Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sam Benjamin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sam, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The biggest risk I’ve taken was leaving my home town and moving to London to make it as an actor.

I was born in Birkenhead in the North West of England. As the son of a hairdresser and a taxi driver my desire to pursue a career as an actor was not exactly a path well trodden. Nor was my closest city, Liverpool, particularly flush with opportunities for professional actors at the time. London was the place to be. Where the major theatres were, where most of the filming happened, and where most of the auditions, agents, directors and production companies were based.

I went to a traditional Grammar School which didn’t offer drama as a subject. Which meant that my main experience as a young lad was treading the boards at my local community theatres. Or ‘Am Dram’ as we call it in England. These groups were full of enthusiastic talented individuals.

I knew one true professional in the industry. A man called Don Webb. He was a director, writer and creator. He had shows on at the National Theatre and wrote the TV series ‘Juliet Bravo’. He saw me perform at the amateur local playhouse ‘The Little Theatre’ and said I had something. But he said if I was to have any chance of making a living as an actor ‘you’ve got to go down to London, kid.’

I had no formal training. None of my family were actors. The career advisors at school laughed at me when I said my true calling was to be a professional actor. They suggested I think about becoming a trading standards officer. Or work in insurance. Something ‘stable’.

For a while I studied Law and was being groomed to go to University on a path to becoming a Barrister. ‘Speaking in the courtroom is a bit like acting anyway’ people would say. But I knew in my gut this was not my path. So after some time on the dole (unemployment benefits) due to a lack of opportunity for any jobs in my local area, I secured a job in a bank, and set upon the task of saving money to go to Drama School in London. I would pretend to my boss that I was trying to build a career in banking, but on weekends I was going down South to secretly audition for the major accredited schools in the Big Smoke.

It was nerve racking doing so. It felt like everything was on the line.

But after auditioning, I got 3 offers from 3 different drama schools, and chose the one that felt right: Drama Studio London. I slapped my letter of resignation on my boss’s desk at the bank and set off into the unknown to train as an actor, in a city I barely knew, with a few quid in my pocket.

Sam, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Sam Benjamin and I’m a professional actor, screenwriter and now director. I’ve played roles in a number of prime time TV shows including Peaky Blinders and Doctor Who. I’m particularly proud of my appearance in BBC’s The War of the Worlds opposite the incredible Eleanor Tomlinson. As well as my turn as the Liverpudlian police officer in the aforementioned Peaky Blinders – mainly because my Mum got to come on set and watch her son do his thing!

I became a professional actor after competing my formal full time acting training at Drama Studio London. Prior to that I was one of a dozen or so people selected for the NSDF Ensemble summer school, where I studied under John Britton and Sir Patrick Stewart. This gave me an incredible grounding for the business. And equipped me with tools that I have used ever since.

You’ve asked me what I think sets me apart from all the others in my field. This feels more like a question for a different kind of business because there’s a certain je ne sais quoi when it comes to acting and casting actors in a movie or a show. Sometimes a role fits. Sometimes it doesn’t. But what I will say is that I pride myself on total commitment to every role. I’m great at accents. And I do a wonderful eyebrow raise – one I hope Sir Roger Moore would be proud of!

Alongside my actor exploits I’m also a writer. I won the BBC Sponsored ‘Best Script Talent’ award for the TV pilot ‘Liverpool 81’. I then wrote the heist movie ‘The Pay Day’ with Kyla Frye, directed by Sam Bradford, which is now available to rent/buy on Amazon. I also sold the thriller script ‘Roommate Regret’ last year, directed by Peter Foldy which was on the Lifetime channel. I’ve been told I’m great at genre stories, dynamic dialogue and characters that jump off the page. So if you’re in the market for a screenwriter, gimme a shout.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

In different circumstances I think my Nan and my Dad could have been movie stars.

She would have lit up the screen as a sassy strong leading lady like Barbara Stanwyck. And my Dad would have brought a dangerous charm like a would-be British Jack Nicholson. Without realising it, their passion for Hollywood movies and their talent for storytelling acted as a catalyst for pursuing my acting dream.

So honouring their legacy and channelling their spirit however I can, into the roles I play is a huge goal of mine.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience is non negotiable for an actor.

I’ve showed up to, or taped for, hundreds of auditions in my career so far. The vast majority of these I’ve either been told ‘no’, told ‘we’ve gone in another direction’, or not heard anything in response. You have to find an inner strength. Or perhaps just a blind defiance to carry on sometimes.

This is the journey. And not every role is right for you.

But if your gut is telling you that you’re pursuing what makes your soul sing, then you’re probably on the right track. So we keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/sambenjaminnow
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sambenjaminnow/
• Twitter: https://x.com/SamBenjaminNow

Image Credits

Brunenfrance

Astrid Schultz

Praxima