Primarily, Laura Benanti will be known to most people as both an actress and a singer. After all, she got her start in theatre, as shown by the fact that she has won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. However, since that time, Benanti has become involved in more and more projects, with examples ranging from movies and TV shows to impersonating Melania Trump for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Here are five things that you may or may not have known about Laura Benanti:
Benanti Is Her Stepfather’s Family Name
It is interesting to note that Benanti is Benanti’s stepfather’s family name. What happened was that her parents divorced when she was still a young child. As a result, when she moved with her mother and her stepfather Salvatore Benanti to Kinnelon in the state of New Jersey, she came to refer to him as her father, which was accompanied by her taking his family name.
Distant From Other Children as a Child
According to Benanti, she was rather distant from other children when she was a child. In part, this was because she was a self-described “ugly duckling.” However, it should also be noted that she was serious in character even as a child, which was not helped by the fact that she had an overwhelming interest in musical theatre. Benanti’s parents didn’t let her audition for professional theater while she was still in school, but Benanti did make a number of appearances in not just high school appearances but also community appearance as well.
Started Out as an Understudy on The Sound of Music
In 1998, Benanti secured a role as an understudy for Rebecca Luker as Maria on a Broadway production of The Sound of Music. As a result, Benanti filled in for Luker when Luker went on vacation. Furthermore, Benanti took up the role when Luker left the production. It should be mentioned that becoming an understudy for the part of Maria was not Benanti’s initial intention, seeing as how she had hoped to secure the role of Liesl but was considered to be too mature-looking at the time.
Suffered a Neck Fracture
When Benanti was playing the role of Cinderella on a Broadway production of Into the Woods, she suffered a serious neck fracture, which resulted in the cutting off of spinal fluid because of two discs that had been herniated into her spinal cord. The neck fracture was made all the worse by a misdiagnosis as well as rumors of unprofessional behavior on the part of Benanti when she started missing performances because the Into the Woods producers had asked her to not bring up the incident. Even now, Benanti continues to suffer from myelopathy as well as neck pain, though she was fortunate enough to avoid paralysis, which was a possibility of her particular kind of injury.
Is a New Mother
At this point in time, Benanti is a relatively new mother, seeing as how she gave birth to a baby daughter named Ella Rose in February of 2017. This is but one of Benanti’s numerous roles, which she somehow manages to juggle with consummate skill.
