Biography
Javier Muñoz is an American actor and singer. He is most notable for his Broadway performances as Usnavi de la Vega in the 2008 musical In the Heights and Alexander Hamilton in the 2015 musical Hamilton, in which he played the title role from July 11, 2016, until January 14, 2018.
== Early life and education ==
Muñoz was born to a Puerto Rican family and raised in the Linden projects of East New York, Brooklyn. He was the youngest of four sons, and the only of his siblings to pursue a professional career in the arts.
He attended Edward R. Murrow High School, where he participated in the drama club known as the Players' Circle. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University, where he participated in Collaborative Arts Project 21.
== Career ==
Muñoz's early roles include Ziad in Kari Floren's The Porch at Altered Stages in New York and other off-Broadway productions. He was in the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival production of All Is Love. He abandoned acting and took a full-time job as a manager at the restaurant 441⁄2 in Hell's Kitchen before he landed a role in In the Heights. His role was cut from the show during rehearsals, but he stayed on as a member of the ensemble.