GQ USA – May 2017

• Remember
  thinking, Man, I sure
  wish I’d bought
  Hamilton tickets
  when I still could?
  Well, listen this
  time: Buy your Dear
  Evan Hansen seats
  now. It’s having a
  similar moment—
  and is already
  approaching a
  similar waiting list.
  Why? Because of
  star Ben Platt, the
  23-year-old with
  a mostly under-the-
  radar career (Pitch
  Perfect, The Book of
  Mormon) who plays
  an anonymous,
  neurotic 17-year-old
  on an improbable
  rise to high school
  popularity in
  the wake of a
  misunderstanding
  that escalates out
  of control. And
  since public
  speaking, really, is
  a performance,
  you probably ought
  to listen to the
  performer we’d put
  our money on to
  win the Tony for
  Best Actor in a
  Musical (if we had
  an o∞ce Tony pool—
  and gambling were
  legal).—CLAY SKIPPER

Take a long look

at yourself.

“Practice in front

of the mirror.

I want to know

what I look like

physically.”

Imagine the last

time you nailed

a speech. Then

do it again.

“I note particular

moments in shows

where I’ll like the

way that a line

landed. Before I go

on the next night,

I think back to

what made those

moments work

and try to infuse

the performance

with that. You’ll

collect your ‘best

of ’ over time.”

Read the room

(and the weather).

“The little things—

the time of day, the

number of kids—

change the energy.

When people

come in and it’s

been beautiful out,

they are so ready

to laugh and to

be energized. If it’s

been raining, they

need a little extra

surge of energy

in the beginning.”

Always play it

cool, even if your

pants fall off.

“When I was in The

Book of Mormon,

my pants ripped

completely from

the top of my zipper

to the back of my

butt. I was basically

wearing chaps.

I just did the entire

number with my

junk in the air. The

worst thing to do is

stop the action and

futz with yourself.”

Don’t sweat

the sweat.

“There’s a real

liberation in not

hiding your sweat or

your snot or your

tears. It’s all part of

being human.”

[When not on

Broadway, maybe

hide the snot.—ed.]

The

Anxious

Man’s

Guide to

Public

Speaking

Addressing a room can be terrifying.
No one knows that better than Evan
Hansen, the skittish title character of
Broadway’s runaway hit Dear Evan
Hansen. Luckily, Hansen is played by
(the almost never skittish) Ben Platt

I feel more

nervous

being a person

in the world

than I do when

I’m onstage.”

36 GQ.COM MAY 2017 PHOTOGRAPH BY JAKE CHESSUM

Raise

Your Game

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