critically acclaimed award-winning actor Benjamin Schnau

Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Schnau.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is Benjamin Schnau and I’m an internationally acclaimed actor and author of the book ‘The Reality of Hollywood’. I speak native American English, German and French and I’m a professionally trained boxer experienced in on set fight and weapon combat. I was born in Germany and discovered my passion for acting at a young age in high school. While playing in ‘Macbeth’ I realized what my performance and expression on stage can create within people, It’s the emotional connection that fascinates me as you uncover your own true self but also create a bond with the audience they can relate to. While I was studying, I was already acting in short films to get on camera experience and started to build my portfolio as an actor. After that, I moved to London to take my career to the next level. There, I was able to work on first major studio projects like ‘The Current War’ alongside Michael Shannon and Benedict Cumberbatch and later on also had the opportunity to play the lead role Jupp Klein in National Geographic productions ‘Megastructures’. Acting for me, requires a mix of creative talent, discipline and resilience and I can proudly say that it shaped me into the best version of myself to this day. Acting for me is purpose and passion that I was lucky enough to discover early on and made my priority. Leaning fully into it, I grew my portfolio, had the chance to win awards for ‘Best Actor’ and continue to work on great international major projects ever since most recently in ‘Citizen Vigilante’ opposite Armie Hammer and ‘Sweet Nothings’ playing lead role Ethan. Other credits include ‘American Animals’, ‘Nada a Perder’, ‘Kommando 1944’, ‘Kamerad’, ‘Righteous Thieves’ and many more.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I guess any profession or passion you have for a specific industry is never a smooth road, but I believe having resilience and discipline in acting or any creative profession is a key element to succeed, but it all comes down how you treat yourself and your life and WHY you got on that journey in the first place. In this industry, you are the product if you want it or not. You need to understand what you are worth and use it to your advantage. A lot of people always have the misconception that being confident comes across as arrogant, but it’s the way HOW you present yourself. That’s why you should always think about where you are coming from every single day. That’s what I’m doing. Then the success that you live today or tomorrow can be already gone the day after. It’s a fast-paced environment and you have to accept that. So, knowing who you are and what you are capable of made me stronger in believing in myself and how I carry myself on the outside. This has an effect on people which turns into respect, trust, and value of the person. I always make sure that my actions speak for themselves louder than words could. Trust became such a valuable asset. People in this industry like working with people who know what they can bring to the table and in the end deliver. Dreams are pretty much the reason that got me on that journey of becoming a successful actor in the industry. I use exactly that to my advantage. I always stick to that dream, even remind myself of it but I see the small steps in front of me to get there. I always say the industry is far from being linear. I did many auditions in my life, but you can’t book every single job. I
remember I had that one specific audition which I felt very positive about as I felt the character and story and knew this is MY role. I didn’t book it at the end, but let it go and focused on the next one reminding myself again why
I’m here doing what I love. Sometimes you might do certain things by turning left or right for a certain amount of time to find your way back on the main path. If you expect to reach your ultimate dream right at the beginning of your career you might experience a lot of disappointment as that is usually not how it goes. Don’t let yourself dazzle from these so heard ‘overnight’ success stories. They might exist but are very rare and usually don’t happen as often anymore like back in the golden age of Hollywood. Bottom line is, I take steps that I feel comfortable about but have a sense of
what could further your career. In today’s market, it’s all about exposure and collaboration with other people in the industry. If that wasn’t part of your ideal plan, then think twice. Every step in this industry can count sooner or
later, it’s about the people you meet and projects you work on that can determine and lead to later projects and roles you want to do. Hollywood is a big net of people you wouldn’t even expect are connected. Therefore, be
grateful for every opportunity that comes your way as it might be the first connection to the bigger puzzle in this industry.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My name is Benjamin Schnau and I’m an internationally acclaimed actor and author of the book ‘The Reality of Hollywood’. I speak native American English, German and French and I’m a professionally trained boxer and experienced in on set fight and weapon combat. I’m widely known for my role ‘Minion’ in the Academy-Award Winning movie ‘Mank’ alongside Academy-Award Winner Gary Oldman, directed by David Fincher, released on Netflix, ‘The Current War’ opposite the protagonist George Westinghouse portrayed by actor Michael Shannon and for my lead role ‘Jupp Klein’ ‘Megastructures’ produced by National Geographic available on Netflix. In addition to acting in movies and television roles, I have been acclaimed for my “live” acting expertise, as manifested by his serving as the on-air “host” for prestigious Hollywood events like the red-carpet events at the American Heart Association.

I just wrapped the action feature film ‘Citizen Vigilante’ starring in critical role Jack opposite actor Armie Hammer and in the movie ‘Sweet Nothings’ where I play the lead role of Ethan, which both being scheduled for release in Fall this year.

I won the award for ‘Best Actor’ for his role of Leon in the movie ‘Against All Odds’ at the Oniros Film Awards and New York International Film Awards and also ‘Best Supporting Actor of the Year’ at the Top Shorts Film Festival for his role of Gunther Wolfgang in the movie ‘The Little Picture”.

Due to my multilingual ability, I’m also an established voice-over actor as well who has given his voice for movies like “American Animals” and “Nothing to Lose” (Nada a Perder), which became one of the biggest box office hits in Brazil to this day.

My book ‘The Reality of Hollywood’ was released worldwide in 2021 to educate and guide upcoming actors to establish themselves in the film industry in Hollywood long-term.

​

The Feature Film “Silent Night in Algona” shows me besides Hollywood Actor Taylor Nichols known for his roles in “Metropolitan” and “Jurassic Park III “which was released theatrically and via streaming and won Best Picture and Screenplay at the Red Letter Awards. Silent Night in Algona is now available on streaming services AppleTV, Amazon Prime and DVD. Also production Kommando 1944 where I play the critical role of Lehman won more than 150 awards.

I played the critical role ‘Mauren’ in Righteous Thieves which was recently released by Lionsgate in movie theatres throughout the U.S. and will be released on Apple+ Amazon Prime.

I was also recently cast as the President of the United States ‘Steven Chambers’ in the upcoming feature film “Unpresidented” that is currently in development.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4250622/

https://www.instagram.com/benjaminschnau/

My book ‘The Reality of Hollywood’:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-reality-of-hollywood

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Looking into the future, I believe that it’s inevitable that the use of AI will be even more present shaping the film industry of tomorrow. As with any new developments I see it as an opportunity for us creatives to create stories and characters we want to watch on screen and therefore believe leveraging the power of new technology can benefit the community as it mainly depends on how we react to it. There is always a transition period that is happening, so it’s going to be up to actors to understand and learn about these new options and possibilities to use it to our advantage.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4250622/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminschnau/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@benjaminschnau
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/Reality-Hollywood-Success-Through-Actors-ebook/dp/B09WQD71YF/ |  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-reality-of-hollywood