It is safe to say that everybody at this point is familiar with Ben Platt. The now Tony Award-winning, Jewish actor from California, who you may recognize from both Pitch Perfect movies, has captured our hearts with absolutely everything he has ever done.
On Sunday, June 11th, Platt won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his outstanding performance as the title character in Dear Evan Hansen. If you have not yet seen the show, it is about Evan, a seventeen-year-old high school student with severe anxiety. When a student in his school, Connor Murphey, commits suicide, Evan gets roped into a lie that he and Connor were good friends. Through this lie, he helps Connor’s family heal and finds himself healing in his own way. Ben Platt’s performance is something unlike I have ever seen before. From his slouched posture to the way he fidgets with the top of his pants and talks a bit too fast at times, we feel and experience the way Evan’s anxiety affects him. Platt sings every song with the most emotion he can portray and even through the tears that Evan is crying, the music that comes out is incredibly beautiful. Not only is he a joy to watch onscreen, but if you follow him on any social media platforms or watch any of his interviews, you will realize he is one of the most adorable and hilariously relatable people.
1. When Zac Efron went to see Dear Evan Hansen
Platt channeled every teenage, and even twenty-something-year-old girl in the entire world when he captioned his Instagram post, “Troy Bolton came to see @DearEvanHansen and middle school Ben had a freak out (so did 23-year-old Ben). And did he wear a @DearEvanHansen scar? Bet on it. Bet on it.” He even managed to sneak in a High School Musical quote, we totally feel you, Ben.
2. When he told Stephan Colbert about how he sneezed on audience members to shut them up
We all know the correct way to behave when seeing a Broadway show. You just simply don't talk and pay attention. If we think it's annoying for fellow audience members to hear others speak throughout, we can only imagine how it is for the actual performers. Platt tells Colbert about how during one performance of DEH, there were two foreign couples on a double date who had clearly never been to a Broadway show sitting in the front row center, having full on conversations and speaking about the show while it was happening. When a simple glare didn't seem to do any good, at a scene where he stands at the lip of the stage, instead of holding in a sneeze he decided to let it all out not worrying if it caught those chatting audience members. You gotta do what you gotta do, and Ben, we respect and love you all the more for it.
3. The fact that he and Lin Manuel Miranda are friends
I am just going to leave this right here.
4. And when he won his first Tony Award and no-one could keep it together
I really do not think anyone was surprised by this win. In my eyes there was no one more deserving than him. We could truly tell how grateful he is for everything in his life. His emotional acceptance speech had us all in tears when he thanked his family, cast and everyone who was involved in making his dream come true.
Though all of that is so great, the thing that made this moment special for me was that he used it to encourage others. As he was about to be kicked off of the stage, he stated "don't bother trying to be anyone but yourself because the things that make you strange are the things that make you powerful" I know I needed those wise words and I'm positive others felt the same.
Thank you Ben Platt, you are so loved.
