'Sunset Boulevard' star Tom Francis reacts to his 2025 Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical

The actor plays Joe Gillis to Nicole Scherzinger's Norma Desmond in Jamie Lloyd’s stylish cinematic revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

“It feels like I’m in a bit of a dream,” Tom Francis said about being Tony nominated for his role of Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter drawn into faded actress Norma Desmond’s (fellow nominee Nicole Scherzinger) delusional world in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Sunset Boulevard. “I can't really wrap my head around it. I’m a little bit overwhelmed. I'm just trying to soak it all in and enjoy it.”

Francis has been an integral part of director Jamie Lloyd’s minimalist revival of the musical based on the 1950 Billy Wilder movie classic since its 2023 premiere in London. Francis won an Olivier Award for playing Joe Gillis for that run.

Francis told New York Theatre Guide that it’s exciting to have the production that blends cinematic effects be received so enthusiastically following its journey across the pond to Broadway.

“It’s so lovely to be seen by the Tonys as a show which they wanted to sort of promote,” he said. “We put so much work into this show for two years now. It always felt like this was the journey of where we wanted to get. So it’s just so nice that we got here, and that it’s been successful.”

Francis will vie for the coveted Tony Award with a strong field of five lead actors: Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending, Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw, Jonathan Groff, Just in Time, James Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical, and Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins.

Francis’s nomination is one of seven nods for Sunset Boulevard, which include Best Revival, Best Actress for Scherzinger, and Best Director for Lloyd. New York Theatre Guide’s review called it “bold and wildly entertaining.”

“It's a show that takes you into your imagination in a way that you've never really experienced before,” said Francis. “It sort of breaks boundaries in a way that I think is quite, quite beautiful. If you're interested in seeing something like that, then you should come and see Sunset Boulevard.”

Photo credit: Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. (Photo by Marc Brenner)