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Ben Aldridge

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This article is about English actor. For American football player, see Ben Aldridge (defensive back).

Ben Aldridge
Aldridge in 2022
Born
Benjamin Charles Aldridge

Exeter, Devon, England
Alma materLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
OccupationActor
Years active2004–present

Benjamin Charles Aldridge is an English actor. He is known for his portrayals of Captain James in the BBC military drama Our Girl (2014–2018), Arsehole Guy in the dramedy series Fleabag (2016–2019), and Thomas Wayne in the crime drama series Pennyworth (2019–2023). He has starred in feature films such as Spoiler Alert (2022) and Knock at the Cabin (2023), among other work.

Education

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Having worked with the National Youth Theatre, Aldridge graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art[1] with a bursary from the Genesis Foundation for young actors.[2]

Career

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Aldridge's first professional acting role was in a play The Master and Margarita at Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in 2004. In 2008, Aldridge made his television debut in Channel 4's four-part miniseries The Devil's Whore, playing Harry Fanshawe, husband of the title character. That same year, he was featured on Screen International's "Stars of Tomorrow" list.[3] In addition to First Light, Lewis, Toast and Vera, Aldridge also appeared as Daniel Parish in the BBC One period drama Lark Rise to Candleford.[4] In 2011, the American network The CW cast Aldridge as the lead in the pilot Heavenly. Later on he spent time in Belgrade shooting the partially improvised romance short film In the Night for director Ivana Bobic and cinematographer Rain Li, alongside supermodel Danijela Dimitrovska.

Aldridge is a co-founder of "In the Corner Productions". He directed the comedy pilot Pet Shop Girls in late 2011, which he co-wrote and co-produced with actor-writers Luke Norris, Ed Hancock and Kirsty Woodward.[5]

In 2013, Aldridge starred in Almeida Theatre's production of American Psycho as Paul Owen, opposite Matt Smith, Susannah Fielding, Jonathan Bailey, and Lucie Jones. The musical thriller featured a book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa based on Bret Easton Ellis's cult novel, with music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik. In September 2014, he joined BBC's original drama series Our Girl as Captain James. He left the role after the third series in 2018.[6] In December 2014, Aldridge joined The CW's series Reign as King Antoine of Navarre.[7]

More recently, Aldridge has starred in Fleabag (2016–2019), Pennyworth (2019–2023), Spoiler Alert (2022) and Knock at the Cabin (2023).

Personal life

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Aldridge was raised as an evangelical Christian.[8] Both his parents and grandparents were raised in the Plymouth Brethren church, although his parents both left the denomination at age 18.[8][9] Commenting on his current relationship with religion, Aldridge stated in a 2021 interview, "It feels very far away in some respects as there isn't a religious aspect to my life now."[10]

In 2020, Aldridge publicly came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in a post on Instagram on the occasion of National Coming Out Day.[11][12][13] In a 2021 interview with Attitude magazine, he said that he was gay[13] and in a 2023 interview, again with Attitude who were honouring him in the Attitude 101 LGBTQ trailblazers,[14] he commented that his recent leading gay roles had helped him explore his own identity: "I'm meeting myself much more in those characters in my work than I ever have done before in my twenties, playing straight characters. I am getting to know myself better through playing those characters."[14]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2013 In the Night Alex Short film
The Railway Man Mike Moffat
2014 Synchronicity Fred Short film
2018 The Titan Lawrence [15]
Paris Song George Gershwin Main role [16]
2019 Thrive Alex Short film
2022 Spoiler Alert Kit Cowan
2023 Knock at the Cabin Andrew [17]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2008 The Devil's Whore Harry Fanshawe Miniseries; episode 1
Compulsion Alex Television film
2009 Lewis Daniel Rattenbury Episode: "The Point of Vanishing"
2010 First Light Brian Kingcome Television film
Toast Stuart Television film [18]
2010–2011 Lark Rise to Candleford Daniel Parish Starring role; 16 episodes
2011 Heavenly Dashiel Coffee Television film
2012 The Cricklewood Greats Joe Hazelhurst Television film
Vera Ollie/Alex Barton Episode: "Sandancers"
2013 Pramface Marcus Episode: "If You Cry, I'll Cry"
The Bible Luke Miniseries; episode: "Courage"
2014–2018 Our Girl Captain James Main role
2014–2015 Reign Antoine of Navarre 7 episodes
2015 DeTour Michael Sturges Unaired Television Pilot [19]
2016 Stan Lee's Lucky Man DS Ben Grady 2 episodes
2016, 2019 Fleabag Arsehole Guy Recurring role; 6 episodes
2019–2022 Pennyworth Thomas Wayne Main role
2021 The Long Call DI Matthew Venn Main role
2024 Kite Man: Hell Yeah! Jeremy Karne Voice; Episode: "Prison Break, Hell Yeah!"

