I say yes. And he’ll do it faster than anyone in history.
Right now, it seems as though Lin-Manuel Miranda is America’s Sweetheart. Hamilton singlehandedly launched a Broadway revival while making musicals cool for a brand-new generation and swept up at this past Sunday’s Tony Awards after winning 11 of the record 16 awards for which it had been nominated. The impassioned speech he gave honoring the victims of the Orlando massacre after winning Best Score was a moment that will reverberate for a while in the collective pop culture consciousness. Today, Miranda confirmed that he’d be handing the reins of Hamilton over to his trusted collaborator, Javier Muñoz while he focuses on his next project: Scoring Disney’s upcoming animated film, Moana.
All of this begs the question: Will Lin-Manuel Miranda be our next great talent to EGOT? For those unfamiliar with the term, an EGOT is the acronym for one of the rarest of accomplishments in showbiz: Winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony in one’s career. How rare is it? Though the last person to EGOT happened only two years ago (Robert Lopez in 2014), there have only been a dozen people to accomplish it since 1962. On average, it takes 26.75 years to achieve – a lifetime in the entertainment industry.
If he’d win, Miranda would join the exclusive list that includes legends like Richard Rodgers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, Scott Rudin, and Robert Lopez.
So how realistic is Miranda’s shot at accomplishing this rarest of feats? Quite realistic, actually. Miranda already has three Tonys under his belt, two for Hamilton and one for Best Score for In The Heights in 2008. Hamilton also won a Grammy this year for Best Musical Theater Album, so he can mark two of the four awards off the list this year alone.
But what about his chances at an Oscar and an Emmy? With Moana, Miranda will almost certainly be nominated for Best Original Song if nothing else. All three of Disney’s female-led musicals (Frozen, Tangled, and The Princess and the Frog) have been nominated for the award since its return to Broadway-style musical format animated films. Of the three, the most recent, Frozen, won. It’s almost impossible to think that Miranda wouldn’t have as good a shot as any at snagging the Academy Award for Best Original Song. And let’s be honest, his prodigious talent aside, politics do factor into the Academy Awards, and right now, Miranda has more goodwill built up than just about anyone else in the business.
That just leaves an Emmy award, which, considering Miranda’s career at the moment, seems to be the least likely of the four – except wait. Miranda already has an Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, won in 2014 for his scoring of the 67th Tony Awards. But let’s rewrite history and pretend that Miranda doesn’t already have an Emmy. Let’s envision a best-case scenario in which Miranda wins an Emmy not just for his work behind the camera, but also in front of it.
Seems unlikely. Yet, most would be surprised to learn that Miranda actually has an extensive background in television in front of the camera. He was the composer of The Electric Company from 2009–2010, as well as appearing in as Mario in 17 episodes. Other acting roles included a 3-episode stint as Juan “Alvie” Alvarez on House, M.D., 11 episodes as Ruben Marcado on Do No Harm, and guest appearances multiple other shows including Modern Family, Smash, How I Met Your Mother, and Inside Amy Schumer.
It’s not unreasonable to think that Miranda couldn’t be nominated for ANOTHER Emmy in the next few years, this time for acting. Remember, even if he just appeared in one or two episodes, there is a Creative Emmy award in both drama and comedy for Outstanding Guest Actor.
So let’s speculate that Miranda is nominated for and wins an Oscar for Moana next year. If it were to happen, he’d be the fastest person to ever EGOT in history – just 3 years from Emmy to Oscar. He would also be the youngest. I’m not a betting woman, but I’d place sure money on that.
One more fun fact about Miranda? He’d be the only EGOT winner to also have been a recipient of both the MacArthur “Genius” Award and a Pulitzer Prize. See, Gen Yers? There’s hope for us yet.
Related Topics: History
