‘Worth Every Penny’ (Exclusive) : Leslie Odom Jr. Recalls Favorite Memory from Wedding to Wife Nicolette Robinson

Leslie Odom Jr. will never forget his 2012 wedding to his wife, actress Nicolette Robinson.

"It's all the people in your life," the Hamilton actor told PEOPLE earlier this month at the 2024 Tony Awards Meet the Nominees junket of his wedding. "It's worth every penny."

Odom Jr., who is nominated for two Tony Awards this year, tied the knot with the Chicago Med actress in December 2012, and, according to the actor, being surrounded by his family and friends on such a special day is his favorite wedding memory.

"The wedding is like drugs, man," he jokes. "All of the people... when will all of the people in your life be in a room together, all together ever again? It's your wedding. It's your funeral. That's it. You know what I mean? The wedding... I didn't know that, but the wedding really, it's all your friends, it's your family, it's hers, so it's just, yeah, it was like drugs."

The Tony award-winner also shared one of the secrets to his long marriage is that he and Robinson continue to grow together.

"The truth is also there's a real decency, and maybe everybody's not into that, but I was into that," he shares. "There's a real decency in Nicolette, in my wife. And so my respect and my esteem for her has grown over the years and our friendship has grown. It really is wonderful if you choose wisely, and I think I did. I hope she thinks she did."

Since they said "I do," the couple have welcomed two children: Lucille Ruby, 7, and Able Phineas, 3. Both Ruby and Able, as well as their mom, recently celebrated birthdays, prompting Odom Jr. to share he's "birthdayed out" at the moment.

Next up, the actor is looking forward to the upcoming Tony Awards. And his family is already celebrating his nominations. "They're so excited about this, too," he shares with PEOPLE. "They got to see Purlie more than once and yeah, they're very excited for the Tony nominations."

‘That’s Upsetting’ : G,...

> Odom Jr., who won a Tony Award in 2016 for his role in Hamilton, is nominated twice again this year — once for his leading acting work in the acclaimed revival of Ossie Davis' groundbreaking play Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch, and again for his role as a producer on the production, which is up for best revival of a play. Robinson also produced alongside her husband, earning her first Tony nomination in the process.  

Both are expected to attend the 2024 Tony Awards, which will take place on Sunday, June 16, at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater in New York City. Viewers can watch the show on CBS and Paramount+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Select awards will also be handed out on a pre-show that will stream on Pluto TV.

Purle Victorioustells the story of acharismatic traveling clergyman who returns to segregated Georgia with a scheme to save his rural hometown church and his inheritance. The revival marks the first time the play had been back on Broadway since its original 1961 production, which starred Davis, his wife Ruby Dee and a cast including a young Alan Alda.

"I'm so happy for the reappraisal of Mr. Davis' work," Odom Jr. tells PEOPLE. "This is a piece that hadn't been done commercially in 62 years. So to bring it back and allow audiences to hear directly from Ossie — to hear this unfiltered, unedited, great American spit from the stage at the Music Box Theatre — was one of the deepest joys of my life." 

Sadly, the revival closed in the fall. But fans hoping to see Odom Jr.'s performance — and that of his costar, Kara Young, who is also Tony-nominated this year — can catch the showstreaming now through July 19 as part of PBS' Great Performances.

"Having this preserved means that audiences will be able to discover Mr. Davis' incredible work for generations to come," Odom Jr. says. "I couldn't be prouder." 

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