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2012 The Secret World Saïd (voice)
2022 Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (voice)

Stage

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Year Title Role Theatre / Producer Ref.
2004 The Master and Margarita Pinstripe / Doctor Lyric Hammersmith
2005 Antigone at Hell's Mouth Rothenkopf Kneehigh Theatre
2006 Fish and Company Tom Soho Theatre
Shelf Life Dan Old Red Lion
2009 Romeo and Juliet Benvolio Shakespeare's Globe
2013 The Lyons Brian Hutchins Menier Chocolate Factory
American Psycho Paul Owen Almeida Theatre [20]
2017 Run The Beast Down Titus Halder The Marlowe Theatre

Awards and nominations

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Award Date of ceremony Category Work Result Ref.
The Queerties 28 February 2023 Performance - Film Spoiler Alert Nominated [21]

References

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  1. ^ "Ben Aldridge". Screen International. 10 July 2008.
  2. ^ "Genesis Foundation". 26 May 2023.
  3. ^ "I'd Tell You I Love You but Then I'd Have to Kill You". 28 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Lark Rise to Candleford - BBC One".
  5. ^ "The New Dandies".
  6. ^ "Our Girl - Captain James - BBC One".
  7. ^ Damshenas, Sam (29 June 2020). "Fleabag star Ben Aldridge says he's "incredibly proud and thankful" to be LGBTQ+". Gay Times. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b Loughrey, Clarisse (19 October 2021). "Ben Aldridge on Being Raised as an Evangelical Christian and How Religion Can Amplify Feelings of Shame Surrounding Sexuality". The Independent.
  9. ^ Bulbul, Nuray (4 October 2021). "The Long Call: Five Key Differences Between ITV's New Crime Series and Ann Cleeves' Book". Bristol Post.
  10. ^ Dayan, David-Simon (6 October 2021). "Twisted Elegance". Flaunt. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  11. ^ Aldridge, Ben (27 June 2020). "The journey to pride was a long one for me. I love the LGBTQ+ community and am incredibly proud and thankful to be a part of it. So much won. So much more to fight for. #pride". Instagram. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  12. ^ Milton, Josh (29 June 2020). "Fleabag star Ben Aldridge comes out as a 'proud and thankful' member of the LGBT+ community". Pink News. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  13. ^ a b Stitchbury, Tom (6 October 2021). "After coming out publicly, Ben Aldridge is bringing more gay representation to primetime tv". Attitude. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  14. ^ a b Joannou, Cliff (10 February 2023). "Knock at the Cabin's Ben Aldridge on coming out as gay and making it in Hollywood". Attitude. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  15. ^ "The Titan". IMDb.
  16. ^ "Paris Song". IMDb.
  17. ^ Squires, John (19 April 2022). "'Knock at the Cabin' – Filming Underway on Shyamalan's Fifteenth Feature". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  18. ^ "Toast". IMDb.
  19. ^ "DeTour". IMDb.
  20. ^ "American Psycho Cast". almeida.co.uk. Almeida Theatre. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  21. ^ Major, Michael. "& Juliet, Titanique & More Nominated For Queerties Awards". BroadwayWorld.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
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