9 Facts About the Incredibly Talented Star of The Politician, Ben Platt

Even though Ben is a Broadway sensation, he actually grew up on the West Coast. He attended the prep school Harvard-Westlake School in LA and graduated in 2011. He is still close friends with his high school classmate Beanie Feldstein, who is Jonah Hill's sister.

Ben is very open about his Jewish background. His mom, Julie, credits their religious upbringing to keeping their kids so grounded in Hollywood.

He played Winthrop Paroo in at the Hollywood Bowl alongside Kristin Chenoweth, who went on to star as Glinda in his father's production of Wicked. The two actually met backstage when Marc came to see Ben's performance.

After graduating high school, Ben was accepted into Columbia University in New York but put his education on hold to star in The Book of Mormon. He played Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Chicago tour from December 2012-October 2013 and again in the Broadway show from January 2014-January 2015.

Ben is well-known for playing the nerdy Treblemaker Benji Applebaum in Pitch Perfect. Interestingly enough, he was also a member of Columbia's musical group Nonsequitur A Cappella.

Before landing the title role in Dear Evan Hansen, Ben auditioned for a different Pasek and Paul original called Dogfight, about a group of Marines on the eve of shipping out to Vietnam. Even though they thought Ben was "incredible," he was a little too young for the cast. Following the audition, Benj sent him a Facebook message mentioning another idea they were developing and suggested they stay in touch. Fast forward a few years later, and the trio were working together on Broadway.

In May 2017, Ben won the organisation's distinguished performance award, which recognises a performance on the New York stage in the past year and can only be won once in a performer's career. At 23, he became the youngest winner in the award's history.

Ben took home best performance by an actor in a leading role at the Tony Awards in 2017. Not only was it his first win, but it was also his first nomination.