Morning Man Encore: Aaron Tveit!

Editor’s Note: This was originally posted Jul 11, 2010. Aaron Tveit is currently one of the stars of the film version of the musical Les Miserables.

Aaron Tveit caught my eye the other night in the film Howl playing Peter Orlovsky, the longtime lover of Allen Ginsberg.

This is the lucky dude – besides Sean Penn in Milk – who got to make out a little with James Franco in a movie!

Aaron made several appearances on Gossip Girl in the recurring role of Trip Van der Bilt, the cousin of Nate Archibald, and played Betty’s new boyfriend in an episode of Ugly Betty. He also appeared with Ricky Gervais in the film Ghost Town.

But if you really want to be impressed by this young actor’s accomplishments, take a look at his stage credits! He left Ithaca College after two years to join the national tour of Rent then was was cast as Link Larkin in the first national tour of Hairspray. He then made his debut as Link in the Broadway production of the show.

In 2008, Aaron starred in the off-Broadway production of the musical Next to Normal then appeared in the show when it opened on Broadway. He also appeared in Wicked at The George Gershwin Theatre, the musical version of the film Saved! and in the off-Broadway production of Catch Me if You Can.

Aaron’s work and increasingly high profile in theater also landed him on AfterElton.com’s list of the “37 Hottest Guys in Theater.”

No argument here!

Los Angeles fans will get to see Aaron on stage for three days in August because he is in the cast of the Hollywood Bowl production of Rent to be directed by Neil Patrick Harris. He has been cast as the rock musician, Roger Davis.

Gifted in both music and athletics since childhood, Aaron told Broadway.com a few years ago that he never felt pressure to choose between theater and sports while in high school. “The same kids who were on my soccer team and my basketball team were in show choir and did the school musical with me,” he recalls. “We did West Side Story my junior year, and literally the whole football team were the Sharks and the Jets. I played three varsity sports [golf was the third] and did the play and musical every year, and everyone made the schedule work.”