Dear Evan Hansen's Andrew Barth Feldman on Dream Casting Democrats, His Smash Hot Take & More

It's been a little over a year since Andrew Barth Feldman took home the 2018 Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor and his life was forever changed. Now, Feldman dons the blue polo and arm cast as the titular role in Broadway's Dear Evan Hansen and recently presented at the 2019 Jimmy Awards and sang "You Will Be Found" with this year's nominees. "It was very surreal," Feldman said to Beth Stevens in a recent interview on Broadway.com's #LiveAtFive about returning to the Jimmy Awards. "I was a little nervous that they were going feel the pressure of having to get a lead in a Broadway show after the competition, which is what has been happening for for me and Reneé Rapp. It's the most magical week and I would love to always be involved, even in the smallest way. We're trying to pressure them into letting Reneé and I host next year."

Feldman made his Broadway debut on January 30 at  age 16, and now that he's six months into his time in theTony-winning musical, he's perfected his autograph and dream-casted the next Evan Hansen. "I have a long name and my handwriting is terrible so I keep it short and write ABF. It's definitely evolved over time, so come back and see what it looks like now," he said. Although Feldman has only been in the role for a few months, he already has some thoughts on how the Democratic presidential hopefuls could follow in his footsteps. "I think Mayor Pete Buttigieg would make a great Evan Hansen, and Andrew Yang could be the Evan alternate," Feldman said. "Kamala Harris could be Heidi and Marianne Williamson as Cynthia."

When it comes to getting ready to take the stage, Feldman quite literally talks to his character to get in the right headspace. "One of the things I do before the show is I'll have a conversation with Evan in the mirror," he said. "Just pumping him up and giving him advice. I tell him he's worthy of love because I that's something he tells himself but thinks he doesn't deserve on a very subconscious level."

It would be amiss to not talk to the Broadway star about one of his favorite topics; NBC's Smash and his campaign to bring it back. "Smash happened and then there's been this big resurgence of it," Feldman said. "People want to know what's going on backstage at a Broadway show and whether Smash is accurate or not , it's still fun. I know a Bombshell musical is still on the table, they can cast me as Megan Hilty because I'm Team Ivy. She worked harder for it, and that's my hot take."

Be sure to catch Feldman in Dear Evan Hansen, playing at the Music Box Theatre.

Watch the full #LiveAtFive interview below!