Tom Francis is having his moment in the sun.
The actor is making his Broadway debut in the revival of “Sunset Boulevard” at the St. James Theatre, performing eight shows a week alongside Nicole Scherzinger, who he says will be a “friend for life.”
“The Broadway community is such a beautifully intense environment,” Francis says, lounging on a couch in his seventh-floor dressing room. “You feel so supported over here.”
In the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Francis plays Joe Gillis, a young writer down on his luck until he is consumed into the world of Scherzinger’s character Norma Desmond, a seemingly obsolete and delusional old movie star. As the duo work together on a script Desmond has written, Gillis becomes caught in her web and stuck between two worlds, ultimately leading to tragedy.
While onstage, Francis is cold and disillusioned, in person he’s the opposite — all smiles and making jokes. His dressing room showcases this as well — there is a PlayStation and stacks of games, a disposable camera of backstage memories yet to be developed and a TV that’s often blasting music. But it’s not all fun and games. His couch pulls out into a bed, so he can take naps between shows. He even has a “Do Not Disturb” sign he hangs on the door to deter his cast mates from barging in.
Tom Francis
Lanna Apisukh/WWD
While he’s making his Broadway debut, Francis has been involved with this production for some time, opening the show at the Savoy Theatre in London in October 2023 — he went on to win the Olivier Award in April. Since then, Francis, just 25, has been on a rollercoaster ride with the show, moving to New York City for the opening and generating early Tony buzz in the process.
“It has completely changed my life, this job. I never really imagined that it would, and it really has… just from people that you meet and opportunities that you get to go and perform at different places,” he says. “There’s magnifying glasses in this production. It’s kind of catapulted my career.”
However, Francis tries not to focus too much on all the hype.
“I try not to think about those things. I’ve got a show to do every single night, and that’s the most important thing,” he says. “It’s something that you would want as an actor. Winning a Tony is an absolute dream… [but thinking about that] distracts me from the job that I’ve got. I don’t want to be distracted from turning up every night and delivering what we’ve created.”
He adds: “I definitely felt pressure at the beginning… I was like, ‘I can either feel this pressure or I can just not think about it’… I just try not to think too deeply about things and trust the process of what we did.”
This trusting intuition actually helped Francis land the role. Ahead of his nine auditions, he only knew a few songs from the musical and had never seen the film or show — he still hasn’t in fact, though he plans to the day after he finishes this run.
“It’s nice that I’ve only got my idea of Joe Gillis in my mind when I’m doing the show,” he says, emphasizing that director Jamie Lloyd recommended he not look at anything during the audition process. “It’s probably more freeing because I don’t feel like I’m comparing myself to anyone. I’m excited to watch the film though because I hear it’s an absolute masterpiece.”
While many audience-goers are familiar with the 1950 film, upon which the musical is based, and previous productions starring Glenn Close, recently the show has become synonymous with Francis singing the title song “Sunset Boulevard,” while walking outside through the streets of New York City — 44th Street and Shubert Alley in particular — as a camera tracks him, which projects back into the theater. Francis typically refers to this moment as his “fever dream.”
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever really experienced before because you’ve got so much adrenaline to remember the lyrics and sing it in time,” he says. “There’s so many things that could go wrong, and so you just [have] got to surrender yourself to this seven minutes of exhilaration.”
Tom Francis
Lanna Apisukh/WWD
Francis used to do this nightly in London, as well; he says it was a bit easier then, but perhaps not as thrilling.
“New Yorkers inherently just don’t get out of the way as much as London people do,” he says.
New York audiences are also a bit different.
“They’re a lot more responsive,” says Francis. “Opening night, we had like four or five standing ovations. It was fueled.”
Aside from singing in the streets every night, rain, snow or shine, this role posed some other unique challenges for the young actor. For starters, much of the show is being filmed and reflected on a backdrop screen, something Francis had to get used to not looking at.
“It was a weird process getting used to it because with my character, I switch between narrating the show and being in the show,” he says. “It started out being a bit of a mindf–k, sort of switching between trying to project [to a 1,700-seat theater] and then having to have the tiniest performance in the world for the screen.”
While Francis is busy with eight shows a week, he’s made some time to explore New York City and find his go-to spots, which include Via Carota, The Waverly Inn, Mr. Chow and Bathhouse, where he tries to go weekly for a bit of relaxation.
Though he has several shows to get through before ringing in 2025, if it’s anything like 2024, he has another perfect year ahead.
“We’ve got a lot to do with this show. We’re here until July,” he says. “I’m excited to have this show have a full life, and so I’m not wishing the time away. I’m enjoying it, and I’m loving turning up to work and doing this job. It genuinely is the most rewarding show I’ve ever done.”
