2002–2014: Early stage and The Book of Mormon At 9 years old, Platt played Winthrop Paroo in
The Music Man at the
Hollywood Bowl alongside
Kristin Chenoweth. At 11, he appeared in a brief national tour of
Caroline, or Change, by
Jeanine Tesori and
Tony Kushner. At 17, he played Jean Valjean in Kidz Theater's production of
Les Misérables. His other early roles include the role of Claude Bukowski in Columbia University's production of
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. He has also collaborated on a workshop of
Alice by Heart, by
Duncan Sheik and
Steven Sater, a new take on ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. In 2012, Platt was cast as Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Chicago production of
The Book of Mormon. The show premiered at the
Bank of America Theatre on December 19, 2012, after a week of previews. The production was well received and closed on October 6, 2013. Critics lauded Platt's performance, calling him a "true revelation in this brand new Chicago production... He really leans into this part, throwing himself out there with the abandonment of youth". Platt later reprised his role as Elder Cunningham on
Broadway at the
Eugene O'Neill Theatre from January 7, 2014, to January 6, 2015.
2015–2017: Film work and Dear Evan Hansen In 2012, Platt had a supporting role in the musical comedy
Pitch Perfect, loosely based on the non-fiction book
Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory. Platt played the magic-loving Benji Applebaum, alongside an ensemble cast including
Anna Kendrick,
Skylar Astin,
Rebel Wilson,
Adam DeVine,
Anna Camp, and
Brittany Snow. The film emerged as a major commercial success and received mostly positive reviews from critics. He was subsequently nominated at the
2013 Teen Choice Awards in the
Choice Movie Scene Stealer category for his work. In 2015, Platt reprised his role as Benji Applebaum in the sequel,
Pitch Perfect 2, followed by appearances in the films
Ricki and the Flash and ''
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk''. Platt became attached to
Steven Levenson and
Pasek and Paul's then
Untitled P&P Project in 2014, participating in early read-throughs and workshops. By 2015, the musical, titled
Dear Evan Hansen, had begun production in Washington, D.C. at the
Arena Stage with Platt originating the
title role. The show premiered on July 9, 2015, and it closed on August 23, 2015. The overwhelming positive reception toward the production and
Platt's performance resulted in the show being transferred to
Off-Broadway. In 2016, Platt once again originated the role of Evan Hansen at
Second Stage Theatre. Platt and the cast played a month of previews, beginning on March 26, 2016, before premiering on May 1, 2016. The limited engagement sold out its entire run with Platt playing his last performance on May 26, 2016. In December 2016, Platt originated the title role in
Dear Evan Hansen on
Broadway at the
Music Box Theatre. Critics hailed his work, calling it "historic" and "one of the greatest leading male performances [I've] ever seen in a musical". For his performance, Platt won numerous awards including the
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. At age 23, Platt was the youngest solo recipient of the Tony Award in the category until
