With Dear Evan Hansen, Rachel Bay Jones combines the ferocity of her acting talent with the strength of her singular sound to create Heidi Hansen, the struggling mother of the show’s title character.

“My experiences as a mother and as a daughter are something I like to explore while I’m doing this show,” says Jones of her ability to bring honesty to her performance.

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She also attributes her success to the show’s full company. “This whole team is so beautiful and so excellent and so exacting and so perfect and so so so so...“ she says. “I’m just grateful every day to be experiencing this entire creative process with all of them because it really has been that.”

And there is one person, in particular, without whom, Jones says, she could not achieve her Heidi. “Jennifer Laura Thompson,” Jones says with a smile. “Her grace, and her intelligence, and her heart as a mother has been an invaluable bonding experience for me throughout this show.”

Watch: 2017 Tony nominees reveal the person without whom they couldn’t do their job: