In the theater world, there is an exclusive club of legendary actors who have won both the Olivier (highest award in British theater) and Tony Awards for the same role. Helen Mirren, who won an Olivier in 2013 and a Tony in 2015; Lea Salonga, who received an Olivier in 1990 and then a Tony in 1991; and Angela Lansbury, who took home the Tony in 2009 and then the Olivier in 2015, are all on this list.
But now, so is Jak Malone, an actor from London's West End who currently performs the incredible feat of playing Hester Leggatt and close to 30 characters in Operation Mincemeat on Broadway.
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At the 78th annual Tony Awards earlier this month, Malone won the Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for Operation Mincemeat, which originated in the West End. Last year, he picked up the Olivier Award for the same role.
He delivered an emotional speech about staying true to oneself and celebrating his achievement of a "lifelong dream." A little over a week later, he's still riding that same high after hearing his name announced and delivering an important speech.
"The reception in the room was so joyous, celebratory, and loud," he says. "I'm really glad I got to say my speech," telling Out that it took him a month to write it from the moment he was nominated.
Malone carefully considered the thoughts he hoped to share about his character and the blurring of the gender binary. "I'm so angry all the time," he says. "I'm just so angry at the state of the world and how trans and queer people are being othered and being scapegoated to prop up these hapless politicians." He adds, "They're very good at getting us riled up, but they are no good at any actual governing."
That fire that he feels inside is part of the motivation to continue bringing his best to the mind-bogglingly hilarious and complex show that he performs eight times a week and has been doing for six years. The hit musical is the comedic retelling of a covert World War II British military mission called Operation Mincemeat, in which the British army used a corpse to deter the German forces from invading Sicily. It’s a dizzying production featuring only five actors who all play multiple characters, seamlessly.
Though Malone subjects his body (and mind) to demanding performances eight times a week, it's easier to do with fervent supporters. After receiving his nomination, fans at the stage door told him that they booked tickets for the Tuesday after the Tonys to celebrate with him because they were so sure he was going to win, he says.
Sure enough, that's what happened. After his delightfully heartbreaking standout number, "Dear Bill," he was met with uproarious applause and a standing ovation. "The atmosphere was completely electric," Malone says. After the show, his castmate and one of the cowriters on the show, David Cumming, made a speech at curtain call, handing him his Tony and giving him space for another energized round of applause.
Malone is a part of history and joins an elite crop of individuals who have made their mark on the theater community in the West End and on Broadway. Operation Mincemeat runs through February 2026, and until then, Malone will continue to deliver stupendous performances. However, he has already thought about what may be next after Operation Mincemeat. As a writer, he says he finally has an idea for his musical, but emphasizes that he is "very excited to declare myself open to all possibilities."
