks he’s got it all together, but he’s got quite an Achilles heel.

Thanks to Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark, there’s a lot of talk about the risk of opening a show cold on Broadway. Is that a fear you’ve experienced?
We all questioned how people would react. We did workshops and presentations this summer and got great responses, but it was mostly from industry people, so we were all curious how a regular paying audience would respond. The response has been amazing, so all those fears kind of went away. I’ve never opened a show in New York, I’ve only been a replacement, so the whole process is really exciting for me.

The show discusses very serious topics such as Africa’s AIDS epidemic and forced female genital mutilation. How do you go about combining these tough issues along with humor?
It’s hard, but it’s true and it’s funny because it’s shocking. [Parker, Stone and Lopez] are not making up any of this stuff. There’s a number in the first act when we first get to Uganda where the [villagers] explain their attitude towards life. It’s a funny [song], but a friend came to see the show and said, “It’s also sad because they have a right to have a gripe with the life they have and the circumstances they’re in.”

So how would you fare if you had to go door to door attempting to convert people?
You really have to be strong for that. I’m even bad at talkbacks with kids who want to become actors! I’m like “Ehhhh, you guys don’t want to do that.” I don’t know if I’d be a very good missionary.

See Andrew Rannells in The Book of Mormon at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre