Broadway star Ben Platt, who recently came out gay in the video for his single “Ease My Mind,” praised Ellen DeGeneres for paving the way for other LGBT celebrities to come out.

In the video for “Ease My Mind” from Platt's album Sing To Me Instead, Platt shares a kiss with out actor Charlie Carver.

He later told PEOPLE Magazine that he's been out since he was 12.

“That's a very new thing for me,” the 25-year-old Platt told DeGeneres during an appearance on her daytime talk show. “I’ve never had the opportunity, in my work or in my art, to discuss my sexuality or my relationships, so to have an opportunity to do that through something personal and through my piece of work has been wonderful.”

“I am very inspired by you, because in the way that you discuss your sexuality and your relationships, it became part of the art,” Platt continued. “[It’s] part of what makes you so funny, and so fantastic, and not in replace of. That was just really inspiring to me.”

Platt added that he hopes one day coming out doesn't have to be a “giant announcement.”

“Hopefully, we're past the time where it has to be this whole giant announcement and it can just be part of who you are,” he said.

“That's what it should be,” DeGeneres answered. “It should just be like, 'Oh, we happen to know that that person is gay,' and that should be it.”

Platt has appeared in Broadway productions of The Music Man, The Book of Mormon, and Dear Evan Hansen, for which he won a Tony. His film credits include Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2, and Ricki and the Flash. He'll appear in director Ryan Murphy's upcoming Netflix series The Politician.