Rent Star Adam Chanler-Berat on Honoring Anthony Rapp and Aspiring to be Anthony Bourdain

For aficionados of young Broadway stars, Adam Chanler-Berat needs little introduction. After creating the role of sweet “loner, bit of a stoner” boyfriend Henry in Next to Normal, Chanler-Berat won raves as the eternally young title character in the off-Broadway premiere of Peter and the Starcatcher. Now he's making the transition to musical leading man, tackling the role of filmmaker and narrator Mark in the first NYC revival of Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Rent at New World Stages. Broadway.com caught up with fan favorite Chanler-Berat to chat about honoring original Rent star Anthony Rapp, why working with Michael Greif is like a perfect picnic and his secret gastronomic career fantasies.

Why did you want to be a part of this Rent revival?
The score is iconic, of course, and the idea of having an opportunity to re-imagine the part of Mark was really appealing—to bring me and my individuality to the role. And the idea of working with [Next to Normal director] Michael Greif again was an absolute thrill, so I jumped at that opportunity.

Do you feel any pressure to re-create Mark, as played by Anthony Rapp?
No, everyone is really open and generous with letting the company figure out how to tell this story our own way. There is the looming pressure in the back of my mind to honor what’s been done with the piece and the role before. Anthony Rapp is a friend of mine—he assisted Michael Greif in the off-Broadway run of Next to Normal—so I want to honor the work he did in creating it, but the reason Michael put me in the role was to bring me to the role. He didn’t want some weird impression of Adam doing Anthony.

What's your relationship with Michael Greif like?
I trust his vision completely. I think the continuous struggle between the actor and the director is figuring out how to communicate. Now that we’ve figured that out, the whole process becomes remarkably condensed, and that kind of trust and respect breeds creative freedom. He has this way of making you feel like one of his ideas was a great idea of yours—a great quality in a director. Rent really feels like a collaboration, like we both brought things to the picnic and made a great meal together. But maybe that’s just because I love food so much.

Is it very different creating a character from the ground up, as in Next to Normal, and re-imaging an established one, as in Rent?
The experiences are a bit opposite. Next to Normal was really malleable; we were getting new pages upon pages upon pages daily. It uses a different skill set as an actor to work with material that’s frozen, and it challenges you in a different way. I’m certainly attracted to original work more than I am to established work, but Rent is a modern classic, and how can you not be attracted to that? So I’m learning how to work this muscle and the exercise it needs, as opposed to the exercise that something completely original needs.

Was this young Rent ensemble tight from the beginning?
I have to tell you, completely honestly: absolutely yes. From day one, egos weren’t involved at all, and we were all there just to serve the piece and to discover new things about it. We’ve inspired and challenged and questioned and pushed each other to new heights. I do a lot of watching in the show, so I had the opportunity to really celebrate the amazing talents that are my fellow actors on that stage, and that’s what the play is about to me. [Rent creator] Jonathan [Larson] wrote this story to honor and celebrate his friends. It happened to be in a very difficult time in their lives and his life, but the core of [the show] is an immense, overwhelming love and appreciation for people in his life.

This Rent is set very specifically in 1991. Do you think that Mark and Roger would even recognize the East Village today?
I think there are little clues left as to what was happening back then—the struggle we have in the show where the character Benny wants to convert their world into a cyberland. Unfortunately, I think that Mark would think that his battle, as far as maintaining bohemia in that area goes, has been lost. I don’t know if bohemia has a home anymore. Maybe it’s in Brooklyn somewhere.

Next to Normal and Rent both have serious followings. What have the fans been like?
They are passionate and undyingly committed to this play, and in some ways they feel ownership in the piece. I don’t believe in owning art, but you can certainly own how it affects your life and in both cases, it’s had a really big impact on people. I had someone over the past weekend come up to me with tears in her eyes saying, “Next to Normal helped me through some really tough times in my life and I was so grateful for its existence and I feel the same way about Rent.” So I certainly see a lot of repeat fans, the people who allow themselves to be really touched by a piece of theater, because both pieces hit a similar chord.

Speaking of fans, it looks like there was an internet campaign to get you to join Twitter. Is that true?
It is, and it totally worked! I’m not really good with the digital world. It kind of freaks me out. It really intimidated me and I felt like I couldn’t commit to it in the way that it seemed was necessary, but then I had a change of heart. Actually, it was Miranda July and her website that made me feel I could reach people in a positive way through the internet. It doesn’t just have to be this place where people go to say “Oh, this person cracked in this show.” It can be a place where people talk about a piece of theater that really moved them or something. So I’m making an effort to be more digitally saavy and less cynical about it.

Are you becoming a digital world expert?
No, no, no, no. I just made a Twitter account, and found a reasonably attractive picture of me to put on it. But not overly attractive. Accurate, I guess, is how I should put it. And I write things that I think about every now and then. That’s all.

You mentioned a love of food. What would you do if you weren’t an actor?
Do you watch the show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations? That’s my dream: To have a show like that where I just travel the world, me and my mouth.

See Adam Chanler-Berat in Rent at New World Stages.