To celebrate the release of his album, Sing to Me Instead, Ben Platt stopped by the BuzzFeed office to tell us about some of his First Times.
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But since this is BEN FREAKIN' PLATT we're talking about, obviously the interview was full of so much musical goodness from Dear Evan Hansen and Pitch Perfect to stories that'll make any theater kid say, "HARD SAME!"
Here are some of those finest moments:
1. He knew absolutely nothing about Dear Evan Hansen when he went in for his first reading, and was "deeply terrified" about it.
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"The first memory I have is going in for the first-ever reading of it...I wasn’t allowed to know anything about it going in, because they wanted to see what the cold read would look like...And I just remember walking in and being deeply terrified that I was about to play — who knows — like a drug addict or, like, you have to have an accent that I didn’t know how to [do]. I truly had no idea what I was getting into. And I open it up and his first big speech where he’s going on and on and on about how nervous he is and anxious he is about going to school. I was like, 'I got this. I’m already anxious now.' And then it worked out pretty well after that."
2. When he got to the Pitch Perfect set, Ben was super-excited to learn he'd be working with Skylar Astin — he had known him through the theater world and always wanted to get closer to him.
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"I got there and I saw that Skylar Astin was playing my best friend. And I didn’t know who had been cast as the lead guy, as my roommate, until I got there and saw his headshot up on the production office wall. And there was such a beautiful sigh of relief, because I knew him from the theater world and we’d done a workshop together, and I had wanted so badly to get closer with him and be his buddy. So I was like, 'Oh now this experience is going to be about that I get to be buddies with Skylar.' And now he’s been a dear friend of mine for many years, love him a lot. Hi, Skylar.”
3. Ben bonded with his now BFF, Beanie Feldstein, when they talked about theater for hours at a bat mitzvah together.
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"Our friend was like, 'You should meet each other, you both love theater.'...so we sat down and started talking about theater...we missed the entire bat mitzvah. Our mutual friend is still upset to this day."
4. Ben knew he needed to be in the theater world after seeing his first Broadway show, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and getting completely starstruck by Gavin Creel.
"I went to see Thoroughly Modern Millie. That was my first Broadway show when I was 9 or 10. I was with my mom. We went backstage, and Gavin Creel took us around, gave us a tour and kind of showed us around. And I was a) starstruck by him because he’s beautiful and so talented and I basically copied the way he sang and that’s how I learned how to sing and b) because I was like, I have to be in this world. I gotta be in the theater. He’s the coolest. He knows all these backstage secrets. And I was like, 'my life is kind of set.' And it kind of stuck."
My alarm has been Gavin Creel singing the opening of “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” for a year straight and I don’t remember life without it
5. One time, Ben was in an Uber and a Dear Evan Hansen commercial came on, and the driver didn't believe it was Ben singing "Waving Through a Window."
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"I told him, 'That's actually me' and he was like, 'No, it's not.'"
6. He was upset when he didn't land the role of Tevye in his high school production of Fiddler on the Roof — but ultimately found his role of Motel to be a better fit anyway.
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"Over time I learned the role was more correct for me and it fit my personality better. It was a good lesson in casting."
7. For his sister's bat mitzvah, he helped write a song about her to the tune of "The Book Report" from You're A Good Man Charlie Brown.
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Editor's note: I've never heard something more relatable in my entire life.
8. His reaction to his Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical was so incredibly pure.
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"I was in my apartment with my mom and Beanie and a couple of other dear friends. And I think the first reaction was just kind of relief, because I think at that point there was so much pressure put on those awards. So I just was happy that it turned out the way we’d hoped. And then immediately it was eclipsed by how excited I was that Mike Faist got a nomination, because that was sort of out of left field, and I think Mike was so amazing in the show and such a phenomenal actor. So I just remember jumping up and down on the couch being like, 'It’s Mike Faist!'"
9. After winning his Tony, Ben celebrated by doing karaoke with his best friends.
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"Got really drunk and then woke up the next morning and ordered Panda Express and pizza and a McFlurry."
