Ben Rosenfield

Ben Rosenfield
Rosenfield at the 2014 Montclair Film Festival
Occupations
  • Actor
  • Musician
Years active2010–present

Ben Rosenfield is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Willie Thompson on the fourth and fifth seasons of HBO's period crime drama series Boardwalk Empire (2013–2014). He starred in leading roles in Greetings from Tim Buckley (2012), Affluenza (2014), and 6 Years (2016) as well as supporting roles in Song One (2014), Indignation (2016), Person to Person (2017), and Mickey and the Bear (2019).

On television, he portrayed Sam Colby in Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), and played John Schlafly in the Hulu limited series Mrs. America. He also had supporting roles in Netflix docu-series The Family in 2019, and the Amazon Prime comedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in 2023.

Rosenfeld's first role on the Off-Broadway stage was as Max in the adaptation of the Ingmar Bergman film Through a Glass Darkly at the Atlantic Theater Company. He has since acted in Jennifer Haley's science fiction play The Nether (2015), and Simon Stephens' family drama On the Shore of the Wide World (2017). He currently stars in Itamar Moses' political comedy-drama The Ally (2024) at The Public Theater.

Early life

Rosenfield was raised in Montclair, New Jersey.[1] His father, Stephen Rosenfield, is a teacher of stand-up comedy and the founder of the American Comedy Institute in New York City.[2][3] His mother, Kate Redway Rosenfield, is an actress and teaches improv.[4] Rosenfield has one younger brother, Nate.[5] He is Jewish, and has said that he "used to be rather religious" despite his family's atheism.[6] His ancestors were from Ukraine, Romania, Denmark, and Scotland.[6]

Rosenfield attended Glenfield Middle School where, in eighth grade, he portrayed Tevye in a production of Fiddler on the Roof.[2] He then attended and graduated from Montclair High School in 2010.[5]

Career

In 2011, Rosenfield made his stage debut in the Off-Broadway production of the play Through a Glass Darkly, alongside Carey Mulligan and Chris Sarandon.[7] In August of the same year, it was announced that Rosenfield had been cast to co-star as Tim Buckley in the drama film Greetings from Tim Buckley (2012). The film also featured Penn Badgley and Imogen Poots in main roles.[8] The following year, he starred as Tommie Scheel in the documentary film Teenage, and joined the cast of Boardwalk Empire in the recurring role of Willie Thompson, Eli's (Shea Whigham) son. For the fifth and final season, he was promoted to a series regular. Rosenfield then co-starred in the films Jamesy Boy (2014) and Song One (2014), before having his first leading role in the film Affluenza (2014), which also starred Grant Gustin and Nicola Peltz.[9] Also in 2014, Rosenfield appeared in a supporting role in the crime drama A Most Violent Year, opposite Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac.

Rosenfield at the Montclair Film Festival in May 2016

In January 2015, Rosenfield was cast as Woodnut in Jennifer Haley's play The Nether with the MCC Theater, which ran from February 4 to March 15, 2015 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.[10] Rosenfield then portrayed Dan Mercer in Hannah Fidell's relationship drama film 6 Years, starring opposite Taissa Farmiga.[11] The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 14, 2015,[12] and was released on Netflix on August 18, 2015.

He next had a supporting role in Woody Allen's comedy-drama Irrational Man, co-starring Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. The film premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and was released in theaters on July 17, 2015. Rosenfield then co-starred as Bertram Flusser (alongside Logan Lerman) in the drama film Indignation, an adaptation of Philip Roth's 2008 novel of the same name, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2016 and was released to theaters on July 29, 2016. Also in 2016, he starred alongside Richard Armitage and Zoe Kazan in the Off-Broadway play Love, Love, Love, from the Roundabout Theatre Company.[13] Rosenfield is part of the ensemble cast of the drama film Person to Person, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.[14] He was also cast as Sam Colby in the Showtime series revival of David Lynch's Twin Peaks.[15]

