‘Last Five Years’ Star Jeremy Jordan on Co-Starring With Anna Kendrick: ‘We Infect Each Other’s Scenes’ (Video)

Jeremy Jordan didn’t realize he had just done his very first leading-man role on film until well after cameras stopped rolling on “The Last Five Years.”

After doing many leading roles on Broadway, playing Jamie Wallerstein opposite Anna Kendrick in Richard LaGravenese‘s adaptation of the hit off-Broadway musical just sort of blended in, the actor shared during a new episode of TheWrap’s “Drinking With the Stars.”

But there are some differences between the two.

“It didn’t feel like that on film,” he said. “It just feels like you’re just kind of doing your thing. You’re just doing your scenes and living as this character. On stage and on Broadway, you feel a sense of leadership. Like you’re leading the cast and you’re thrust into a role. On a film the director is always the leader, and it didn’t feel like I was a leader, it just felt like I was a part of it.”

“The Last Five Years” chronicles the beginning and ending of a young couple, Jamie and Cathy, though her side of the story is told from the end and goes backwards, while his moves forward from their first meeting. It’s a sung-through musical and features such songs as “I Can Do Better Than That,” “The Next Ten Minutes” and “Climbing Uphill.”

Jordan not only plays the male lead in the film, he shares the screen for the entire two hours with just Kendrick as his primary scene partner. It’s a change from the musical on stage, which typically features only one character on stage at a time, singing in soliloquy.

“It’s the exact same structure, except we sort of infect each other’s scenes,” Jordan said. “In the musical it’s very much about the person talking, in the movie it’s equally if not more about the person listening.”

“The Last Five Years” has a cult following, but Jordan is no stranger to that thanks to his role on NBC’s buzzy, but short-lived series “Smash.”

Unfortunately, he’s not involved in the much-hyped concert of musical-within-a-musical “Bombshell” that will be put on this summer.

“[Jordan’s character on the show] Jimmy had nothing to do with that musical,” he shared. His Season 2 character worked on “Bombshell’s” rival musical, “Hit List,” culminating in a big showdown at the Tony Awards. “If I get an invite, it’ll be a different story.”

“The Last Five Years” is in theaters in New York and Los Angeles and on demand on Friday, Feb. 13.