Meet PETER PAN LIVE's Man Behind the Croc: Charlie Williams

The colorful croc in NBC's PETER PAN LIVE! on Thursday night drew more attention than we could have anticipated.

"The Croc" was trending nationally on Twitter for a significant portion of broadcast, but the real question was: who was under that suit? Tony nominee (and SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE! alumna) Laura Benanti jokingly claimed it was she, but the real man behind the broadcast's breakout star was Charlie Williams.

Williams, also the assistant choreographer for the show, said director/choreographer Rob Ashford was the one who put Williams up to appearing in the show.

"[Ashford] said he had a fun little part for me," Williams told EW. "I was nervous at first about saying yes because I didn't want to miss out all on the other fun stuff, but we were obviously able to make it work."

He not only donned the reptile suit, but also many others. "I had 10 costume changes during the show: I was an islander, a pirate, and also partnering the mermaids in the lagoon. It was a busy night."

Of the crocodile suit, he said, "It wasn't the most comfortable thing ever. Going from dance numbers to a huge costume took some getting used to. I worked with Catherine Zuber and the creators of the costumes, who were open to helping me design it. It worked perfectly the way I wanted to puppet it, with my head down and a long kind of extension of my spine straight up. But the costume was very hot and very bulky, especially since it involved a helmet. I wouldn't want to wear it around town, but I really had a good time doing it."

"And the biggest challenge was that I could never see," said Williams. "To keep the croc's head level my nose was basically pressed into the ground. I was just listening for people around the stage, and I had to find landmarks in Neverland to guide me. It was very difficult to act with people in the scenes because I never could see them."

He also said, "[The suit] was made as light as possible, but even so it stuck out so far from the top of my head. There were bungee cords that went from the forehead of the croc all the way down my back to help support the weight. So not only did I have to get into a big body suit, my dresser also had to attach those cords as I held the helmet on."

Read the full interview here.

Allison Williams portrayed Peter Pan in the highly anticipated PETER PAN LIVE on NBC.The 'Girls' star took on the role of the boy who refuses to grow up and who is forced to confront the villainous Captain Hook, played by Oscar winner Christopher Walken when the J.M. Barrie's classic musical.

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron executive produced the broadcast. The duo are accomplished in both television and film, having earned 103 Emmy nominations. They were the driving force behind several stage-to-screen musicals, including the film version of "Hairspray" and TV adaptation of "Cinderella," as well as executive producing the NBCdrama "Smash," which earned a Golden Globe nomination. They were also nominated for a Tony Award in 2011 for "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and also produced the revival of "Promises, Promises" to the Broadway stage in 2010. In addition, the duo executive produced the 2002 Oscar-winning film "Chicago."

Photos by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC