In a new interview, actor Ben Platt reveals that the backlash to the Dear Evan Hansen film adaptation was so intense it drove him off of Twitter.
Platt spoke out about the experience in a profile in The New York Times, which he called a "horrific" introduction to the dark side of the internet.
Platt, 29, won a Tony for his portrayal of the titular character, a high school student, on Broadway in 2017, but his casting in the film version sparked immediate backlash before the film even began production because of his age.
The film was very poorly received for many reasons, but on the internet Platt shouldered nearly all of the blame, and the Twitter uproar was intense.
\u201cInterview with #BenPlatt in @nytimestheater: On exiting Twitter: \u201cI find that Twitter is almost exclusively for tearing people down. I wasn\u2019t getting anything positive, and it\u2019s been really nice to be away.\u201d\n\nhttps://t.co/IkBTln3R2A\u201d— Mark Shenton \ud83d\udc99 (@Mark Shenton \ud83d\udc99) 1667311011
The criticism of Platt's age was so intense that it even became the subject of memes on Twitter that mocked the star. Asked about the time surrounding the film's production and release, Platt told the Times:
"It was definitely a disappointing experience, and difficult, and it definitely opened my eyes to the internet and how horrific it can be."
"You’d think, after doing 'Dear Evan Hansen' onstage for four years, I would have already known that."
"I try my best to focus on people who tell me it was moving to them and they really felt seen by it. It is very easy for the good to get drowned out by the bad."
To make that shift, Platt had to leave Twitter, a move he said has made all the difference. As he put it:
"I find that Twitter is almost exclusively for tearing people down. I wasn’t getting anything positive, and it’s been really nice to be away."
On Twitter, Hansen's experience definitely resonated, even with people without a celebrity's platform.
\u201c@carlquintanilla @MichaelPaulson @nytimesarts I am a nobody in terms of public life/figure but this is the first place I have gotten death threats for simply having an opinion.\u201d— Carl Quintanilla (@Carl Quintanilla) 1667243723
\u201c@WaltHickey @sarahfrier i dont know this person and have no idea the context, but i kinda left because of this. i think twitter makes me more cynical, negative person. and i have also had a lot of good experiences on here!\u201d— Walter Hickey (@Walter Hickey) 1667244017
\u201c@IndieWire DEH is a horrible movie and Ben Platt May well be a poster child for nepotism but he\u2019s right that the internet is horrible and leaving Twitter probably does have a net positive effect on your quality of life\u201d— IndieWire (@IndieWire) 1667315700
But while Dear Evan Hansen may have inspired vitriol toward the actor, many on Twitter are very excited about his current gig as the lead in the Broadway revival of the classic musical Parade.
\u201c@NYCityCenter @MrJasonRBrown Omg, this is absolutely mindblowingly good\u201d— New York City Center (@New York City Center) 1667347260
\u201cLooking forward to seeing Ben Platt and the rest of the cast at @NYCityCenter tonight in #Parade revival. As Platt told the NYT, "unfortunate timeliness" given rising antisemitism \nhttps://t.co/BlEy4zKB5d\u201d— Arnold, Marissa (@Arnold, Marissa) 1667418165
\u201cParade was absolutely incredible. Go see it. @GatenM123 #benplatt\u201d— daniel craig (@daniel craig) 1667446790
\u201cnow THERE\u2019S the ben platt i\u2019ve missed!\u201d— Bex (@Bex) 1667417736
\u201cCan confirm. In case you all needed a reminder that Ben Platt goes full throttle when doing theater\u201d— Diep Tran (@Diep Tran) 1667358892
\u201cBen Platt is one of my favorite modern male Broadway voices.\n\nI hope they record this for release.\u201d— Alex Arellano (@Alex Arellano) 1667413911
\u201cYou had to be there. Sorry to everyone sitting around me for dealing with my dry heaving and sobbing. Ben Platt you will ALWAYS be famous\u201d— D\ud83c\udf84VID (@D\ud83c\udf84VID) 1667405276
Despite the negative Twitter experience, Platt also told the Times that the Hansen experience overall remains close to his heart, even as he has moved into a newer, more adult chapter of his career.
"It will always be a piece of me."
"I feel a simultaneous constant pride and desire to keep it in my heart at all times, but also a real readiness and excitement at having moved forward and embracing my adulthood and playing characters that live in different worlds than that."
Platt will next appear in the Amazon movie The People We Hate at the Wedding, which comes out later this month.
