Who is Ben Schnetzer?
American actor Benjamin ‘Ben’ Schnetzer was born in New York City USA, on 8 February 1990, under the zodiac sign of Aquarius. He’s appeared in 20 movies and TV series, and is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Max Vandenburg in the 2013 war movie “The Book Thief”, directed by Brian Percival, and which starred Sophie Nelisse, Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson. Set in World War II Germany, the movie follows Liesel who enjoys stealing books and sharing them with her friends and family, while her adoptive parents are hiding a Jewish refugee in their home; the movie won nine of its 27 award nominations, including an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score.
Ben’s still highly active in the film industry, and is currently shooting for the upcoming adventure fantasy series “The Three-Body Problem”, set to be released in 2023.
Education and early life
Ben and his brother Max were raised in New York City by their father Stephen Paul Schnetzer and mother Nancy Snyder; both Stephen and Nancy are successful actors, with Stephen being perhaps still best known for his playing of Cass Winthrop in the romantic series “Another World” between 1982 and 1999, and Nancy for her playing of Rilla in the 1978 thriller movie “The Kirlian Witness”.
Ben grew up being interested in both music and acting, and began practicing both at the age of six; his parents occasionally took him and his brother to their movie sets. He was 17 when he made his debut film appearance, playing Ben Stephens in the 2007 drama “Ben’s Plan”, and upon matriculating in 2008, Ben moved to London, England and enrolled at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in 2012.
Roles in TV series
Ben’s debut TV series role was his playing of Dustin Henry in the 2010 episode “Crashers” of the mystery crime drama “Law & Order”, and he gained recognition in the same year, when cast to play Andrew Haplin in the fantasy mystery series “Happy Town”, created by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, and which starred Geoff Stults, Lauren German and Amy Acker. It follows the kidnaping of six children in a city in Minnesota, and the series was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series – Recurring Young Actress for Sophia Ewaniuk.
Ben spent the following years focused on appearing solely in movies, until in 2018 cast to play one of the lead characters, Marcus Goldman in the critically acclaimed mystery crime drama “The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair”. It also starred Damon Wayans Jr. and Patrick Dempsey, and follows an author who’s been involved in a murder investigation; it was nominated for a Best Male Voice Award at Il Festival Nazionale del Doppiaggio Voci nell’Ombra (Stefano Benassi).
Ben’s appeared in only one other TV series: he portrayed the main character Yorick Brown in all the 10 episodes of the 2021 action adventure drama “Y: The Last Man”, which also starred Ashley Romans and Diane Lane, and follows the life of the last man on Earth; the series won one of its five award nominations.
Roles in movies
In 2014, Ben played Mark Ashton in the popular biographical comedy “Pride”, directed by Matthew Warchus, and which starred Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Dominic West. It follows UK gay activists as they’re helping the miners who went on a strike in 1984, and the film won 11 of its 35 award nominations, including a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
A couple of Ben’s following roles were in the 2014 thriller drama “The Riot Club”, the 2016 drama “Goat”, and the 2016 musical comedy “Punk’s Dead: SLC Punk 2”.
The year 2016 also saw him play Khadgar in the hit action adventure fantasy “Warcraft”, written and directed by Duncan Jones, and which starred Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton and Ben Foster. It follows the Orc attack on Azeroth, and the movie won two of its five award nominations. Also in 2016, Ben played Gabriel Sol in the biographical crime drama “Snowden”, and Dan Eldon in the drama “The Journey Is the Destination”.
In 2018, he was cast to play one of the lead characters, Zeev Hirsch in the historical action drama “7 Days in Entebbe”, directed by Jose Padilha, and which also starred Batsheva Dance Company and Zina Zinchenko. It follows the 1976 hijacking of a ‘plane travelling from Tel Aviv to Paris.
Ben’s three most recent film roles have been in the 2018 biographical drama “Saint Judy”, and in 2019 the drama “Gone Hollywood” and the mystery crime thriller “The Giant”.
Other credits
Ben was featured in the 2017 episode “Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive” of the documentary series “American Masters”.
He’s made a guest appearance in talk-shows “The Daily Show”, “That One Audition” and “Dead Talk Live”, amongst others.
Awards and nominations
Ben was nominated for two British Independent Film Awards in 2014, for Most Promising Newcomer and Best Supporting Actor, both for his performance in “Pride”.
He and his colleagues were nominated for a 2020 CinEuphoria Award for Best Ensemble – International Competition, for their performance in “The Death & Life of John F. Donovan”.
Love life and partner
Ben met his long-term girlfriend, British theatre director Kate Hewitt while he was still attending college in London; she’s originally from Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and has directed a number of plays there.
Kate’s also known for having directed three episodes of the 2020 drama mini-series “Life”, which starred Victoria Hamilton, Rachael Stirling and Erin Kellyman, and follows four people from Manchester, England as their lives interweave.
Kate gave birth to their daughter in 2021, but she and Ben are keeping the baby away from the media’s attention.
Ben’s yet to speak of the women whom he dated prior to meeting Kate, and he’s in a long-term relationship with Kate Hewitt as of October 2022, hasn’t married, but has a daughter with Kate.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Ben’s quite active on Instagram, and there are close to 40,000 people following him on the social media network today, while he’s posted nearly 100 pictures and videos.
He’s revealed that he’s not concerned about the finished product when he’s shooting for a movie, and that if he’s ever to become concerned about it, he will become either a film producer or editor.
Ben’s passionate about art, and has visited numerous museums and galleries.
He prefers living in Britain rather than in the USA.
Ben loves being in nature, and dislikes overcrowded cities.
His favorite actors are Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen, while some of his favorite movies are “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, “Troy” and “Kingdom of Heaven”.
Height, eyes and net worth
Ben’s age is 32. His hair’s long and brown, his eyes are brown, he’s 5ft 10ins (1.78m) tall and weighs around 180lbs (82kgs).
Ben’s net worth’s been estimated at over $4 million, as of October 2022.
