Heated Rivalry Is Coming Back Soon—But It's Not What You Think

Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. said goodbye to Marvel and hello to Broadway, making his debut with a nearly three-month 2024 stint in Ayad Akhtar's McNeal. The play follows Jacob McNeal, a writer who learns he is dying and is presented with a Nobel Prize on the same day, as he decides to use AI to help him write his next great novel despite his staunch opposition to the tool.

As for why the Iron-Man star decided to hit the stage in the Bartlett Sher-directed production?

"New play, timely subject matter, great integers, great humans involved, Bart, the cast," he told Vogue in October 2024. "Ayad always puts conflicting ideas within a single thought line. He counteracts and degrades everything he just said with the new statement."

Before his debut, Robert asked fellow Marvel alum Bradley Cooper—who was nominated for a Tony Award for his 2015 run in The Elephant Man—for advice.

"He said, 'Dude, just remember, you're going to feel your feet in your shoes. You're going to walk out onto that stage and the audience is going to be like a pillow,'" Robert recalled to The Independent at the time. "I was, like, well, that's pretty positive. So I'm going to take the Bradley Cooper approach and let it be a beautiful thing."

Whitney Leavitt

Whitney Leavitt cha-cha'd out of the Dancing With the Stars ballroom after her November 2025 elimination and straight onto the Broadway stage for a limited run of Chicago. Though The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star was only expected to bring the ol' razzle dazzle as Roxie Hart until March 2026, her initial six-week run was extended into April due to high demand.

Whitney may be known for her vivacious personality on the Hulu reality show she appears in with Taylor Frankie Paul, Mayci Neeley and other MomTok influencers, but the onetime competitive dancer, who studied dance at Utah's Brigham Young University, always had dreams of being onstage.

"The performance bug has always been a part of me," she told Playbill in March 2026, adding that when she was younger, she would "create these dances, or put on these music videos for [my] family … and get the cousins together to create something to show all the adults."

And yet she still had nerves about taking her dance skills from TikTok to the Great White Way. 

"I'm feeling everything," she reflected in a February 2026 Instagram video. "I've never sung solo to a live audience like this before, so that's definitely what gives me the most anxiety. I've prepared so much for this moment that I just hope that when I go on tomorrow, everything just feels second nature. I just want to trust myself."

Pamela Anderson

Pamela Anderson proved that she was ready for Broadway and all that jazz when she took her turn as Chicago's Roxie Hart—a story she deeply related to—for a two-month run that wrapped in June 2022.

"I've had a wild life to draw from, many ups and downs," she told E! News that April. "I never knew what I was rehearsing for, but looking back, I see that I was preparing to do something more than even I could imagine."

"There is a vulnerability and strength in Roxie—I relate to that," she concluded. "Overcoming hard times with humor and grace, quick on her feet, being misunderstood by the press—and eventually turning even the most upside-down things into something good with heart."

While the Baywatch alum's heart was definitely in it, she knew there would be a lot of work before she could slip into Roxie's iconic fringe dress.

"I have never worked this hard," she admitted. "It suits me. I love the challenge—long rehearsals. I love to go home tired and feel a sense of accomplishment. I am soaking it all up like a sponge. I have always imagined myself as a dancer or singer (in my head), but I never thought it would be a reality."

And the former Playboy model admitted she was surprised to be cast in the role.

"It's crazy and they are crazy for having me," she admitted, "but I am so grateful. It's a leap of faith. Singing is courage, but it is also technical—a muscle—and I'm learning so much. I'm getting stronger every day."

Tom Felton

Tom Felton brought magic to the stage for a 19-week run of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child that saw him reprise his role as a now-adult version of Draco Malfoy. 

Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the play follows the unexpected friendship between Draco's son Scorpius Malfoy and Harry and Ginny's son Albus Severus Potter, both sorted into Slytherin House. 

"It's very much a pinch-me situation," Tom said on Today in June 2025, five months ahead of his debut. "I keep thinking I'm dreaming. I let go of that character 16 years ago, and now I get to step back into his shoes, as a father this time, in a new story."

Though he had eight Harry Potter films under his belt as the famously antagonistic character, the actor noted it wasn't exactly accio performance onstage. 

"The play is such an independent story from the Potter films that I grew up with," he explained. "Now we're no longer children. We actually are the parents. So as much as it is reprising an old role for me, it's very much treading into new, unfamiliar territory."

Charli D'Amelio

After making a name for herself on TikTok, Charli D'Amelio took a spin through the Dancing With the Stars ballroom in 2022 before bringing those skills to Broadway with her October 2024 debut in & Juliet.

While the influencer was supposed to end her run as Charmian in January 2025, it was extended twice.

"I'm beyond excited to join the Broadway community—it's a dream I've had since I was a little girl," she said in a September 2024 statement ahead of her nearly yearlong run. "To be able to make my Broadway debut—especially in the cast of & Juliet, is truly a dream come true, and I can't wait to share this experience with everyone."

While it was her first time on a Broadway stage, starring in the dance-heavy role as one of William Shakespeare's Company of Players, it felt natural given her extensive experience.

"Dance was always very special to me," she told ABC7 that November. "I used dance as a way to communicate in a way I can't always do with my words."

Though, it was still hard to grapple with such a prestigious honor.

"I spent so much of my time growing up, never thinking that I would get to be in a room like this, and always doubting myself," Charli—who also won her season of DWTS—said. "I'm just so thankful for everyone that helped get me here, and for my mom. She was driving me to dance classes. She was driving me to dance competitions. Just kept reminding me that I could get somewhere with dance even when I doubted myself."

Ariana Madix

Like Whitney and Pamela, Ariana Madix was ready to raise a glass to Roxie Hart in Chicago. And the Vanderpump Rules star had it coming after surviving Scandoval—recruited to take the stage just nine months after her explosive breakup with former costar Tom Sandoval.

Understandably, she described that chapter in her life to E! News as "the rollercoaster."

Ariana—who starred in the musical from January to April 2024 before returning for a second stint from August to September 2024—added, "There's no way to even succinctly put all of that together."

But for the reality star, the opportunity gave her a chance to turn her tragedy into a roaring success.

"If you think about the emotional Olympics, she's gold in everything," she added of Roxie, "because she'll butter you up, but the second that you might not be giving her what she needs, she's coming for you."

Julianne Hough

While Julianne Hough always saw herself on Broadway, she was waiting for the right curtain call. So, when she read POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, she knew the time was right.

Alongside Rachel Dratch, Vanessa Williams, Julie White, Lilli Cooper, and Lea DeLaria, the Dancing With the Stars co-host starred as Dusty, a member of the U.S. president's PR team, from April to August 2022. With the fictional politician embroiled in controversy, the seven women are charged with keeping him out of trouble.

"There's been conversations about coming to Broadway, but I didn't just want to do this as a bucket list item and check it off my list," she told E! News in May 2022. "I really wanted to do it in a way that was immersing myself in the community, learning and being part of versus just popping in and popping out."

Nicole Scherzinger

When Nicole Scherzinger grew up, she wanted to be famous, she wanted to be a star. And while she certainly saw the world, drove nice cars and had groupies as the lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls, her dream really came true when she starred as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard from October 2024 until July 2025.

"I always felt like I wasn't living in my full potential, my full purpose, and I was never happy with myself, never satisfied," Nicole—who won Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical at the 2025 Tony Awards—told E! News that June. "It's because I knew I had so much more to give, and this role in this opportunity allowed me to give all of me, and it's changed my life, and I'm so grateful for it."