Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Bladon.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When I was born, I suffered minor brain damage due to lack of oxygen spent the first year of my life in an oxygen tent. The doctors told my parents I would never walk or talk, which thankfully, they were wrong. Growing up, this caused me to have a pretty severe lack of motor coordination. I struggled with ordinary tasks which most people found easy. I was hospitalized several more times as a child, mostly for “tests” (that’s all I knew anyway. And once for spinal meningitis. I was diagnosed with scoliosis, which made me look kind of funny. All things considered, I didn’t have a bad childhood, but everything I mentioned above caused me to grow up feeling like I didn’t quite fit in, which would lead to depression and ultimately a drinking problem. I had no direction in life, just kinda floating from one dead-end job to the next. I had never seriously entertained the idea of being an actor. Acting with something that people who lived in LA or New York did, and I didn’t really see myself living in either of those places so it was never something I seriously considered.
Flash Forward to 2012, I decided I had enough of the way I was living and made the decision to get sober. After a few months of recovery, still having no clear idea of what to do with myself but wanting to reconnect with people, I joined a haunted attraction here in Atlanta called the Atlanta zombie apocalypse. I spent a few years with them playing different characters, scaring the hell out of people (which was a lot of fun), and making new friends, and it was there that people started trying to talking me into trying out to play zombies (walkers) on the Walking Dead., which I did and I ended up playing several of the featured zombies on the show for the next four years. After the first season on TWD, I was approached by another casting director to play a featured SPFX monster on Constantine the tv series. It was considered a featured extra role, but I had a few speaking lines. While we were in the middle of filming, I was informed that the director made the decision to upgrade my status from featured extra to principal performer, so I got my first taste of what it was like to be actor on a network TV show, and the benefits that came with it, and it was then that I finally knew what I wanted to do with my life. The only question was, how to do it?
I continued to work as background performer for the next few years, trying to figure out how to become an actor, until I got on a comedy show on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network after hours) called Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell. I started out as a background performer on the show, but the directors and producers of the show liked my physical comedy enough that they decided to see how I would do with a scene with speaking lines, with led to another scene with speaking lines and by the next season, I was a full-time principal performer on the show. So, that was enough to prove to Myself that I could do it, but now the question was, how do I make the bigger casting directors see it.
It was then that I decided to invest some of the money I had made from Your Pretty Face and invest in taking acting classes. I found a school called Drama Inc, which I fell in love with, and still take classes there to this day. I started off with couple of smaller On Camera classes at first and then decided to take their big intensive class in the Meisner acting technique. At the classes final showcase, I met My now agents, Jacob and Corey Lawson. They watched my performance and told me afterwards they liked what they saw and wanted to set up a meeting. I was signed to the Privilege Talent Agency the following week (FYI, at this point, it’s 2018).
My first couple of acting jobs with my new agency was a three-episode recurring part on a tv show called Florida Girls and a critically acclaimed award-winning film called Zola, I have since had small speaking roles in big name shows like Ozark, Heels, and NCIS: New Orleans, and a few other productions I’m not allowed to talk about yet. I’m steadily doing auditions, still taking classes, and am genuinely excited about what the future has in store.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Well, I already told you about my childhood troubles. The biggest obstacle for me, since I started out as a background performer, was making the transition from being a background performer to an actor. I ultimately figured out that taking classes was the best way to do that, but it still wasn’t easy for a while. To get the industry to see me as more than a BG. Even after that, the life of an actor can be somewhat discouraging. I started off as I said working on a couple of things in 2018, but then in 2019, I auditioned for a straight year and didn’t book one single thing. It’s easy to want to give up in a situation like that, but I made myself keep going, and I’m glad I did. 2021 was a GREAT year, and for now, there’s no reason to believe 2022 won’t be just as good or better.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m what’s known as a Character Actor, or an actor who plays very different and distinct characters. I specialize mostly in acting in heavy SPFX (special effects) prosthetics and make up. As I said, I got my start playing zombies on The Walking Dead and a creature character on Constantine the TV series. Once I got signed to my agent, I kind of let go of doing just that and started playing more conventional characters (There are no monsters on Ozark or NCIS, at least not supernatural ones), But I’m still more than willing to do the prosthetics and make up if the job calls for it.
The thing I’m most proud of so far is my work on Florida Girls. I even got mentioned in an article in the Hollywood Reporter for that one.
What sets me apart from others: Professionally, it’s my look. I’ve been told I have a unique look that will take me far in this industry. Hopefully, they’re right also hopefully, it won’t just be my look but the fact that I’ve taken honing my craft very seriously that has something to do with it.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
CLASSES!!! You can have all the natural talent in the world, and casting directors still won’t look at you unless they see you have training on your resume. You might even learn to be a better actor in the process (just kidding, you will trust me).
Don’t get too attached to wanting any certain role or show. Do your best on your auditions, take what you get, and be grateful for it. This is a business of rejection, and disappointment comes with the territory, but don’t let it define you.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @theamazingbenbladon
- Facebook: Facebook.com/characteractorben
- Twitter: @theamazingbenb
Image Credits:
Headshots by Sean Patrick Photography Demon Ben from the TV show Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell Zombie from short film “Hungry” courtesy of Dionne Royal Davidson Wattie from the TV show Florida Girls
