Jonathan Groff Finally Won His First Tony Award, And His Seriously Emotional Speech Will Probably Make You Cry

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On Sunday, esteemed musical theater star Jonathan Groff finally won his first Tony Award, and people everywhere were left feeling seriously emotional about it.

Jonathan Groff in a dark suit and light shirt holding his Tony Award in front of a backdrop with logos for the Tony Awards, CBS, and Paramount+

In 2022, Jonathan starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe in an off-Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, which moved to the Hudson Theatre on Broadway in September.

Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez take a curtain call on stage, wearing a mix of casual and stage attire, after a performance

The show won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and Best Orchestrations, with Daniel Radcliffe winning the Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical award, and Jonathan taking home the Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.

Daniel Radcliffe holding his Tony Award while dressed in a sharp suit with a bowtie at the Tony Awards event backdrop
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And after previously admitting that he couldn’t stop crying when he first found out that he was nominated, Jonathan seemed totally overwhelmed as he took to the stage to deliver his emotional winner’s speech, which has won high praise online.

Jonathan Groff speaks into a microphone on stage, holding a piece of paper, dressed in a black suit with a white shirt, at an award ceremony

The star then audibly fought back tears as he name-checked the people he has worked alongside for Merrily, saying: “Maria Friedman, thank you for letting me be your Franklin Shepard in this production of Merrily and allowing me the chance to accept, respect, and express both the lightest and darkest parts of myself.”

Jonathan Groff, holding a Tony and reading from a piece of paper, gives an acceptance speech on stage, with two people standing in the background

And Jonathan’s moving words struck a chord with people at home, with one viral tweet reading: “I’m gonna need every future award winner to take notes from Jonathan Groff’s Tonys speech, because damnnnnnn.”

I’m gonna need every future award winner to take notes from Jonathan Groff’s Tonys speech, because damnnnnnn#TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/7ZtOgfL5iq

— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) June 17, 2024
CBS / Via x.com

The tweet, from BuzzFeed’s Spencer Althouse, has racked up tens of thousands of likes and retweets, with one of the quote tweets reading: “this is so pure. and so earnest. and the way he thanks everyone - not just by saying 'thank you' - but actually thanks them for something specific they’ve given to him. THAT’S a speech.”

“Give him another award for this speech!!!” another user joked. One more added: “no because why did i start sobbing even more every time his voice broke like i genuinely can’t watch this without crying i love seeing good people getting celebrated and recognised.”

“i love this man so much and i'm giving his family a standing ovation for how they nurtured his wonderful and kind creative spirit,” somebody else tweeted.

While another person concluded: “i just woke up and now I'm crying oh he deserves this so much it's been 17 years since that first nomination and i couldn't be happier for him.”

And one more summarized: “for those who don’t watch musical theatre jonathan groff winning the tony is like dicaprio winning the oscar.”

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