Nicholas Christopher Is Having a Major Moment on Broadway. How the Tony Nominee Became the Champ of “Chess” (Exclusive)
Nicholas Christopher Is Having a Major Moment on Broadway. How the Tony Nominee Became the Champ of “Chess” (Exclusive)
Dave QuinnThu, May 28, 2026 at 12:15 PM UTC
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Nicholas Christopher at the 2026 Tony Awards 'Meet the Nominees' press event at Sofitel New York on May 14, 2026 in New York City
Credit: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty
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Nicholas Christopher reflects on his journey from financial struggles to earning his first Tony nomination for Chess
The actor credits his wife Jennifer Locke for supporting their family while he pursued a 15-year Broadway career
Christopher’s performance in Chess has solidified his status as a leading man after years as a versatile stage performer
Eight shows a week, Nicholas Christopher stands center stage at the Imperial Theatre and brings Broadway audiences to their feet.
As the Soviet chess master Anatoly Sergievsky in the acclaimed revival of Chess, the actor has emerged as one of the breakout stars of the season, delivering the kind of powerhouse performance that instantly changes the trajectory of a career. By the time Christopher reaches the show-stopping end of Act 2, it feels less like a star turn than a coronation.
But 7 months ago, Christopher was borrowing money to pay his rent.
In a candid Instagram post shared after receiving his first Tony Award nomination for his leading performance in Chess, the actor revealed that he and his wife — dancer Jennifer Locke, whom he wed in 2021 — had spent years trying to stay financially afloat while raising their two young daughters and chasing stability in New York’s theater industry.
"I debated a lot about posting that," Christopher, 35, tells PEOPLE, at the 2026 Tony Awards 'Meet the Nominees' event on Thursday, May 14. “I’ve been working nonstop over the past few years, but I'm not going to lie, it's been up and down. I'm talking It's a wacky, wild ride to get here. And I didn't want to sugarcoat anything."
Nicholas Christopher at a press event for Broadway's 'Chess' in September 2025
Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty
For well over a decade, the Bermuda-born, Boston-raised actor collected stage credits, slowly building a reputation as one of musical theater’s most versatile performers while quietly trying to keep his family afloat.
He transformed nightly from comic relief to murderous antihero while playing Pirelli in the 2023 revival of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street while also covering the title role. Standout turns in Off-Broadway productions like Jelly's Last Jam and Little Shop of Horrors came next. And when Hamilton needed covers, he stepped into the roles of both Aaron Burr and George Washington, having played Burr on tour.
"It took us a long time to find our footing," he says. "We moved to New York at the end of COVID. My wife was pregnant with our youngest daughter. A friend had a studio apartment and let us stay there for months while we saved up money to get an apartment, because we had nothing left. But paycheck to paycheck, a lot of work and a lot of hustle, we made it work."
That made hearing Christopher's name called on Tony nomination morning feel "surreal."
"I’ve been working under the radar for 15 years and it still hasn't sunk in that my face is on a marquee, let alone that I'm a Tony nominee," he says. "It comes in waves. I’ll be hopping around like a crazy person one minute thinking, 'Wow, my life has changed!' And then the next second, I'm just back in the routine and I forget about it."
Broadway audiences, however, haven’t forgotten for a second.
Since Chess opened in November 2025, Christopher’s performance as Anatoly has transformed him from one of Broadway’s most respected utility players into a full-fledged leading man.
Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele and Nicholas Christopher in a promo shoot for 'Chess' on Broadway
Credit: Richard Phibbs
The role — which he stars in opposite Tony winner Aaron Tveit and SAG winner Lea Michele — demands nearly everything at once: a towering vocal range, immense emotional restraint and the ability to anchor one of musical theater’s most notoriously dense scores without ever losing the humanity underneath it.
For Christopher, however, the deepest challenge in playing this character had little to do with the difficulty of Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice's songs. It was more Anatoly’s stoicism, which requires the father of two to channel parts of himself he often doesn't in the real world.
“Anatoly really allows people to finish their thoughts before interjecting or responding,” Christopher says. “I aspire to have that. Sometimes if I disagree with somebody, I'll jump in in the middle of their statement or whatever. But Anatoly sits back. He's very internal. He absorbs everything, like a sponge. It's completely opposite of who I am.”
Nicholas Christopher in 'Chess' on Broadway
Credit: Matthew Murphy
That internal stillness became central to Christopher’s interpretation of the character — a man trapped beneath extraordinary public pressure while struggling to hear his own voice through the noise surrounding him.
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It's what makes the character's explosion in "Endgame" all the more powerful. Emotionally cornered and spiritually exhausted, Anatoly at last lets everything rupture to the surface, sustaining the anthem's climactic note for over 20 seconds.
"By that point, it's been two and a half hours of people telling him what's best for him," Christopher says. "He can't hear his own thoughts. So that note, it's his opportunity to finally silence the voices around him."
Christopher can feel the audience almost willing him through the moment each night. As the note stretches on, the theater grows quieter and quieter, the crowd hanging on every second before bursting into applause the instant he finally lets go.
What's going through his mind? "I'm just trying to get it out," he laughs.
But it's more than just impeccable breath control. "I think my mind is subconsciously channeling some of my own internal frustrations with the world constantly telling you how things 'should be,' " he admits. "Sometimes, it can almost get so loud that you don't know what you really want. So in that moment, life is imitating art a little bit."
Nicholas Christopher in 'Chess' on Broadway
Credit: Matthew Murphy
Offstage, Christopher doesn’t need an explosive release like Anatoly’s to silence the noise around him. Home does that on its own.
The actor has been with his Locke since 2018 — though the pair first met years earlier when Christopher left Juilliard to go on tour with In the Heights. He was just 20 years old at the time.
It was not love at first sight for Locke. "Oh, my wife ignored me for 8 years!" he jokes. "We met in 2010 and she blew me off until we finally did the Hamilton tour together. That's when we started dating. And I've been unbelievably in love every second since."
Nicholas Christopher and his wife Jennifer Locke at the 2026 MISCAST Gala
Credit: Manny Carabel/Getty
The whirlwind surrounding Chess has only deepened Christopher's appreciation for the life he and Locke built together long before the standing ovations and Tony buzz arrived.
“Oh my God. She really is everything,” he gushes. “The way she’s taking care of our little girls, she’s basically a single parent at home because I’m always out. And then having the capacity to be my mental and emotional stability once I get home, it’s otherworldly what she does.”
As for his daughters Nila Blu, 4 and Journi Aliah, 2, Christopher lights up discussing them.
With two performer parents, the girls are practically destined for the arts.
“They couldn’t escape it if they tried,” he says with a laugh. "You're like, 'You want to play sports or anything?' They're like, 'Uh-uh. Tutus!' But I love it. Every day I see more and more the aspects of their mother that they have in them and the aspects of me they have in them. And it's really special to watch them grow up and explore those parts of themselves."
"Fatherhood, man... that's the real prize," Christopher says — proof that whether he leaves the Tonys with a trophy or not, the thing he treasures most is already waiting for him at home.
Tickets for Chess are on sale now through June 21. The 2026 Tony Awards will take place at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 7. The show will be broadcast live to both coasts on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, and will stream on Paramount+.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
