Jeremy Heere

> ***"I think I just blew my Bar Mitzvah money on a Wintergreen Tic Tac."***
>
>

-Jeremy, after thinking the SQUIP was ineffective and a waste of money.

Player Two

Matt Dalton (2017 Exit 82)

Scott Folan (2020 London)

Voices In My Head

Loser Geek Whatever

The Play

**Jeremy Heere** is the protagonist and main character of Be More Chill.

## Physical Appearance

Jeremy is usually depicted in a striped t-shirt - with varying colors - and a blue cardigan, but, under the SQUIP's influence, later wears an Eminem t-shirt. He has dark brown hair in Will Connolly's portrayal, and light brown hair in Will Roland's portrayal. He also has glasses in this depiction of him, which he later ditches due to the SQUIP fixing his eyesight.

He is frequently called "Tall-Ass" by his former tormentor, Rich Goranski, to which he responds with "Why do you call me that? I'm not even that tall." Under the SQUIP's influence, he eventually cuts his habit of slouching through the use of spinal stimulation, a tactic used by the SQUIP in which they send an electric shock along the receiver's spine. In the Broadway run, Jeremy is 5'7" and in the off-Broadway run, 6'5".

## Personality

Jeremy is nervous and awkward, often fumbling over his words and sweating profusely, especially when his crush, Christine Canigula, makes conversation with him. When he is nervous, he has a habit of his face going red, which is mentioned in *More Than Survive*, the opening number for the musical.

He is highly uncool and unpopular, being regularly bullied and made fun of by Rich, as previously mentioned. He hopes to keep his head down low enough to survive high school and make it to college, but when the SQUIP is offered to him to help make him popular, he can't help but accept.

Jeremy is shown to be quite insecure. This is most evident in *Two Player Game*, when Jeremy says he's "doomed to be a loser until the end of the world, and probably after that too". He also disregards Michaels attempts to convince him that there are virtues to being "losers". Being fed up with being a loser, Jeremy decides against his instincts and uses "optic nerve blocking" to remove Michael from his life out of desire to be accepted by his peers. His insecurities are most notable in the song *Loser Geek Whatever* in the Broadway run*,* where Jeremy states that "the problem has always been me".

## Relationships

**Michael Mell** - Jeremy is shown to have a good relationship with Michael at the start of the musical, before deciding to "Optic Nerve Block" him because he is, as the SQUIP has said, "a link to *Jeremy 1.0."*

**The SQUIP** - The SQUIP and Jeremy have a very close relationship, considering that they're inside his mind, but not a very healthy one. The SQUIP is shown to emotionally manipulate and abuse Jeremy to get what they want and use Jeremy to fulfill their own selfish desires.

**Christine Canigula** - Jeremy, for the duration of the musical, is romantically interested in Christine. He idolizes her, even going as far as to join the school play just as a way to get closer to her, but becoming nervous and stiff when she talks to him.

**Rich Goranski** - Rich is Jeremy's former bully and the one that introduces him to the SQUIPs. He says that he only ever bullied Jeremy because it's "what his SQUIP told him to do," however it later says that it doesn't think that Jeremy is such a bad guy. They then become friends and he gets invited to play XBOX with him on one occasion.

**Jake Dillinger** - Jeremy thinks highly of Jake, claiming he is the most popular guy in school. He later shows a mild distaste for him upon discovering his relationship with Christine, his well established crush.

**Brooke Lohst** - Brooke is Jeremy's girlfriend for a portion of the musical, as advised by the SQUIP. She shows a clear interest in Jeremy, attempting to speak French because he mentions that Madeline, while in his fake relationship with her, is French, and Brooke assumes that is the type of the girl Jeremy is into.

**Chloe Valentine** -Jeremy views Chloe in the same way as he views Jake; popular, mighty and untouchable. He has a few interactions with her, the most notable one being at Jake's Halloween party, in which he almost ends up being sexually assaulted due to Chloe being obviously intoxicated.

**Jenna Rolan** - Jenna and Jeremy don't have many encounters with each other, other than in *The Pitiful Children*, where Jeremy tells her about the SQUIPs and she takes one.

## Trivia

* Jeremy is Jewish.
* He is "Player Two" in his friendship with Michael.
* His parents are divorced and he lives with his dad.
* His SQUIP looks and sounds like Keanu Reeves, the default factory setting for the SQUIPs.
* Jeremy does not have a confirmed sexuality, but is thought to be bisexual.