The Breakout Star Of "Hamilton" Is Jonathan Groff's Spittle

This is commitment to character, people.

Over the weekend, the Hamilton movie finally arrived on Disney+.

Disney+

The movie is a hybrid of recordings of live performances of the Broadway musical and close-ups filmed in between those performances.

One of the joys of having this movie available to stream is that we're able to see the original Broadway cast. That includes Jonathan Groff, who is the subject of this post.

You see, Groff (who plays King George III) has been a topic of discussion since the film dropped, because the close-ups allowed people to see just how much he spit while singing "You'll Be Back."

If you missed it when you were watching (not sure how you could, TBH), here's a little GIF of the spittle moment. It's when he angrily sings "And NO, don't change the subject!"

Disney+

This was likely a purposeful choice from Groff, since King George III famously suffered from both physical and mental illnesses during his reign. Witnesses at the time claimed he would talk endlessly until he was foaming at the mouth, and this "incessant loquacity" is reflected in some of his letters as well.

Naturally, the moment sparked all kinds of reactions on Twitter.

And TikTok, too.

People were just astonished.

And perhaps a little damp.

Lest you think the spittle was just reserved for this film version, it was not! Hamilton music director and conductor Alex Lacamoire tweeted that he would occasionally get a little spray while he was down in the orchestra pit during that song.

The answer is "Yes, I would occasionally feel Jonathan Groff's spittle fall on me during performances." And you know what? Worth it.
#Hamilfilm
11:24 PM - 03 Jul 2020