Kyle Harris on His Whirlwind Introduction to The Inheritance and His Spring Awakening Dream Role

Known for his screen roles on Freeform's Stitchers and God Friended Me, Kyle Harris is back on the Broadway stage in The Inheritance, nine years after making his debut as an understudy in Sondheim on Sondheim. In Matthew Lopez's two-parter, Harris plays several characters but most notably Jasper, a social justice warrior. "He basically is the one who will say what everyone else is thinking," Harris said to Paul Wontorek in a recent episode of Broadway.com's #LiveatFive. "He likes to make everything about him."

Harris joined the Broadway production after the show's Olivier-winning run transferred from the West End, although he hadn't heard of the play until he saw a friend reading it. "I was on the plane going to do Marie, Dancing Still, and I saw a cast member reading something I thought was a Gap ad," he said. "It came back on my radar when I was on my mini-moon after my wedding. I put myself on tape and ended up flying back early because they wanted to see me. I'm reading for Jasper and afterwards Stephen Daldry asked to talk to me and asked, 'You would really do this play?' and I said, 'Absolutely, yes!' I thought Stephen was the writer of the show the whole time; it wasn't until I did a Google search at home that I realized he was the director. I went back the next day and got the job and they said, 'We need to close the contract because we have a Vogue shoot in two days.' That's when I knew this was going to be a crazy ride."

The Inheritance is a seven hour, three intermission (and one pause) event spanned across two different parts, but for Harris it all goes by in a flash. "The audience is completely changed by the end of the day," he said. "You're changed when you leave that theater. That's the reason why I got into it in the first place. The show deals with the AIDS epidemic, and you can feel the impact it has on the audience every night. It's an honor to be trusted with this story and the most surprising thing is that you would think doing this is exhausting, but it's not. It's so rewarding that it balances out. We're all in a bit of shock that we're able to do this but it goes by so fast."

When Harris first read through the script, there was a particular scene that caught his attention. "I remember reading that script and being like, 'God help whoever has to play this drug dealer who is front [and] center with this raccoon tail in a speedo," he said. "And it ended up being me. I've had costumes by William Ivey Long on me, and I've had a speedo and the raccoon tail. It's no ball gown."

Harris' first brush with Broadway was with the Tony-winning musical Spring Awakening. "I got my feet wet in New York by doing a bunch of Spring Awakening auditions," he said. "I was in that Spring Awakening boot camp for months. That was my first taste of what New York was like after graduation. I didn't end up getting it, but I did find my agent. I would still love to play Melchior one day."

Harris' other musical credits include touring with West Side Story, which he claims as "the hardest thing" he's ever done. "I would love to do a big Broadway musical," Harris said. "I would love to do roles like Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain, but I can't do that. I always say I want to do something that hasn't been written yet. I'm excited for what's to come."

See Harris in The Inheritance, playing at the Barrymore Theatre.

Watch the full #LiveatFive episode below!