Samuel Barnett

Age: 23

Currently: Enjoying a Tony-nominated and Drama Desk Award-winning run as Posner, the sensitive and smitten songbird of The History Boys.

Hometown: Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. Already a veteran performer and dancer by age 10, Barnett says that there wasn't one moment when he knew he would make a career of it. "I'm from such a small town that I only knew of one person who had come from there and become a professional actor," he says. "So I never really considered it." But eventually, "It became a choice between, ‘Do I do the dancing or do I do the acting?' And dancing and singing have always scared me and acting hasn't, so it was sort of a natural choice in the end."

The Rest Is History: Following drama school at LAMDA The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and a subsequent role in the National Theatre's His Dark Materials— one he sums up wryly: "I was dressed in black lycra from head to foot with my hand…um…up a puppet! Up several puppets really."—Barnett was asked by Dark Materials director Nicholas Hytner to read a very different part: the role of Posner in Alan Bennett's, The History Boys.

Curses: "To be honest," he says, "the first time I read the play, I thought it was a bit boring and too long. I didn't understand it and it wasn't very funny." He grins now over the irony. So what happened to turn a once so-so read into the Tony frontrunner for Best Play? "I think Nick Hytner happened to it," he says simply. "Alan was very gracious and humble in letting Nick craft the piece and put in the music and the video to link it all together. All I did was add a few swear words here and there," he laughs.

Backstage Business: By now, more than two years since their first performance together in London, The History Boys cast has become a truly tight bunch. During Broadway.com's brief backstage visit, Barnett graciously accepted a reuben sandwich from a doting Frances de la Tour and doled out a quick compliment to his rain-soaked dressing-roommate, Russell Tovey—"Nice T-shirt Rusty!" Constant behind-the-scenes ribbing keeps them all laughing. "We poke fun at each other because it's hilarious to do," he says playfully. "But equally, if there's something rotten, you know you can go to any one of the boys and talk. I don't think I will work with another cast that gets on as well as this again."

Also Known As: "[Co-star] Sacha Dhawan calls me ‘Tony Nominee' now. He doesn't call me Sam anymore," Barnett says with a roll of his eyes. "I just look at [the nomination] and I go, ‘I can't quite believe that that's happened, actually!' It's so huge." The humble Tony hopeful will be dressed in Prada for the big night and predicts wins for co-star Richard Griffiths and his play, but beyond that, he can't imagine the results. "We've been through these awards ceremonies in London and I find them absolutely nerve-wracking," he says. "I'm terrified to get up as myself and have to speak in front of my peers and contemporaries. I'm going to these events and seeing people I've watched on TV and in films and going, ‘I—I'm in the same room as them. I'm—I'm in the same category as some of them.' I mean, Ian McDiarmid? Mark Ruffalo? You just go, ‘What am I doing here?'" Still, he'll take the swag that goes along with a Tony nod: "The free cell phone sure is nice!"