Francis Jue (born September 29, 1963) is an American actor and singer. Jue is known for his performances on Broadway, in national tours, Off-Broadway and in regional theatre, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area and at The Muny in St. Louis. His roles in plays and musicals range from Shakespeare to Rodgers and Hammerstein to David Henry Hwang. He is also known for his recurring role on the TV series Madam Secretary (2014–2019).
Jue's Broadway credits include Pacific Overtures (1984; 2004), M. Butterfly (1989) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002), in which he created the role of Bun Foo. Among his acting awards are an Obie Award and a Lortel Award for his role in Yellow Face at the Public Theater (2008), a Dramalogue Award in Kiss of the Spider Woman at TheateWorks (1997), an Elliot Norton Award in Miss Saigon at North Shore Music Theatre (2013), another Obie Award for Wild Goose Dreams at the Public (2018) and a second Lortel Award in Cambodian Rock Band at the Signature Theatre (2020). He has been nominated for three Drama Desk Awards (one in 2008 and two in 2020). He has also appeared in film and in other television roles.
Life and career
Jue was born in San Francisco, California, the sixth of nine children of Chinese Americans Frank (an engineer for the U.S. Navy) and Jennie Jue. He grew up in the Richmond District of San Francisco and attended high school at St. Ignatius College Preparatory, taking part in the school's drama program. He received his B.A. degree at Yale University.
NY Theatre
Jue first appeared in New York in 1984 in a production of Pacific Overtures as the boy in the tree and the Dutch Admiral. He appeared in a California production of the same musical in 1988, and later, he appeared in the show on Broadway as the Dutch Admiral and Madam (2004–05). He also appeared on Broadway in the original Broadway production of M. Butterfly, where he understudied the title character, Song Liling, and Comrade Chin (1989–90), also acted as understudy for these characters in the first national tour (1990–91); he then starred as Song Liling in the second national tour (1991–92). In the original Broadway production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, he created the role of Bun Foo (2002–04).
Jue's Off-Broadway credits include Dr. Mendel in the 2006 National Asian American Theater Festival's revival of William Finn's Falsettoland; numerous roles with the New York Shakespeare Festival in Hamlet, King Lear, The Tragedy of Richard II, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Timon of Athens and The Winter's Tale; Dream True: My Life with Vernon Dixon (Vineyard Theatre); Oscar in Chay Yew's A Language of Their Own (2005); the father in Kevin So's musical, Victor Woo: The Average Asian American; and Vice-Principal Huang in No Foreigners Beyond This Point, by Warren Leight (2005).
He won the 2008 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actor and a 2008 Obie Award for his performance in David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face at the Public Theater. He was also nominated for a 2008 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. Of this role, writer Lia Chang observed: "Jue distinguishes himself as Hwang's father, Henry Y. Hwang. ... Jue's moving and heartfelt portrayal ... has been earning [him] rave reviews." Jue has said, "For me, Hwang's work has been a seminal part of being Asian-American in this culture. It's about feeling alienated in your own country." In 2009, after recovering from a back injury sustained in a 15-foot fall during rehearsals for a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Jue appeared in Coraline with MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in the role of Father. He returned to the Public Theater in 2011 as Sir Nathaniel in Love's Labor's Lost.
In early 2014, Jue played the title character's father off-Broadway in Signature Theatre Company's premiere of Hwang's Kung Fu. He appeared in The World of Extreme Happiness, a play by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, that premiered at Goodman Theatre in Chicago in September and October 2014 and reopened at Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City in February and March 2015. In between these two runs, with York Theatre Company in December 2014, he appeared in My Favorite Year. From October to December 2018, Jue appeared in Wild Goose Dreams, a new play by Hansol Jung, at the Public Theater, receiving another Obie Award for his performance.