Ben Platt Opens Up About Coming Out to His Childhood Best Friend

Ben Platt and Molly Gordon aren’t just starring together as best friends in the new movie Theater Camp — the pair are actually besties in real life.

Platt and Gordon are currently starring in Theater Camp, which they also co-wrote and Gordon co-directed. In the film, the pair play lifelong best friends, and it's revealed at one point that Gordon’s character was in love with Platt’s before she realized he was gay. According to a new interview, it was a case of life inspiring art.

“We were doing How to Succeed [in Business Without Really Trying], and we were like, 12 or 13. And she was like, ‘Who do you like? You have to like someone in the show,’” Platt told Rolling Stone about when he remembered Gordon asking him. “And I’m like, ‘I’m gay.’ And she was like, ‘oh,’ and then just kind of ran to everybody in our show, who most of them probably already assumed or knew. And then from that point forward, we just moved on, as friends. But she kind of coaxed it out of me.”

“She definitely had a crush on me, she will admit. And I thought I did too,” Platt continued about their friendship. “Because when you’re a young gay kid, and you’re obsessed with your girl best friend, you’re like, ‘This must be what it means when you like someone.’”

“But ultimately, I was very gay, unfortunately. And also fortunately,” he said. “And Molly [Gordon] had to have an adjustment period of getting over that, which began with her telling everybody that I was gay. And then we moved forward as friends. But yes, I think the love began as sort of like a puppy love and then transformed into a friendship.”

Check out Theater Camp in theaters now.