Ben Platt Biography

Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor.

Platt is perhaps best known for originating the role of the title character in the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, a performance for which he has won numerous awards, including the 2017 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Platt's credits also include the role of Elder Arnold Cunningham in The Book of Mormon, as well as Benji Applebaum in the musical films Pitch Perfect (2012) and Pitch Perfect 2 (2015).

Early life and education

Platt was born in Los Angeles, California, the fourth of five children of Julie (ne Beren) and Marc Platt. His father is a film, television and theater producer whose credits include the musical Wicked. His family is Jewish.

He attended the Adderley School for Performing Arts in Pacific Palisades, performing in productions including Bye Bye Birdie and Into the Woods. Platt attended Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, graduating in 2011. He was accepted to Columbia University in New York, but dropped out after six weeks to fulfill his contract with The Book of Mormon. Subsequently, he attended the school and became a member of the campus a cappella musical group Nonsequitur.

Career

At 9 years old, Platt played Winthrop Paroo in The Music Man at the Hollywood Bowl alongside Kristin Chenoweth. At 11, he appeared in a brief national tour of Caroline, or Change, by Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner. At 17, he played Jean Valjean in a youth theatre production of Les Misrables. Other roles include the role of Claude Bukowski in Columbia University's production of Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.

Platt played a supporting role in the film Pitch Perfect as magic-obsessed Benji Applebaum. He was subsequently nominated at a Teen Choice Awards in the category Choice Movie: Male Scene Stealer for his work. He has also collaborated on a workshop of Alice by Heart, by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, a new take on Alice in Wonderland.

In 2016, he originated the title role in Dear Evan Hansen. Critics hailed his work, calling it "historic" and "one of the greatest leading male performances ever seen in a musical."

On August 15, 2017, it was announced that Platt's final performance would be on November 19, 2017. On September 7, 2017, it was announced that Platt had signed a record deal with Atlantic Records.

Theatre credits

Year	Production	Role	Venue	Notes
2002	The Music Man	Winthrop Paroo	Hollywood Bowl	Los Angeles
2012-13	The Book of Mormon	Elder Arnold Cunningham	Bank of America Theatre	Chicago / Regional
2014-15			Eugene O'Neill Theatre	Broadway
2015	Dear Evan Hansen	Evan Hansen	Arena Stage	Washington, D.C. / World Premiere
2016	The Secret Garden	Dickon	David Geffen Hall	25th Anniversary Concert
	Dear Evan Hansen	Evan Hansen	Second Stage Theatre	Off-Broadway
2016-17			Music Box Theatre	Broadway

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Pitch Perfect	Benji Applebaum
2015	Pitch Perfect 2
	Ricki and the Flash	Daniel
2016	Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk	Josh
2017	Drunk Parents		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Will & Grace		1 episode; upcoming season

Awards and nominations

Platt was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award. and also won an Obie Award in 2016. He won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical, both for the show's Off-Broadway run.

On May 19, 2017, at the 83rd annual Drama League Awards, it was announced that Platt had won the organization's Distinguished Performance Award. The award, which recognizes a performance on the New York stage in the past year, can only be won once in a performer's career. In winning, at the age of 23, for his work in Dear Evan Hansen, Platt became the youngest winner in the award's history. On June 11, at the 71st Tony Awards, Platt won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2013	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie: Male Scene Stealer	Pitch Perfect
2016	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance	Dear Evan Hansen
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Best Leading Actor in a Musical
	Obie Award	Distinguished Performance by an Actor
2017	Tony Award	Best Actor in a Musical
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance
	Lucille Lortel Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical
	Broadway.com Audience Award	Favorite Leading Actor in a Musical
		Favorite Onstage Pair