![]() I learned some valuable tools and lessons from and it prepared me for my own journey.” I always say what’s meant for me will be for me. “Life works the way it’s supposed to work. Though the part ultimately went to Jennifer Hudson, being flown to LA and meeting director Bill Condon “really set the tone for me going forward,” Miller says. That work led Miller to become one of three finalists for the role of Effie White in the 2006 musical drama Dreamgirls. “I knew what I was working towards because I had all of these people who looked like me who would come back to school and say, ‘Be prepared for this, get ready for this.’ And all I had to do was the work.” “I’ve had all of these giants, these heavyweights, these wonderful people to be mentors to me, and to help me along the way,” she adds. “I was the only one of two Black girls in my class so I started off being the token, but I knew what I wanted to do with my life and I had some really amazing mentors there.” Those mentors included Billy Porter, Leslie Odom, whom she considers a big brother, and fellow classmates Danielle Brooks and Nicole Behari. It was at the university that Miller says she was prepared to realize her dream of being an actress. Miller attended a performing arts boarding school during her last two years of high school which laid the foundation for her to receive a full scholarship to Carnegie Mellon. ![]() After the first performance, I got off stage, and I told my mom, ‘This is what I want to do. And so I did this Broadway musical called Annie and I played Miss Hannigan. “When everybody else was sleeping in, enjoying the summer, I was doing arts. So I found this other outlet in a neighboring town, where I could go and do theater and play instruments during the summer,” she recalls. “I grew up in a little town called Pageland, South Carolina, and I would go every summer to this arts boarding school. As young as 12 Miller knew she was meant for one stage or another. Those same adjectives could describe Miller, a Music Theater grad with a Tony Award on her mantle for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as the lead player in the 2013 revival of Pippin.
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