L.J. Benet Is As Obsessed With Twilight As You Are

L.J. Benet manifested his Broadway debut, even if he didn’t realize it at the time. “I was Edward Cullen three years in a row for Halloween. I thought I was the coolest person ever,” he tells Bustle. The look turned out to be eerily prophetic: The 29-year-old is now starring at the Palace Theatre in the new musical The Lost Boys, a punk-rock remake of the 1987 teen vampire film.

Benet plays Michael Emerson, who moves from Phoenix to the fictional Santa Carla, Calif., with his mom, Lucy (Shoshana Bean), and younger brother, Sam (Benjamin Pajak). He falls in with the wrong crowd, nearly becoming one of the undead — all to impress a girl.

Benet can relate to his character in more ways than one. Like his alter ego, the actor also recently uprooted his life, having moved from his Los Angeles hometown to New York to prep for his Broadway run. (Before Lost Boys, he was part of the Hollywood Bowl’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and guest-starred on The Mentalist and Disney Channel’s Dog With a Blog.) He also understands Michael’s need for community: “I get the idea of just wanting to be seen, known, and cared for. That’s all I deeply wanted when I was his age,” he says, adding, “I tried to fit in anywhere I could, joining different cliques, groups, and then adapting to that.”

Benet also has a Rolodex of former crushes and out-of-pocket deeds to impress them. “What’s the craziest thing I haven’t done for a crush?” he says, recalling a time he snuck into school with a girl to wander around the campus and “feel cool.” “I didn’t have to pull from a lot,” he says, jokingly.

Throughout the show, Benet belts out angsty rock songs written by the indie band The Rescues, some while flying on a harness. One such number, “Belong to Someone,” is a particular favorite of the actor’s — he initially wasn’t interested in the show, and hearing the punk ballad convinced him to go for the role.

“I had a two-day carpentry job, and it was really good money,” he says. “My agent was like, ‘Are you stupid?’ Then I listened to ‘Belong to Someone’ and had a mental breakdown in my garage for 30 minutes. I put it on tape 15 minutes later.”

When Benet finally got the part, he made a pilgrimage to Theater District. “My mom told me that my grandpa used to distribute Playbills for theaters in New York,” he says. “I celebrated by going to the Palace and envisioning my grandpa handing out Playbills — and now it’s cool that I’m doing a show.”

On his dressing room must-haves:

I have Throat Coat and ginger teas, Olbas, Grether’s Pastilles, and this cough syrup, Pei Pa Koa. I saw Cynthia Erivo say, “I live and die by this,” and I was like, “I’m going to live and die by that.”

I have an espresso machine that I would die without, because I need coffee 24/7, and my little Broadway.com bottle that I’ve been using every single night. I drink a gallon of water during the show because it’s so high intensity, so I have waters left and right.

And before the show, I listen to spa music because I like feeling calm. I can’t be crazy or else I will go crazy on stage. I literally type “stress relief” on Spotify, and it’s just all the corny, generic music you would hear if you walk into a spa.

On pre-show steak and eggs:

I haven’t done a lot of venturing out since being here — it’s been sleep, rehearsal, show, repeat. Before every show, I have steak, eggs, hash browns, and toast from Carnegie Diner. The craziest thing is, I didn’t know it was right next to the Palace. I was walking my dog, Boston, one day outside the theater and realized it’s literally down the block. I’d been ordering from Uber Eats the entire time.

On his biggest pre-show superstition:

I have a scripture verse I say every night before I go out. It’s something that got me through a really, really hard time a couple of years ago, and I didn’t know if theater was going to be in my future at all.

There was a verse somebody shared with me: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humbled in heart. You will find rest for your souls.” I think it’s cool to find rest in the thing that you love the most. I never thought I’d find a character who I could rest in so much. So I always say it really, really fast right before I go up.

On do-nothing days off:

You can’t pay me to do anything. I do nothing, sit on my couch, and order Uber Eats twice a day. The only thing I do is take Boston out, because he’s such a good man throughout the week and he needs to go on big walks.

On lessons from Shoshana Bean:

Shoshana has really taken me under her wing, and every ounce of wisdom, advice, encouragement, and thoughtfulness she has, she’s given me. Musicals are so much bigger than the people you’re playing onstage — they’re about the relationships you’re creating outside of them. And she’s led by example. I got sick twice during rehearsals, and she always had something for me that day, whether it was soup or a home remedy. She took care of me. She’s my mom.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.