Ansel Elgort Pays Tribute To Kyle Jean-Baptiste After ‘Les Misérables’ Star's Tragic Death

It isn’t just the Broadway community mourning the loss of Kyle Jean-Baptiste. “Divergent” star Ansel Elgort revealed the “Les Misérables” star was a classmate at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art And Performing Arts. The two starred in a production of “Hairspray” in 2010 where Elgort played Link Larkin and Jean-Baptiste played Seaweed J. Stubbs.

After remembering his former costar, Elgort, 21, also reminded fans to take a lesson from Jean-Baptiste. The "Fault in Our Stars" actor said to seize the day and go after their dreams while they still have the opportunity.

Jean-Baptiste died Friday after he fell off a fourth-floor fire escape in Brooklyn. The New York Times reported the actor had been talking to a friend when he slipped and fell backwards. The police said the death was an accident.

Like Elgort, the actor was just at the beginning of his career. The 21-year-old made history as the first black actor to play Jean Valjean in “Les Misérables” on Broadway. Jean-Baptiste, who was an understudy for Ramin Karmiloo, debuted in the role July 23 and last Thursday was his final performance.

“I’ve had a lot of people message me like, ‘You’ve given me hope. You know, you have inspired me. You have made me believe that I can now go out and say that I want to be Valjean or say that I can do this,’ ” Jean-Baptiste told HuffPost Live earlier this month. “In the beginning, I didn’t even realize how big of deal it was until people told me, ‘This is a big deal.’ ”

“Les Mis” was Jean-Baptiste’s Broadway debut, and he was set to join the Broadway revival of “The Color Purple” alongside Jennifer Hudson later this fall.

Watch Jean-Baptiste's audition for “Les Mis” below: