Tony Nominee Chat: The Normal Heart’s Joe Mantello on Being up Against 'Real Actors' Like Al Pacino

It’s a time-honored Broadway tradition: the day after the Tony nominations are announced, the lucky nominees get gussied up to meet the press. Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek caught up with Joe Mantello, a Tony-winning director who is now nominated for Best Actor for his role in Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart. Mantello chatted about the pitfalls of acting rather than directing—like “that little bit of hell,” the five-show weekend—finally getting a chance to play Ned Weeks and being up against “real actors” in his category, one of whom gave what Mantello calls, “my favorite performance in anything.” Click on below to check in with this Tony veteran.