'Dear Evan Hansen' 's Julianne Moore and Amy Adams Recall Their Own High School Experiences

Today they are two of Hollywood’s biggest stars, butAmy AdamsandJulianne Mooreadmit that in high school, they often had trouble fitting in. “I moved around a lot and I remember that feeling of walking into the cafeteria and not knowing where to go. It’s something that has stayed with me,” says Moore, 60. “I was always so happy to find a friend or a group of people or a place to go.

'Dear Evan Hansen' Movie Premieres to Mixed Reviews: Called 'Enjoyable' and 'Overlong'

The musical starsBen Platt, who originated the role on Broadway, as Evan Hansen, a socially anxious high school student who feels like an outsider at his high school. Trying to improve his self-image, he writes himself a letter that is mistaken for a classmate’s suicide note—and rides that error to popularity. While the Broadway show won six Tony Awards, including a Tony for best actor for Platt, critics who viewed the film for the first time at TIFF on Thursday gave the movie a mixed reception.

'Dear Evan Hansen' Star Jessica Phillips Is Rediscovering Herself at 50 as Part of the LGBTQ Community

Photo: Jenny Anderson; Matthew Murphy The coronavirus pandemic has been life-altering for Broadway actressJessica Phillips.In March 2020,Dear Evan Hansen— in which Phillips stars as Evan’s mother, Heidi Hansen — halted performances in New York City. The actress’s busy Broadway schedule was suddenly at a standstill.“When the pandemic hit, I was at the peak of all this self-discovery and exploration,” Phillips, who has identified as a straight, cisgender woman for most of her life up until now, tells PEOPLE.

'Dear Ivanka': Amy Schumer Petitions Ivanka Trump on Instagram over Family Separations

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty; Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Celebrities includingAmy Schumer, Sophia Amoruso andAlexa Chungare participating in a social media campaign calling onIvanka Trumpto make a stronger stand in the ongoing migrant children crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. The stars, all of whom Trump follows on social media, aimed to catch the first daughter’s attention with identical posts demanding that she call for the resignation of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who has been overseeing the separation of immigrant children from their parents.

'Dear White People' EP Boycotts Netflix, Calls Dave Chappelle's Special 'Dangerously Transphobic'

Dave Chappelle in The Closer.Photo: Mathieu Bitton More members of the LGBTQ+ community and advocacy groups are speaking out againstDave Chappelle’s new Netflix comedy special, including Jaclyn Moore, a writer and executive producer forDear White Peopleand the upcoming Peacock reboot ofQueer as Folk. The special, titledThe Closer, includedseveral jokes directed at the LGBTQ+ community— specifically transgender people — with references to Chappelle’s dust-ups for similar humor in his previous standup acts.