Theater

Odom attended the New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia, where he studied theater and performed in musicals. He then went on to study musical theater in college. At the age of 17, he made his Broadway debut as Paul in Rent. In 2001, he appeared in the ensemble of the one-night Broadway concert version of Dreamgirls.

He spent much of his time doing theater in Los Angeles, including in 2010 with Leap of Faith,^[11] which moved to Broadway in 2012, with him starring as Isaiah Sturdevant. When the show closed shortly afterward, he relocated to New York City.

After starring Off-Broadway in Venice and in Witness Uganda (later retitled Invisible Thread) at A.R.T. and in workshops, Odom worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda in the Encores! Off-Center production of Tick, Tick... Boom!, playing Michael. Odom also played Nat King Cole in the 2015 one-night Actors Fund of America benefit concert of Bombshell.^[12]

Odom was nominated for a 2015 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical^[11] for the role of Aaron Burr in the off-Broadway production of Hamilton at The Public Theater. He continued in the same role at the Richard Rodgers Theatre after the show transferred to Broadway later that year. He also won a 2016 Grammy Award for the cast album, and won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Odom's final appearance in the role of Aaron Burr in Hamilton occurred on July 9, 2016.^[13]

Television

He has made guest appearances on several shows including Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural, and The Good Wife. Odom had a recurring role on CSI: Miami, appearing as Joseph Kayle in nine episodes between 2003 and 2006.

He followed with a recurring role on Vanished, appearing in 10 episodes as Maliko Christo. From 2006 to 2007, he held a recurring role as Freddy on Big Day, appearing on nine episodes prior to its cancellation. He also had a supporting role in the television film Poe in 2011.

In the musical television series Smash, Odom had a recurring role as Sam Strickland in 2012, and was promoted to a starring role for the show's final season in 2013.

In late 2013, Odom was offered the leading role of Lucas Newsome on State of Affairs. He accepted the role, but ended up backing out to take the part of Aaron Burr in the workshops of the musical Hamilton.

In 2013 and 2014, he had a recurring role on Person of Interest as Peter Collier, appearing in eight episodes. He also played Reverend Curtis Scott in seven episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit between 2013 and 2015.

Beginning on May 19, 2016, Odom hosted the Broadway.com web series Aaron Burr, Sir: Backstage at Hamilton with Leslie Odom Jr., with a new episode being uploaded every Thursday for eight weeks. Odom was also set to play Jimmy Jam in a 2017 miniseries about New Edition, but ended up leaving the project.

In 2020, Odom starred and executive produced the four-part, television miniseries Love in the Time of Corona opposite his wife Nicolette Robinson.^[14] Love in the Time of Corona follows four interwoven stories about the hopeful search for love and connection during the quarantine as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Production began virtually on June 29, 2020, in Los Angeles using remote technologies.^[15] The limited series premiered on Freeform on August 22, 2020.^[16]

Odom voiced the character of Owen Tillerman in the Apple TV+ animated musical-comedy series Central Park, for which he was nominated for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance at the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards.^[17] He also guest starred on the Disney+ The Proud Family continuation The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder in its second season as Kwame.^[18]

In 2016, Odom was also featured in a commercial for Nationwide Insurance.^[19][20]

On February 4, 2018, Odom sang "America the Beautiful" during the NBC broadcast of Super Bowl LII.^[21]

Film

Odom has appeared in short films, and had a supporting role as Walter Hall in the 2012 war film Red Tails.

He played Dr. Arbuthnot in Kenneth Branagh's 2017 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express.^[22] He also starred as abolitionist William Still in the 2019 film Harriet, about abolitionist Harriet Tubman. In 2019, Odom starred in Only, a post-apocalyptic romance alongside Freida Pinto.

In 2021, Odom starred as Ebo in musical film Music, which was co-written and directed by Australian singer-songwriter Sia.^[23][24] It was released in February 2021.^[25]

In 2020, Odom was cast as soul singer Sam Cooke in the Regina King–directed film adaptation of One Night in Miami, which was released in theaters and Amazon Prime on January 15, 2021. Odom received rave reviews from critics for his portrayal of Cooke and has since earned Academy Award, Golden Globe, and SAG Award nominations including for the Best Supporting Actor and an additional nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. With Sam Ashworth as co-writer, Odom co-wrote and performed "Speak Now", which also received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 78th Golden Globe Awards to be held on February 28, 2021. "Speak Now" is played during the end credits of One Night in Miami.

In May 2021, Odom was cast in the Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the sequel to Rian Johnson's Knives Out starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc.^[26] In July 2021, Odom was cast for the upcoming, The Exorcist: Believer, a sequel to William Friedkin's The Exorcist, with Ellen Burstyn reprising her role as Chris MacNeil.^[27]