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Ben Cura

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Ben Cura
Ben Cura in 2013
Born
José Ben Cura

Buenos Aires, Argentina
EducationBA (Hons) in Classical Acting for the Professional Theatre
Alma materLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupations
  • Actor
  • musician
  • director
  • writer
Years active2011–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2013; div. 2015)​
Parents

José Ben Cura is an Argentine-born British actor, musician and director of film, television and theatre.

Early life

José Ben Cura[1] was born in Buenos Aires, the son of Argentine tenor/conductor José Cura. When he was a year old, he moved to Santo Stefano Belbo, Italy, where his father's grandfather was from. The family first lived in a convent while his father struggled to find work as an opera singer. He has two younger siblings, Yazmín and Nicolás.[1]

The family moved to France when he was six and then to Spain when he was 11. During this time, he frequently travelled with his parents around the world.[2]

Cura's first acting role came at age nine, as a supernumerary in a production of La Forza del Destino at the Opéra de Marseille, France. Whilst living in Paris, he received formal piano and solfège training. He subsequently attended the New York Film Academy in Paris before eventually training and graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2011 with a bachelor's degree with honours in professional acting.[3][4][5]

Career

Cura made his film debut in a British independent film Comes a Bright Day, appearing shortly after in Comedy Central's series Threesome and Bernard Rose's film The Devil's Violinist.

He made his West End debut playing Angel in the original cast of Jennifer Saunders' musical Viva Forever at the Piccadilly Theatre in London, UK. He was later cast as Seve Ballesteros in British golf film Dream On.

Aged 24, he made his directorial debut with a film adaptation of August Strindberg's play Creditors.[6] for which he also wrote the screenplay and played one of the lead characters, Freddie Lynch.[7] Later that year, he starred in the UK premiere of the award-winning American play Next Fall at the Southwark Playhouse in London, UK.

In April 2013, he co-founded London-based production company Tough Dance Ltd. with actress and producer Andrea Deck.[8] The company's first production was award-winning feature film Creditors. In 2015, he was cast in the US series The Royals as recurring character Holden. He later went on to star in British film White Island set in Ibiza, and based on the novel A Bus Could Run You Over written by Colin Butts, alongside Billy Zane and Billy Boyd.

Cura's directorial debut, Creditors, world-premiered at the Nordic International Film Festival in New York City on 31 October 2015.[9][10] The festival awarded it with an Honorable Mention in the Best Nordic Narrative Feature category.[11] Latin Post film critic David Salazar called the film "A triumphant debut."[12] Blazing Minds film critic Susanne Hodder said the actors "all give compelling performances, bringing their characters to life and giving them depth".[13] Screen Relish film critic Stuie Greenfield said that "Creditors is a beautiful, sometimes angry and surprising film that brings with it strong performances from the entire cast as well as an unexpected yet welcome twist",[14] while Movie Marker film critic Darryl Griffiths said that "Creditors is an incisive and accomplished piece of filmmaking [...], possessing a rich, powerful psychology that instills an unnerving modern-day relevance to age-old material."[15] Creditors received over ten awards from various film festivals, including Best Feature, Leading Actor, and Script/Writer for Cura.[16]

Later that year, Cura was cast as a series regular in ITV/Netflix crime noir drama Marcella penned by The Bridge writer Hans Rosenfeldt.[17][18] The series premiered on UK television in April 2016, followed by a worldwide release on Netflix in July 2016.[19] and Simon West's action/comedy feature film Gun Shy opposite Antonio Banderas and Olga Kurylenko.[20][21][22]

In 2017, Cura was cast as CIA operative Philip Shafer in French historical war movie 15 minutes de guerre (renamed L'Intervention), directed by Fred Grivois. Later that year, he played the role of Steve in the screen adaptation of British stage play Life is a Gatecrash, renamed Gatecrash and directed by Lawrence Gough, opposite Olivia Bonamy, Anton Lesser, and Sam West.

In 2018, Cura guest-starred in Season 2 of CBS's Ransom and the first season of new TV series The Rook, opposite Olivia Munn.

