Phillipa Soo, Broadway Actress & Singer

On May 31, 1990, Phillipa Anne Soo was born in Libertyville, Illinois to her father, a doctor, and mother, who was a theater administrator. Her father is a first-generation immigrant whose parents are from China, and her mother was born and raised in southern Illinois. Her mother often would take her to musicals, and this was what inspired Soo to pursue acting and musical theater as a career. Soo attended Libertyville High School from 2004 to 2008 then went on to attend The Juilliard School in Manhattan, New York, graduating from its acting and drama program in 2012. Like many other graduates, Soo did not know what to expect in terms of her career path, but she soon landed the lead role of Natasha Rostova in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, receiving stellar reviews for her performance. She was nominated for the 2013 Clive Barnes Award and the 2014 Lucille Lortel Award for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical. This marked the start of her illustrious career in the arts.

In 2015, she was invited by Thomas Kail, Director of Hamilton: An American Musical, to read Act 2 of the show with him. She landed one of the leading roles in the award-winning Broadway musical: Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. For her performance, she was nominated for the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the 2015 Lucille Lortel Award for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical. Soo along with the rest of the original cast of Hamilton had the honor of performing at the White House on March 14, 2016. To this day, she is admired and renowned for playing Eliza Hamilton although she left the show.

Phillipa Soo went on to play the title role in Amélie and is recognized for her involvement in the Disney movie Moana, particularly in the song “How Far I’ll Go.” She also played Rebecca in The Parisian Woman between 2017 and 2018. On September 24, 2017, she married Steven Pasquale after a nineteen-month-long engagement.

Although she left the Broadway show back in 2016, she took the role of Eliza Hamilton again in Hamilton for Disney Plus in July 2020. Through this platform, Soo was able to amplify and advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.

Phillipa Soo recently voiced Chang’e, the Moon Goddess in the newly-released film Over the Moon, and she is continuing her career on both Broadway and in Hollywood.

“There’s no map for you to follow and take your journey. You are Lewis and Clark. You are the mapmaker.” — Phillipa Soo

by Lillian Hiraoka

“Phillipa Soo.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/name/nm5623883/bio.

“Phillipa Soo.” Lortel Archives: Internet Off-Broadway Database, www.iobdb.com/CreditableEntity/42959

Robbins, Caryn. “BWW Interview — Debut of the Month: HAMILTON’s Phillipa Soo.” Broadway World, 20 Aug. 2015, www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interview-Debut-of-the-Month-HAMILTONs-Phillipa-Soo-20150820