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By the time Will & Grace was finishing up its initial eight-season run, its reputation wasn’t just as a groundbreaking American sitcom for gay representation on TV. It was also known for its massive excess of guest stars. In particular over its final four seasons, Will & Grace brought on everybody from pop stars (Jennifer Lopez! Madonna!) to A-list actors (Alec Baldwin! Michael Douglas! Glenn Close!) to gay icons (Cher! Sandra Bernhard!). Some worked out well (Matt Damon), some worked out poorly (Janet Jackson), and some … well, honestly, we just don’t know (Britney Spears). But big-name guest stars became as integral to the Will & Grace brand as jokes about Grace’s chest or “Just Jack!”
Now that Will & Grace is back on TV and as much a sensation as it’s ever been, it’s no surprise that the guest stars are already rolling out. Everybody who’s anybody with even a smidgen of a queer following is going to want to get on this show, and the feeling is almost certainly mutual from the show’s perspective. So every week, we’re going to check back on on Will & Grace and let you know how these guest stars did.
Episode: “Who’s Your Daddy”
Air Date: October 5, 2017
Guest Star: Ben Platt
Why He’s Famous: It’s gotta be nice when your first movie role is as the cute/dorky best friend in the uber-successful Pitch Perfect. (Of course it also must be nice when your dad is uber-successful Hollywood producer Marc Platt, but we digress.) Ben played amateur magician Benji in both Pitch Perfect movies (he won’t be back for the third), and then showed up as Meryl Streep’s vociferous gay fanboy in Ricki and the Flash.
Why He’s Gay Famous: Pitch Perfect and Ricki and the Flash are not the reason Ben Platt scored the Will & Grace gig, I don’t care how gay he was for Meryl. No, Ben is officially Broadway Famous after his starring role in the Tony-winning Dear Evan Hansen. He won a Tony of his own for his performance in the lead role, not to mention dozens upon dozens of fans who are well-placed in Gay (and, fine, Non-Gay) Hollywood.
Who’d He Play? Blake, the 23-year-old picture of a Millennial (Gen-Z? Honestly, who can even keep up?) gay who picks up will at a bar because he looks like an anchorman.
How’d He Do? Honestly? Pretty great. In W&G‘s best storyline from its first two revival episodes, Will struggles between the brag-worthy status of being attractive to a twentysomething cutie and the exquisite agony of having to deal with a twentysomethingcutie. Blake is sweet and well-intentioned, but also blissfully ignorant of the kind of gay struggle that someone Will’s age had to go through. His big coming-out trauma was when his divorced parents threw him competing coming-out parties. He doesn’t know the difference between Stonewall and Stonehenge. He has no respect for Madonna.
Platt plays all these scenes with a playful ADHD energy that puts some zip on just about every line reading. Watch the way he sells “Are you mad at me because I’m happy?” It’s somehow both knowing and naive? He’s a delight. An infuriating delight.
Grade: On a scale of one (Demi Moore) to ten (Minnie Driver), Ben Platt scores a solid eight (Candice Bergen). 8.0/10
