10 Biggest Movie Controversies Of 2021
7. Dear Evan Hansen Casts A Grown Man As A Child
Dear Evan Hansen, a movie based on the critically lauded musical of the same name, immediately caught the attention of internet denizens when a trailer for the film dropped earlier this year.
The musical the film was based on and the film itself both star Ben Platt in the role of the titular Evan Hansen, an American high school student. Ben Platt is, as of the film's release, a 28-year-old man. This is nothing new for Hollywood, with actors like Tobey Maguire playing a 17-year-old Peter Parker even though he was 26 during filming.
Unfortunately for Platt, some grown, adult actors can pull off the teenage look a little better than others. The production team decided to absolutely cake Platt in several layers of make-up in an attempt to hide his age, but this had the unfortunate side-effect of making him look even worse - resulting in him looking more like a wax figure possessed by the soul of a Victorian ghost instead of a 16-year-old teenager.
Platt's casting might have had less to do with his role in the original musical and more to do with the fact that his dad was the film's producer. Chalk this one up to Hollywood nepotism.