he stars as vice president ehrenberg. he famously -- aaron burr.rantley writes in the new york times that the broadway production makes us feel the unstoppable urgent rhythm of a nation being born. i am pleased to have leslie odom, junior at this table for the first time. welcome. leslie: i am so happy to be at this table. charlie: what brought you to hamilton? leslie: i was invited into hamilton. sometimes you find that the best jobs that you get in this career and business, you did not audition for. i just asked tommy last week, because i have a superstition, sometimes if i get a straight offer, i do not want to ask how it came about. the director, tommy. realizeid they might that why did we ask this guy? i got invited about two years ago to do a reading for this show. and then i saw it at vassar. i saw them do about half an hour of it. i was blown away. when i was invited to do the reading, i prepared like i have never prepared before. i knew all of my music. i knew what they were working on. charlie: you knew it had powerful potential. leslie:

that set up was a very difficult task to figure out who ehrenberg -- who aaron burr is.lain in our history. charlie: do you think more of him? lin: i do, after reading about his life. there are several biographies of him. gore wrote a historical novel, much craftier than mine. burr was a early feminist. his daughter received an education greater than any man of that era. he was close with his wife and his daughter. he was on a few main mission with alexander hamilton for the abolition of slaves in new york state. there are redeeming characteristics to this guy. i had to find my way into that. every biography is either defensive of him, or vilified him. charlie: but you know better than anybody -- explained to me. on the one hand, aaron burr was amazingly cautious, careful, laid-back, and alexander hamilton wanted to charge forward at every move. lin: hamilton left behind seven volumes of written work. burr left behind less than 2. that tells you how much everything you need to know. burr reserved his right to change his mind on any particular point. the tragedy of the sh

charlie: there are different opinions of ehrenberg -- of aaron burr.e: i have to play what lin wrote. joy thing you have to pour in -- charlie: you have to pour it in what you experienced and what you feel. leslie: that's my job as a performer. certain amount of vulnerability this show requires me that i was not ready to embrace at any other moment in my life. there is a certain amount of honesty that if i am doing my job right i am bringing to the stage every night. that comes with time. bang tell me to -- charlie: tell me who aaron burr was. leslie: he was a father, a husband, a lover, a friend, a murderer, a politician. i think he was all of those things. us, when people say who is the person you want to have dinner with, living or dead , besides charlie rose i say aar on burr. just have him at this table to our show isially looking back. especially after all that happened. what have you learned? charlie: he had an interesting life after killing hamilton. it ruined his life. he had been vice president. and then he fled the east coast. was indicted f

charlie: there are other opinions of ehrenberg, -- of aaron burr, some good, some bad.e: at the end of the day, i i have to play with what lynn wrote. charlie: you have to play into what you have experienced. leslie: and what i believe as far as what my job is as a performer. that is another one of those things that this has intersected. it has come at the point that i am ready -- there is a certain amount of vulnerability that the show requires that i was not ready to embrace at any other moment in my life. there is a certain amount of honesty that if i am doing my job right, i bring to the stage every night. that is -- that comes up time. charlie: earlier we talked to the writer, composer, and star of hamilton, and also with the director, thomas cale. here is a look at that conversation. >> you sit in a room for six years making something, and you have the dream version of how the show will be received. we are experiencing that. i started writing this in 2008 while i was still in my show, in the heights. i was on my vacation when i picked up ron's book at borders -- c