Why We Can’t Help Loving Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Tituss Burgess

HE PLAYS

Titus Andromedon, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt‘s flamboyant fame seeker with huge pipes and hopeless Broadway dreams. “It’s a little overwhelming,” says the musically trained Burgess of his big break. “I have never been paid this much attention before.” Ironically, the same can’t be said for the folks who inspired his theatrically thirsty wannabe. “Let’s just say there are a couple of people in my life I paid attention to,” he confesses with a laugh.

WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HIM

The Broadway vet’s (Jersey Boys) most notable previous TV appearance was in a four-
episode arc as reality star D’Fwan on 30 Rock, where he made one very famous fan. “The last day I filmed, Alec Baldwin said to me, ‘Tituss Burgess, you are in the Top 5 scene partners I have ever had.’ And I thought, ‘What the hell?!'”

WHY WE LOVE HIM

Where do we start? His voice is amazing, he can throw shade with a simple eye roll, and his performance of “Peeno Noir”–Andromedon’s homemade pop ode to African-American genitalia–was so on point that half of Twitter is still quoting it. But beyond that, Burgess’s natural charm makes Andromedon someone you can’t help but root for, in spite of his out-of-this-world shamelessness. “Tituss brings a real specificity to his work,” says Schmidt cocreator Tina Fey. “He’s very smart about how the character Titus is different from him and how Titus is different from D’Fwan. [But] beyond all his intelligence and training, Tituss just has a warmth and ease on camera that most actors would kill for.”

SCHMIDT HAPPENS

With a nice break before next season begins shooting, Burgess plans to use his free time to work on a musical–and very little else. “I want to go back into Season 2 with a clearer mind, because now I know what goes into it,” he says. “That was my first time being a series regular, and it’s a lot of work. So I’m gonna rest. Real talk!”

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix