Lin-Manuel Miranda is currently in Puerto Rico playing the lead role in Hamilton after a two year hiatus from the character. And while he is receiving recognition and kind words from plenty of people, there’s one person whose message brought the performer to tears.

The 38-year-old recently sat down and talked with CBS This Morning, and was taken aback when he was shown a video message from none other than his eight grade English teacher, Dr. Rembert Herbert.

“Lin, this is your old English teacher, Dr. Herbert, here,” Rembert said in the message to his former student. “I’m sure you didn’t imagine when you were in the eighth grade and set some of The Chosen to music that it would lead you where you are today but congratulations. I’ve heard a lot about what you’re doing in Puerto Rico, and I wish you well in those endeavors and continued great success down there.”

Talk about a punch to the gut. “Dr. Herbert’s the reason I’m sitting here talking to you,” a clearly emotional Lin-Manuel responded. “I wrote a musical instead of doing my homework for his class in eighth grade. He said, ‘You could be good at this, and you should stop hibernating in my class, and you should be doing this.’ Because we had a student-written theater club at my high school and Rembert’s the one who nudged me in that direction and he sort of changed my life forever with that.”

The Tony award winner wasn’t done crying, as another video message from chef Jose Andres brought the waterworks too. “Lin-Manuel, congratulations. Only you will bring Hamilton to beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico,” Jose said. “So thank you for bringing so much hope to the beautiful American people of Puerto Rico.”

Lin-Manuel, who was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his role in Mary Poppins Returns, couldn’t make it to the Golden Globes on Jan. 6, because of his Puerto Rico tour which wraps up on Jan. 28. He did send a fans a video message, saying, “Hello, Ryan [Seacrest]! Hello, world! Hello, Golden Globes! I am so sorry I can’t be there, I am so thrilled to be nominated and honored to be nominated but I’m in Puerto Rico and I am playing Hamilton in a production that we’re opening here to raise as much money as we can for artists and artistic organizations still struggling to recover in the wake of Hurricane Maria.”