Okieriete Onaodowan

Okieriete "Oak" Onaodowan ( ; born August 16, 1987) is an American actor and singer known for originating the dual roles of Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in the 2015 musical Hamilton and the role of Dean Miller in the ABC drama and Grey's Anatomy spin-off series Station 19. Early life Onaodowan was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Nigerian parents. He and his five sisters were raised in West Orange, New Jersey, He attended Gregory Elementary School and Roosevelt Middle School and West Orange High School, graduating in 2005. Onaodowan briefly played football for his high school, but he stopped after an injury during practice. As a result of the injury, Onaodowan started to explore acting as an alternative extracurricular activity. While attending high school, he began performing with the New Jersey Youth Theatre. After high school, Onaodowan auditioned for and was accepted to the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. He attended for one year. Career Onaodowan had roles in Rocky the Musical and Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway and was in the ensemble of the first national tour of American Idiot. He had the leading role in Young Jean Lee's 2009 play, The Shipment, and played the title role in J.C. Lee's Luce. By 2015, Onaodowan was an experienced stage actor. He also had several screen credits, including Lou in the feature film Thanks for Sharing and roles in the TV series Gravity and Blue Bloods. He originated the roles of James Madison and Hercules Mulligan in the musical Hamilton on Broadway. He won a Grammy Award as part of the cast album of Hamilton.