One of the greatest accomplishments a working actor can claim is landing a role that will go on to define his or her career and art as a whole, and that’s exactly what happened to Lin-Manuel Miranda when he received the DM of a lifetime to play — wait for it — a cactus. During his visit to Monday night’s Tonight Show, comedian, SNL writer, and Los Espookys star and co-creator Julio Torres teased some new info about his HBO comedy special, My Favorite Shapes, debuting this Friday, including Miranda’s very exciting cameo. “We were lucky that some really great actors are voicing the inner spirits of some of those objects, because we just needed that,” Torres told host Jimmy Fallon. “The role of the cactus went to Lin-Manuel Miranda. I DM’ed him, being like, ‘Can you just be this cactus? This feels like it should be you.’ ’Cause it’s like, can you think of anyone else who would play a little cactus trapped in a little glass container?”
To get a taste of Torres’s special, check out his performance from last night’s show below. Come for the shapes; stay for the incredible impersonation he reveals about three minutes in.
