Nepo Baby of the Week: Ben Platt’s Not Taking Questions About His Dad

Following his regrettable star turn in the abysmal Dear Evan Hansen movie—yes, I still want my $14 back—Ben Platt is back on the silver screen in the new comedy Theater Camp, which looks like the most stereotypical Ben Platt vehicle ever made.

I have yet to see the film, a mockumentary about a summer camp for musical theater students. But it already looks like an upgrade from his previous film role as a depressed, Benjamin Button-looking teen. Platt co-wrote the movie. Plus, it's co-directed by his friend and fellow nepo baby Molly Gordon, so I would assume he’s in good hands. While the small indie, by all means, looks like a safe bet for the previously ridiculed actor, the press tour is already proving to be a bit overwhelming for him.

In a recent interview for Rolling Stone, the Broadway star was asked about Vulture’s viral “Nepo Baby” issue last year, which featured him on the cover. For those who aren’t familiar, Platt’s father, Marc Platt, is one of Hollywood’s most in-demand producers—just look at his IMDB. He’s unfortunately partially responsible for Dear Evan Hansen, plus many of the live-action Disney remakes we’ve been punished with over the past decade, including this year’s The Little Mermaid. He also produced the infamous Best Picture loser La La Land.

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While Platt has discussed his father’s job previously—he once casually dropped this info on an episode of Las Culturistas, for instance–he’s apparently done talking about him publicly. Or, at least, he’s done talking about the fact that his dad is the reason he has a career.

In response to the reporter asking him what he thought about his inclusion in Vulture’s large profile of nepo babies, Platt curtly responded, “We’re going to skip right over that if we can.” A publicist followed up with, “If we can just focus on Theater Camp that would be great, thank you.”

This non-response, like all nepo baby discussions, quickly made the rounds on social media. Everyone seemed to be in agreement that Platt went about answering this very simple question—one that you would hope a successful nepo baby would’ve given some prior thought to—all wrong.

Platt’s quote, and other defensive, corny responses from people like Hailey Bieber and Jamie Lee Curtis, speak to a theory I’ve had for a while now: I don’t think celebrities actually know what nepo baby discourse on the internet entails. To be fair, it’s a pretty pointless, circular conversation most of the time. It’s largely people sharing information they stumbled upon on Wikipedia with little commentary other than “How did I not know this??”

I would say that most of the nepo baby talk on Twitter, at least, is frivolous and uncritical—that is, unless you’re really bad at your job and have, therefore, wasted your privilege and the public’s time. Also, if you’re notably problematic, you can expect to get dragged. On the other hand, if you're a seemingly delightful, talented person, like Tracee Ellis Ross, for instance, no one really gives a shit about who your parents are

That said, I don’t think anyone on the planet has ever argued that Ben Platt is untalented or undeserving of the spotlight. The comments that he was too old to play a high-schooler in Dear Evan Hanson were completely valid, and the fact that he was the only performer from the stage production who appeared in the film (again, co-produced by his dad) seemed a bit questionable. Aside from that, I think he’s widely seen as an excusable nepo baby.

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Clearly, Platt isn’t aware of how he’s perceived online, or maybe he doesn’t think he should have to be relegated to speaking about his dad all the time. Either way, ignoring this question altogether is a pretty dumb tactic, in my opinion—and not just because he gave Rolling Stone a clicky headline.

There’s a reason people aren’t asking celebrities like Rashida Jones or Laura Dern to constantly defend their privilege in the industry: It’s because they eagerly acknowledge their famous parents all the time. Most of Allison Williams’ press tour for M3GAN was her discussing being Brian Williams’ daughter—something the public has known for a literal decade. But she delivered a bunch of self-aware, eloquent answers to questions about her father and earned her some brownie points on social media.

I get that it may not be the most riveting topic for Hollywood nepo babies to talk about. It personally doesn’t do much for me to hear celebrities acknowledge their privilege. I mostly ask that they be good at their jobs. But if someone get to avoid all the rejection and financial hardships of being an artist, the least they can do is answer a simple question about their dad.

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