Hawley Gould, an actor and writer who made their Broadway debut in Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman, is back on Broadway in the award-winning Shaina Taub musical Suffs at the Music Box Theatre.

The nonbinary actor is the alternate for the role of Alice Paul, the part played by Taub, who recently picked up 2024 Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score Written for the Theatre.

Gould has been with the inspiring new musical, which follows the women who bravely fought for the right to vote, for five years—including the musical's engagement Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2022. The NYU Tisch School of the Arts grad is also the musical's Dance Captain. (For those looking to catch Gould in the leading role, they and understudy Chessa Metz will cover many of the October 29–November 10 performances when Taub stars in City Center's limited engagement of Ragtime. For the performance schedule, visit SuffsMusical.com.)

Gould also played Middle Alison in the first regional production of the Tony-winning musical Fun Home and was seen in the Ryan Murphy-produced Andy Warhol Diaries on Netflix. Their previous Broadway credits include the recent Camelot revival (where they were part of the ensemble and understudied the character of Mordred) and as an understudy in The Ferryman.

In the interview below for the Playbill series How Did I Get Here—spotlighting not only actors, but directors, designers, musicians, and others who work on and off the stage to create the magic that is live theatre—Gould shares how their gender identity has affected the way they play suffragist Alice Paul and why singing "Keep Marching" to their parents was a moment they will never forget.

Where did you train/study?
Hawley Gould: I did so much theatre as a kid. It was really those school shows and community theatres that fostered my love of performance, long before I ever imagined that it could be my literal job. I’ll never forget how Paula Dawson and Ally Van Deuren cast me as a Wickersham Brother in seventh grade and let me dance down the aisles during “Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!” That actually changed my life’s trajectory forever. More "seriously," I received my BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, training at the New Studio on Broadway. 

Was there a teacher who was particularly impactful/helpful? What made this instructor stand out?
It truly takes a village! Alongside so very many others:

Kent Gash, who leads NSB [New Studio on Broadway] with fervent passion. I would not be half the professional I am today without him. Also he is, 100 percent, an encyclopedia of musical theatre knowledge.

Beth Emelson, whose theatre studies class, Producing Off-Broadway, made me infinitely more curious about the business side of what we do. The very second that the grosses drop every week, I can’t help but think of her.

Byron Easley, who said I had “fierce potential” in my dance audition for NYU (and who later gave me the opportunity to put it to good use in the Camelot revival at Lincoln Center!). He’s an incredible choreographer and an indelible spirit. “Father falls, too.”

With a woman presidential candidate, this must be an exciting time to be part of Suffs. Can you share what the company was feeling the day it was announced Kamala Harris was going to be the nominee?
It was such a shock to the system. I was on my way to the theatre when someone posted about it in our cast group chat. It’s a very politically minded company, as you can imagine, we’re all following along with the election news super closely. So many thoughts go rushing through your head. Excited and scared and also, maybe, for the first time in a while, a glimmer of hope? When our audience started chanting, “Kamala! Kamala!” as the curtain went up, the energy was electric. The very first Kamala Harris rally, right here at Suffs.

Even this past week, when I sang “If you have something to say, say it to my face”—which Vice President Harris had said almost word for word at a campaign rally just a day before—the audience went wild. It couldn’t be more potent. 

As the alternate for the role of Alice Paul, have you ever had to step into a performance last minute, or mid-performance? What was that experience like?
I’ve been playing the role alongside Shaina for five years now (in every iteration since 2019), so thankfully it’s really not hard at this point to slip into Alice’s shoes. Definitely prioritizing the warm-up over the perfect beat for those moments, but they’re few and far between. Only one last-minute performance so far; no mid-show swing-ons for me as of right now (knock on wood!).

How does your gender identity inform the way you take on this role?
This is an excellent question. My primary responsibility is and always has been to tell Alice’s own story as truthfully as I can. [In] our current show, Alice is not the same Alice as she was when I started working on the project, just like I’m not the same Hawley—a personal evolution. I love that we share this, it lends me a lot of grace for the ways I approach this role differently now than I have in the past.

A new focus in my work at Suffs is bringing more of myself to the role. The clearer my sense of self becomes, the more I feel a permission to live and play freely in the Venn diagram overlap between myself and Alice. To emphasize the ways I relate to Alice’s fiery organizer spirit, her problem-solver nature, her ambitious heart, her stubborn commitment to her cause—and to trust how those facets of her are channeled through my instrument and lens.

The absolute cherry-on-top moment is getting to sing “then we’ll unfurl our flag / purple gold and white”—those are the suffragists’ colors but also the colors of the nonbinary flag! I get a lot of DMs from nonbinary folks saying how much it means to them, those words, and I feel the exact same way. Super special stuff. 

What do you want fellow nonbinary audience members to take away from the show, your performance, and/or even your casting?
Let me quote our inimitable leader, Shaina Taub, who wrote a Tony-Award winning lyric that feels more than appropriate: “The path will be twisted, and risky, and slow/but keep marching, keep marching.”

There is a place for you in this industry. The dream you’re dreaming is possible. We are already here, banging down the doors for you. We need you. Keep marching. 

Do you have a dream stage role?
I’ve said this privately for years but why not, Playbill? Let’s put it in writing: I’d love to play Boq in Wicked. Also, definitely, Toby in Sweeney Todd. Basically if there’s a small-in-stature, potentially ginger, and traditionally cis male character out there? Put me in, coach.

What do you consider your big break?
The Ferryman, hands down. I did the callback over Skype from the living room of my summer stock housing in 2018 right after I graduated college. Four weeks later (a genuinely agonizing amount of time to wait), I got the call that I’d booked it. I couldn’t believe it. I really felt like I’d made it, like I’d arrived. There couldn’t have been a better Broadway debut show. Bunnies and babies and geese, oh my!

What is the most memorable day job you ever had?
When theatre shut down during Covid, I worked at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan for about a year. It was a lot of craft-making and story-time and hide-n-go-seek. Kids are endlessly creative. I was perpetually exhausted during that season of life, but I loved every second of it. 

Is there a person or people you most respect in your field and why?
Brian d’Arcy James, Jenn Colella, Phillipa Soo, Taylor Trensch: This quartet of magnificent human beings lead with generosity of spirit and quick-fire wit. They listen beautifully, use their voices to uplift others, are endlessly curious about our work and our industry. Each has impacted my early career in innumerable ways; I feel so grateful to have learned so much in collaboration with them. Also, they are all, like, wickedly talented!

Tell me about a job/opportunity you really wanted but didn’t get. How did you get over that disappointment?
There are so many. Pretty much every actor has at least one that has happened to them in the last six months. Recently, I’ve been letting myself make a little frowny face. A truly pouty, scrunchy, frowny face. Then, a long exhale to release. You just…keep going.

What advice would you give your younger self or anyone starting out?
Present-tense-ness is a prerequisite for fun. There is simply nobody better to be than yourself. The rest is still unwritten.

What is your proudest achievement as an actor?
Singing “Keep Marching” to my parents when they saw Suffs in May. My dad genuinely couldn’t believe that I was singing right to him, the realization turned to utter joy on his face. I wept like a big baby through the whole curtain call. It was awesome.

2024 marks the end of my first 10 years of living, working, and pursuing this dream in NYC with my whole chest. It wouldn’t have been possible without the sacrifices that my parents made to keep my dream aloft. Getting to share this moment—my first time taking the final bow on a Broadway stage—with them is the culmination of a decade of relentless work: all thanks to, and in honor of, them.

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Photos: Opening Night of Suffs on Broadway

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