You have an amazing voice. Do you have a favorite RENT song? - Caroline

My favorite song changes all the time. At first "Light My Candle" was my favorite. Then it was "Halloween." But I think my favorite for the last few years has been "Another Day."

You have a great talent and I love hearing your sing...what's your next project? - Lynn

Thank you so much! It's very exciting! I start working on a film entitled The Devil Wears Prada this week starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. I play Anne Hathaway's best friend Lily. It's funny because it's based on a popular book with the same title, so like RENT, it already has a built-in fan base! So I have a whole new group of people to win over!

I hope you had fun on your first vacation ever! What'd you do on your vacation? - Julia

I mostly tried to rest up for the Today Show. I'd just done a musical workshop in NY, and my voice was tired from it, so I tried to rest it as much as I could. That, however, was hard to do because I was in Barbados during their annual Crop-Over Festival. It's their carnival, and there are parties every night! So I'd go to the parties and just jump up and down silently! I felt pretty ridiculous! But it was for a good cause. I couldn't be on national TV with a tired voice, because people would talk about me! I did get some rest, though. And did some swimming, and eating, and eating, and eating. It was great!

Do you know that everyone loves you? Your enthusiasm for Rent is so endearing, and we're all thrilled for you to be a part of the film. Your "How the hell I got here" blog is one of the best things I've read, and we can tell that in addition to being an amazing performer, you're also an incredible person. I know you'll be a kick-ass Joanne. - Alexandria

The support I've gotten from you guys is just overwhelming. I am so grateful for all of it. I just hope I don't let anyone down once the movie comes out! Someone suggested to me that my first blog was a brilliant strategic move, and I agreed it would have been brilliant IF it was strategic! But it wasn't! It's honestly my story, and I had no idea that it would get the response from you guys that it has. I didn't intend to become anybody's role model or inspiration. But I'm so flattered that it was received that way. Thank you, thank you, thank you! From the bottom of my heart. I can't tell you how happy you all have made me.

It must be truly awesome to be on the other side of being a fan. Now you have fans! How is that for you? - Joe

I have to say, it's pretty crazy! Every time anyone asks me for my autograph or my picture, I am so incredibly flattered! I still get freaked out when someone knows my name! They thank me for my time and my autograph, and then I thank them for wanting my autograph! I'm such a weirdo! I think I might actually make them uncomfortable sometimes with my excitement. I'm so not the cool celebrity-type. I'm supposed to let the fan be excited, not be excited myself! I'm working on it. But honestly, I'm still hardly ever recognized. If I go to a play in NY or hang out in Times Square, chances are maybe one person will come over to me. It's still a rare occurrence and I don't know if I'll ever get used to it! I don't want to get used to it, either. I'm so grateful, and I feel like as soon as it becomes normal, the fun will be gone.

Did you feel lots of pressure taking over the role of Joanne since you didn't perform as her in the play? - Maxanna

I did feel a lot of pressure, but it was mostly self-inflicted. Being a RENT fan, I know how possessive we all are of these characters. For me, as with many RENTheads, Fredi will ALWAYS be my Joanne! I still feel that way. So playing Joanne when I have another actor's Joanne in my head is quite a challenge. I listened to the OBCR only once after I got the role, and then I refused to listen to it again until after we were done. I had to start making it my own. I'm so different from Fredi, and there's no way I could even attempt to do what she did with the role. It would have been ridiculous, and I would have failed miserably. I essentially had to start over, and build Joanne from the ground up. It also helps that there are scenes in the movie that don't appear in the play. It helped to distinguish my Joanne from the Joanne on stage. But I'll be honest, I did steal a few things from Fredi because, well, they were just so brilliant. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! And like the saying goes, good artists borrow, great artists STEAL!

Was it difficult to get into the mindset of Joanne when you had most of the original cast around you who were already into their characters? - Alyssa

You know, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. You learn so much about your character by how the other characters treat you. And everyone just accepted that I was Joanne and responded to me as such, and it was easy to find my way. There were times, of course, that I felt behind. And I was. By NINE YEARS! But I caught up quickly, and the rest of the cast helped me immensely. Any time I had questions I could turn to them, and they would get me straight. But they also didn't expect me to give them the same things as Fredi did. They accepted that I was coming at them with different choices, and they welcomed them. It was just wonderful.

Will you be doing any more live performances? - Neil

I'm sure we will. We just did one in LA at a benefit for Multiple Sclerosis. There are talks of more performances, but I don't know of any specifically yet. We'll keep you guys posted!

Do you have any dream roles that you'd like to play in the future? - Heather

My dream roles haven't really been produced yet. They've been written, but not produced. I like creating roles rather than replacing people in already existing shows. Sure, I LOVE Elphaba and Berniece in The Piano Lesson, or Isabelle in Measure for Measure (I love Shakespeare - I mean, I did go to Juilliard! LOL!), but mostly I'm looking forward to bringing brand new, complex characters to life.

What do you like to sing on a bad day to put a new perspective on things? - Kris

I love to sing "Lovely Day" by Bill Whithers. It instantly makes me feel happy.

