Actor Ben Platt is not only a Broadway star, he’s also the cut throat lead in the new original series, The Politician. But did you know he went to summer camp and has a serious fear of flying? Hit play to find out more!
Actor Ben Platt is not only a Broadway star, he’s also the cut throat lead in the new original series, The Politician. But did you know he went to summer camp and has a serious fear of flying? Hit play to find out more!
[Music]
Catherine: Oh, my God. Welcome to I Hate Talking About Myself. It’s a podcast where your favorite stars from Netflix series and films sit down to interview themselves. We write the questions and then our guests select them at random by pulling them out of a bowl. So, you never know what you’re going to get. But what I do know is that we’ve got Tony Award winning actor Ben Platt in the hotseat. After his starring role in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway, he’s now taking over your TV. Thank God, thank goddesses. Ben stars in the new Ryan Murphy series, The Politician. But first he has to face our infamous bowl of questions.
Ben: Hello. I’m Ben Platt and I hate talking about myself.
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If you could have one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Sushi. It would be sushi. Sushi. I already do have it, pretty much, every day. Sushi. I love sushi. It’s a miracle that I don’t have mercury poisoning.
What do you wear to bed? Nothing. I can’t sleep with clothes. It’s too warm.
What are the most recently used emojis on your phone, and why? I really love the salsa dancer. [salsa music begins] It just really expresses, I think, me as a human being, and what I hope to contribute to people’s lives with my texts. And the head blown up guy just because lots of great things have been happening and it’s sometimes the only way to express how I feel about them is just, cannot comprehend. And I love the blowing up head guy.
Tell us about the worst flight you ever had. Ugh. I’m a terrible flyer. So, pretty much any flight counts to my worst flight. But probably the number one worst was I was flying back from New York in high school. I had gone there to audition for something and it didn’t go well. And I was already, kind of, pissed off on the plane. And then, one of the engines went quiet. And the pilot came over the speaker and was like, ‘We are going to have to emergency land right now in Detroit because we can’t make it to LA.’ And I had a full panic attack. But we made it to the ground fine. And then I wrote my college essay about it. And then I got into college. But then I left after seven weeks.
What’s the most memorable prank you’ve pulled off? I haven’t really done any excellent pranks. But it also says, or has been pulled off on you. And when I was at summer camp, the oldest age group every year plays a prank on the rest of the camp during the last week. And one of the years I was there, they had one of the kids read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince overnight when it first came out, before anyone had a chance to start reading it. And they wrote all over in camp in shock Snape kills Dumbledore. And Dumbledore dies. And Snape is the half blood prince and spoiled the ending for everyone. And it was like, there was a tragedy that had just happened on the news. When everybody shows up for breakfast like, all the kids were sobbing. The counselors are like, yelling at each other. It was evil genius.
What piece of pop culture shaped you the most? Ooh, probably Glee, which I’m very-, I’m, you know, biased because I’m in a-, currently in a Ryan Murphy project on Netflix, The Politician. But Glee came like, right at the sweet spot. I was in eighth, ninth, 10th grade. And I was a theatre kid. And I went as Mr. Schuester for Halloween with my best friend Beanie Feldstein who went as Coach Sue. I went to the live tour twice.
What piece of art can you not stop thinking about? Ooh. Well, my favorite musical is called Sunday in the Park with George. It’s a Stephen Sondheim musical. And it’s based entirely on this artist Georges Seurat and his painting, ‘A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’ which is this giant painting where all these people on this like, riverbank side that is at the Chicago Art Institute. And when I did “Book of Mormon” in Chicago, I used to go visit the painting every weekend just because I was so excited to see the real thing. So, I’m always either thinking about that piece of art or the-, listening to the soundtrack or watching the DVD of the original with Mandy Patinkin.
Chiwetel Ejiofor wants to know how often do you get your hair cut? Oh. Well, Chiwetel, it depends on the time of year and the project that I’m doing. And for The Politician I had to get it cut every morning because he’s a very strait-laced, political perfectionist kind of guy. So, it always had to look exactly the same. But If I’m like, leisurely doing my own thing in life, I’d say like, every six weeks. What about you, Chiwetel? Tweet me.