In 2019, he was cast in Nicholas Wright's new stage play 8 Hotels directed by Richard Eyre, world-premiering at the Chichester Festival Theatre, playing the lead role of José Ferrer opposite Tory Kittles, Emma Paetz, and Pandora Colin, opening August 7 of that year to excellent reviews: "Joe, played masterfully by Ben Cura, is wonderful as the philanderer who can accept his wife's adultery but not her lover's flaunting of it";[23] "Jose Ferrer [...] Ben Cura, who captures him very well, has a wonderful mutually mistrustful good-pals-act with the impressive Kittles";[24] "Ben Cura is excellent as Ferrer [...] with charisma to spare";[25] "Ben Cura plays José Ferrer as a much disappointed jobbing actor [...] playing Iago for peanuts opposite the better paid Robeson [...] This Ferrer becomes increasingly jealous of Robeson and is convinced that his wife, Uta Hagen [...] is having an affair with the charismatic Robeson (she is), which fills him with an angry cynicism that he can barely control with his erudite and scathing humour that cannot disguise his underlying lack of confidence. Cura's Ferrer is a brilliant creation: a brilliant Iago in fact."[26]

In 2021, Cura founded production company and music label W.I.P. Media.[27] Later that year, Cura released his debut music single Water on streaming platforms, accompanied by an official music video on VEVO[28] followed by second single Toutes Les Couleurs and its accompanying VEVO music video[29] and a third single Argento alongside a third VEVO music video.[30] On July 30, he released his debut instrumental E.P. Extended Play No.1.[31]

In 2022, Cura made his animation debut voicing Rayan in Tad the Lost Explorer and the Emerald Tablet while guest starring in HBO Max and Hulu Japan's Season 2 of The Head as Liam Ruddock, and starring in BFI and BBC short film My Eyes Are Up Here co-produced by his company W.I.P. Media which premiered at the London Film Festival[32] in 2022 and Tribeca Film Festival in 2023.[33] He also saw his debut as a film composer, with his original score for feature film Among The Beasts which released that year in the US and other territories.[34] Also that year, he appeared in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story produced by Shondaland and premiering on Netflix, in the recurring role of Prince Augustus.[35][36]

Personal life

Cura was married to actress Andrea Deck from 2013 until their divorce in 2015. He dated actress Olga Kurylenko, but they broke up just before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2012 Comes a Bright Day Mr. Sullivan
2013 The Devil's Violinist Charlotte's Husband
2015 Creditors Freddie Lynch Writer and Director, also
2016 White Island Bartolo
2017 Gun Shy Juan Carlos
2018 Postcards from London Caravaggio
2019 15 Minutes of War Phillip Shafer
2020 Gatecrash Steve
2022 My Eyes Are Up Here HIM
2022 Tad the Lost Explorer and the Emerald Tablet Rayan

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Threesome Richie's Pull Episode: "Pregnant"
2015 The Royals Holden Recurring role, 5 episodes
2016 Marcella Matthew Neil Recurring role, 6 episodes
2017 Silent Witness Gustavo Aguirre Episode: "Awakening"
2018 Ransom Rafael Salazar Episode: "Legacy"
2019 The Rook Cobbler Episode: "Prologue"
2021 The Mallorca Files Jose Rey Episode: "The Outlaw Jose Rey"
2022 Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators Antonio Da Costa Episode: "Most Wicked Speed"
2022 The Head Liam Ruddock Episode: 2.4
2023 Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story Prince Augustus Recurring role, 4 episodes

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Alien: Isolation Ransome Voice only
Fractured Space Goss Reznik
2018 A Way Out Additional Voice Voice only
2020 Cyberpunk 2077 Ziggy Q[37] Voice only
2022 Arknights Phantom Voice only
2022 Dying Light 2 Stay Human Vincenzo Voice only

Stage

Voice work

Discography

Year Title Notes
2021 Water (Debut Single)
2021 Toutes Les Couleurs (Single)
2021 Argento (Single)
2021 Extended Play No.1 (Debut E.P.)

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2015 Anchorage International Film Festival Best Narrative Feature Film (with Andrea Deck) Creditors Nominated
Nordic International Film Festival Honorable Mention - Best Nordic Narrative Feature Film (with Andrea Deck) Creditors Won
Festival Award - Best Nordic Narrative Feature Film Creditors Nominated
2016 Accolade Global Film Competition Merit Special Mention for Feature Film (with Andrea Deck) Creditors Won
Merit Special Mention for Script/Writer Creditors Won
WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival Silver Award - Experimental Dogma (with Andrea Deck) Creditors Won

