First-Time Tony Award Nominee Ben Platt On Portraying Evan Hansen

Ben Platt burst into the mainstream scene back in 2012 with his role as Benji Applebaum in Pitch Perfect. Today, Platt is an award-winning Broadway actor, currently playing the role of Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen which has earned him a Tony Award nomination for best leading actor in a musical. Laura Heywood (aka @BroadwayGirlNYC) spoke with Platt recently about his inspiration for bringing Evan Hansen to life.

"You know I think its a combination of many things. It's some personal feelings of isolation and difficulty connecting that I think I've felt and everyone's felt growing up and different tidbits of kids that I grew up with that were particularly lonely or had difficulty expressing themselves. Little things like that come together to make this kid," said Platt.

Platt also gave insight into his biggest challenges with playing the role.

"I think stamina and sustainability has been a big challenge because this role is incredibly demanding physically and vocally and emotionally. Just really figuring out how to make it a sustained performance that can be at the same level every night, eight times a week."

To find out if Platt goes home a winner, tune into the 71st annual Tony Awards on June 11th at 8:00 PM EST, only on CBS.