Ben Platt Reacts to Criticism for Playing a High School Student in 'Dear Evan Hansen' Movie
Ben Platt is reacting to criticism.
The 27-year-old Tony Award-winning star responded to some criticism of his casting in the high school-based movie musical adaptation of Broadway‘s Dear Evan Hansen, out in September.
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Following the trailer that debuted on Tuesday (May 18), online reaction was mixed regarding Ben playing a high school student.
Find out what he said…
“Thank u from the bottom of my [heart] for the outpouring of trailer love yesterday. The film required me to revisit areas of personal pain, so seeing ppl excited & moved makes it so deeply worth it,” he wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
“PS to the randos beings jerks about age, read this great article and/or watch grease,” he added, linking to a Vanity Fair article.
“I think everybody obviously had in their minds that I wasn’t going to stay teen-adjacent forever. The need to get it done was a little urgent. Then of course the pandemic happened, and I kind of assumed that was that—it would be a no-go, and by the time the pandemic was over, I’d have outgrown it,” he said in the article.
“Much to my pleasant surprise, Universal seemed to be really hell-bent on making it, and specifically making it with me.”
“I’d lost about 15 pounds and did a very specific diet, grew my hair out, and was shaving to make sure that I didn’t look like I had five o’clock shadow all the time. I was just stripping myself into being a teenager for the last time. For what is hopefully the last time,” he said.