Mr. DeMille, Nicole Scherzinger is ready for her close-up.
On June 8, Nicole Scherzinger, 46, won her first Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her role as Norma Desmond, a has-been staging a comeback in Sunset Blvd, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway adaptation of the 1950 film by the same name.
“Thank you,” Scherzinger said through tears while accepting the award at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, “for making this little Hawaiian Ukranian Filipino girl’s dream come true.” She then fretted about how quickly the seconds were ticking by and mentioned more than once how grueling the Broadway schedule is as she thanked her mother, who had her at 18, her father and sister, and her entire ohana, or family. She also thanked composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Scherzinger, who hails from Kentucky, has become one of the most prominent Asian Pacific stage actors. She’s cited Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Miss Saigon as some of her own favorite musicals.
Before she was a Broadway star, Scherzinger was a member of the bestselling pop group the Pussycat Dolls. Because of her experience chasing stardom as a pop singer, she says she can relate to her Sunset Blvd character Norma Desmond.
“Time is fleeting for all of us, and Norma struggled with abandonment, deep loneliness, feeling unseen, and not accepted,” Scherzinger told TIME for a recent profile. “A lot of us feel that way, especially in this industry.”
Scherzinger is also on TIME’s 2025 list of the most influential people in the world. In a tribute to Scherzinger for the list, Tony Award-winning actor and singer Patti LuPone described her performance as “courageous, audacious, mesmerizing, elegantly beautiful, and ultimately heartbreaking,” and capped it off with “Brava, Diva.”
Earlier this week, Sunset Blvd. announced a final extension on Broadway with performances through July 20.
Scherzinger said she never felt like she belonged as a child, but “You all have made me feel that I belong and I have come home at last. So if theres anyone out there who feels like they don’t belong or your time hasnt come,” she continued, “don’t give up, just keep on giving and giving because the world needs your love and your light more than ever now.”