Why Are A-List Celebrities Taking Over Broadway? George Clooney, More Stars’ Theater Ambitions Explained 

The neon lights are shining brighter than ever on Broadway. Look closely, and you’ll see that more TV and movie stars — older, more seasoned vets as well as rising stars — are trading the red carpet for the stage door.

Today, a stroll through NYC’s theater district will show you Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington together in Othello, George Clooney making his Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck and Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr taking the stage in Glengarry Glen Ross. Josh Krasinski, Maya Hawke and Keanu Reeves are also set to join various productions soon. A few high-profile runs have ended recently, too. Gen-Z stars Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor delivered their lines in iambic pentameter for Romeo + Juliet and Shailene Woodley, Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira and Younger’s Molly Bernard made their Broadway debuts in the play Cult of Love.

Big names obviously drive ticket sales, which has been a particular focus since the pandemic brought increased production costs and reduced audience numbers. But do these big names also want to prove they are “real” actors and not just celebs who’ve gotten by on luck and good looks?

According to theater critics, the urge to pivot is more about prestige and press than anything else. “Appearing on the stage suggests or confers a sort of bonafide artistic credential,” the Village Voice’s Tom Sellar has said, calling it “a chance to demonstrate acting chops with a different kind of actin process, one which challenges the performers to recreate the performance night after night, doing eight shows a week.”

Actors, however, often sing a slightly different tune. After years in front of a camera, emoting their hearts out alongside tennis balls and greens screens, many have claimed that the pull of live theater is a hard thing to resist. On stage, there is no CGI, AI advancements or second chances — and that’s kind of the point.

“Look, certainly he paychecks are incredible when you’re wearing a rubber suit, but the payoff you feel inside when you’re doing theater is an even great reward,” Christian Slater, who starred opposite Claista Flockhart in an off-Broadway rendition of Sam Shepard’s Curse of the Starving Class earlier this year, recently told The New York Times. Washington — one of the most celebrated film stars in history — famously rejects the label of “Hollywood actor,” calling theater an “actor’s medium” that demands a different kind of bravery; one without a chance for multiple takes or clever editing. “You don’t learn to act on TV. You don’t learn to actin movies,” the Oscar winner once told the Hollywood Reporter. “You learn to act on stage.”

Part of the rush, it seems, is in knowing that every night will be different. A missed cue, a voice lost, a line forgotten.yes, human imperfection exists within theater, bu tso does connection that can’t be manufactured. The audience feels it too: After years of slick shows and blockbusters where everything looks perfect but feels hollow, there’s magic in watching a live performance where things could go wrong. Because when they don’t, it’s electrifying.

Maybe that’s why, even with all the technology in the world at their fingertips, ready to make them look flawless, stars still dream of standing under the hot lights, hearing the orchestra warm up and feeling that first hush fell over the crows. There’s really nothing more powerful — or human — than bringing the beating heart of a story to life.