Myles Frost won the award in
2022. Platt played his final performance on November 19, 2017.
2017–2020: Debut album and The Politician In 2017, Platt signed a record deal with
Atlantic Records. On January 28, 2018, he performed
Leonard Bernstein's "
Somewhere" live at the
60th Annual Grammy Awards accompanied by
Justin Goldner and Adele Stein and arranged by
Alex Lacamoire. On March 19, 2018, Platt and
Hamilton creator
Lin-Manuel Miranda released "
Found/Tonight", a
mashup of the
Hamilton song "
The Story of Tonight" and the
Dear Evan Hansen song "
You Will Be Found". Platt donated a portion of the proceeds to support the
March for Our Lives anti-gun-violence initiative, and also performed on stage with Miranda at the rally in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018. Platt starred opposite
Damian Lewis,
Nina Dobrev, and
Mena Massoud in the
Rob Ford historical fiction thriller
Run This Town. The casting of Platt caused minor controversy, over allegations that the filmmakers were appropriating the story of female reporter
Robyn Doolittle. On March 1, 2018, Platt was confirmed to star in the indie drama
Broken Diamonds opposite
Lola Kirke,
Yvette Nicole Brown,
Alphonso McAuley, and
Lynda Boyd. The film premiered at the
Santa Barbara International Film Festival on April 1, 2021, and was released in the United States on July 23, 2021. In January 2019, Platt announced that his debut studio album
Sing to Me Instead was scheduled for release on March 29, 2019. It was made available for pre-order, along with the songs "Bad Habit" and "Ease My Mind" a few days later. Following the release of his debut album, Platt embarked on his first North American tour in May 2019. The tour ended on September 29, 2019, at
Radio City Music Hall in New York City, in which the concert there was taped for release on Netflix. Platt released a new single "Rain" on August 23, 2019, followed by a music video on September 10, 2019. On April 21, 2020, Platt revealed on Instagram that the taping of his Radio City concert, in the form of a TV special entitled
Ben Platt Live from Radio City Music Hall, would be released on Netflix on May 20, 2020. On August 29, 2019, it was announced that Platt would be starring in
Richard Linklater's
film adaptation of
Merrily We Roll Along alongside
Beanie Feldstein and
Blake Jenner. The project is set to be shot over the course of twenty years, with
principal photography of the first sequence of the film having already been completed prior to the announcement. On January 10, 2023, it was announced that Jenner would be replaced by
Paul Mescal. Platt starred as Payton Hobart on the
Netflix comedy-drama series
The Politician, which tells the story of a very driven teen convinced that he's destined to become President of the United States. Platt's casting was announced in March 2018, and the series premiered on September 27, 2019. He received a
Golden Globe Award nomination for
Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for his performance in the series' first season. Platt released a new single, "So Will I", on May 8, 2020. On May 20, 2020, Platt released
Sing to Me Instead (Deluxe), which includes "So Will I", "Rain", and six songs recorded live at Radio City Music Hall, including cover versions of
Brandi Carlile's "
The Joke" and
Elton John's "
Take Me to the Pilot". On June 8, 2020, Platt released "
Everything I Did to Get to You", a new single written by David Davis, which he picked as the winner of his episode of
NBC's
songwriting competition show
Songland.
2021–present: Reverie, Parade and other projects In April 2021, Platt teased the chorus of his new single, "
Imagine", on
TikTok. The complete song was released on April 23, 2021, followed by a remix by Dutch electronic producer
Tiësto on May 28, 2021. In July, he announced on Twitter that his second studio album,
Reverie, for which "Imagine" was released as its first single, would be released on August 13, 2021. The second single, "
Happy to Be Sad", was released on July 16, 2021. The
Reverie tour was announced on August 13, 2021, spanning 27 stops in North America beginning February 23, 2022, and concluding at the Hollywood Bowl on April 8, 2022. The tour was later postponed due to the COVID pandemic and rescheduled to begin on September 3, 2022, in
Seattle, Washington before concluding in
Hollywood, Florida on October 7, 2022, for a total of 20 stops. On June 25, 2021, Platt released a cover version of the song "
Yoü and I" by
Lady Gaga, as part of the tenth anniversary of the
Born This Way album. On November 29, 2018, it was announced that
Universal Pictures and Platt's father,
Marc Platt, secured the film rights to
Dear Evan Hansen. On June 18, 2020, Platt confirmed that he was set to reprise his role as Evan Hansen in the
film, which would be directed by
Stephen Chbosky from a screenplay by Levenson. It premiered as the Opening Night Gala Presentation of the
2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2021, followed by a release in theaters on September 24, 2021, in time for Platt's 28th birthday. Upon the release of the film's first trailer on May 18, 2021, the casting of Platt as Evan Hansen and the appearance of the film's version of the character received substantial criticism, with viewers commenting that he, at age 27, was too old to play a high schooler. Platt, however, dismissed the response, comparing his age to those of actors who played high school students in the 1978 film