References

  1. ^ a b Scalisi, Cecilia (21 July 2013). "Cura versus Cura". La Nacion. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  2. ^ "I Think An Actor, director, Writer or Anyone Creative's Most Important Attribute is Gut Instinct by CREDITORS Movie Ben Cura". Film Courage. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  3. ^ Salazar, David (24 September 2013). "Exclusive Interview: Ben Cura Talks Directorial Debut 'Creditors,' Artistic Development, Inspirations". Latinos Post. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  4. ^ Hall, Katie-Jane (12 October 2013). "Kickstarter Interview: Creditors". Critics Associated. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  5. ^ "BA (Hons) in Professional Acting". LAMDA. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  6. ^ "Take a Trip to the Tiny Island that Time Forgot". This is Total Essex. 16 October 2013. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  7. ^ "British Council Film: Creditors". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  8. ^ "Tough Dance". Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  9. ^ Jamie Ellin Forbes (22 October 2015). "Fine Art Magazine Blog". fineartmagazineblog.blogspot.co.uk.
  10. ^ "Nordic International Film Festival 2015". um.dk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  11. ^ "Winners 2015". Nordic International Film Festival.
  12. ^ "'Creditors' Movie Review: Ben Cura Creates a Visually Stimulating Adaptation of Strindberg's Great Play". Latin Post. 6 November 2015.
  13. ^ Susanne Hodder (8 November 2015). "Creditors Movie Review – Intelligent Thought-Provoking Film". Blazing Minds.
  14. ^ "CREDITORS Review". ScreenRelish. 3 June 2023.
  15. ^ Darryl Griffiths (16 November 2015). "MM Supports – Creditors (Ben Cura)". Movie Marker.
  16. ^ "Awards & Press". CREDITORS.
  17. ^ Darryl Griffiths (6 December 2015). "Interview – Director Ben Cura/Actress Andrea Deck (Creditors)". Movie Marker.
  18. ^ "Anna Friel leads the cast of new ITV drama Marcella". ITV Press Centre.
  19. ^ Plunkett, John (4 April 2016). "Netflix to air The Bridge creator's Marcella worldwide". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  20. ^ "Antonio Banderas y elenco de Salty dan detalles de la cinta rodada en Chile – LA TERCERA". latercera.com. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  21. ^ "La imagen de rockero de Antonio Banderas". El Nacional (Caracas). Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  22. ^ "Antonio Banderas luce irreconocible en su nueva película". Mundiario. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  23. ^ Ian Murray (8 August 2019). "Review: 8 Hotels (Minerva Theatre, Chichester)". WhatsOnStage.com.
  24. ^ Paul Taylor (12 August 2019). "8 Hotels, Minerva Theatre review: Elegantly provocative and alive with wiry delicacy". The Independent.
  25. ^ Phil Hewitt. "8 Hotels offers absorbing portrait of Paul Robeson at Chichester Festival Theatre". Chichester Observer.
  26. ^ Steve Newman (14 October 2020). "8 Hotels — A New Play by Nicholas Wright". Medium.
  27. ^ "W.I.P. Media – About". W.I.P. Media. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  28. ^ "Ben Cura – Water". Water Listen Now Portal. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  29. ^ "Ben Cura – Toutes Les Couleurs". Toutes Les Couleurs Listen Now Portal. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  30. ^ "Ben Cura – Argento". Argento Listen Now Portal. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  31. ^ "Ben Cura – Extended Play No.1". ToneDen's streamlink.to. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  32. ^ "BBC films out in force at London Film Festival". BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  33. ^ "MY EYES ARE UP HERE". Tribeca. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  34. ^ "Among the Beasts - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. 10 February 2023.
  35. ^ "Ben Cura". IMDb.
  36. ^ "Meet the cast of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story". Radio Times. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  37. ^ "Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game 2020)". IMDb.
  38. ^ Purves, Libby (12 December 2012). "Theatre review: Viva Forever!". The Times. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  39. ^ Martland, Lisa (12 December 2012). "Theatre review: Viva Forever!". The Stage. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  40. ^ Pritchard, Jim (14 December 2012). "Theatre review: Viva Forever!". Seen and Heard International. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  41. ^ Shenton, Mark (4 August 2014). "Playbill: Geoffrey Nauffts Next Fall to Receive U.K. Premiere". Playbill. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  42. ^ Meyer, Dan (7 June 2019). "Playbill: Cast Set For Nicholas Wright's 8 Hotels in UK". Playbill. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  43. ^ "Casting Announced For 8 Hotels". Playbill. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  44. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Swimming with Piranhas". BBC.
  45. ^ "Alien III: An Audible Original Drama (Audio Download): William Gibson, Tom Alexander, Barbara Barnes, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Lorelei King, Laurel Lefkow, Keith Wickham, Audible Originals: Amazon.co.uk: Books". www.amazon.co.uk.
  46. ^ "Audible.com | Trafalgar Audiobook" – via www.audible.com.
  47. ^ "Calm Blog". blog.calm.com.
  48. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – The Limits to Growth". BBC.
  49. ^ Chronicle Of A Death Foretold Audiobook
  50. ^ Tomás Nevinson Audiobook
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