What’s the first food you hated, and why? That’s a good question. I hated pineapple but only because my sister ate it as a kid and was really allergic and had-, got a really bad rash from it. And so, I think I was afraid of it. And I like, blamed pineapple for hurting my sister. But she’s no longer allergic and now I really like pineapple.
Which character have you played that you most want to get brunch with? What would you talk about? Oh, that’s a great question. Probably Payton.
(Clip begins)
Male: So, evidently, there’s a videotape with some footage of you using an offensive gay slur. Do you have any idea what I might be referring to?
Female: Do you have any idea what time it is?
Male: Shut up, ma’am. I’m not going to take your [beep] tonight, okay? What did you say on the tape?
Male: Dammit. This is all over now.
(Clip ends)
Ben: Which is my character in The Politician because he’s like, very conniving and very brilliant and very ambition-forward. And I would love to try to like, pick him apart and try to get to the soft end side if there is one. I don’t know if there is one. You’ll have to watch the show to find out.
What rabbit hole did you dive down most recently? It was a YouTube one, which are the only kind that I think I go down. And I go down them frequently. My most recent one was videos of Eva Noblezada singing. She’s currently starring in Hadestown on Broadway and has already been nominated for two Tony’s at, I think, 22 or 23. And she has the kind of voice that like, cuts the energy in the room and like, changes the pH balance. She’s like, so incredible. And so, I’ve been stalking her relentlessly. And at the Tony’s I think I made her uncomfortable.
What does the phrase ‘guilty pleasure’ mean to you? I guess it mostly means cheesecake to me.
If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be? Hang out with pilots more often so that they can teach you how to fly a plane or show you that planes are very safe so you won’t be afraid of flying anymore. Or on flying advice to my younger self, I would probably just tell him to like, invest more time in honing your own strangeness and otherness rather than trying to fit boxes of the people around you that you see are succeeding. Because I think as soon as you do, when you’re like, 17-18, things start to go really well. So, maybe just do it a little earlier.
Nicole Byer-, I love Nicole Byer. Nicole Byer added this question to the bowl: Would you date Nicole Byer? One million percent, I would totally flop teams for Nicole Byer.
What superpower would you like to have, and why? I’d really like to be able to fly because then I don’t have to go on planes. And I hate planes. That’s, kind of, the theme of this interview is that I hate planes. I hate planes. I’d love to fly or teleport. That’s be quicker and no sky.
Tell us about a time in your life when you made a conscious decision not to play it safe. Oh, well, don’t mind if I do. Possibly in deciding to do The Politician, which is the show that I just have done now for Netflix because I was offered the opportunity to play a character that is not really in the wheelhouse of the characters that I’ve been playing thus far that have been going, sort of, very well. Which is like, the Elder Cunningham, ‘Benji’ in Pitch Perfect, Evan Hansen, sort of, very meek, sweet, anxious kids. Instead, I have the opportunity to play someone a little more headstrong and confident and conniving and somewhat egomaniacal which was scary but I think the right choice.
What about the future excites you? I’ve very excited for everyone to watch The Politician. That excites me very much. I’ve very excited for the distant future to hopefully have some-, knock on this wood you can’t see, children, maybe, and a family someday because I really love little chillens. And I have really cute nephews and I’d like to have some of my own. And in the more macro sense, I’m very excited that there seems to be some politicians who maybe know a little bit more what they’re doing that are coming up and maybe going to take over, hopefully, God-willing, please God, please, please. So, yeah.
Catherine: Well, Ben, you’ve got my vote. Make sure to add The Politician wherever you watch Netflix, babe. We’ve got another episode coming your way next week. So, make sure to subscribe to this feed. Who knows? Might be your favorite star.
I Hate Talking About Myself is produced by Pineapple Street Media and Netflix. Our music is by Hansdale Hsu and it’s hosted by me, your favorite late-night show comedy guest, Catherine Cohan.
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