Carl Clemons-Hopkins is hard to miss.
Despite a measured, amiable demeanor, the stage veteran who just received their first Emmy nomination for their supporting work in the comedy "Hacks" somehow seems even bigger than their frame, which the actor says is "6-foot-4 and change." Clemons-Hopkins, who uses the pronouns they/them, was born and raised in Lithonia, Ga.
After kicking around stages for more than a decade, Clemons-Hopkins has landed the role of Marcus, the ultra-driven business manager of Jean Smart's aging comedian on HBO's "Hacks" during the pandemic.
So how does a queer, nonbinary Black kid from small-town Georgia wind up on big stages in big cities, and now with a hit show and an Emmy nomination?
"My parents would take me and my cousin to see [Alvin] Ailey. My dad would take me to the opera. I was into theater since I was 6," Clemons-Hopkins says. "I majored in musical theater. In my mind it was like, 'There'll be so much opportunity. I'll come north, the land of opportunity.' "
After college in Philadelphia, Clemons-Hopkins did the struggling-actor thing in New York, bartending and managing restaurants. Then was cast as "Man 6" in the ensemble of the Chicago production of "Hamilton" while understudying George Washington, Hercules Mulligan/James Madison and co-lead Aaron Burr.
"Hamilton" sharpened the actor's professional mettle. But the play that helped Clemons-Hopkins blossom creatively was a world premiere by R. Eric Thomas, "Time Is on Your Side."
"It was my first time getting to play a Black, queer character. It was written by a Black, queer playwright, and he said something to me that blew my entire mind: 'You know, queer history is your history, too.'