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Benjamin Ratner
 Benjamin: "I felt like I finally found a place I truly belonged".
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Conducted by Phil
Davies Brown July 21st, 2006
Ben Ratner has already notched up
appearances in many of genre TV's finest shows, yet he continues working
within the realms of the genre and beyond, continuing to grow as an
actor.
I caught up with Ben to chat about the differences
between film and television acting, and the reasons for Canada's
reputation as the number one destination to shoot genre shows.
Read on for the skinny on the benefits of working in
Canada and to find out what working of some of the world's favourite genre
shows entails.
How did you get into
acting?
Many paths lead me to acting. Between the ages of 11-25, I was an
amateur boxer, a standup comedian, a journalist, and a musician When I
took my first acting class I felt like I finally found a place I truly
belonged and I've stuck with it.
You worked on the movie Fall
into Darkness, what was that like to work on?
Fall Into Darkness? I think I played the shifty boyfriend of the girl
from Growing Pains in that. It was a MOW back in '96 or something.
 Benjamin:
"I must have been well cast".
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You appeared in both The Outer
Limits and the Twilight Zone. Did you enjoy being a part of two of the
most widely recognised genre shows ever to appear on TV?
I did two episodes of The Outer Limits. One was an electrician who is
horribly electrocuted by evil spirits. They had me in full body make up
from my scalp to my waist; burns, blood, boils, the works. It was very
nasty to put on and even nastier getting it off. The other episode I was
a gang leader called "Blanco" who messes with the wrong guy. In that one I
had a huge Pompadour with a big white spot -- hence the name,
"Blanco."
In Twilight Zone I played a sleazy Hollywood agent.
When I arrived on set the assistant director actually thought I was one of
the actor's agents, so I must have been well cast.
Kingdom Hospital was highly
anticipated by genre fans. Was it a pleasurable shooting
experience?
I was glad to work on a show by the master, Stephen King, and I was glad
to be extremely overpaid for a change.
You have also appeared on both
The Collector and Smallville which are current hot favourites amongst
young audiences, how do these shows differ with say Kingdom Hospital which
is perhaps a little more marketed towards adults?
On Smallville and The Collector the cast is young and learning on the
job, in Kingdom hospital the cast are seasoned veterans. Older cast
equals older audience. By the time Smallville and Collector finish their
runs, however, their cast members will also be veterans of television, and
eventually they will be playing Moms and Dads and crazy old doctors, too.
 Benjamin:
"It was not a career highlight for me".
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The Dead Zone is another great
show you have worked on. Why do you think it has managed to be more
popular than the film version?
The Dead Zone movie was fantastic. Christopher Walken was in his
creative prime when that was shot. Perhaps Michael Hall, frankly, was a
more focused performer about twenty years ago, but I was still glad to
have been on the TV show version for two episodes - once as Michael's
lawyer and once as the nut case who kidnaps him. Michael did send me a
thank you note after my second episode, which was a classy and unexpected
gesture.
Now that you have conquered TV
do you plan to move into film?
I have done many films, both Canadian and US. If you want to see some of
my leading roles look for Last Wedding, 19 Months, Moving Malcolm, and
the upcoming Mount Pleasant, to name a few. I am currently playing
Matthew Perry's brother in a film called Numb.
You were in the film Severed
which has had great word of mouth. How did that come
about?
I know the director, Carl, from around town here in Vancouver,
and told him I would be glad to appear in the film if he wanted me in it.
He cast me as one of the evil businessmen. I'm glad the film had good
word of mouth, but it was not a career highlight for me.
The film has a great cast.
Did you all get along?
I shot all my stuff in a few days with Jerry Wasserman, and didn't see
most of the other cast, who are indeed fine young actors.
Canada is the place to be for
genre projects of late, why do you think Canada proves popular amongst
producers? Surely it's not just tax breaks?
As long as it makes financial sense for US productions to shoot here, they
will. They're not coming for the fresh air and good weed, I assure
you.
What can we expect to see you
in next?
I just did an episode of Stargate, which may appeal to your genre
audience, and the aforementioned Mount Pleasant and Numb, which will be
out in 2007.
"Thank you ever so much for taking part in this interview
Benjamin. And we wish you the very best of luck in the future."
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