Mike Faist

Michael David Faist (; born January 5, 1992) is an American actor. He is the recipient of a Grammy and a Daytime Emmy Award, with nominations for a Tony and a British Academy Film Award.

An alumnus of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, Faist began his acting career in 2011 in Disney's Newsies, appearing in its Broadway production (2012–2013). He continued to appear in several independent films, television series and starring in Off-Broadway productions before his breakthrough role in the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen (2015–2018), for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

In 2021, Faist starred in the television series Panic and had his first major film part as Riff, the leader of the Jets, in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story, for which he received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He has since played Jack Twist in a West End theatre production of Brokeback Mountain (2023) and starred in the romantic sports film Challengers (2024).

Early life and education Michael David Faist was born on January 5, 1992, in Gahanna, Ohio, and was adopted by his parents, Julia and Kurt Faist. As a child, Faist realized he wanted to pursue a career in the performing arts. He was enticed by dancing after seeing Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in old MGM films, especially Kelly in Singin' in the Rain. "Just the way he performed and moved, he was able to tell a story through movement," Faist said. At the age of 5, he pressured his parents to enroll him in dance classes and began auditioning for community theater and children's theater. He enrolled in the American Musical and Dramatic Academy but dropped out after two semesters. While auditioning for Off-Broadway plays, he began selling tickets in Times Square. In 2012, he made his feature film debut in the coming-of-age drama The Unspeakable Act. The independent film received positive reviews.

Faist went on to star as Rhys Thurston in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's play Appropriate Off-Broadway in 2014, which drew critical acclaim from chief theater critic Ben Brantley of The New York Times. In 2015, he appeared as Skip in the short film Yellow, a psychiatric ward patient in Touched with Fire, and Gordie Joiner in The Grief of Others which received critical and generally positive reviews. He was also cast in an unaired pilot of the series Eye Candy as Olsen and co-starred as tutor Aleksei Belyaev opposite Peter Dinklage in an Off-Broadway production of A Month in the Country.

2015–2020: Theatre breakthrough In August 2015, he originated the role of Connor Murphy in the hit musical Dear Evan Hansen, playing the role of the drug addict from the workshop till its Broadway transfer in 2016. The musical received critical acclaim and earned Faist a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical. Along with his cast members, he also won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program for their performance of You Will Be Found on The Today Show. Along with cast members Ben Levi Ross and Mallory Bechtel, Faist lent his voice for the audiobook version of Val Emmich's Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel, a book adaptation of the musical released in October 2018.

The two following years, Faist continued to feature in small independent films the likes of Our Time, I Can I Will I Did and Active Adults. He also appeared in crime procedural dramas Law & Order Special Victims Unit in a 2017 episode as Glenn Lawrence. In October 2017, he taught Improv and acting exercises in a Broadway Musical Theatre Workshop and also held a Master Class for audition technique and song interpretation. He taught the same class in Montreal that November. He also appeared in the horror-fantasy film Wildling opposite Bel Powley. It premiered at South by Southwest to mixed reviews. In 2020, he played a starring role as Arthur in the small independent drama The Atlantic City Story.

2021–present: West Side Story and expansion In 2021, Faist co-starred as Dodge Mason in the Amazon's teen drama thriller Panic. The New York Times spoke of Faist, describing him as tall and lanky, making quite a striking figure in the series, "With a slender charisma and a bone structure that seems to have been sculpted with a scythe, the actor could easily have embarked on Panic. But his sensitivity is closer to that of leading men as atypical as Adam Driver, and he modernizes a potentially versatile piece." Despite receiving positive reviews from critics, the series was canceled after one season. Faist received a nomination for his work by the Critics Choice Association in the category Best Actor in an Action Series at the 2nd Critics' Choice Super Awards.

Later that year, he had his first major movie role in Steven Spielberg's film adaptation of West Side Story as Riff, Tony's best friend and leader of the Jets gang. The film was a critical success and some critics deemed it superior to the 1961 film. His performance earned universal praise from critics. The Washington Post regards his magnetic performance as West Side Story 's "stand-out" as its chief film critic Ann Hornaday wrote "The revelation in this production, however, is Mike Faist, who is not only a gifted singer and dancer, but plays Jets gang leader Riff with just the right mix of spiky resentment, hair-trigger anger and loose-limbed grace.". On his collaboration with Faist, screenwriter Tony Kushner says, "He really wants to think about economics, politics, psychology, and psychotechnology, and he feeds himself with a kind of acuity and precision that I think is the mark of a great actor." To craft a new version of his character, Faist took inspiration from a 1959 Bruce Davidson photography book entitled Brooklyn Gang. "You look at those photos and you see these people, the nihilism that exists, their inability to see past tomorrow, or even today for that matter. There's something depressing about it, also carnal, wild, and primal," Faist explained. For his performance, Faist received a nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 75th British Academy Film Awards.

