ben hall | 37
Ben Hall joins Takaya Honda to talk Pretty Woman: The Musical, Neighbours, Better Man and the relentless drive to keep improving.
He opens up about life on tour, building chemistry with Samantha Jade, surviving live theatre disasters and the sacrifices required to make a living as an Australian actor. Ben also reflects on his time as Ned Willis, his complicated experience working on Better Man and the unforgettable moment the film’s crew applauded his performance.
What we get into:
· Playing Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman: The Musical
· Married life and travelling Australia with his wife, Prue
· Why performing eight shows a week is a marathon
· Being compared to Richard Gere
· Returning to musical theatre after swearing he never would
· Building trust and chemistry with Samantha Jade
· The backstage discipline required to protect his voice and body
· Missing his entrance during a song and entering “the white room”
· Samantha Jade running offstage to be sick mid-scene
· How the cast handles costume, prop and set disasters
· Completing almost 300 performances of Pretty Woman
· His upcoming role in Whispering Jack
· The uncertainty of working as an Australian actor
· Looking back on his years as Ned Willis in Neighbours
· The valuable—and occasionally bad—habits he learned on Ramsay Street
· Why ambitious people constantly move their own goalposts
· Learning to appreciate success while continuing to improve
· Working on the Robbie Williams film Better Man
· Why Better Man struggled commercially despite its critical reception
· Being treated differently once people realised he was an actor on set
· Performing Robbie Williams scenes in a motion-capture suit
· The scene that earned him a round of applause from the crew
· The freedom of acting when nobody can see your face
· Motion capture, video games and the future of performance
just tak. is an interview platform dedicated to unmasking the reality of the creative industry.
Hosted by Australian actor and presenter Takaya Honda, the show strips away the polished PR narratives to ask the most important question in performance: Why?
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RØDE: thanks for the mics making us sound so good.