Michael Urie on Why Starring in Broadway’s Spamalot Is a ‘Little Perfect Kismet Moment’ (Exclusive)

Michael Urie is having a full-circle moment with his latest theater role.

Urie, 43, is currently starring in a Broadway revival Spamalotmusical comedy adaptation of the 1975 comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The actor remembers seeing the musical during its first run on Broadway in the 2000s, when Clay Aiken at one point took over the role Urie now plays as King Arthur’s cowardly knight Sir Robin.

“When I saw the show, I thought it was a role I could play and I really, really want to play it,” Urie, known for his television role in Ugly Betty as Marc St. James tells PEOPLE.

Years later, his opportunity to participate in a silly retelling of the legend of King Arthur came with Spamalot revival, which began a limited run at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater in Washington, DC, in May.

Urie says he knew he was interested when he heard about the revival. And it was like that Spamalotmusic supervisor and director John Bell, who the actor says “had the same idea” and helped him cast.

“So it was a little perfect kismet moment where I wanted to do it,” Urie says. “They were interested in me and then John kind of vouched for me.”

Ariana Grande cheers on boyfriend Ethan Slater at the Broadway premiere Spamalot Revival

Michael Urie in Broadway’s Spamalot.

Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Urie stars alongside a strong cast of Knights of Camelot that includes James Monroe Igleheart, Christopher Fitzgerald, Ethan Slater, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Jimmy Smagul and ex Saturday night live star Taran Killam, who plays Sir Lancelot and a host of iconic characters from the original Monty Python film until January 7.

“They’re so in the room even though they’re not there,” Urie says of Monty Python, the influential British comedy troupe that made the 1975 film. Eric Idle, who played Sir Robin in the original film, wrote Spamalotbook and song lyrics; he also collaborated on the score for the musical with composer John Du Prez.

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Michael Urie (center) in Broadway’s ‘Spamalot’.

Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Idle, now 80, recently attended a revival performance, writing further x Sunday that he is “proud of this incredible Spamalot actors and production and filled with so much emotion that tears flowed down my cheeks.”

Urie says, “We really feel for all these guys because the material — even though it’s old, the movie is old and now it’s a revival of a musical — the material is still so fresh. [There is] just something so fresh about this write-up. Surprise you. He surprises the audience in such a wonderful way that the spirit of Python is always with us.”

Michael Urie (far left) and the cast of Broadway’s Spamalot.

Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

“Really big shoes to fill,” adds Urie, stepping into Idle’s iconic role. (David Hyde Pierce played the role in the original Broadway production.) “He played Sir Robin in the movie and here he is. And it was an honor, an honor to meet him.”

Spamalot it requires most of the cast to play multiple roles. Urie’s favorite scene in the series is the one where he plays a castle guard assigned by his father to keep a prince (Slater) locked in a high tower — only to keep screwing up his task.

“It’s so delicate, so perfectly written that I’m a little nervous before every night because I want it to be perfect,” he tells PEOPLE. “I want to make sure the pace is right, the tempo and every word is perfect because I think it’s such an amazing piece of work.”

Spamalot now he plays in the theater of St. James.

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Source: HIS Education