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A nephew living the dreamMARK Benton was
last in Birmingham a couple of years ago, not that you would have
recognised him as he donned his best frock playing Edna Turnblad to
critical acclaim in the touring production of
Hairspray And he returns at the start of another tour as
Inspector Andre Thibault, the chief of police and unofficial bodyguard
of conman Lawrence. He said: “I’m really enjoying it. It’s good fun.
The script is great and there are some great songs in it.” Benton is a familiar
face on television with a host of roles, including maths teacher Daniel
Chalk in Waterloo Road and most recently as the host of BBC daytime quiz
show The Edge
while in 2013 he reached week 10 in Strictly Come Dancing which is no
mean feat, as well as showing some rather mean feet, so to speak. He was also, for a
while the TV face of th “I have been very lucky, lucky to do a lot of
really different stuff, I met Jerry (Mitchell, the Producer) originally
for the role and we had a chat about it but I wasn’t free because of
Strictly and the Strictly tour. When it came up again I just wanted to
do it because it’s just so much fun, and I love the role of Andre
because it has a bit of everything, and he gets the love story in Act II
so it is great fun.
“I enjoy comedy but I enjoy drama. I have had
parts I have hated in comedy and in drama and had jobs I have loved in
both, Luckily this is not one of the hated ones.” Born in Guisborough in the North Riding, Benton’s
career in acting followed a family tradition. He said: “My uncle was an
actor and I wanted to be like him, and then I did as much amateur stuff
as I could, went to drama school and the rest is history. His first acting experiences came with amateur
roles in nearby Middlesbrough, including roles with Middlesbrough Youth
Theatre and “anything I could get into just to satisfy my need to act.” Benton, with an impressive CV of TV, films, radio
and stage behind him, still has a soft spot and respect for the world of
amateur theatre where he first learned his trade. “I have seen amateur
productions where I have thought certain actors could go and be
professionals – the hard thing is going off to do it. “The difficulty is being able to leave everything
behind and jump in. It’s hard when you start, hard to get jobs, hard to
get an agent. People might have a good job and it’s hard to say goodbye
to that.” “It’s not any easy business a lot of the time
because you are constantly dealing with rejection and I work very hard
on not being bitter about the whole thing; I still love it and I still
get excited when you get a good job . . . like this. “We are doing the tech at the moment and I can’t
wait to start. You get to a point where you are ready for an audience,
and we are ready for one now. “Acting can be hard work but it depends on the
job, sometimes it can be a joy. We are very lucky because our job is our
dream, and when it’s good there is nothing better.”
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels starring Michael
Praed, Noel Sullivan, Carley Stenson and Mark Benton runs at the New
Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham from Tuesday 5 may to Saturday 16 May
before embarking on a national tour Tour Details - http://www.scoundrelsontour.com/
Carley Stenson - following the passion Noel Sullivan - from Arias to Alex |
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Nationwide Building Society in a series of ads and has appeared in films
such as Mike Leigh’s