2021 is going to be a big year for movie musicals. There are a number of highly anticipated film adaptations of popular shows coming out, including In the Heights, West Side Story, and Dear Evan Hansen. The latter project will see Ben Platt reprise his Tony Award winning role as the title character, and he recently responded to jabs about his age after his Dear Evan Hansen trailer opposite Kaitlyn Dever arrived online.
Dear Evan Hansen opened on Broadway back in 2016, and helped propel Ben Platt to stardom. Platt won a Tony for playing Evan, managing to do the impossible by singing through his tears and sounding killer in the process. But when the trailer for the Dear Evan Hansen movie arrived, folks on social media took jabs at how “old” the 27 year-old actor looks in his signature role. When sharing a story from Vanity Fair about the upcoming movie musical, Platt responded to the backlash in a now-deleted tweet. It read:
Thank you 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 people excited & moved makes it so deeply worth it. PS to the randos being jerks about age, read this great article and/or watch Grease.
Touche. It seems that the trailer for Dear Evan Hansen has resulted in a mixed bag of responses for Ben Platt. While there are plenty who can’t wait to see the emotional musical adapted for film, he clearly saw the memes and jokes about his age. Being a celebrity is certainly a double-edged sword.
Ben Platt’s response to the Dear Evan Hansen jabs was eventually deleted from the actor-singer’s Twitter, but we can surmise how he may be feeling since the trailer broke the internet. Reprising his role is a huge opportunity for Platt, and will allow his Tony winning performance to be immortalized on film. But it seems that the first glimpse into the movie has resulted in some hate coming his way.
In his deleted response, Ben Platt referenced one of the most beloved movie musicals of all time: Grease. That movie notably starred a cast of fully grown adults, who looked nothing like the young teens they were trying to portray. Adult actors have been playing teenagers for forever (yes, that’s a Dear Evan Hansen reference), so Platt’s upcoming movie isn’t unique in that regard.
You can check out the trailer for Dear Evan Hansen below, complete with Ben Platt’s signature vocals and brand spankin’ new wig.
Director Stephen Chbosky assembled a killer cast to fill out the world of Dear Evan Hansen, giving Ben Platt the opportunity to work with some A-list talent. As previously mentioned Last Man Standing’s Kaitlyn Dever will be playing his love interest Zoe, while we’ll also see performances from greats like Julianne Moore and Amy Adams.
Dear Evan Hansen’s trailer also went viral because so many were shocked to learn about its very serious content. The movie follows a teenager crippled by social anxiety, who accidentally gets involved in a grieving family following his classmate Connor’s suicide. One big lie snowballs, and the story is an emotional one with very high, human stakes.
Dear Evan Hansen is currently set to arrive in theaters on September 24th. In the meantime, check out the 2021 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
