Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) Star Sam Tutty on Telling Human Stories and Taking Nothing for Granted

Age: 27

Hometown: Crawley, West Sussex, England

Current Role: Sam Tutty makes his Broadway debut as Dougal in Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).

Credits: Tutty originated the role of Dougal at the Kiln Theatre in London before performing it in the West End at the Criterion Theatre and at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2020, he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical as the lead in Dear Evan Hansen’s West End transfer.

Leave It to Beaver
Growing up in the southeast of England, Tutty's early years revolved around sports. He wanted to be a runner, and despite participating in plays as a Beaver Scout (the U.K.'s equivalent to Cub Scouts in America) and singing in the choir, didn't think seriously about acting until he began getting high marks in his drama GCSEs. Looking back, Tutty recognizes there was always a part of him that loved it. Or at least, from his first role at the age of five, "being such an attention seeker" onstage. "When I was a Beaver, we would do something called the gang show. We would go to our local theater, which housed thousands; it was ridiculously big and it was filled with only the parents. I was a little policeman, and I distinctly remember people kept coming up to our guides, and they were like, 'Right, who played the policeman?'" Tutty recalls. "Hilariously, we recently found a DVD of that show, and you could just see me looking for my mom and showing off. And that now translates into my career." Tutty speaks fondly about his family. "We talk all the time," he says of his mom, a primary school teaching assistant. Tutty has one brother, six years his junior and working as a sports science intern at Charlton Athletic Football Club. "He's much cleverer than me."

The Music of the Night
One of the first shows Tutty ever saw on stage was The Phantom of the Opera, a production that opened his eyes to the possibility of pursuing musical theater as a career and not just a fun experience as a kid in school. He loves the soundtrack so much he's listened to it on the way home from a night out, and owns the 25th anniversary DVD starring Ramin Karimloo. "That role is definitely one that activated my cerebral cortex and I went, 'Oh, you can do this and get paid for it.'"

Waving Through a Window
At 22, Tutty became one of the youngest Olivier winners in history for his performance as Evan Hansen. “It was very surreal,” he says, and not just because of the accolade. The 2020 winners were announced during lockdown, with the spring ceremony canceled due to the pandemic. “I was told in a very different way than everyone else and I sort of loved that,” Tutty shares. “I was on a bus with my mate, we were going back from playing basketball in town. It was so human.” Humanity has been a through line for Tutty's career thus far, with the performer drawing connections between his Olivier-winning role and the characters of Dougal and Robin (Christiani Pitts) in Two Strangers. "The reason I love this show so much is it is about two unimportant people who are very human and flawed in ways they do and don't recognize, which is what it is to be a human being," Tutty adds. "I'm really blessed that that avenue for me, the human nature, is really fun to play." Even in a role like Evan Hansen, originated on Broadway by Ben Platt and inhabited by Broadway actors including Andrew Barth Feldman, Jordan Fisher, Ben Levi Ross and Taylor Trensch, Tutty expresses gratitude to the show's director for encouraging him to make the role his own on the West End. "What Michael Greif did really beautifully was allow me to put myself into the character, still in keeping with the core parts of Evan that are important to the show. I'm very grateful that everything that I've done has felt very organic."

Inspiration Is Everywhere
Though he's just gearing up to open Two Strangers on Broadway, there is one show Tutty would love to be involved in someday. "I saw Hadestown and I fell in love with that show. I fell in love with the story," Tutty says. "I knew the story before, because I love Greek mythology. Please test me on anything. If you see me in the street, test me. I know the answer. Don't do that," he adds, laughing. "I'll be on the sound deck, I don't care. I just want to hear that show again." When it comes to stage actors he admires, Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal top the list. "Their work, their range and their careers are something that I would love to have even a percentage of. I find their work so inspiring. I saw Andrew Scott's Hamlet and then when I watched Normal People with Paul Mescal, those are just two profoundly amazing pieces of drama that really inspired me. And I try to emulate a fraction of that talent and those choices and that honesty. It's a complete transparency as a human being."

This Is the Place
Romantic comedies set in New York City serve as the basis for Two Strangers, with Dougal's vision of the Big Apple informed solely by the glossy version he's seen on movie screens. Tutty is a self-described lover of rom-coms, shouting out Along Came Polly as one of his all-time favorite films. The actor's first time in New York was for his final Dear Evan Hansen audition, and while he didn't know it at the time, he says he "really felt like Dougal in that moment" as he took it all in. "I saw a lot of Dougal in myself at that age in that part of my life." Now that he's back in the city, his favorite spots to spend his days off are Central Park and Bryant Park, ideally armed with a ham and cheese croissant and a cup of coffee. He's a big fan of people watching. "Not in a weird way, OK? It's just like, what are they doing with their lives? I'm interested in people like that. I'm interested in where they're going."

Just Keep Going
"I did put it out there to win an Olivier very early, and then I stupidly did," Tutty jokes. "But I never expected Broadway. It's so much different for a British actor to find their way onto Broadway. Not that it feels like a closed shot, but there are millions of capable actors here that producers don't have to house." After finishing Dear Evan Hansen, Tutty says he "ridiculously, obnoxiously even, expected the phone to ring. And it didn't. I'm carrying that hesitation, even after this bright lights, big city moment for me," he admits. He initially signed on to perform the role of Dougal for six weeks, so the gravity of bringing it all the way to Broadway isn't lost on him. "I say to graduates all the time, just keep going. You have no idea what's going to happen. Take that tiny job, because that could transfer three times and end up on Broadway. And I am proof of that, which is an insane sentence to say. So just keep going and love your individuality and your uniqueness, because that's what theater is all about."

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