Fresh off his 2025 Tony win as Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as HYH in David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face (which also earned him an Outer Critics Circle Award), there’s no end in sight for Francis Jue‘s proverbial fifteen minutes of fame; it’s been exponentially increasing since he participated in the high-school drama program at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in his native San Francisco, received his BA at Yale University, and first appeared in NYC in 1984, in the Broadway production of Pacific Overtures (to which he returned in the 2004 Broadway revival).
Among Jue’s other innumerable credits are Broadway’s M. Butterfly (1989) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002), in which he created the role of Bun Foo, Off-Broadway’s Cambodian Rock Band (2020, Lucille Lortel Award), Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, Good Enemy, Soft Power (2019, Outer Critics Circle Award), and Wild Goose Dreams (2018 Obie Award), and nominations for three Drama Desk Awards (one in 2008, and two in 2020). In addition to his acclaimed career on the stage, he has appeared on the screen, in both film and television, including the TV series New Amsterdam, Law & Order: SVU, and, most notably, in his recurring role on Madam Secretary (2014-19).
Soon to return Off-Broadway as Cleante in playwright Lucas Hnath’s reimagined version of Molière’s Tartuffe at the New York Theatre Workshop, Francis graciously made some time in his busy schedule to answer our rapid-fire questions about his career, his favorites, and his feelings, both on stage and off, so our readers can get to know him a little better professionally and personally.
1. What’s three emotions did you feel when you won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play?
Francis: I blacked out! I had to watch a clip of my acceptance speech to remember what I said! Honestly, I didn’t think I’d win, so I was flummoxed. Then thrilled, because this felt like a win for all the artists – particularly Asian artists – just plugging away and not always getting acknowledged. And then I felt enormous pressure to say something meaningful at the mic.
2. What is it about David Henry Hwang?
David is the proverbial canary in the coal mine. In form and content, David has been leading the way for a long time, and we’re still catching up to what he has been writing. He’s just brilliant, and I feel so lucky to be around him.
3. Which of the characters you’ve played have you found most relatable – HYH in Yellow Face, DHH in Soft Power, Howard in Good Enemy, Duch in Cambodian Rock Band, Song Liling in M. Butterfly, or Bun Foo in Thoroughly Modern Millie?
This is like choosing your favorite child! I love them all for very different reasons. Though I never met the real Henry Y. Hwang, I feel closest to him right now because he’s my most recent role. He makes me feel like I’m spending time with my parents.
4. What do you find most gratifying about having performed in the shows you’ve done?
If in any way I can bring audiences to find humanity in any of my characters, I’ve done my job well. It’s not something I take for granted, since most audiences still don’t see Asians as human.
5. What do you love most about performing live on stage?
Anything can happen!
6. What’s your first creative memory?
I was twelve years old, and my older brother Geoff had been cast as the Prince in a high-school production of The King and I. He asked me to run lines with him, and I began coaching him on how to stand and walk and talk. I’ve had an artistic point of view for a long time . . .
7. Who’s been the biggest inspiration in your career?
My family. Everything I do is for them.
8. Is there a role or show you’d most like to play in the future?
The next one.
9. Which do you find more challenging – stage or screen?
I think screen is harder for me, because I have so much less control over what audiences will finally see.
10. What three words would you use to describe yourself?
Today, I’d say I’m a student, a journeyman, and an empath. Tomorrow, I might say something else.
11. What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
These days, baking is therapy for me.
12. Do you have a favorite indulgence food or beverage?
Coffee!!
13. What three things do you always have in your refrigerator?
Milk, yogurt, cheese.
14. If you were interviewing yourself, what one question would you ask?
Why can’t you see in yourself what you so easily see in others?
15. What’s the greatest benefit of being famous?
If I ever become famous, I’ll let you know!
Thanks, Francis, for sharing a fast and lively fifteen minutes of your fame with us – not everyone is a Tony-winning Broadway star, so that’s pretty famous! I look forward to seeing you again soon in Tartuffe!
Tartuffe plays November 28, 2025-January 11, 2026, at the New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $25-179, plus fees), call (212) 460-5475, go online, or find discount tickets at TodayTix.
