Anthony Dean Rapp (born October 26, 1971) is an American stage and film actor best known for originating the role as Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent in 1996 and later for reprising the same role in the film version. He also originated the role of Charlie Brown in the 1999 revival of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Rapp was born in Joliet, Illinois. He attended high school at Joliet West High School in Joliet and theatre camp at the prestigious Michigan Interlochen Arts Academy. Rapp's brother is playwright Adam Rapp. Rapp also has a sister, Anne, as well as a "little sister" Rachel, a cousin of his who was taken in by his mother.

Career

He first performed on Broadway in 1981, at the age of ten, in The Little Prince and the Aviator, a short-lived musical based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's novel The Little Prince. He also appeared as a teenager in the 1987 movie Adventures in Babysitting, which was directed by Chris Columbus. Columbus would later direct Rapp in the film version of RENT.

Rapp has gone on to appear in several movies and Broadway shows. His notable work includes films Dazed and Confused where he played one half of a teenaged intellectual pair, A Beautiful Mind as one of John Nash's colleagues, Road Trip as the villainous Greek philosophy TA, Jacob, the stage and film versions of Six Degrees of Separation, and "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" as Charlie Brown.

Rapp is probably best known for playing Mark Cohen in the Off-Broadway and original Broadway and London casts of Jonathan Larson's musical RENT. He reprises that role in the film version of RENT, which was released on November 23, 2005. Fans of RENT closely associate Rapp with that show, in part because his character is semi-autobiographical of the deceased composer and playwright Jonathan Larson. Rapp has embraced his role as an unofficial spokesperson for the musical and has given numerous television and print interviews regarding the show and its development. Some of Rapp's photographs from rehearsals of RENT have been published.

In 2000, Rapp released a solo CD, entitled Look Around[1] on Sh-K-Boom Records, the same label as fellow Rent star Adam Pascal.

Personal life

Rapp identifies himself as bisexual, although he prefers emotional relationships with men. He's an advocate in show business for LGBT rights. As of 2005, Rapp's boyfriend is actor Rodney To, and the couple are trying to adopt a child. They have three cats named Emma, Sebastian, and Spike.

In 2006, Rapp released a memoir about his days in RENT, as well as his mother's struggle with cancer and his own struggle with finding himself, entitled Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent, which was released February 7, 2006 by publisher Simon & Schuster. [2] The book will be re-released in paperback on October 31, 2006.

Rapp also heads a band called "AlbinoKid."

                       

Courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony Rapp