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Helluva Boss star Alex Brightman understands Fizzarolli's struggle with always being 'on' even in difficult times
Alex Brightman said it can be difficult to be an entertainer when sometimes you need to be entertained yourself, such as after a tragedy he experienced at a Broadway show
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As the saying goes, the show must go on - no matter what is happening to the cast and crew behind the scenes, as Helluva Boss star Alex Brightman demonstrated when he shared what he (accurately) described as an "extremely dark" story about playing Beetlejuice on Broadway.
Namely, that a college-aged production assistant on the Broadway show committed suicide during previews for the show. "He was with us the entire rehearsal process. He was the coolest kid in the world," the man behind Fizzarolli and Robo Fizz remembered during an appearance at Fan Expo Chicago 2025.
Brightman learned what happened from the stage manager before he arrived at the theater that night. “I was devastated immediately," he said. “I didn't know what we were going to do that night." Brightman said that the cast was “choking up” upon the news, and that he didn't feel like entertaining anybody that night. "I should be out there," he said. "I should be the one being entertained."
A fellow cast member said Broadway came together after Sept. 11 and that the terrorist attack on New York City was a unifying force, and Brightman recalled replying, "you're absolutely right, but here's the thing: everybody knew about 9/11. Only I knew about Nicholas. So, it's different. I still had to get on stage."
Fizzarolli said having to do eight performances a week no matter what helped him understand his Helluva Boss character Fizzarolli, a famous but troubled performer in hell who believes he's nothing without maintaining his fame and adoration.
Helluva Boss season 1 is streaming on Prime Video.
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