Mean Girls' Chad Burris on the Advice Alum Grey Henson Gave Him & More

Chad Burris is up for a challenge. In September, he helped develop the first production of Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous musical at San Diego's Old Globe, originating the role of Vic Nunez. Soon after, he jumped into the Broadway cast of Frozen as Olaf, surviving puppetry boot camp and making his Broadway debut. Now, he's scootering across town to the August Wilson Theatre, joining Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Kaufmann and Laura Leigh Turner in the first major replacement cast of Mean Girls as Damian Hubbard. 

Going into a long-running show as a replacement is a tall order, but Burris said he had a helping hand. In 2015, he joined the national tour of The Book of Mormon, becoming fast friends with the touring production's Elder McKinley, Grey Henson. "It's been cool to go through this with a friend," Burris said of Henson, who originated the role of Damian to Tony-nominated effect and exited the production on March 8 before Burris' first bow on March 10. "I think he had heard wind that I got it before I knew," he said in a #LiveAtFive interview with Ryan Lee Gilbert, "and on FaceTime he's like, 'I've known, but I couldn't tell you.'"

Burris said Henson offered particular help with Damian's big tap number, "Stop"—a song that Henson may have taken to easily in Mean Girls after dancing Elder McKinley's show-stopping "Turn It Off" in Mormon. "Tap is newer to me," said Hubbard, "and [Henson] was like, 'Sweetie, they're not looking at your feet; they're looking at your face.'" It was sage advice, says Burris, and more helpful than Henson's frequent tips about making friends backstage. "He's a very social guy," laughed Burris. "[His advice] was more like, 'This is when you check in with stage management. This is when you give someone a high-five or bother this person.' And I was like, 'Okay, there's a lot to do on stage before I get this social network you've created.'"

In Mean Girls, Damian is the "almost too gay to function" drama nerd who, alongside his deadpan partner Janis Sarkisian (Kaufmann), takes Cady Heron (Carpenter) under his wing. In the beloved 2004 comedy flick, Damian was an admired portrait of an empowered and accepted gay teen. In Mean Girls, Burris says his character has the potential to represent far more than sexual orientation. "I really harp on the fact that any body is a Broadway body, so I'm really excited that body diversity is being shown in this show," he said. "When I was little, I would have been excited to see someone looking like me and being fabulous on stage."

Watch the rest of Burris’ #LiveAtFive interview below, where he talks about creating his web and TV series City Boyz with Ali Stroker.