Michael "Mike" Faist (born January 5, 1992) is an American actor best known for originating the role of Connor Murphy in the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, a performance for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Faist also originated the role of Morris Delancey in Disney's Newsies.
Early life
Faist was adopted and brought up in Gahanna, Ohio, and graduated a year early from Gahanna High School. He left for New York soon after graduating and went to study at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, which he dropped out of after two semesters to start auditioning for shows.
Theatre credits
| Year(s) | Production | Role | Category |
|---|
| 2011 | Newsies | Ensemble | Regional (US) |
| 2012–13 | Morris Delancey | Broadway |
| 2014 | Appropriate | Rhys | Signature Theatre Company |
| 2015 | A Month in the Country | Aleksei Belyaev | Classic Stage Company |
| Dear Evan Hansen | Connor Murphy | Washington, DC (regional) |
| 2016 | Off-Broadway |
| 2016–18 | Broadway |
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|
| 2012 | The Unspeakable Act | Tony | |
| 2015 | Yellow | Skip | short film |
| 2015 | The Grief of Others | Gordie Joiner | |
| 2016 | Our Time | Benny | |
| 2017 | Wilding | Lawrence | |
| 2017 | I Can I Will I Did | Ben | |
| 2017 | Active Adults | Teenage Boy | |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|
| 2015 | Eye Candy | Olsen | 1 episode |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Work | Result |
|---|
| 2017 | Tony Awards | Best Featured Actor in a Musical | Dear Evan Hansen | Nominated |
| Broadway.com Audience Awards | Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical | Nominated |
| Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Male) | Won |