Ben Elliot

Ben Elliot

Ben Elliot

Ben Elliot is living his dream. This 23-year-old Hamburg, New York native studied acting in Buffalo, New York at the Irish Classical Theater, and later supported his acting career in Manhattan by taking on modeling gigs. His dream of pursuing a career in acting became a reality when he was asked to transplant from New York to the glittery hills of Hollywood to stay in the If I Can Dream house. The web series, created by Simon Fuller, followed a group of hopeful artists as they strived to pursue their career in various areas of the entertainment industry. Elliot took the time to chat with Runway about everything from ambitious aspirations to his ideal woman. 

 Speaking of girlfriend, do you have a current love interest? We are dying to know! 

 Right now I am single but I almost feel like I am married to the craft of acting.  I am interested in Adrianna Lima, but she doesn’t know who I am.

 In regards to acting, would you prefer to pursue a career in theater, television or movies? Why?

 I would like to pursue a career in all three.  My ultimate goal is to be in a well-written feature film but I would like to do television and theatre.  I really want to do theatre because it pushes you as an actor and all the greats have done it.   At the end of the day I just want to act and being in any of those three would be a dream come true. 

 Instead of playing a game of Fantasy Football, let’s play a game of Fantasy Movie Cast. Who would you absolutely LOVE to work with in a film?

  I am just going to list them off:  Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson, Megan Fox, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and John Kirby as my acting coach on set.  If I had the opportunity to work with any of those people that would be the greatest thing.

 You used to live in Manhattan. Do you currently reside in NYC or LA?

Right now I am living in Los Angeles and I am starting to really enjoy it out here. Between the weather, geography, and it being the nucleus of the entertainment industry, I feel like I will be here for a while. I really like the overall Cali “vibe”.

 Which city do you prefer in terms of acting gigs, nightlife, etcetera?

 Both New York City and Los Angeles are great places but if I had to pick one it would be New York. I have a great group of friends in the city and I have learned a lot of life lessons there.  If you ask which city has better acting gigs, nightlife and energy? L.A. for the acting gigs, NY for the nightlife and both cities have great energy.  Los Angeles is where movies and television shows have been made for years and it’s really exciting to be around that. New York is just, well, New York. I am really fortunate to have lived in both places and to have met the people I have met.

 What would you say was the biggest challenge of living day-to-day with constant camera exposure on If I Can Dream?

 The most challenging part was always having to be clothed. 

 What hobbies are you involved in when you are not auditioning, doing photo shoots or filming?

  I play a lot of music and I am always at the gym.  Music is a big part of my life. I have been playing saxophone since the fourth grade and jazz is my favorite genre to play with that.  Jazz music is where it is at. I also play a lot of acoustic guitar with my friends and longboarding (skating) is another hobby of mine.  Oh and watching hockey. GO SABRES

Ben Elliot