Meet Ben Dukes

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ben Dukes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ben below.

Ben, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

This is an interesting question, because I’m not sure anyone every really DOES overcome imposter syndrome. Even as you stack successes in your career, you’re perpetually looking to take that NEXT step, and the longer it takes to get there, the more you question an opportunity when it arrives. I think, though, I’ve been able to generally dismiss it with this thought: “The person hiring me feels I belong, so I must.” I remember when I first played music on TV. I was working at The Late Late Show as an Audience Coordinator, and the host, Craig Ferguson, discovered I was a musician. He heard some of my music and I suppose he wanted to ‘give the kid a shot’, so he had the EP Michael Naidus offer me and my band a performance spot on the show. All we had to do was give them a CD to pick a song, and then we’d schedule a date. Awesome, right? But in that moment, I didn’t have a CD. We were just performing in bars, or I would do solo bringer-shows at singer/songwriter nights. If ever there was a chance to feel like an imposter, that was it. But, I just said “sure, we’ll bring you CD next week.” And then I called the boys, booked a studio, and recorded a CD over the weekend. We picked a song, set a date, and when Craig introduced me to the world, he called me “A Spectacular American Artist” … and I let that resonate. Hey, he’s a nationally syndicated television host. If he thinks I’m great, who was I to argue? That moment didn’t lead to fame and glory. I didn’t suddenly become some mainstream musical success or a big star. It led to more grinding, touring, appearances, etc.. and then eventually back to acting. But it taught me that when anytime I feel like I’m not “enough” when taking on a new role, I just need to remember, I’m being given the opportunity in the first place, because I AM enough.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am an actor, first and foremost – one who enjoys stepping into another’s skin and running around for a while. I am big and strong, so often the first thought people think in casting is “The Heavy” or “The Bruiser”, and I’m happy to jump into those roles, but when I do, it’s not with an overriding sense of intimidation or aggression. I’m a generally affable person, with a strong sense of humor and a fairly gentle nature – who can be an absolute monster when necessary. I am a leader, have been my entire life – from leading the fire drill lines in elementary school, to winning awards in college football, to directing crews on set. That comes through on camera as well, so even when I’m a “lackey”, I come across as the one with more going on behind his eyes.

What I find exciting about this life is cracking a new role open and telling a new story – finding that part of me that exists inside that story, and squeezing it for all I can. While I enjoy playing the hero, I’m not going to shy away from being an “evil” villain – I’m going to explore the circumstances that would make me behave in the manner he does, and then play it as honestly as I possibly can.

THAT is the magic in what we do. We get explore life in a way that is scripted yes, but very free as a result. We get to try tactics, explore emotions, go places that might otherwise be too risky – but in the world of film, are free of the consequence of “real life.” And then, the audience gets to experience the result of that, to connect to it, and feel alive in a way that perhaps they otherwise wouldn’t. I love that.

As a Writer/Director, my goal is similar – to tell stories that resonate with people and allow them to feel emotions and have thoughts that they may not experience in their day to day lives.

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?

If I had to pin a few top qualities down, I’d say they are my curiosity, my tenacity, and my delusion.

This career is insane. Truly, it is an insane idea to think a kid is going to grow up in a small town in Georgia, move to California knowing nobody, and have a decent shot at what is truly the “Olympics” of professional acting. That’s what Hollywood is. Even with production expanding all over the world, this is still the business’s most competitive landscape, and the streets are paved with the broken dreams of hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of actors who wanted to make it, but just never did – no matter how talented they were. To even pursue this, is an exercise of pure insanity. Thank God I’m delusional enough to think I could do it.

That’s where tenacity comes in. There is rejection on almost a daily basis, and if you don’t learn to love failure, and see it as the chance for growth that it is, then you don’t have much of a shot at this career. Sure, some folks will find luck and success early, and for those people, this isn’t immediately important. It might be a decade or so down the road, when they are in a different space in life and the old calls aren’t coming any more. They might develop their tenacity then. I developed mine before I ever got here, so no matter how hard life has been, I’ve always been able to put my next foot forward and just keep pushing. You can insert whatever pithy “just keep going” statement you want here, because they’re all accurate. When you stop pushing, THAT is when you fail.

Finally, curiosity – looking for alternatives, looking for new ways into a character, new ways into a story. THAT is where the fun comes in. “But what if I do it *this* way” has, in my experience, led to more fun exploration of characters and scenes – and more jobs that I’ve enjoyed immensely. That endless curiosity of what COULD be instead of “what casting wants” is a wonderful place to play.

If I had some advice, it would be – be curious about everything around you. Watch and listen to people. See how they act/react to things in their lives, and USE that when crafting your own moments in your work. Be tenacious – rejections come and go, and they aren’t a reflection of you as a person or your talent, simply that the work you did in that moment didn’t match up with what the buyer wanted. No big deal. There WILL be other opportunities, provided you keep pushing for them. And be Delusional. There is absolutely no reason this should work out for anyone – which includes EVERYONE ELSE – so since that’s true, who’s to say it can’t work out for you?

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

The top challenge, for many actors (and certainly myself) is simply in securing the work that I want to perform. That is a MONSTER of a task, and it seems more and more like the traditional path of audition-callback-book a role is the most difficult of all of them. With the advancements in technology, there has never been more competition for eyeballs than there is today, and taking your chances simply with breakdowns seems to be doing yourself a massive disservice. I love my reps, and I audition regularly, but I find that there are roles for which I’d love to compete, that I never hear about until I see them on Deadline. I want to be in the conversation before the role hits breakdowns, and that means, generally, personal relationships.

So, I’ve been working to get out and meet more industry decision makers, more creatives, and honestly, more people who AREN’T involved in the industry, but would like to be (because I write/direct, and am interested in investors who are interested in my projects). That takes a lot of different forms. I put new work up when it airs, I create new work of my own, I go to festivals where I do and don’t have projects screening, I meet with folks who reach out with investment questions, etc. And, I was happy to be approached for this article, because it has the chance to put me in front of more folks who may have an interest in working with me!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bendukes.com
• Instagram: @bendukes
• Twitter: @bendukes

Image Credits

David J. Crewe, Jim Donnelly