If we were in high school drama club together, Julia Lester is definitely the cool girl I’d want inviting me to ride in her car to the cast party at Denny’s.
Yes, she’s cool because she’s been nominated for a Tony, Drama Desk, and Lucille Lortel Award. Yes, she’s cool because she can make a black Broadway Dance Center t-shirt paired with a pink floral skirt look chic as hell. But to me, she’s extra cool because of her sunny confidence and kind personality, which is apparent as soon as she enters the room for our interview.
“What I really value in my work, and what I want to take with me from job to job is kindness, teamwork, respect, and professionalism,” says Lester. “My parents are always so proud of the work that I do, but they’re most proud of me when they hear from other people about the way that I carry myself and the way that I am behind the scenes. It’s my parents’ dream to raise children who are good people.”
At 25 years old, Lester is making her parents’ and her own dreams come true. In under a decade, she became a fan fave in Disney+’s television series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, earned a Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in the hit revival of Into the Woods, originated a role in the Off-Broadway run of All Nighter, and held her own amongst comedy giants like Tina Fey and Steve Carell in The Four Seasons on Netflix.
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“My parents are always so proud of the work that I do, but they’re most proud of me when they hear from other people about the way that I carry myself and the way that I am behind the scenes.”
– Julia Lester
It may seem like a rapid ascent to success, but Lester’s story with performing arts started way before 2019. It actually started before Lester was even born. Performing is in Lester’s DNA. Her parents and two older sisters are performers, her maternal grandparents met doing summer stock theater, and her ancestors were in a traveling opera troupe in Poland. Growing up immersed in the performing arts influenced how young Lester viewed the world, thinking that the arts were baked into the everyday lives of all families. It also meant she knew from a very young age that she would pursue a life in the performing arts. It wasn’t until high school that she considered it professionally.
How fitting it was, then, that Lester’s breakout role came by way of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Inspired by the original Disney film trilogy, the mockumentary-style series followed a new generation of East High Wildcats as they mounted productions of Disney musical properties.
Similar to Lester, her character, Ashlyn Caswell, discovered important aspects of herself in high school. Often the voice of reason for her fellow East High thespians, Ashlyn learned a crucial lesson about self-worth in relation to her casting. “There’s no small parts, only small actors,” she declares when she is cast in the ensemble of Frozen after landing the lead role of Belle in Beauty in the Beast.
The second discovery was Ashlyn recognizing her queer identity at theater summer camp after sharing a hug with Val, the camp’s choreographer.
“I learned something new about myself last night and it goes a little deeper than a rising sign,” Ashlyn says with a huge grin set on her face as she prepares for the camp’s prom (“Camp Prom,” (Season 3, Episode 7). “It is possible that I have a crush on Valerie the choreographer, and all that that implies. I suppose you could say my dating pool got a little bigger, and so did my heart, and so did my world.”
Lester’s tender delivery of the line may remind some queer folks of their own acknowledgement of their queer identity. Her face is lit up with a pure excitement and hope for what her expanded future holds.
“I remember feeling so emotional, because I was very excited to be a queer woman on a Disney show,” says Lester. “Being a queer member of the cast was a huge part of my journey on the show, too. We who were outly identifying that way have this very special, sacred bond. Our showrunner [Tim Federle] wanted to incorporate that part of my identity into this character that I had helped build; I felt quite seen and honored in that way.”
“Being a queer member of the cast was a huge part of my journey on the show, too. We who were outly identifying that way have this very special, sacred bond.”
– Julia Lester
Just a year after HSMTMTS ended, Lester was back in the high school hallways for Prom Dates, a coming-of-age film about two best friends dreaming and scheming on how to follow through on their childhood pact to have the perfect prom night. Ginny and Georgia’s Antonia Gentry starred as Jess to Lester’s Hannah, with the partners-in-prom having a chemistry so real, you’d think they really had been best friends since they were kids. Turns out that McDonald’s Happy Meals were a key behind the bond. The first night on location, the two hopped in Gentry’s car and grabbed food, then sat in the parking lot for hours yapping as they ate their Happy Meals.
“We gave ourselves little moments to bond, because the two of us wanted to build that sort of connection behind the scenes so that our friendship could play out authentically on screen,” says Lester. “I’m always down to clown, and she was really down to clown. We had a really fun time playing.”
