Sarah Hyland Calls Role inThe Great GatsbyMusical 'Deliciously Complex' as She Returns to Broadway (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made

“[Daisy’s] so deliciously complex,” Hyland says, in an exclusive conversation. “It is so fascinating to me to be able to go through all of these emotions — especially as a woman in 2025, 100 years after the book came out — to be able to still identify and relate to this woman. [Being a woman] is still so complex and challenging to this day, 100 years later, as it was in the ’20s.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Taking over for Noblezada, Hyland admits, was “daunting.” But the two-time Tony Award nominee — had nothing but kind words for Hyland while she (figuratively) handed her the keys to the dressing room.

“I keep having to remind myself that we are our own people,” Hyland says, explaining how she allowed herself to approach Noblezada in her own way. “It’s just wild that I get to be the second person ever to play this role after her. What she did with the role is so beautiful, and I’m really lucky to be stepping into a mold of sorts — not that it’s exactly the same because no two actors are exactly the same — but she was just wonderful. So, we just left it with a hug and a twerk.”

Hyland, who has been acting her whole life, made her Broadway debut in 2006 inGrey Gardens. Last year, she starred as Audrey in the Off-Broadway production ofLittle Shop of HorrorsalongsideAndrew Barth Feldman.

“Selfishly for him to have had two, three weeks doing the show under his belt, and for me just feeling like I’m being shot out of a cannonball, to know that he has this in his body now, it’s like a safety net,” she says of the actor, whose Broadway credits includeWickedandFrozen. “I’m like, just push me on stage if you need to steer me in the right direction if I forget anything.”

The two, Hyland jokes, are “weird, nerdy goofballs” who have so much fun together backstage — which is why they slot so seamlessly into their roles. Plus, she just loves to listen to him sing.

“His voice is stupid,” she says with a laugh. “Like the best melted butter on toast. I go down [to the stage] to watch him sing ‘Past Is Catching Up to Me’ or ‘For Her (Reprise)’ at the end from the wings because it’s so fun.”

No doubt, they’ll make it soon. The actress says both of her parents are guiding lights in her career — especially her dad, who has been a stage actor for her whole life.

“Watching him growing up, I learned that there is such power on stage in silence,” she shares. “In taking those moments, you can physically show with your body an emotion without having to say a word. He’s so brilliant at that and always has been. Holding space for emotions and sitting in the silence is a really beautiful thing.”

source: people.com