DEAR EVAN HANSEN's Mike Faist Opens Up About Playing Emotional Role

In a new interview with MTV, talented actor Mike Faist opens up about portraying the heavily emotional role of troubled teen Connor Murphy in the new Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen. Faist says of his character, "Here's a kid that they put into a box, clearly. And he comes off as one way and he's clearly going through something that is way more deep-seated and problematic." He continues, "I think the way that the show works [is] with everybody putting up walls and not wanting themselves to be seen, because if they allow themselves to be seen, then they lose. It all just really clicked and made sense, and it seems very human and very honest and very flawed, as we all are, I think."

In preparation for the show, Faist did research on teens with mental health issues, in order to better understand his character. "Reading all of the stories just provided so much insight, and it was just daunting, I think, to realize how society looks at people with mental health problems, and the stigma that goes along with it." He adds, "it was daunting to realize that people who do not have a diagnosed mental health disorder are a lot closer to people with them than they actually might realize... But I think because we've put a stigma on [people] with a mental health disorder, we just immediately put up a barrier. We say, "No, you're this."

Faist explains that one of his favorite things about Connor is his complexity. "[There are] multifaceted layers and levels to him," he tells the site. "Obviously, there's Connor, who is alive and well, who we, as an audience, don't get to know, who is more complicated. And then there's Evan's fixation and imagination of Connor, and his "friendship" that he creates. And that ends up being a very charming relationship between the two of them... It's equally complex as First-Act Connor, but complex in a way of ... more of a gray moral sense in [terms of] what is going on in Evan's head, and I find it super-fascinating."

He also has nothing but praise for the show's score, composed by recent Oscar winners Ben Pasek and Justin Paul. "Their storytelling is great - my favorite song in the entire show is "For Forever," and I think it's where the play really kind of ... where Evan talks about his want in life. And it's a very simple thing, but it's a grander emotion that he's actually feeling." He continues, "So the way that Pasek and Paul are able to talk about something that is so simple, but have it be so much bigger, I think is huge. And as well with the story in particular, and a perfect musical, in my biased opinion, is that when the writing can't say enough, the music has to take over. I can't convey what I have to toward you, so I have to start singing at you, you know what I mean? And hopefully, you'll sing along [laughs], so I'll get you on board. That craft and that layering is just what makes them so great."

Read the interview in full HERE.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos