Tootsie's Lilli Cooper on Her 'Cuckoo Bananas' Tony Nomination & More

In the 1982 film Tootsie, Jessica Lange played Julie Nichols, an soap star desperate for true human connection, and earned her first Oscar win. The role of Julie Nichols must be good luck, because Lilli Cooper, who is currently playing the character in the musical of the same name based on the film, has received her first Tony nomination. "It still feels so weird," Cooper said to Ryan Lee Gilbert in a recent interview on Broadway.com's #LiveAtFive about her nomination. "It's truly cuckoo bananas. I will never take it for granted, and I will never look at it smaller than it is. I have worked my butt off, so I'm really proud of myself. The biggest compliments I've gotten is when people say, 'You deserve this.' I think it's a rare thing for people, women specifically, to say, 'Yes, I deserve this accolade,' and I'm really proud to say I believe I do."

Cooper stars alongside fellow Tony nominee Santino Fontana, who brings both Michael Dorsey and Dorothy Michaels to life. "The most important thing to me was developing the relationship between Julie and Dorothy and have that be the most honest and real relationship," Cooper said. "This show is hilarious; however, we're telling a story that we want people to relate to. We have amazing one-liners and brilliant comedians on stage, but if you don't care about the relationship and stories we're telling, we're not doing our job. Obviously, Julie has a different relationship with Dortothy than she does with Michael. The thing is, Santino’s Dorothy is so lovable. You want to be around her and know her, and I see that in Santino as well. He is such a great leader in this pack we have."

When it came to updating the show's plot to be more timely, Cooper knew exactly what she wanted to talk to the show's Tony-nominated scribe Robert Horn about. "I think we all knew that lifting the film and putting it on stage wouldn't work. It's problematic," she said. "I felt really safe in the hands of this creative team. What I was most passionate about was that [Julie] was a lovable, true, multi-dimensional character that we cared about and understood. I sing this song in Act I called, 'Then There was John,' and it's about the sacrfices Julie made for the thing she loves, which is acting. [During the pre-Broadway Chicago run] there was a period where the song was more about her relationship with this man than with her craft. It was a small lyric shift, but it really tranformed the storyteling of this song and made it so much more powerful. You see how passionate she is about the things she's wiling to sacrifice and risk in her life."

Tootsie marks Cooper's fourth Broadway show, and it's her third time originating a role on stage, having previously starred as Elphaba in Wicked and originating the roles of Martha in Spring Awakening and Sandy Cheeks in SpongeBob SquarePants. "Thinking about all the roles I've played on Broadway, I'm so happy to realize that they're all so strong," Cooper said. "I feel really lucky to have played all those roles and that I can represent that type of woman on stage. And the type of woman I've represented on stage has really run the gamut: From German teenager to squirrel to a literal witch, all those different kinds of women can all be strong, awesome ladies."

Catch Cooper in Tootsie, now playing at the Marquis Theatre.

Watch the full #LiveAtFive episode below!