Grease. The criticism against the casting went even further, with emerging claims that
nepotism was involved in the decision. On August 8, 2021, in an interview with
Zach Sang on his YouTube talk show, Platt said "I think the reaction is largely from people who don't understand the context of the piece — the fact that I created the role and workshopped it for three years ... Were I not to do the movie, it probably wouldn't get made. And so, I think, my defensive response is to want to go onto Twitter and be like, 'F you, guys. You don't even know that this wouldn't exist without me.' Of course, that's not true entirely and not my place to say. All I have to do is let the work speak for itself." On March 2, 2021, it was announced that Platt was in talks to star in the
film adaptation of
Grant Ginder's novel
The People We Hate at the Wedding. His casting was announced on July 8, 2021, along with
Amazon Studios being confirmed to produce the film. The film began production in September 2021 and was released worldwide on streaming platform
Amazon Prime Video on November 18, 2022 . with
First Lady Jill Biden during a
Jewish American Heritage Month reception at the
White House in 2023. On May 17, 2022, it was announced that Platt would play
Leo Frank in the
New York City Center production of
Parade as the gala production of its 2022/2023 season after playing the role in a workshop conducted by
Roundabout Theatre Company in 2018. Performances ran from November 1 to 6, 2022, and critics responded positively to Platt's return to the theatre stage. A limited Broadway run was announced on January 10, 2023, with Platt continuing his role as Leo Frank. The revival began previews on February 22, 2023, and opened on March 16, 2023, at the
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The limited run concluded on August 6, 2023. High demand for tickets on the first day of sale resulted in temporarily crashing the Telecharge ticket site, resulting in error messages and queues of an hour long. On the night of the show's first preview, members of the neo-Nazi group
National Socialist Movement protested against the production outside the theater. The cast album for the production was released by
Interscope Records on March 23, 2023. For his performance as Leo Frank, Platt received his second Tony nomination for
Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. On June 9, 2022, it was announced that Platt would produce and star in the musical comedy film
Theater Camp, inspired by the 2020 short film of the same name he co-wrote with
Noah Galvin,
Molly Gordon, and
Nick Lieberman. The film had its world premiere at the
2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023, and was acquired shortly after by
Searchlight Pictures for a theatrical release beginning July 14, 2023. The
movie soundtrack featuring original songs written by Platt, Galvin, Gordon, and Lieberman was released on the same day by
Interscope Records. The film was released on streaming service
Hulu and
VOD on September 14, 2023. On August 31, 2022, before kicking off the
Reverie Tour, Platt confirmed that he was working on new solo music and was a third of the way through completing his next album. On May 11, 2023, Platt signed with Interscope Records for his future music releases and to operate an imprint for which he will sign and develop talent. On March 12, 2024, Platt announced that his third album
Honeymind would be released on May 31, 2024, with the first single "Andrew" released on March 14, 2024. On March 18, 2024, it was announced that Platt would hold a three-week residency at the
Palace Theatre, the first announced event at the theater since its renovations began in 2018. The residency ran for 18 performances between May 28, 2024, and June 15, 2024, and included special guests
Kacey Musgraves,
Kristin Chenoweth,
Alex Newell,
Kristen Bell,
Meghan Trainor,
Cynthia Erivo,
Laura Dreyfuss,
Micaela Diamond,
Gaten Matarazzo and
Brian d'Arcy James. On April 11, 2024, the second single "Cherry on Top" was released alongside the announcement of
The Honeymind Tour, a 21-city North American tour that began on June 18, 2024, in
Boston and concluded July 27, 2024, in Seattle. On August 10, 2025, Platt released a streaming version of
Addison Rae's song "
Diet Pepsi" after performing it at the 2025
Las Culturista Culture Awards. On October 17, 2025, Platt announced a two-week, 10 performance residency at L.A.'s Ahmanson Theatre scheduled for December 12–21, 2025. In January 2026, Platt guest starred in two episodes of
Ryan Murphy's The Beauty on
FX. Platt made his
West End debut in a concert production of
The Last Five Years at the
London Palladium, alongside
Rachel Zegler, to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary. The limited one-week engagement ran from March 24 to March 29, 2026. It was then announced on February 3, 2026 that the concert production would also be held at the
Hollywood Bowl on April 3, 2026 and at
Radio City Music Hall on April 6 and 7, 2026. An official live recording titled
The Last Five Years (25th Anniversary Live at the London Palladium) with Platt and Zegler was released via
Atlantic Records on April 20, 2026. On February 9, 2026, Platt announced he would star in the
West End production of
Midnight at the Never Get at the
Menier Chocolate Factory. Previews are set to begin on July 11, with opening night on July 20 and closing on Sept. 12. ==Personal life==