Ben Platt opened up about the “disappointing” backlash he faced after starring in the movie version of “Dear Evan Hansen,” a role he previously played on Broadway.
Platt won a Tony for his stage performance as the anxious teenager, but was bombarded with online vitriol for the film version.
“It was definitely a disappointing experience, and difficult, and it definitely opened my eyes to the internet and how horrific it can be,” Platt said in an interview with The New York Times published on Monday. “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,” the actor added. “It is very easy for the good to get drowned out by the bad.”
Platt said he’s no longer active on Twitter, which he said “is almost exclusively for tearing people down.”
“I wasn’t getting anything positive, and it’s been really nice to be away,” he said.
Platt, now 29, previously used Twitter to respond to social media criticism that he was too old for his role as Evan Hansen in the 2021 movie.
“Thank u from the bottom of my [heart] for the outpouring of trailer love yesterday,” he wrote in a since-deleted tweet after critics panned the film’s trailer.
“The film required me to revisit areas of personal pain, so seeing ppl excited & moved makes it so deeply worth it,” he wrote. “PS to the randos being jerks about age, read this great article and/or watch grease.”
The criticism was far more sweeping than just the actor’s age. Many pointed out that Platt’s father produced the film and undoubtedly influenced the selection of Platt, despite his age. Others took issue with the actor’s performance, which some said was better suited to the stage than a feature film.
Some critics also were put off by the actual story, in which Evan’s classmate dies by suicide and Evan then allows the boy’s family to believe that the two were best friends ― in part because Evan has a crush on the boy’s sister.
Despite the criticism, Platt told the Times he is “really grateful” for his time playing the teen.
“It was my ultimate dream come true, to originate something, and it inspired me to start looking inward and writing my own music,” he said. “It will always be a piece of me.”