North Penn grad bested by Harry Potter for Best Actor at the 77th Tony Awards

North Penn High School graduate and “The Outsiders” actor Sky Lakota-Lynch was so close to winning a Tony Award this year for Best Performance by A Featured Actor in a Musical, but was bested by Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe.

Lakota-Lynch, who was nominated for his role of tough Greaser Johnny Cade in the Tulsa-based musical, also achieved another Great White Way acclaim – he is one of the few Native American actors to be nominated for the prestigious award.

The 77^th Tony Awards broadcast on CBS Sunday night gave the former Knight time to shine for television – he joined his castmates onstage to perform “Tulsa ‘67/Grease Got a Hold” from "The Outsiders," which won Best Musical, among other awards, based off of the book by S.E. Hinton.

According to his bio on the American Theatre website, Lakota-Lynch was bit by the acting bug as a junior at North Penn in 2009, ushered toward fame by retired high school theatre director and program founder Cindy Louden.

Lakota-Lynch would be cast in the high school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and perform as the lead of Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Louden took Lakota-Lynch under her wing, telling him he belonged in New York and even took him to Manhattan to see “In the Heights.”

“It seemed like actors sort of dropped out of the sky, like astronauts,” Lakota-Lynch told American Theatre. “It was just so far from me. My dad is full-blooded Native American; my mom is first-generation Ethiopian. There were no actors who looked like me.”

Following a recurring role in Marvel’s show “Iron Fist,” and a stint of living paycheck-to-paycheck, Lakota-Lynch successfully won the role of Jared Kleinman in “Dear Evan Hansen,” thus making his Broadway debut.

“If you stick around the barbershop long enough, you’re bound to get a haircut,” he said about aspiring actors not giving up on their dreams.