Armed with nervous energy? That seems to be a perfect description for Ben Whishaw. The talented British actor is on the verge of becoming one of today's most important leading men. But unlike some of his comtemporaries who relish the limelight and the tag of being a 'celebrity', the 27-year-old actor favors a more subdued public persona.

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"I went to a youth theatre near where I live, where I'm from, and the guy who ran the youth theatre knew an agent in London, a child agent, and took me along to meet her. I think I met her when I was 14 and sat on her books for a couple of years doing nothing, and I got my first job when I was 17. Then I did bits and pieces of work, still at school at the time, doing A-levels. I thought, I'll do my A-levels then I'll just work. I'll work as an actor. So I finished my A-levels. Nothing. Not a single audition, I didn't get a job. Nothing. I thought, this is hopeless, so I decided to apply for Rada and finished last May [2004," replied Ben to the question of how he started acting.

It may not have been an 'explosive' beginning, but once Whishaw started playing Hamlet, that's when things started to heat up...

"You won't know the name. At the age of just 23, Ben Whishaw, a virtual unknown, has landed one of the most demanding and daunting roles in the Shakespearean canon, perhaps the most challenging of them all. From next week, Whishaw (pronounced as in "wish" rather than "why") will brave the Old Vic stage as Hamlet in Trevor Nunn's first major stab at the play since his 1970 RSC revival, starring Alan Howard, with Helen Mirren as Ophelia," reports Dominic Cavendish.

"For one so young, and who graduated from Rada only last year, Whishaw has a surprising number of minor screen credits to his name, around a dozen in total. A Bedfordshire lad - his mother in cosmetics, his father in IT - he acquired a passion for drama while at Samuel Whitbread Community College in Shefford," continues the report.

In one of his earlier movies, Layer Cake, Whishaw played a supporting role opposite Daniel Craig. There was a scene in the disco pub when Craig was approached by the young actor, accompanied by his girl, the amazing Sienna Miller. The scene was notable for the fact that the audience seemed to be more amused by Whishaw and his antics than by what Craig's character (XXXX, what a name!) was doing. It's one of the two movies where both Craig and Whishaw starred together. The other one is Enduring Love.

Another important aspect of Ben's philosophy on acting is his willingness to explore all sorts of characters, and that includes appearing with little or no clothes on in certain scenes. In Stoned, he did just that- he got naked. Stoned, also known as The Wild and Wycked World of Brian Jones in the UK, is a 2005 film about Brian Jones, one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones.

Then, in 2006, he played the lead in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. This was his breakthrough role.

"I became involved after [director] Tom [Tykwer] came to see me do Hamlet at the Old Vic just over two years ago. We just met up one day in London, had a drink and a chat, and kind of immediately got on very well. We connected. Then we did a bit of work on one of the scenes and quite quickly, Tom decided that it might be a good and interesting collaboration. Then the really difficult part began because he had to convince the world that it was a good idea to cast an unknown in a film that was going to cost however many millions to make.

I knew of the book at that point but I hadn't actually read it. So my first encounter with this story was through the screenplay. I think I'm grateful that it was that way round because I think it's a book that if people get into it, they really get into it and have a very strong personal connection with it. But I didn't have that, thankfully, which meant we could make the film rather than feeling too bound to some pre-conceived idea about what it should be, " says Ben.

While some critics panned the film, Whishaw's performance was praised by many.

"I sneak a sidelong glance: in the flesh, Whishaw's nose is not the kind of thing you'd write poetry about. His beautiful eyes are his fortune. Those, and what one critic called his "feral, almost unacted intensity", have inspired shameless gloop in some quarters," says one interviewer.

Last year was not a banner year for the actor. His small role in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There was not enough to impress yet Whishaw was very excited about playing one of the six Bob Dylans.

This year, however, looks more promising. Two high-profile films are in different stages of production and Ben plays important lead roles in both. One of them is Brideshead Revisited where he plays Sebastian Flyte and the other is Jane Campion's Bright Star where he plays 19th century poet John Keats.

"I’ve never had a big enough part in a film to have a relationship with a director in a film. It has always been a day here, a day there. .. " says Ben.

Well, after Perfume, he certainly has had lots of opportunities to get to know some of today's most important filmmakers and we'll surely get the chance to discover more of his talent as an actor.

tMF's take on Ben Whishaw:

• Previous post on Ben was just a few weeks ago!
• Ben Whishaw in our tMF profile.
• Film Focus: Brideshead Revisited

Photo copyrights: British actor Ben Whishaw attends the photocall of movie "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer." © Stephane Cardinale/People Avenue/Corbis.

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Ben Whishaw To Do Upcoming Theatre

Variety gives us a run down of the British national theatre season for 2008-09, which happens to include news on Ben's next theatre work. Here is some news from Variety and Wiki:

National Theater stalwarts include Katie Mitchell re-teaming with shooting star Ben Whishaw for a production based on Dostoevsky's "The Idiot"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Idiot_(novel)

Jan , January 18, 2008

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