Andrew Rannells on Getting Close with His Prom Co-Stars, Checking In with Patti LuPone & More on Show People

Despite the world being put on pause, Andrew Rannells has had a busy year. In addition to transforming his Modern Love essay into an episode for the Amazon series of the same name, supporting the release of The Boys in the Band and trying to make his dreams come true with a Hart to Hart reboot, Rannells is back in a musical with Ryan Murphy's screen adaptation of Broadway's The Prom.

Rannells likened the process of preparing for the movie version to that of a stage show. "We had a really traditional musical theater rehearsal," he said. "I think that's the time when the cast really bonds." Rannells stars in the film alongside Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and James Corden as four publicity-hungry actors determined to make a small town in Indiana more inclusive. "In a lot of ways, by the time we got to set, we were already a tight group. The thing that I noticed is that sometimes when you're filming something and they say 'cut,' all of the actors sort of scatter. Nicole, Meryl, James and I really spent a lot of time just chatting."

Rannells finished filming The Prom in March prior to the coronavirus crisis shutting things down. On Show People, the actor talks about suddenly being in quarantine. "As the months went on, it became very clear that there were going to be productive days and there were going to be days that were not productive," Rannells said. "We have to forgive ourselves for having those bad days. I'm taking opportunities as they come...Not to say that I'm sitting here and letting things happen to me, but the white knuckling of 'and then I'll do this'—that always backfires on me. I think you just have to be as prepared as possible to receive opportunity. I'm just trying to stay open to possibility right now."

In addition to checking The Book of Mormon original cast group chat and bingewatching Ozark, the Tony nominee said he has been having a lot of phone catch-ups during downtime. "One night, I was sitting by myself watching TV, and Patti LuPone called me—just to like, check in," he said. "It's not like anyone is spared from this, so Patti and I had a conversation that was like, 'Well, this sucks.' It was really great."

Watch the full Show People interview below.