Ben Platt speaks out about Dear Evan Hansen age abuse: ‘The internet can be horrific’ - The Guardian

Ben Platt, who won a Tony grant for his relation arsenic depressed teen Evan Hansen connected Broadway but was mocked for besides taking connected the portion successful past year’s large surface transfer, has said helium recovered the movie’s reception “disappointing”.

In a caller interrogation with the New York Times, Platt said: “It was decidedly a disappointing experience, and difficult, and it decidedly opened my eyes to the net and however horrific it tin be.”

Platt, who broke done with his relation successful 2012’s Pitch Perfect, was 27 erstwhile helium changeable the film, successful which his quality is astatine slightest a decennary younger. Such disparity is not antithetic – Michael J Fox was 31 erstwhile helium made Back to the Future Part III, and Stockard Channing was 33 successful Grease – but maltreatment began astir his quality from the film’s archetypal trailer.

Viewers felt Platt looked retired of spot successful the precocious schoolhouse corridors, and that efforts to de-age him were unsuccessful and distracting. Writing connected Twitter successful effect to specified absorption past May, Platt called detractors “randos being jerks astir age”. He has since discontinue the societal media platform.

Platt is 1 of the stars of Richard Linklater’s adaptation of the Sondheim philharmonic Merrily We Roll Along, which is being filmed successful snatches implicit a 20-year period, to accurately correspond the ageing process.