What was your favorite scene to film, and why? - Chelsea

They were all so much fun! It's really hard to choose because everyday was extremely rewarding. But one of my favorites was Happy New Year! We were all together (except Taye, who was sorely missed) all night long, and we were really having a party. Even with the extras! We were playing games and just acting ridiculously stupid until 6am on 6th Street in San Francisco. I'll never forget that night. Even though my feet were KILLING me!

"How did I get here, how the hell?"

I can't explain how often this lyric runs through my mind. It's my personal soundtrack, and it's on a constant loop. I'm still in shock, and we're almost finished shooting! When we started rehearsal in November, I was sure it was an elaborate episode of "Punk'd" and Ashton and his crew were hiding behind the dance mirrors...or even worse, that they would change their minds and fire me!

But alas, it's six months later, and I'm still here! I figured I should introduce myself! It's funny, Rosario and I were hanging out at the recording studio one day and I decided to look at the IMDB message boards. We discovered all the questions about Rosario's casting as Mimi. As we continued to search, we found one posting about me. It went something like this: "Nobody's talking about Tracie Thoms being cast as Joanne. What does everyone think about that?" The response was, "The reason nobody's talking about her is because nobody knows who the hell she is," followed by, "Yeah, who the hell is she?" I laughed and thought, "Yeah, who the hell am I?"

It is a really good question. You have six original cast members, one movie star, and me...random brown chick. Which leads me to my soundtrack... "How did I get here? How the hell?" Let's explore this question, shall we?

I saw all these guys in the show in '97, and it changed my life. I could not believe what I was looking at. I became obsessed. I had to be in RENT! I'd just been accepted into Julliard's Drama Division, but I didn't care. I'd give it up to be in RENT. For my first audition, I stood in line in the cold all night, only to lose my voice an hour before I could get in. My second audition was better, and I got a callback for Joanne, followed by another callback, followed by the big, final callback. This big, final callback fell on the Friday after I started Julliard.

As Karma would have it, I lost my voice again (I was doing "HAIR" at the time) on the Sunday before. I was on steroids my first week of school in order to get my voice back so I could book the show and leave school. Didn't work. I was still hoarse, and I couldn't hit the high "C" in "Seasons." I went to Julliard instead. But much of my 1st semester was spent at rehearsal rooms with my classmate Jeffrey Carlson singing "Another Day." Fast forward four years later. I'm about to graduate, and Spike Lee is directing the RENT movie. I audition and get a callback for Spike. Great! We had a blast! I was so thrilled! He walked me to the elevator and asked, "So, you never did the show?"

Me: "No, I auditioned."

Spike: "You ain't get it?"

Me: "No Spike, I didn't get it."

Spike: "Who were you auditioning for?"

Me: "Joanne."

Spike: "Joanne? You too young for Joanne. What you gonna be, a baby lesbian?"

Me: "...."

Keep in mind I had auditioned for Joanne five minutes before this conversation, so I knew that wasn't going to happen. But I was told he liked me lots and would try to use me somehow in the movie. Well, that movie never happened. I auditioned for the show one more time the following year, and was told "Bernie Telsey (the casting director) said you will do this role sometime. It's just a matter of getting the mix right. But you will play Joanne."

At this point, I had to let RENT go because it clearly wasn't meant to be. And I was okay with it. I was working a lot. Doing regional theatre, a tour, a series, a pilot, off Broadway, another series ("Wonderfalls"), a Broadway show ("Drowning Crow") and a final off Broadway show when I found out Chris Columbus was now directing. I went to Bernie Telsey's office to go on tape for Joanne, and then I forget about it. Surely Alicia Keys or Beyonce or Queen Latifah would be cast.

I'm doing my show a month later and in one week I find out I was cast in a musical and a series. How exciting! The role on the series was written for me! I was elated! Then three days later, out of the blue, I get a call.

"Apparently you're a front runner for Joanne in RENT."

"WHAT???"

"They'll let us know tomorrow."

"WHA...WHAT???"

The next morning at noon, on the corner of 1st Street and 6th Ave in the Village, my phone rings.

"You got the offer for Joanne!"

"WHAT??!!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME?

There I am screaming at the top of my lungs on the streets of NY into a cell phone. I was a sight, but I didn't care. I proceeded to walk forty blocks in a daze, calling everyone I know. I couldn't believe it! I did have to go to San Francisco to meet Chris Columbus to solidify the offer, but it was mine. From a taped audition. Crazy!!!

So...here I am. Plucked from obscurity into my dream show-the movie version. That's how I got here. I'm as confused about it as everyone on the boards. But it's been unbelievable. I'm the Renthead who won the lottery and got to be in the movie. The first day of rehearsal, we were singing "Tango: Maureen," and Anthony Rapp walked in and started singing with me, and I thought I was going to pass out. I stared at the piano. "This is weird...very weird..." I mean it was him...for real. Not my CD, but standing there singing at me.

It's been quite an adjustment. But everyone embraced Rosario and I as if we've always been here. And Rosario and I had to scream like groupies when Anthony and Adam would sing anything, and we finally accepted that we were really here. Ashton was not behind the mirrors. I finally got the courage to look back there. That's how the hell I got here, and that's who the hell I am. I'm so thrilled to meet you.