Robin de Jess made his Broadway debut 16 years ago as Angel in Rent, and returned two years later to originate the role of Sonny in In the Heights. Fittingly, his new film is an artistic union of those musicals respective creators, Jonathan Larson and Lin-Manuel Miranda .

The actor and singer can now be seen in Tick, Tick... Boom! an adaptation of Larsons semi-autobiographical 1991 rock monologue, and Mirandas feature directorial debut. The movie, which began streaming on Netflix Friday, depicts Larson (played by Andrew Garfield ) as a struggling New York artist on the cusp of turning 30, years before he would write Rent, his creative opus.

De Jess plays Michael, a former roommate of Larsons who gave up the bohemian life to take a lucrative job in advertising. The character, who is gay and Latino, is grappling with the challenges of being both a member of the LGBTQ community and a person of color during the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Speaking to HuffPost, de Jess described Michael as exactly the kind of character Ive been waiting for. The role gives him a chance to showcase his singing and dancing prowess, most notably in No More, the films centerpiece number, which features an unexpected pas de deux with Garfield.

As someone who plays larger-than-life, high-intensity characters who often have a consistent punchline, Ive wanted to play something a little more subtle, de Jess said. There were so many ways to play with that which wouldnt be expected of me and the role. I knew there was something about the character that would diversify my work in a way that wasnt expected.