Ben Platt reprises iconic Broadway role in first trailer for Dear Evan Hansen
The first trailer for Dear Evan Hansen is here.
Based on the 2015 musical of the same name, the upcoming film sees Ben Platt reprise his role as the title character, “an anxious, isolated high schooler aching for understanding and belonging amid the chaos and cruelty of the social-media age.”
At the recommendation of his therapist, Evan starts writing letters to himself to cope with his anxiety. However, the letter is stolen by his fellow classmate Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan), who is also dealing with isolation and loneliness.
Dear Evan Hansen is officially here, and although it might be Broadway blasphemy to say it, I m incredibly unimpressed. I ve struggled with my feelings about this show since its 2017 Broadway debut, and the trailer for the movie confirmed my worst fears: the film will only further enhance the worst parts of the stage show, rather than addressing or dealing with them. Fair warning: we re heading into spoiler territory here, so if you re not familiar with the plot, read on at your own risk!
Dear Evan Hansen has garnered a reputation in large part due to its savvy marketing as the teenage mental health show. It s the story of Evan, a teenager who is explicitly struggling with mental illness, who, through a series of accidents, is assumed to be the secret best friend of a classmate, Connor, who dies by suicide. The mere presence of issues like depression, anxiety, and suicide, however, isn t enough to make this story into good mental health rep; they have to be addressed sensitive
Tuesday, 18th May 2021 at 5:38 pm
2021 is shaping up to be a huge year for movie musicals – with Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake and the film adaptation of Lin Manuel Miranda’s Broadway debut In the Heights already firmly marked in our calendars.
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And another upcoming film to get excited about is Dear Evan Hansen, which is based on the Tony Award-winning stage show of the same name and includes songs from the people behind two of the biggest movie musicals of recent years: La La Land and The Greatest Showman.
The stage musical has already been a huge hit on Broadway and the West End, and quite the cast has been assembled to bring it to the silver screen – with original stage star Ben Platt featuring alongside Hollywood heavyweights such as Julianne Moore and Amy Adams.
The Politician star Ben Platt reprises his role as Evan Hansen in the first trailer for the film adaptation of the hit musical Dear Evan Hansen.
The actor originated the role on Broadway and will also play the part as an isolated teenager struggling at school in the big screen version of the show.
The trailer shows Evan writing a letter to himself as an assignment from his therapist.
When the letter is taken from him by a classmate, Connor, who goes on to take his own life, his family find the letter on his body and mistake it for their son’s last words, believing Evan was his only friend.