Laurie Hernandez grew up in Old Bridge, New Jersey, close enough to Manhattan that Broadway was practically next door. But between homeschooling and the all-consuming demands of elite gymnastics, the theater world stayed out of reach. She describes the love she eventually developed for it as something she had to pursue independently, without the institutional pathways that guide most aspiring performers.
That changed in 2016. After winning team gold and an individual silver medal on the balance beam at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, Hernandez and her teammates, known as the Final Five, were asked what they wanted to do next. Someone suggested Hamilton. They went. She has not looked back since.
The experience opened something in her. It was followed shortly after by an appearance on “Dancing with the Stars,” where she and partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy won the competition. During Broadway Week on the show, she performed a number from Chicago and felt the pull deepen. Those two moments planted a seed that would eventually grow into a full academic and professional commitment.
Hernandez bets on herself at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts
The decision to enroll as a drama major at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts came from a specific set of desires. Hernandez wanted to pursue acting and entertainment seriously. She also wanted to be back on the East Coast, near her family. Two of her four years in the program were spent at the Stella Adler Studio, where Shakespeare training factored heavily into the curriculum. The timing turned out to be fitting preparation for a show rooted in the world of Shakespeare.
She pushed through her coursework at an accelerated pace, completing roughly 50 credits in a single year when most students take around 30. The urgency was not arbitrary. She had a feeling that an opportunity would come along before she finished her degree and that she would have to be ready to move. That instinct proved correct.
Her agent called and encouraged her to audition for & Juliet, a musical built around a provocative premise. What if Juliet had not died? What if Shakespeare’s wife had written a different ending? The show, which opened in 2022 and received nine Tony Award nominations, is set against a soundtrack of Y2K pop hits produced by Max Martin.
Learning hip-hop choreography in three weeks
Hernandez was cast as Charmion, a featured dance role that requires her to be onstage for nearly the entire 2.5-hour performance. She is part of the ensemble singing and carries a physically demanding track built around Jennifer Weber’s hip-hop choreography. She learned it in three weeks.
The style was a significant departure from everything her body had been trained to do. Gymnastics demands compression, precision, and controlled power. Weber’s choreography asks for something looser and more rhythmically intuitive, a quality that requires what performers call sitting in the pocket. Hernandez was candid about needing help with that. The cast and creative team were patient, and she absorbed the material with the same focused work ethic she brought to the Olympic training floor.
Five days before her debut, she ran the full show in costume and with props in a rehearsal known as a put-in. The cast greeted her wearing Olympic-themed outfits. She made her official onstage debut on March 17, opening with a number called “Larger Than Life” and drawing on a gymnastic aerial and a handstand that tied her two worlds together in a single moment.
What Hernandez is building toward
She will perform in & Juliet at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre through June 14, with her graduation from NYU scheduled in May. She has already arranged the day off.
Beyond this run, Hernandez is thinking about longevity. She spent years in a sport where careers peak early and end fast. Theater, she has said, offers something different. It is a craft she can grow in over time, one that rewards accumulated experience rather than youth alone. That prospect, more than any single role, seems to be what is driving her now.
