Interview with an actor Benjamin Jacob Smith

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Benjamin Jacob Smith is an actor, known for Edgar I Am (2017), A Sign of Things (2017) and Innocence (2017). We were happy to find out more about his projects so we asked him some questions about his work and plans for the future.

 

Ben, when did you realise that you want to be an actor and why?

I think I have known for a while, I am a big fan of cinema and theatre and have been from a young age. I still get chills walking into a cinema with my pick-a-mix, it’s a feeling I’ll always have. So from a young age, the glow of the screen has attracted me. As I dive deeper into the craft and art of acting I am amazed to find myself enjoying it more and more. Developing my craft is very important to me and I enjoy exploring the different areas and styles of performance. How different people can tell a story so differently always entrances me.

 

When did you start with acting and what was your first project like?

I have been acting for several years now on a professional basis. I was blessed to begin my ‘career’ work straight out of school and develop relationships with casting director and directors early in my career. I have endeavored to grow as a person and an actor by studying different techniques and exploring different elements. Outside of my acting, I have grown too, traveling and pushing every door and opportunity has developed me as a person. My projects have ranged from, commercials, to outdoor theatre, to television dramas, and most recently to Motion and Performance Capture.

 

 

What is your best project to date and why?

Working in Andy Serkis's Imaginarium studios has been a highlight of my career to date and really felt like climbed the next step in my career, a move which really started with my relocation to London. I was fortunate in having a superb mentor in The MoCap Academy with veteran performance capture artist Niel Newbon. Getting suited up was a surprisingly normal thing to do, the skin tight onesies felt quite natural, maybe that says more about me though, but once I entered the volume [the studio] and the excitement had washed over me I have never felt more focused or ready to play through my work.

 

Where do you see yourself in the future?

Over the last five years, I have grown from a small town wannabe actor in Ballymena, to a working professional in London. This growth has come from a serious determination to chase a dream. I always look at Matthew McConaughey’s Oscar acceptance speech in which he says, “my hero, is me ten years in the future”. I want to strive to be a better actor, a better person and hopefully make the world a little better in that process!

 

Photo credit: Gareth Montgomery