Orson Krennic, the supposed mastermind behind the Death Star in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, is in actuality Ben Mendelsohn, a noted actor that’s been kicking around Hollywood for a while now and has managed to star in some lesser-known films and some rather great movies that have come out recently and been big hits. He’s not always the most noticeable person obviously but when he gets a role it definitely elevates him to where he needs to be in terms of his career. Ben is seemingly the kind of guy that wants to succeed but takes things at his own pace and doesn’t tend to worry too much or stress out about certain roles as he does them. In many ways this kind of puts him ahead of the game but can limit how effective he really is. Overall though he’s a great addition to many films.
Here are a few other things you might not have known about him.
10. He thought Drama class would be easy to pass and became an actor.
It’s one of those cases in which you can easily see someone trying to just sit in the back of the class and do as little as possible in order to obtain that satisfactory grade so they can keep their record clean and keep moving forward. But he actually got into it and, well, the rest is history.
9. He was in Ready Player One.
Sorrento was a man consumed by greed and the absolute need to get as much as he could even at the expense of others. Well, honestly it was always at the expense of others since he didn’t really care and would stomp on anyone to make a profit.
8. He’s claimed to have written several books under a pseudonym.
Whether this is because he didn’t want anyone knowing he was a writer or because of, well, some other reason, is hard to say since it would take some research to substantiate this. Pseudonyms aren’t against the law but they are kind of an odd choice for any writer to make.
7. He performed a one-man play when he was in school.
That proves that he has the kind of nerve and chutzpah that is required to be an actor as being a one-man show it would be all on that one individual whether it rise or falls. That alone is something that says a person is entirely confident in themselves.
6. He was in Killing Them Softly.
This was kind of an odd and disquieting movie that a lot of people probably watched because it had Brad Pitt in it. But being it had a lot to do with an ill-advised robbery and individuals getting high on heroin it wasn’t really looked at as much of anything but a curious distraction.
5. He was offered the role of Pennywise in IT.
You might think that it would be foolish of anyone to turn down a role like Pennywise since it could make or break them depending on their decision. But it seems as though there were money disputes that ended up with him walking away from it. It seems like that might have been a good movie since the person the role went to was absolutely terrifying.
4. He went 10 years without watching his own films.
It’s amazing really that actors never watch their own films at times but then if you stop and think about it they likely don’t get into watching themselves on screen as much simply because they lived it.
3. He’s a big animal lover.
Ben makes no secret of this as he loves animals to the point that he once stopped filming in order to make sure a stray cat got across the road safely. Some directors might become kind of agitated about this but he’s stayed pretty firm with it for a long time.
2. He’s been around since 1984.
Ben has been in the business for quite some time to be honest but as it was said in the beginning he seems to be the person that just isn’t noticed all that much until he manages to take on a role that is high-profile and is almost impossible to ignore. As Orson Krennic he was front and center for almost all of Rogue One and had to be since he was a main character. But in other films that haven’t been noticed as much he tends to fade into the background a little.
1. He was in The Dark Knight Rises.
His character has the unenviable moment in which he decides to step to Bane and verbally berate him in a manner that might seem to many people as a true moment of lunacy combined with arrogant idiocy. Honestly, who in the world steps up to a guy that could fold them in two without breaking a sweat?
Playing the bad guy seems to be his forte.
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