Lin-Manuel Miranda has paid tribute to medical workers in his hometown amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 40-year-old star recorded a video message for workers at NewYork-Presbyterian – which is one of the state’s biggest hospital systems – and his message was played during their daily morning briefing.
He said in the clip: "I just want to thank the more than 50,000 NewYork-Presbyterian workers who are working so hard every day to keep us safe.
"I know you all have families, I know you are putting yourselves on the line. You never asked for this. You are heroes and you’re doing incredible work.
"I’m grateful for your service, New York City is thankful for your service. Thank you so much. Keep continuing to let us know how we can help."
Also this week, Lin-Manuel surprised a lucky fan as he reunited with the ‘Hamilton’ cast to give nine-year-old Aubrey a special virtual performance of ‘Alexander Hamilton’ form the hit musical.
The epic reunion took place on John Kransinski’s YouTube series ‘Some Good News’, with the filmmaker and his wife Emily Blunt – who appeared with Lin-Manuel in ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ – told the youngster about the special moment.
Meanwhile, ‘In The Heights’ director Jon M. Chu has vowed to release the movie at cinemas despite its June release being halted indefinitely due to the ongoing health crisis.
The filmmaker – who is adapting Lin-Manuel’s musical for the big screen – said: "I hate the word ‘indefinitely’ because it’s sort of open-ended. We’re gonna have a date. It’s just about if we choose a date now, we’d probably have to shift it later. So, we’re not going to commit to one now."
The film, which stars Anthony Ramos and Leslie Grace, centres on the Hispanic area of Washington Heights in Manhattan and Jon feels that the community deserves to be represented on the big screen.
The ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ director explained: "What we are committed to is, it’s going to be in a theatre. It demands to be in a theatre.
"This community lived a life that deserved to be on the big screen and celebrated in the biggest magical way, (and) we’re going to deliver that."