18 Things to Know About Beanie Feldstein

The Jewish actress will be starring in the Broadway revival of "Funny Girl," a role she was born to play.

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Beanie Feldstein
Design by Evelyn Frick; Photo of Beanie Feldstein by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows

In 2017, we at Alma predicted that Jewish actress Beanie Feldstein would be a huge star.

Exhibit A:

And uh, not to say we told you so, but … we totally told you so.

In case you’re late to the Beanie party, here are 18 things to know about the talented and hilarious Beanie Feldstein:

1. Beanie was born in Los Angeles to Jewish parents, Richard and Sharon Feldstein.

Look how cute Beanie is with her mom, who, according to Beanie, sounds just like Fran Drescher:

2. Her real name is Elizabeth, but Beanie comes from her British nanny, who called her Elizabeanie. As she explains, “I have two older brothers, and they’re like, ‘Let’s just call her Beanie!’ ….And like, if you call a dog Spot but its name is Spike, it’s just gonna respond to Spot, so I just always responded to Beanie. Since I was like, two years old, it was just exclusively Beanie. And I think it was, as we say in Yiddish, bashert, which means “meant to be,” because it really fits me and I love it. I couldn’t be more thankful for it. I think it’s great.”

3. On that famous brother Jonah … Beanie thinks “he is the best and has the best taste.”

Including this sweatshirt he got for his 35th birthday!!

Beanie also had another older brother Jordan, who unexpectedly passed away in 2017. Here’s a photo Beanie shared of them:

May his memory be a blessing.

4. Her BFF is Tony award-winning star of “Dear Evan Hansen” Ben Platt, also known as the Harry to Hermione, her twin, her soulmate, her once prom date, etc.

She told the LA Times: “I think Ben is the best at what he does because he’s my best friend and I see him through these rose-colored glasses. But at the Tonys, there was this moment where everyone in this room of the best of the best was seeing him the way that I saw him. It was really emotional, everyone seeing the genius I’ve always seen.”

Please enjoy these beautiful photos of them being besties:

Had enough Beanie + Ben content yet? Well too bad!!! Please enjoy this video of them singing “It Takes Two” for Stephen Sondheim’s virtual 90th birthday celebration!!

5. In 2002, Beanie made her first television appearance on the show “My Wife and Kids,” singing an excerpt from “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from “Funny Girl.”

More on this later…

6. She studied sociology at Wesleyan, and is very proud that she was a Tour Guide at the school. She never learned to walk backwards, though: “Oh, we don’t walk backwards because we’re a forward-thinking university. Every day during the tours, I was like, ‘I can’t believe I have to say this.’”

7. Her college essay was on sinus problems. And most of her tweets have exclamation points. Duh!!!!!

8. 2017 was a big year for her career! Not only did she star in “Lady Bird” as Julie, the titular character’s best friend, but she also made her Broadway debut in “Hello, Dolly!” alongside Bette Midler. Coincidentally, this article from Vogue predicted she would be “the next Bette Midler.”

In our humble opinion, Vogue was absolutely correct. To prove it, just watch the best scene in “Lady Bird”:

9. She’s really just enthusiastic about everything (same, Beanie, same). She is obsessed with “Lady Bird” director Greta Gerwig and has a note on her phone called “Things Greta Said Today.”

10. In 2019, Beanie was nominated for a Golden Globe for her lead role in the hilarious film “Booksmart.”

Look at how cute she is with her co-star Kaitlyn Dever:

11. Beanie wants you to stop talking about her weight!!

In 2017, she penned this essay for Refinery29 about the compliments she got for unintentionally losing weight while performing in “Hello, Dolly!” She wrote,

“I imagine those that have been telling me that I look thin think they are being kind. This is because our society has determined that being smaller is better. And the act of change, in this case losing weight, is a social signal to those around you that they are allowed to comment on your body. The act of getting smaller is considered an achievement, and therefore they feel subliminal permission to comment on it. But here’s the issue: when everyone started telling me I looked smaller, I lost my beautiful mindset that took decades to find. The only reason I am smaller is because I get the joy of dancing my tooshie off eight times a week. I am not thinner because I was trying to be, or because I felt the need to be. Just because my body changed, doesn’t mean I wanted it to.”

Thanks for this important reminder, Beanie.

12. In 2019, Beanie was cast as Monica Lewinsky in the latest season of “American Crime Story,” which will focus on the 1998 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. Here’s the trailer:

Impeccable casting choice!!

13. Working with Melissa McCarthy is her *dream*:

“On ‘Lady Bird,’ Saorise and I were constantly quoting ‘Bridesmaids’ lines back and forth. I have a pipe dream that we could play a young Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy in something.”

14. Not only are Beanie Feldstein and Ben Platt best friends, they’re now also co-stars! In 2019, it was announced that Ben and Beanie will be starring in a film adaption of the Sondheim musical “Merrily We Roll Along,” which will be filmed over the course of 20 years.

Yes, you read the correctly!

The plot of the musical takes place over the span of 20 years, so director Richard Linklater (who filmed “Boyhood” over the course of 12 years) will be sticking to that time frame.

“We’ve always loved ‘Merrily,’ but I think in our college age years, we both kind of fell in love with it,” Beanie told Broadway Buzz about the show and her friendship with Platt. “I got the role in ‘Ladybird’ where we do parts of the show, and I hadn’t seen the musical yet. Ben and I were across the street from Lincoln Center having lunch, and I was like, ‘I really wanna watch it.’ Ben said. ‘Why don’t we try to go to the [New York Public Library for the Performing Arts] archive?’ Ben and I watched it together that day, which was so special. It’ll be worth the wait.”

15. If Beanie weren’t an actress, she would “own a summer camp, or run a summer camp if I didn’t own it…. I love camp. My parents met at camp, and both sets of my grandparents met at camp, so camp holds a deep place in my family’s heart. I went to camp for 10 years and it was the best. I’m such a summer camp person. I went to a more traditional campfire sports camp, and then I also went to a theater camp, so it was nice. I kind of got a little bit of both worlds, but I love camp and I think camp is so important and amazing. I would love to do that.”

16. Beanie, like all of us at Alma, is a big fan of Jewish memes:

17. Beanie is queer! Since 2018 she’s been in a relationship with Bonnie Chance Roberts:

Make sure to peep Bonnie’s necklace!

18. As if things couldn’t get any better for Beanie, she will be starring in a Broadway revival of “Funny Girl” as the one and only Fanny Brice! It’s a role she was clearly born for:

As a bonus, please enjoy this incredible meme about the news:

In 2017 we said, “We can’t wait for Beanie to be everywhere,” and TBH now we can’t wait for her to CONTINUE being everywhere.

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