Ben Platt didn’t just play Evan Hansen. He became him, again. When Dear Evan Hansen made the jump from Broadway to the big screen, Platt returned to the title role with a mission: make it real, make it raw, and make it 17. And that meant some serious transformation behind the scenes.
The film adaptation of the Tony-winning musical hit theaters in 2021 with a $15 million budget and sky-high expectations. Platt, who originated the role off-Broadway in 2015 and helped shape Evan from scratch, was now 27 years old. But the emotionally fragile teen at the heart of the story? Still very much supposed to be in high school.
So Platt rolled up his sleeves, and grabbed a razor.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Platt admitted, “I have a lot of facial hair,” and said he shaved three times a day just to keep a baby-faced look on camera. And that wasn’t all. “I always saw Evan as a ganglier person who didn’t eat much food,” he said. So he dropped 18 pounds before filming began, tightening his frame to match Evan’s anxious energy. He even shaved his forearms and grew his hair out, just to fully lean into the illusion of teenage awkwardness.
Platt wasn’t just ticking off boxes. He was chasing emotional truth.
This wasn’t just another role for him. He’d workshopped Dear Evan Hansen, built the character from scratch, and watched it become a cultural phenomenon. The show crushed it on Broadway, opened to record-breaking sales, and took home six Tony Awards in 2017, including Best Musical and Best Actor for Platt himself. His performance, both vocally and emotionally, had become the soul of the show.
But theater is one thing. Film is another. So when the camera came calling, Platt knew he couldn’t phone it in. He brought back more than just the voice and the vulnerability. He brought the shoes.
That pair of beat-up grey New Balance sneakers that Evan wore on stage? Platt wore the exact same ones during filming. Not a replica. The same dusty pair from Broadway.
That dedication showed. Every nervy twitch, every hesitant breath, every lonely note in Waving Through a Window – Platt made it count. He wasn’t just reprising a role. He was channeling a version of himself he had already said goodbye to years earlier.
And maybe that’s what made the whole thing hit harder. Because Platt didn’t just want to act like Evan Hansen again. He wanted to feel like him.
So if three shaves a day, forearm razors, and 18 pounds lost were the price of that authenticity, he paid it in full.
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