These days, Jeremy Pope is feeling particularly proud. To release his debut EP, Last Name: POPE (which dropped today), during Pride month—“arriving at this moment as confident as I feel as a Black queer artist”—is something special, he exclusively tells AD. The star already boasts an impressive résumé: He’s as a two-time Tony Award nominee for his work on Broadway, an Emmy nominee for Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood, and a Golden Globe nominee for his performance in the 2022 drama The Inspection. But while Pope’s roles on stage and screen have earned him accolades for transforming into different characters, his new music is personal.
The multihyphenate has been hard at work on his EP for over three years. “What I learned is you just do,” he says. “You just start. You make space for the process. You write one song, and then you write another song, and then you write another song that’s better than the first. You have to build.”
Pope began piecing this project together while on the road for other jobs. “A lot of these songs were written in hotel rooms in different cities,” he says. But when he’s at home, Pope prefers to record from the comfort of his own closet. We caught up with the singer-slash-actor to talk about life (and work) from home, his new music, and his dream renovation.
AD: What city do you live in primarily?
Jeremy Pope: Primarily LA, but New York has my heart.
How would you describe the style of your home in one sentence?
It smells divine in here. I’m hypersensitive to smell, so I spend absolutely way too much money on candles and oils and fragrances.
What is one kitchen item you use every single day?
A pot. I boil eggs every morning.
What is your favorite gadget or appliance?
My favorite gadget—love/hate—is Alexa. The love is like, “Alexa, play this,” or “Do that,” or “What is this?” And she can answer it. But the hate is, “Are you listening to me all the time, Alexa?” Sometimes I’ll see her glitch, and I’m like, Why are you glitching? It’s almost like I caught her listening to me. She definitely gets [the job] done, and she knows everything. But I do wonder, is she out to get me at some point?
What is your bedtime ritual?
I always like to end the night laughing, so I’m usually watching a sitcom.
What is your ideal bedding setup?
Four pillows behind me…. One probably in between my legs, a big duvet cover, and a blanket, just in case it gets a little cold. I want to be super cold but warm at the same time.
Which room in your house is your favorite and why?
The bathroom. I start my mornings in the bathroom, whether it’s literally sitting on the toilet or just there thinking, reading. I’m a very “self-love” person, so if I can recreate that in a room, it’s ideal. My bathroom is special because I have palo santo, I have great candles, I have oils for the shower—eucalyptus, or lavender, or wherever you want to go—and then I’ve got books.