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It’s no coincidence that Tituss Burgess shares the same first name (albeit with a double “s”) with the character he’s best known for. He’s spent four seasons chewing up every bit of scenery in sight as the fabulously self-centred and gay Titus Andromedon in Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, a role written by comedy legend Tina Fey with the 39-year-old New Yorker firmly in mind.
The pair had previously worked together on Fey’s sitcom 30 Rock, when Tituss spun an initial one-line part into a four-episode role.
But despite the similarities between the off - screen actor’s past and on-screen character’s present (basement apartments in Harlem, aspirations for Broadway stardom, “you know, talented but maybe a little delusional”), Tituss assures us he’s not much like Titus.
“It takes a lot of energy to play him,” he says. “He’s pretty selfish and doesn’t consider other people’s feelings. Other than our love of musical theatre and sharp wit, there’s very little in common. One of the things that helped me play him was the writing. I couldn’t just decide to play such an animated, wild, off -the-cuff , flamboyant character without writing that grounded him and gave him some real stakes.”