Celebrity
Ben Platt Called Beyoncé An Alien To Her Face & 6 More Tidbits About Him
The Dear Evan Hansen star went “absolutely crazy.”
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1. Ben Met Beyoncé
In a new interview, Ben Platt explained that while he officially met Beyoncé backstage after a performance of Dear Evan Hansen in New York, he saw her in the crowd first. “As soon as the show starts, my first monologue is facing the audience,” he told Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe in August 2021. “And so I saw this just outline of her beautiful hair. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s real.’”
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Platt maintained that Beyoncé “couldn’t have been more generous and kind’ while meeting the cast. “She took pictures with the whole cast and then she left,” he said. “Then, as soon as she walked out the door, everyone in the room just completely fell apart and went absolutely crazy.”
2. What Does “Reverie” Mean?
The Pitch Perfect star explained the meaning behind the title track of his new album Reverie: “I was dating this fellow a couple of years ago that I met on a dating app and he had all the things on paper that I really thought I would want,” he said. “Then, as we started to really spend time together, I just didn’t meet the expectations.”
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“I thought about how I don’t know many songs that are about kind of letting someone down easy and as with as much empathy and kindness as you can,” he said. “It just felt like this kind of ’80s power ballad sort of a feeling and it all kind of stemmed from there.”
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3. Ben Wrote New Music In His Childhood Bedroom
He wrote “most of” Reverie while staying in his childhood bedroom at the beginning of the pandemic. “At first I was like, there’s no way I’m going to be able to be creative in here or write music in here, because it’s such a bizarre feeling to be amidst all of your teen posters and all of your old clothes and stuff,” he admitted.
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But that initial worry quickly melted away. “I somehow found it really inspiring to be sort of caught between that youth and all those things I used to be,” he said. “I felt the oldest and the youngest I’ve ever felt at the same time. So the album sort of caught me in the middle of that in a really nice way.”
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4. Who Inspires Ben?
“Obviously, other than the Broadway, Carol King, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder — just songs that stand the test of time and people who are so individual in their storytelling,” he said. “In terms of being myself, Elton John, Boy George. The more flamboyant, the more inspiring.”
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5. Ben Loves LGBTQ+ Music
Platt’s “favorite thing to focus on” is lifting up other queer artists. “I just remember growing up that the numbers of queer artists are just fewer and far between,” he said. “So the ones that stick and the ones that make noise are just all the more important and all the more vital.”
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6. Ben Appreciates Ariana Grande & Barbra Streisand
He also discussed the impact of artists like Ariana Grande and Barbara Streisand as allies within the LGBTQ+ community. “When someone has a gift like Ariana or Barbra Streisand, we’re not going to deny it,” he said. “It’s undeniable vocal gifts and talents, and I think that that's something we can appreciate.”
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7. On Queer Representation
“There’s this added challenge of being a queer person of even coming to terms with that for yourself, let alone trying to recognize it in other people,” he said. “I think there's something that always rings true when you see someone who is so identifiable and so fully in their own skin.”