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Ben Platt is reprising his star-making Broadway role for the big screen in the upcoming film adaptation of musical “Dear Evan Hansen”.
Platt originated the role of the titular high school senior on Broadway in 2016, winning a Best Actor Tony for his performance in 2017.
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Following the May 18 release of the film’s trailer, however, Platt — who is now 27 — has been hit by criticism by those who feel he’s grown too old to play his signature role.
“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,” Platt wrote in a tweet that he later deleted.
“PS to the randos being jerks about age, read this great article and/or watch ‘Grease’,” he added, linking to a Vanity Fair article in which he literally addresses that exact topic.
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“I think everybody obviously had in their minds that I wasn’t going to stay teen-adjacent forever,” he told VF. “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.”
As for Platt’s “Grease” reference, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John were 23 and 28, respectively, when they played high-school students in the iconic movie musical, while Stockard Channing (who played Rizzo) was the oldest member of the cast at 33.