Amandla Stenberg Joins Cast Of Universal’s Dear Evan Hansen Film Adaptation

Universal Pictures has added Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give) to its cast for the long-awaited film adaptation of Broadway hit Dear Evan Hansen, reports Deadline. She joins Booksmart‘s Kaitlyn Dever in the musical dramedy.

Dear Evan Hansen tells a story exploring themes of teen suicide and mental illness, following a high schooler who’s plagued with social anxiety, eventually making up a story to befriend the family of a classmate of his who had committed suicide. The musical won multiple Tony Awards in 2017, including Best Musical as well as Best Actor and Best Actress for stars Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones.

Stenberg will play Alana, a high school senior whose cheery façade and social-media savvy hide a deeper loneliness and isolation and chooses to respond to the death of a classmate by igniting a movement. The role of Alana is being reconceived and expanded for the film adaptation. Stenberg will also collaborate with Academy Award-winning duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who composed the music and wrote the lyrics for the Broadway production, to compose a new original song for the film.

Dever will star as Zoe, the sister to the classmate, who begins dating the titular character after he enters a relationship with her family. Original star Ben Platt is reportedly set to reprise his role for the film, though sources report Universal could not confirm his casting.

Marc Platt and Adam Siegel will be producing through Marc Platt Productions while Pasek and Paul are expected to be executive producers. Steven Levenson, who authored Dear Evan Hansen, and also won a Tony for Best Book of a Musical, is set to write the script with Wonder‘s Stephen Chbosky attached to direct the project.