We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ben Bladon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ben below.
Ben , thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?
Being the only person who looks like me In this industry is way more an advantage more than a hindrance. It’s one of the main reasons I get booked for the characters I play. Of course, I always say my look may be what gets me in the door, but my skill is why they want me to stay in the room
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I didn’t always have dreams to be an actor. Although, I’ve always had a love for movies and television shows, as far as I was concerned, acting was something that people in Los Angeles and New York did, and I didn’t see myself living in either one of those places, so I just never thought it was a realistic goal. I moved to Atlanta, from my hometown in Florence, SC, in 1994 because I was growing tired of small town life and wanted the experience of living in a city. Flash forward to 2012, I was getting tired of going nowhere, working dead end jobs, and trying several endeavors to get ahead that didn’t work out, I decided to try and reinvent myself. I quit drinking, which was one of the biggest things that was holding me back, and was trying to figure out what my next move was. Unbeknownst to me, it was right about that time that the film industry was starting to move to Georgia. I had started playing different characters in a major haunted attraction called the Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse, as a way to connect to people, still not thinking about actually pursuing acting, when a few of my friends from there suggested that I submit for playing Zombies on The Walking Dead, which I ended up playing at least 13 different heavily featured zombies over the span of the next 4 years. In between that, I started doing as much background performing work as I could (man walking down sidewalk type stuff) trying to figure out how to get more into the industry. I got my first taste of being an actor when I got hired to play a possessed corpse on Constantine the TV Series, based on my different looks on TWD. I was hired as a featured extra, but I had a few lines of dialogue, and the director liked my performance so much, he decided to upgrade my status on the show from featured extra to principal performer, and so I found out the benefits of working under a SAG contract. After that, I knew what the goal was, but continued to do extra work while I was figuring out how to get there. Then I got booked on an Adult Swim show called Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell. Again, I was booked originally as a background performer, but on that show, the BG were given a lot of opportunities for physical comedy, which the directors liked so much, they started giving me speaking lines, and they liked that so much, they started giving me more speaking lines, until by the end of the show’s run, I was an actual character on the show. From there, I decided to invest some of the money I had made from that show into acting classes, which led to me getting signed by Privilege Talent, who I feel I can safely call one of the top five agencies in the southeast market., and I’m steadily doing auditions to this day. All of this has given me something to work towards, and a future to strive for, which in turn has given me a sense of purpose unlike anything I’ve experienced before
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
One skill is definitely knowing how to learn lines. Not just memorize them, but KNOW them. To some it comes more naturally than others, and they have classes that can help with that.
Another skill is being able to follow directions without your ego getting in the way. This is not your story, if you want it to be your story, look into becoming a filmmaker. Until then, you are being hired to be used as a tool to tell someone else’s story. You’ll never hear me say “I don’t think my character would do that”. If something doesn’t make sense to you, ask the director about it and work it out together, but never be confrontational about it with the director or the writers. Always be humble
Qualities that go far in this industry are openess, honesty, being able to show vulnerability, and above all else, the fearlessness to be yourself in a world where too many people try to hard to be something they’re not. I know that sounds ironic in an industry, where we are pretending to be other people, but it’s the truth.
Lastly, if you are fortunate enough to get your foot in the door of this industry, then, even playing the smallest parts, you are living a life that most people only dream of. Always come from a place of gratitude and, again, humility.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
What’s been most helpful has been my decision to take acting classes. If you want to be on the big union production’s, you have to take classes. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can get by on natural talent. This is an extremely competitive industry. You can have all of the natural talent in the world, and it won’t mean anything, because you’ll never be given the chance to prove it, unless they see training on your résumé. Also, despite however much natural talent you do have, I can guarantee you once you start taking those classes, you’ll realize how little you actually know
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Theamazingbenbladon
- Facebook: Facebook.com/characteractorben
- Twitter: @Theamazingbenb
- Youtube: @bbladon
Image Credits
Your Pretty Face is Going To Hell – Adult Swim Florida Girls – POP Constantine the Series – NBC Headshot – Sean Patrick Photography
