Key Points
Ali Louis Bourzgui gave an impassioned speech about immigrants at the 2026 Tony Awards.
The Lost Boys star celebrated theater and the communities that make it what it is.
He won a Tony award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as David in the musical adaptation of the 1987 movie.
Ali Louis Bourzgui is now a Tony Award winning actor.
Bourzgui took home the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of vampire David in The Lost Boys. The musical is an adaptation of the 1987 comedy horror cult classic film, and costars Shoshana Bean (also a Tony winner) and LJ Benet.
Rather than thank his cast and crew in his acceptance speech, however, Bourzgui chose to share a rousing ode to immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, and artists everywhere.
“Sometimes humanity needs a fantastical lens outside of ourselves to look at and explore questions about our own nature,” he began. “Vampires represent those who have shunned their own humanity in order to achieve a nonexistent sense of superiority. The billionaires will never find happiness from their money. The colonizers will never find fulfillment from the land and lives they steal. The fascists will never find meaning from their conformity, not in this lifetime or eternity.”
Bourzgui went on to say theater is more than an escape, but “one of the last places where people can come and worship the power of true collective human presence.”
He continued, “We take a moment to recondition our addiction to desensitization. We ask how can see ourselves in a stranger’s story and then carry that sentiment out into the world that needs us to ask that more than ever.”
Bourzgui, who was raised Muslim in Massachusetts by his Moroccan-American father and Italian-Irish American mother, is deeply passionate about Arab representation and dedicated his Tony win to “the beautiful tapestry of immigrant families who make this country really special.”
“May you one day not have to audition for the empathy that should be freely given by this country that benefits from your beauty,” he added.
LJ Benet and Ali Louis Bourzgui in ‘The Lost Boys’ Broadway musical
Credit: Matthew Murphy
He also shared love for “the queer and trans communities who have and always will exist no matter what people in power try to take away from them.” And Bourzgui shared a touching sentiment for “the people of Palestine who deserve a free life, a full life, without occupation.”
“For theater makers and artists,” he added, “may we continue to tell our stories and show our faces so our humanity becomes undeniable and our families can no longer be written off as merely collateral damage. May they know the beauty of our kisses upon each cheek and the romance of a language rooted in passion for love and life itself.”
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He concluded by remembering his late mentor Ralph Petillo and stating, “If theres one thing we can learn from vampires, it’s that life is short but that’s it’s gift. Find beauty in the ephemeral and gratitude in what is not promised. And always invest in the people that want to see you blossom into your truest self, and hold that space for them in return.”
The Lost Boys was nominated for 12 Tony Awards on Sunday night.
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