American Idiot's John Gallagher Jr. on Rocking with Green Day and Supporting His Glee Buds

After winning a 2007 Tony for his moving performance as doomed schoolboy Moritz in Spring Awakening, John Gallagher Jr. was tapped by the show's director, Michael Mayer, for an exciting new project: a stage adaptation of Green Day’s Grammy-winning American Idiot. Floored by the prospect of working with the band’s music, Gallagher immediately accepted. Soon, he was working side by side with Mayer and Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong to transform the album’s frequently referenced “Jesus of Suburbia” figure into the full-fledged character of Johnny, a frustrated suburban twentysomething slacker whose big city dreams are hindered by a nasty drug addiction. In addition to starring in two hot Broadway musicals, Gallagher has proven himself a gifted dramatic actor in the Tony-winning Rabbit Hole as well as off-Broadway productions such as Port Authority and Farragut North. We talked to the versatile Gallagher about Green Day, the legacy of Spring Awakening and whether it’s possible to live a rock star lifestyle while doing eight shows a week on Broadway.

Your character, Johnny, is an unmotivated slacker, yet you’ve already won a Tony in your 20s and are the lead in this huge show. Is it hard to identify with him?
You’d be surprised. For all the success I’ve had at an early age, there’s a very accomplished slacker deep inside of me. I had no trouble relating to that feeling of being inactive and lost. In a lot of ways, he’s an extremely exaggerated and heightened version of myself.

Was it difficult to develop the character with the show’s minimal book?
It was a challenge, but also a joy to have nothing to reference other than the music. We had an amazing opportunity that you don’t get a lot when you develop new work. It felt like we were really building everything from the ground up.

Johnny is the self-proclaimed "Jesus of Suburbia.' What exactly does that mean to you?
He’s kind of smart and has a taste for irony and views himself as being a martyr. He feels he suffers for the sins of his parents and is always looking for someone else to blame, and it usually ends up being his mother and abusive stepfather. This is all very subtextual stuff, but Michael and I decided, with Billie Joe’s assistance, that the truest connection this boy has probably ever known was years ago with his father who passed away.

Were you a big Green Day fan before the show?
I’d been a big fan since I was in the fourth grade and Dookie came out. I remember hearing those songs on the radio for the first time, then I followed their career and was so impressed with the way they push themselves in an era where pop music seems so disposable. Green Day seems to be one of the only bands from their generation that has stayed relevant and pushed themselves further. People want to take them to town for selling out; I don’t really know what that’s about, because if you meet them, they’re incredibly committed people of deep artistic conviction. I think everybody has these emotional watershed moments in their life, and [the release of] American Idiot was definitely one of those for me.

Did you hear a story in the music the first time you listened to the album?
Absolutely. I remember one night taking a bunch of my friends out in my mom’s minivan and making them listen to “Homecoming.” I loved how it was so theatrical and unapologetically grandiose.

What was it like to collaborate with the band on the show?
I have to remind myself from time to time that I can be their friends and not just a fan. The support and mutual admiration that we’ve shared has made the show what it is. What’s onstage would not be the same if they’d been like, “OK, we’ll send you some stuff and pop in for one rehearsal and be there opening night. Let us know how it goes.” On the other hand, it wouldn’t have worked if they were peering over our shoulders constantly saying, "No, sing this that way.” Billie Joe has said he’s a very hands on/hands off collaborator. He understood immediately the best way to collaborate on a project like this: You give a little bit and then you step back a little bit.

Now that the show’s up and running, does Green Day still stop by the theater?
Whenever they’re in New York, they drop in to see us. There are no words to describe how generous they’ve been. What we do every night couldn’t happen without what they’ve given us personally. When we performed at the Tony Awards, Green Day had just gotten off a plane from Europe. They had flown back to New York because they didn’t want to miss the awards and wanted to play a song with us. The next day they flew back to continue their European tour. It’s amazing and really humbling to think they’re out there playing these huge stadiums in other countries and came back for one night just for us.

That was your second time performing live on TV with them [after the Grammys]. How insane were those nights?
I don’t remember any of it! Those shows happen so fast and there’s so much adrenaline involved. As a fan, there’s a surreal element any time I’ve been able to step out on the same stage as them. It’s incredibly overwhelming.

There’s no intermission in American Idiot, and you’re on stage for the majority of the show. How are you holding up?
I’ve never had to work this hard on anything I’ve attempted to do on stage. It requires a lot of discipline, and I don’t have a life outside of it, but that’s a price I’m happy to pay. People say, “You must be living it up like a rock star, you’re in this hit show!” But no, I have to do the show every night, and that’s all I have the energy for.

The choreography is pretty wild, too.
It’s like a full contact sport! It is very violent choreography. We’ve had a cast member tear his meniscus, someone rolled their ankle, a shoulder came out of a socket. It’s an intense show, and it’s left its mark on all of us. I wake up every day and I’m like, “Ah, a new bruise!”

Spring Awakening had a very loyal fan base. Has the same happened with Idiot?
People have really connected to it, and a lot of them have been the same [Spring Awakening fans]. I’ve recognized a lot of people at the stage door. There’s also cross pollination of people coming because they know the record but may have never seen a show before, and people coming who see every show every season. It’s definitely the most diverse audience I’ve ever had. It’s a shame I haven’t been able to immerse myself in the stage door culture like I used to because the show is so demanding.

It seems like a lot of Spring Awakening alumni ended up on this project or on Glee. Any chance you’ll guest star on the show?
I’m still waiting for their call! [Laughs.] I’ll be busy with this show for a while, so that’s up to the people over there. The show is already overly Spring Awakening-ified. They might think that if I get on board, I’d tip the canoe.

What’s it been like to see your former co-stars Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff catapult to fame?
It’s been crazy, certainly for Lea because it seemed so overnight, but she was born a star and fills the shoes of being a megastar very gracefully. Seeing them have success outside of New York theater is really exciting.

You took a film detour as a Union Army lieutenant in Jonah Hex. What was that like?
It was fun to go out and shoot on location in New Orleans. I had to ride a horse, and I don’t think I’ve done that since fourth grade. I’d love to do more film, but I tend to sign on for these long theater projects, so it’s hard to audition when you’re tied up.

Is it disappointing that the film hasn't done well at the box office?
It’s a hard story to sell when your protagonist has a horrifically scarred face. The movie’s kind of dark and it opened on the same weekend as a happier cowboy story [Toy Story 3]. It was a labor of love for everyone involved, though. I was just excited to do it because I don’t get a lot of chances to be on camera, especially in a comic book movie.

Any post-Idiot plans on the horizon?
One of the things I wish I could do more on the side is play my own music. In July or August I’m going to try to do a show somewhere in the city. Someday I’m going to put out a record and do some touring, but definitely not while I’m doing [American Idiot].

You could open for Green Day!
Precisely! People will come to a huge arena and say, “Uh, a folk singer is opening for them? This is weird…”

See John Gallagher Jr. in American Idiot at the St. James Theatre.