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'Beautiful' Star Jessie Mueller Discusses Playing Carole King On Broadway

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- "Beautiful -- The Carole King Musical" is obviously about the legendary singer-songwriter, but it's also about growing up, says the Broadway actress who has earned a Tony Award nomination for playing King.

"It happens to be about Carole King, and it focuses on her life and a very specific journey she took as an artist, I think," Jessie Mueller told CBS New York's Dana Tyler. "She always knew she wanted to be a songwriter from a very, very young age, and she knew she was extremely talented. But from my understanding of it, I don't think she ever knew that she was going to be the person bringing her songs to the world, which is eventually what happened."

Mueller is nominated for a Tony for best performance by an actress in a leading role in musical. It's her second Tony nod, also having been nominated for best featured actress in a musical for "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" in 2012.

She said her second nomination feels different.

"The fact that the show has been nominated and so many of the different elements, it just makes it sweeter," Mueller said. "We get to represent as a team, which is a great thing."

In all, "Beautiful" is up for seven Tonys, including best musical, best actor in a featured role (Jarrod Spector) and best actress in a featured role (Anika Larsen).

The Tony Awards will be held June 8 and broadcast on CBS 2.

Click here to watch the full interview with Mueller at CBSNewYork.com

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