Lin Manuel-Miranda needed a nap on Monday, April 30. “My son had a bad dream and I slept in a twin bed last night,” the Hamilton creator told Us Weekly at the Annual Monte Cristo Awards in New York City. While Miranda, 38, was comforting Sebastian, 3, his wife, Vanessa Nadal, was up with their 3-month-old, Francisco. “I’m a little sleepy today,” he admitted. ‘But that’s the gig!”
The Broadway composer, who was being honored at the event, praised his partner in parenting Nadal. “It’s divide and conquer. ‘You take that one, I’ll take this one,’” he told Us. “I feel like we’re tag-teaming.”
Miranda and the attorney met in high school in New York and reconnected via Facebook in 2005. They tied the knot in September 2010. Since then, the In the Heights creator’s career has exploded. To-date, Miranda has a Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy and three Tony Awards. He wrote songs for Disney’s 2016 animated movie Moana and most recently starred in Mary Poppins Returns alongside Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep. With the birth of Francisco, Miranda is taking more time to breathe.
“The great thing about kids is that it forces you to slow down, forces you to focus on what’s important,” he told Us. “You can’t be writing while you’re balancing one kid and changing a Pamper while trying to feed the other.”
Of fatherhood, Miranda explained, “It forces you to be present, and that’s the biggest gift you can get as an artist.”