Lester’s character Hannah also comes out publicly, but with a bit more theatrics than HSMTMTS. After her reveal to her classmates on prom night, she breaks into song with the help of the drama club to apologize to her ex-boyfriend.
“I’m a lesbian,” Hannah declares onstage to the crowd’s gasps and cheers. “And even though it’s really scary to admit, it feels way better than continuing to pretend I’m something I’m not.”
And while Lester lived out different high school experiences on screen, she entered a completely different world for her Broadway debut in Into the Woods. The Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical follows the intertwining stories of familiar storybook characters like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Little Red Ridinghood, the latter of which Lester took on for the 2022 revival, earning herself a Tony Award nomination. Sondheim personally gave Lester his stamp of approval for the role.
“I felt like, ‘Where do I go from here? How can anything get better than that?’” she recalls. “I never got to meet him, unfortunately, but it’s really special and wonderful to know that in some capacity, he watched a performance of mine and I had his blessing going into playing the role. It made me think, ‘If I have his okay, then I’ve got to feel okay within myself.’”
You might think the Tony Award nomination and the Sondheim endorsement were the top pinch-me moments, and Lester certainly appreciated those, but her reflection of the experience focused on how much she loved collaborating with her fellow cast members. The cast was stacked with Broadway heavy hitters like Tony winners Gavin Creel and Patina Miller, Tony nominees Joshua Henry, Brian D’Arcy James, Phillipa Soo, and one of Lester’s personal heroes, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and Tony nominee Sara Bareilles.
“It’s really, really, really special when you learn that the people that you love or that you want to be like are wonderful people behind all of the characters that they play or the music that they write,” says Lester. “Every single person in that show was just so unbelievably kind, and gracious, and happy to be there. At the end of the day, we were just excited doing a musical, you know? Everyone’s theater kids at heart.”
Earlier this spring, Lester was back on the stage for the world premiere of Natalie Margolin’s play All Nighter Off-Broadway at MCC Theater. The play follows a group of friends pulling an all-nighter as they rush to get all of their assignments completed before college graduation. Lester played Wilma, a whimsical art student on the fringe of the central friend group. Her laugh-inducing, scene-stealing performance (which included an unforgettable slow-sliding split) earned her both Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Award nominations. It was her first time originating a role, so Lester was excited to infuse elements of herself into the character while staying true to the text.
“I always start with the script,” says Lester. “The words and the way that things are written are definitely my key to everything that I want to come from the character. I was so lucky to be able to play a part that was so beautifully written and so fleshed out from the get-go. I definitely was given a lot of freedom to play, to invent, and to try lots of things.”
Most recently, Lester brought her comedy chops — and more vulnerable side — back to the screen in The Four Seasons on Netflix. Based on the 1981 film of the same name, Lester plays Lila, the college-aged daughter of Nick (Steve Carrell) and Anne (Kerri Kenney), who navigates the fallout of her dad’s “pretty basic midlife crisis” in the form of a play that she has written. No spoilers, but it involves a classic college black box theatre, a Michelle Obama cutout, Britney Spears, and a blow-up doll.
If her success is any indication, Lester has a clear understanding of herself and her artistry. She has been very intentional with what projects she takes on, wanting to make art that fills her cup and fulfills her both as a performer and a person. It’s one of the ways that she is finding hope and joy these days, in addition to the people in her life, like her girlfriend, her family, and her All Nighter castmates.
It’s no easy feat to make a mark by the age of 25, but Lester has done so with an inspiring authenticity and purpose. At our imaginary Denny’s cast party, we’ve all chipped in to buy her a special stack of flapjacks with sprinkles and whipped cream to celebrate all that she has accomplished, and all that is yet to come.
⚡︎ Pop Culture Lightning Round ⚡︎
Queer awakening: Tie-dye girl from The Parent Trap
Favorite LGBTQ+ movie: But I’m a Cheerleader
Favorite queer music artist: Carol Ades and Landon Starkman
Dream queer collaborator: Sarah Paulson
Go-to Broadway cast album: Next to Normal
The movie musical she’d like to star in: Next to Normal
The Broadway musical she’d want to see revived: Shrek — I’ll be Fiona, with my best friend Landon as Shrek.
The gayest American Girl doll: This is the best question I’ve ever been asked. I love American Girl. It’s got to be Molly. ♦
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INTO’s 25 Under 25 is celebrating 25 queer changemakers ages 25 and under all Pride Month long. Check out a new interview every weekday through July 4 on our 25 Under 25 homepage.
