OnlyOnAOL: Meet the impossibly sexy new 'Hamilton' star, Javier Muñoz

By: Donna Freydkin

You know you've made it when you have a drink named in your honor. In this case, a pineapple tequila sunrise with blood orange at the Blue Dog on the West Side.

"It's smooth. It's delicious. I tried the first one," says Javier Muñoz, who's now the lead in the Broadway smash "Hamilton."

He landed the starring role after Lin-Manuel Miranda, who originated it, left the show.

"It feels great," says Muñoz. "This is my favorite part -- to play, explore, deepen the relationships. It's an actor's dream."

Tickets are still impossible to get, which is something that Muñoz appreciates. It gives him a sense of stability, and the knowledge that he'll have work in the near future.

"It's the Holy Grail," says Muñoz. "That's the part of things -- I don't have any connection with it. As an actor in that experience, it's really comforting to be part of something you can invest in. As an artist, you're always living in this partly-anxious space. What's next? There's a little bit of fear all the time. To be able to breathe is superbly comforting."

He began performing as an alternate in 2015, filling in for Miranda one night a week. Now, he's center stage. Muñoz, a cancer survivor who's openly HIV-positive, keeps his nighttime routine pretty standard.

"I have to vocalize down, cool down just a little bit. I always have food waiting for me. I eat throughout the show, whenever I can. I hydrate immediately," says Muñoz. "You have to eat energy food, nourishing food. I have to wash off all the glue and wig stuff. And I go home. I shower. I cool down my brain with a book or some TV."