Faist made his West End debut in the stage adaptation of Brokeback Mountain as Jack Twist, opposite Lucas Hedges as Ennis Del Mar, in May 2023. The production received mixed reviews but Faist earned acclaim with Arifa Akbar of The Guardian writing, "[the two leads] chemistry comes alive as boyish romance, with play fighting and suddenly grabbing ardour...both actors are compelling, Faist especially so as the ebullient Jack". Faist portrayed photographer Danny Lyon in Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders opposite Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy. Faist practiced photography and spent a weekend with Lyon, in addition to studying Lyon's personal audio recordings and other material. The film premiered at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival to positive reviews. Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter noted that despite Faist's "charismatic screen presence, [he] was somewhat wasted here".

Faist starred with Zendaya and Josh O'Connor in Luca Guadagnino's romantic drama Challengers as Art, a famed tennis player facing his rival. He gained 30 pounds for the role and practiced tennis. The film was originally set to premiere at the 80th Venice International Film Festival but was delayed by the studio to 2024 due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The film received positive reviews from critics. It was announced that Faist would return to the stage acting opposite in Michelle Williams in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's play Anna Christie at St. Ann's Warehouse with performances running from November 25 to February 1, 2026. However, he ultimately pulled out of the production and was replaced.

Work as a writer Faist writes short stories and has stated that it is important for an actor to write in order to understand scripts. He helped to establish a playwright's festival, the Ohio Artists Gathering, which he described as "a one-week theater festival bringing artists from New York and LA and integrating them with local actors, writers, and directors." The first festival was held in Columbus, Ohio in 2018. His Bikeriders director Jeff Nichols shared in an interview that Faist was writing a screenplay and might want to become a filmmaker himself.

Filmography

Films

Television Year Title Role Notes 2012 Dancing with the Stars Himself Guest Performance/Ensemble 2015 Eye Candy Olsen Episode: "Unaired Original Pilot" 2017 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Glenn Lawrence Episode: "Complicated" 2018 Deception Ben "Mekka" Evans Episode: "Masking" 2021 Panic Dodge Mason Main role 2026 East of Eden Charles Trask Post-production

Theatre Year(s) Title Role Location Notes 2011 Newsies Morris Delanceyu/s Jack Kelly Paper Mill Playhouse Regional 2012–13 Nederlander Theatre Broadway2014 Appropriate Rhys Thurston Pershing Square Signature Center Off-Broadway Alice by Heart White Rabbit/Alfred Hallam/March Hare MCC Theater Workshop 2015 A Month in the Country Aleksei Belyaev Classic Stage Company Off-BroadwayDear Evan HansenConnor Murphy Arena Stage Regional 2016 Second Stage Theater Off-Broadway 2016–18 Music Box Theatre Broadway 2018 Days of Rage Spence Second Stage Theater Off-Broadway 2023 Brokeback Mountain Jack Twist @sohoplace West End

Soundtrack

Year Song Show/film title Album title Notes 2017 "Sincerely, Me" Dear Evan Hansen Dear Evan Hansen(Original Broadway Cast Recording) with Ben Platt and Will Roland "Disappear" with Ben Platt, Kristolyn Lloyd, Will Roland, and Jennifer Laura Thompson 2021 "Jet Song" West Side Story West Side Story (Soundtrack) "Tonight Quintet" with David Alvarez, Ariana DeBose, Ansel Elgort, and Rachel Zegler "Cool" with Ansel Elgort

Cast album Title Details Peak chart positions US USCast AUS CAN Dear Evan Hansen(Original Broadway Cast Recording) Release date: February 3, 2017 Label: Atlantic Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming 8 1 34 58

Awards and nominations Association Year Category Work Result Tony Awards 2017 Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical Dear Evan Hansen Broadway.com Audience Awards 2017 Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Male) Grammy Awards 2018 Best Musical Theater Album Daytime Emmy Awards 2018 Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program "You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen on The Today Show Chicago Film Critics Association 2021 Best Supporting Actor West Side Story Portland Critics Association Awards 2021 Best Male Supporting Role Indiana Film Journalists Association Best Supporting Actor New Mexico Film Critics Phoenix Critics Circle Greater Western New York Film Critics Association Breakthrough Performance British Academy Film Awards 2022 Best Actor in a Supporting Role Chicago Indie Critics 2022 Best Supporting Actor Latino Entertainment Journalists Association Film Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Dorian Awards 2022 Best Supporting Film Performance North Dakota Film Society Best Supporting Actor Online Film Critics Society 2022 Best Supporting Actor Online Film & Television Association 2022 Best Supporting Actor Best Breakthrough Performance: Male Critics' Choice Super Awards 2022 Best Actor in an Action Series Panic Astra Midseason Movie Awards 2024 Best Supporting Actor Challengers