Ben Platt

Ben Platt may have born September 24, 1993, in Los Angeles, California, the movie capital of the United States, but his big break came in musical theater. Before the age of ten he appeared in a west coast production of The Music Man, and in 2004 he was cast in a mounting of Mame at The Hollywood Bowl. He enrolled at New York City’s Columbia University but left there to star as Elder Arnold Cunningham in The Book of Mormon on Broadway. During this period, he had his first big role on screen in Pitch Perfect. All of this set him up for his career-establishing performance as the title character in the musical Dear Evan Hansen, a part that earned him numerous accolades and made him the youngest person ever to win the Tony for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. Having built a substantial and young fan base, Ben Platt signed a record deal with Atlantic in 2017, and nearly scored a Top 40 hit with Lin-Manuel Miranda in 2018 with “Found/Tonight,” a charity single that mashed up songs from Dear Evan Hanson and Hamilton. His debut album, 2019’s Sing to Me Instead hit number 18. He landed his first major television part that same year in the streaming series The Politician, and 2021 saw the release of both the film version of Dear Evan Hansen, for which he reprised his work as the title character, and his sophomore LP, Reverie. Ben Platt’s next major theater role was as Leo Frank in Parade, which began its run in November 2022. The show was a huge success and earned him another Tony Awards nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. He then co-wrote and produced the film Theater Camp, which was based on a short film he had helped create in 2020. He was also featured on the film’s soundtrack, which was released the same day the movie was available to stream in September 2023. During this productive time, he continued to work in the studio and released his third full-length album, Honeymind, in May 2024.