Edward Bennett-Coles

Edward Bennett-Coles’ film work includes RABBIT FEVER and OUTSIDE LOOKING IN.  TV work includes recent appearances in Casualty and Murder Rooms.
What training have you received?
Conservatory training at the American Academy Of Dramatic Arts in New York and a member of The Royal Court Young Writers Program in London.

What kind of roles attract you?
Anything well-written. That is the basis for everything that comes after. Character-driven stuff. There is a quote by Daniel Day-Lewis which pretty much sums it up for me; “Maybe it’s a middle-class British hang-up, but I prefer the abstract concept of incoherence in the face of great feeling to beautiful, full sentences that convey little emotion.” I tend to get drawn to characters that find themselves at a turning point in their life. In life we can run from a situation (or at least we think we can) whereas in film- or at least well written film- we can’t. In terms of roles on the screen that stick out: Sam Bick/THE ASSASINATION OF RICHARD NIXON; Matthew Poncelet/DEAD MAN WALKING; Trevor/MADE IN BRITAIN; Wilson Joel/LOVE LIZA; Dan Dunne/HALF NELSON; Joel/ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. Characters that society would willingly turn their back on. Finding a way out of no way- that floats my boat. Grace in defeat.

What’s the best advice that you’ve been given as an actor?
Let your own life be the most important film in your life. Don’t live on the promises of tomorrow. And when you get the opportunity: listen, be in the moment, and believe.

Most significant moment in your career so far
Making the decision to train. And I have [casting agent] Jina Jay to thank for that, for suggesting that it was the best way forward. I didn’t understand at the time; I wanted everything straight away but with hindsight it gave me a validation and a confirmation that I was an actor in an ethereal business that is full of insecurity and unemployment. I also met my wife on the first day there, if I hadn’t made that decision I wouldn’t have met her…and then acting/writing Two Storm Wood in Shotgun Theatre Company’s (of which Tom Hardy and Robert Delamere are members) second production last year… Other than that, meeting and becoming friends with a man named Ernie Hill from Spanish Harlem. One of life’s miracles, who for the record, wasn’t a film star or indeed famous but changed the lives of many others through his story…

You’ll die happy when…
I’ll probably never be happy about dying…I’ve kind of fallen in love with the concept of er…living. Hold on, why do you want to know…?