Tony and Grammy award-winning actor and musician Daveed Diggs spoke to a sold-out crowd at Cornell University on September 25, sharing stories of his career and offering advice to students. Diggs, best known for originating the roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the Broadway sensation Hamilton, was on campus as the 2024 Heermans-McCalmon Distinguished Guest Artist.
In a lively conversation with Samantha Sheppard, chair and associate professor of performing and media arts, Diggs reflected on his path from college athlete to award-winning performer. Despite the high-profile roles and projects he’s taken on since, Diggs noted that his approach to creative work has remained consistent.
“Before school I was rapping, I was making plays and I was writing things, and I went to school and rapped and acted in plays and wrote things,” Diggs said. “It was just kind of a continuation of the kind of thinking about what are interesting stories to tell and the different ways to tell them.”
Theo Black, a senior lecturer in Cornell’s performing and media arts department and a former collaborator of Diggs, opened the event with a spoken word tribute, highlighting their shared experiences acting in Shakespearean plays before Diggs found mainstream success.
From skepticism to Broadway stardom
Diggs spoke candidly about his initial doubts regarding Hamilton. When a friend invited him to help workshop Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rap musical about Alexander Hamilton, Diggs admitted his first reaction was less than enthusiastic.
“I was like, that’s a terrible idea,” Diggs recalled, adding that he ultimately agreed to join because he needed the money. Despite his early skepticism, Diggs quickly became part of the team that developed the groundbreaking musical, which went on to win critical acclaim and multiple awards. The development process, Diggs said, was long but rewarding.
“If you want to make something good, it’s probably going to take you a long time,” Diggs said, reflecting on the years spent fine-tuning Hamilton. He also shared how the project forced him to grow as a performer: “I had to learn how to sing.”
Advice for aspiring artists
Addressing the mostly student audience, Diggs emphasized the importance of collaboration and perseverance. He encouraged students to appreciate the people they work with now, noting that many of his closest and longest-term collaborators came from earlier in his career.
“You’re probably working with your greatest collaborators right now,” he said, advising students to keep their “energy up, expectations down” when it comes to their creative journeys.
Diggs also discouraged students from obsessing over career timelines, saying, “Stop thinking about if you’re going to be where you want to be by the time you are X. By the time you get there, the goalpost has moved.”
A hands-on workshop
During his visit, Diggs also led a master class for students in acting and filmmaking. He provided students with a prompt from his screenplay adaptation of Percival Everett’s novel Telephone and challenged them to create their own scenes.
Tess Lovell ’24, one of the participants, said working with Diggs was an “unforgettable experience.” She and her partner crafted a six-minute adaptation of David Bowie’s Space Oddity for the class.
“This is an actor whose voice most of us listened to for hundreds of hours during the most formative years of our lives,” Lovell said. “To have him on our home turf, so present and engaged, watching us do what we love most—it was surreal.”
Diggs’ visit left a lasting impression on the students and faculty alike, providing a unique glimpse into the life of an acclaimed performer who remains deeply connected to his creative roots.
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