Matthew Morrison on "Finding Neverland" role
Matthew Morrison melted hearts on the hit TV show "Glee." But before that, he made his mark in musicals like "Hairspray" as heartthrob Link Larkin.
Now, Morrison is back on Broadway in the musical "Finding Neverland." But he's finding out lead role is not as easy as he first thought.
"I went into this really wanting to do everything I could. I started my career as a dancer and stuff and I told Mia Michaels the choreographer, 'Let me do everything,' But that was my 26-year-old self talking and I'm 36 now so it's a little harder," Morrison said Thursday on "CBS This Morning."
"Finding Neverland" is the story of how "Peter Pan" came about. Morrison plays the book's author J.M. Barrie.
"I've done a lot of great roles on Broadway, but being the outright leader of a show is so different and I often call my friend Marissa Jaret Winokur, who was the lead of 'Hairspray," Morisson said. "You carry this $15 million show on your shoulders and there's a lot that comes with it."
Before this latest endeavor, Morrison played glee club director Will Schuester for five seasons on the hit Fox musical-comedy.
"It's so great to look back on the show and see the change that it made in the world, especially what just happened with gay marriage in the Supreme Court," Morrison said. "I feel like 'Glee' had a big voice in bringing those issue into peoples living rooms so that they could have an open conversation about it with their family."
He said the show "did everything that it could do," and he was happy to make the transition back onto Broadway.
Morrison said he's known for a long time that he'd return to the stage, but couldn't find the time until now.
"I went to NYU and I got my first Broadway show when I was 19 years old, which was 'Footloose' on Broadway," he said. "I was like the featured white-boy break dancer, actually, and from there I moved up the ladder and gained success and started getting roles. And then I did some movies and then this great TV show came along."
To hear how Morrison got his start on "Letterman" in the Fresh Step boy band, watch the video above.