With director Stephen Chbosky’s (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Wonder) Dear Evan Hansen now playing in theaters, I recently got to speak with Amandla Stenberg about bringing the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical to movie screens. During the interview, she talked about how they expanded her character’s role in the film, how she connects with Evan (Ben Platt) over what they are going through, getting to write a new song with Benj Pasek & Justin Paul for the film, and more.
If you’re not familiar with Dear Evan Hansen, the high school-set film is written for the screen by the show’s Tony-winning writer Steven Levenson, with music and lyrics by the show’s Oscar, Grammy, and Tony-winning songwriting team of Benj Pasek & Justin Paul. The story is about a high school outsider (Platt) who gains friendship and fame by falsely claiming that he had a tight bond with one of his deceased classmates. The film and play is a powerful look at isolation, social anxiety, and grief and shines a light on the importance of talking about mental health. Dear Evan Hansen also stars Kaitlyn Deaver, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Danny Pino, Colton Ryan, and Nik Dodani.
Watch what Amandla Stenberg had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Amandla Stenberg
- How they fleshed out her character in the movie.
- Who her character is and how she connects with Evan.
- How she co-wrote a new song with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul for the movie and what it is about.
