DeMarius Copes joins Dear Evan Hansen film in new role Oliver
© David Gordon
The Broadway star, who has appeared in Mean Girls, as well as tours of Hamilton and Newsies, will make his feature film debut in the piece in the newly created role of Oliver, Deadline reports.
Copes joins a cast including original Tony-winning star Ben Platt in the title role, as well as Amy Adams as Cynthia, Julianne Moore as Heidi, Kaitlyn Dever as Zoe Murphy, Danny Pino as Zoe's stepfather, Amandla Stenberg as Alana, Nik Dodani as Jared, and Colton Ryan as Connor. The film's shooting location is Atlanta Georgia.
Steven Levenson will pen the script from his original stage version, with Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) directing. Music and lyrics are by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Platt's father, producer Marc Platt, and Adam Siegel will produce through Marc Platt Productions. Pasek and Paul are executive-producing.
With a Tony-winning score by Pasek and Paul, and a Tony-winning book by Levenson, Dear Evan Hansen is described as follows: "A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he's always wanted: a chance to finally fit in."
Oliver is reportedly a friend of Evan's love-interest Zoe Murphy, whose brother Connor dies in the piece and sparks the events of the musical. It's the first role to be announced that never appeared in the stage show.
The creators recently described the film project in an interview with WhatsOnStage:
WhatsOnStage said of this five-star show: "Dear Evan Hansen is a desperately powerful exploration of a troubled teen sacrificing the truth for a sense of comfort – startlingly relevant for a world swaddled in screens and fleeting fictions."
