We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Benjamin Schnau a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Benjamin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?
I’ll never forget the first big acting job I booked. I played the lead role for a Netflix/National Geographic co-production called ‘Megastructures’; I played the lead role of real person ‘Jupp Klein’ who led his troupe out of Italy to save his men and their families. It was an honor to portrait and tell his story and being able to throw in all my skills as an actor to bring this story to life. The set design and wardrobe were just incredible and everyone around the director and film crew did an amazing job that shows on screen every second. That was the starting point for my acting career which led to many more amazing blockbuster movies and TV-shows to this day.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Benjamin Schnau and I’m an internationally acclaimed actor and author of the book ‘The reality of Hollywood’. I speak native American English, German and French and I’m a professionally trained boxer experienced in stage and weapon combat. I’m widely known for my role ‘Minion’ in the Academy-Award Winning movie ‘Mank’ alongside Academy-Award Winner Gary Oldman directed by David Fincher released on Netflix, ‘The Current War’ opposite the protagonist George Westinghouse portrayed by actor Michael Shannon and for my lead role ‘Jupp Klein’ ‘Megastructures’ produced by National Geographic available on Netflix. In addition to acting in movies and television roles, I have been acclaimed for my “live” acting expertise, as manifested by my serving as the on-air “host” for prestigious Hollywood events like the red-carpet events at the American Heart Association. I’m honored to have won the award for ‘Best actor’ for my role of Leon in the movie ‘Against All Odds’ at the Oniros Film Awards and New York International Film Awards and also ‘Best Supporting Actor of the Year’ at the Top Shorts Film Festival for my role of Gunther Wolfgang in the movie ‘The little picture”. Due to my multilingual ability, I’m an established voice over actor as well who has given his voice for movies like “American Animals” and “Nothing to lose” which have been released in 2018. My book ‘The Reality of Hollywood’ with its worldwide release in 2021 educates and guides upcoming actors to establish themselves in the film industry in Hollywood long-term. Feature Film “Silent Night in Algona” shows me besides Hollywood Actor Taylor Nichols known for his roles in “Metropolitan” and “Jurassic Park III “which was released theatrically in the beginning of 2023. My latest feature film Righteous Thieves playing the critical role ‘Mauren’ was recently released by Lionsgate in movie theatres throughout the U.S. and will be released on Apple TV and Amazon Prime in Fall 2023.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Yes, I believe having resilience in acting or any creative profession is a key element to succeed, but it all comes down how you treat yourself and your life and WHY you got on that journey in the first place. In this industry, you are the product if you want it or not. You need to understand what you are worth and use it to your advantage. A lot of people always have the misconception that being confident comes across as arrogant, but it’s the way HOW you present yourself. That’s why you should always think about where you are coming from every single day. That’s what I’m doing. Then the success that you live today or tomorrow can be already gone the day after. It’s a fast-paced environment and you have to accept that. So, knowing who you are and what you are capable of made me stronger in believing in myself and how I carry myself on the outside. This has an effect on people which turns into respect, trust, and value of the person. I always make sure that my actions speak for themselves and louder than words. Trust became such a valuable asset. People in this industry like working with people who know what they can bring to the table and in the end deliver. Dreams are pretty much the reason that got me on that journey of becoming a successful actor in the industry. I use exactly that to my advantage. I always stick to that dream, even remind myself of it but I see the small steps in front of me to get there. I always say the industry is far from being linear. I did many auditions in my life, but you can’t book every single job. I remember I had that one specific audition which I felt very positive about as I felt the character and story and knew this is MY role. I didn’t book it at the end, but let it go and focused on the next one reminding myself again why I’m here doing what I love. Sometimes you might do certain things by turning left or right for a certain amount of time to find your way back on the main path. If you expect to reach your ultimate dream right at the beginning of your career you might experience a lot of disappointment as that is usually not how it goes. Don’t let yourself dazzle from these so heard ‘overnight’ success stories. They might exist but are very rare and usually don’t happen as often anymore like back in the golden age of Hollywood. Bottom line is, I take steps that I feel comfortable about but have a sense of what could further your career. In today’s market, it’s all about exposure and collaboration with other people in the industry. If that wasn’t part of your ideal plan, then think twice. Every step in this industry can count sooner or later, it’s about the people you meet and projects you work on that can determine and lead to later projects and roles you want to do. Hollywood is a big net of people you wouldn’t even expect are connected. Therefore, be grateful for every opportunity that comes your way as it might be the first connection to the bigger puzzle in this industry.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Being an actor is the most beautiful thing in life for me. I’m a natural observer and curious about life, so for me to able to tell stories and live so many different lives of even real people is something that only acting can give me. Every time I receive a new script and prepare for a character and their background, I want to explore different aspects of the person, learn about the character, why he says or does certain things and at the end become the character. As soon as I start reading, I create a whole world in my mind, imagining of how the character lives, speaks, behaves even walks which to me is the beginning of my own very personal transformation to become him. It is a fascinating ongoing process that brings me so much joy as my goal is always to be truthful but tell the characters story in my own unique way based on how I envision this world. It’s something I created from scratch, a world that just I can see and feel at least at the beginning but then share it with the world. The feeling and energy you receive when your performance hits the audience is just incredible. When you move them emotionally and provide something so unique and meaningful to every single person in the room, so they walk away, maybe connect with themselves again, learn something or just have a good time, that’s when I feel the reward and know why I love acting so much.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4250622/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminschnau/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bschnau
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@benjaminschnau9108
- Other: Links to my book ‘The Reality of Hollywood’ https://www.amazon.com/Reality-Hollywood-Success-Through-Actors-ebook/dp/B09WQD71YF/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1JQCKV4F0H7B&keywords=benjamin+schnau&qid=1648699506&sprefix=benjamin+schnau%2Caps%2C255&sr=8-3 https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-reality-of-hollywood