# Ben Levi Ross

Benjamin Levi Ross (born January 15, 1998) is an American stage actor and singer. He is best known for his work in the Tony Award winning musical Dear Evan Hansen, where he was Evan on Broadway and in the national tour.

## Early life and education

Ross was born to a Jewish family on January 15, 1998, and grew up in Santa Monica, California. He attended Santa Monica High School, where he was active in his school's theater program. In 2016, he was named a Presidential Scholar of the Arts as part of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. He was also a grand prize finalist for the 2016 Music Center Spotlight awards. Following high school, he attended Carnegie Mellon University for a year and a half.

## Career

At an audition for the play The Low Road at New York's Public Theater, Ross was noticed by Dear Evan Hansen director Michael Greif, who told Ross that he would be great as an understudy in the cast of Dear Evan Hansen. Soon after, he joined Dear Evan Hansen's cast, and made his Broadway debut as the character Jared. Ross then spent ten months understudying for the roles of Evan, Connor, and Jared. In 2018, he left the Broadway company and joined the first national tour of the show in the titular role. He left the production on September 15, 2019.
From January 29 to February 3, 2020, Ross starred as Henry in the Kennedy Center's production of Next to Normal. In 2021, Ross appeared in the film Tick, Tick... Boom! as Freddy.
From March to May 2022, he returned to the Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen in the title role of Evan Hansen for a limited engagement.
In the summer of 2024, Ross starred as Nick Carraway in Florence Welch's Gatsby: An American Myth at the American Repertory Theatre. Later that year in the fall, he portrayed Mother's Younger Brother in the New York City Center's Encores! production of Ragtime opposite Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy and Colin Donnell. He has also had a recurring role on Elsbeth as title character Elsbeth Tascioni's son Teddy.

## Personal life

Ross is gay and non-binary, using they/them and he/him pronouns.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
| 2021 | Tick, Tick... Boom! | Freddy | Film | |
| 2024 | Elsbeth | Teddy Tascioni | 3 episodes | |

## Theater credits

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2017–18 | Dear Evan Hansen | Evan / Jared / Connor (understudy) | Music Box Theater, Broadway |
| 2018–19 | Dear Evan Hansen | Evan Hansen | National tour |
| 2020 | Next to Normal | Henry | Kennedy Center |
| 2022 | Dear Evan Hansen | Evan Hansen | Music Box Theater, Broadway |
| 2024 | The Connector | Ethan Dobson | MCC Theater, Off-Broadway |
| 2024 | Gatsby: An American Myth | Nick Carraway | American Repertory Theatre |
| 2024 | Ragtime | Younger Brother | New York City Center, Off-Broadway |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Show | Result |
| 2019 | BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards | Best Leading Actor in a Musical - Tour | Dear Evan Hansen | Won |
| 2019 | BroadwayWorld Washington D.C. Awards | Best Actor in a Musical - Large Professional Theatre | Dear Evan Hansen | Won |
| 2020 | Eliot Norton Awards | Outstanding Visiting Musical Performance | Dear Evan Hansen | Won |