In 2017, Rosenfield portrayed Alex Holmes in the Off-Broadway premiere of the Simon Stephens play On the Shore of the Wide World.[16] He was also seen in the comedy film The Long Dumb Road, re-teaming with director Hannah Fidell.[17]

In 2019, Ben played the role of Aron Church, in the film Mickey and the Bear directed by Annabelle Attanasio. The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival where it was acquired for theatrical distribution by Utopia. The film went on to play to rave reviews at the 2019 Cannes film festival.[18]

In 2020, Rosenfield starred opposite Cate Blanchett in the recurring role of John Schlafly, in the FX limited series Mrs. America. Mrs. America was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards including Outstanding Limited Series. .[19] In February 2020 it was announced that Rosenfield had been cast in the Lead role of Mark in Hannah Marks upcoming feature film Mark, Mary & Some Other People.[20]

Music

In December 2014, Rosenfield released an EP titled Field on Bandcamp and began playing shows at clubs around NYC. In February 2017, he released a full-length album titled dum die on Bandcamp. The song "Angel in the Sky" on Rosenfield's album was used in the score of the film Mickey and the Bear. Rosenfield recorded several songs with Jenny Lewis for the soundtrack to the film Song One.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2010 The Virgins Boy Short film
2012 Greetings from Tim Buckley Tim Buckley
2013 Teenage Tommie Scheel Documentary
2013 Louder Than Words Michael Fareri
2013 Passerby Enoch Rothstein Short film
2014 Jamesy Boy Chris Cesario
2014 Song One Henry Ellis
2014 Affluenza Fisher Miller
2014 A Most Violent Year Sales Student Alex
2015 6 Years Dan Mercer
2015 Irrational Man April's Friend #1
2015 Have Had Adam Short film; also writer and producer
2016 Indignation Bertram Flusser
2017 Person to Person River
2019 Mickey and the Bear Aron Church
2021 Mark, Mary & Some Other People Mark

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Live from Lincoln Center Enoch Snow Jr Episode: "Carousel"
2013–2014 Boardwalk Empire Willie Thompson 9 episodes
2017 Twin Peaks Sam Colby 2 episodes
2019 The Family Ivanwald Brother Netflix documentary series
2020 Mrs. America John Schlafly 7 episodes
2023 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Older Ethan Maisel 2 episodes

Stage

Year Title Role Location
2011 Through a Glass Darkly Max Atlantic Theater Company, Off-Broadway
2015 The Nether Mr. Woodnut Lucille Lortel Theatre, Off-Broadway
2016 Love Love Love Jamie Roundabout Theatre Company, Off-Broadway
2017 On the Shore of the Wide World Alex Holmes Atlantic Theater Company, Off-Broadway
2024 The Ally Reuven The Public Theater, Off-Broadway

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Work Result
2013 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Boardwalk Empire Nominated

References

  1. ^ Katzban, Nicholas. "A cinema disobedient", The Montclair Times, May 5, 2016. Accessed August 17, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Ben Rosenfield, who played Bertram Flusser, Marcus' bohemian roommate, thinks it's a possibility, if only for the protagonist's age.... 'It's definitely a first love for Marcus, and a first love is a really complicated one,' said Rosenfield, who grew up in Montclair."
  2. ^ a b Brown, Emma (July 16, 2014). "Discovery: Ben Rosenfield". Interview.
  3. ^ "American Comedy Institute". ComedyInstitute.com.
  4. ^ "On The Rise: 12 Actors To Watch". Indiewire. August 14, 2014. Archived from the original on March 24, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Mr Ben Rosenfield". Mr Porter. September 2, 2015.
  6. ^ a b Goldberg, Reeva (September 6, 2014). "Ben Rosenfield as Tommie Scheel". Teenage. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  7. ^ Brantley, Ben (June 6, 2011). "Under Pretty Skin, Madness Lurks: Through a Glass Darkly". The New York Times.
  8. ^ "Tony Winners Norbert Leo Butz and Frank Wood Join Penn Badgley in Greetings from Tim Buckley". Broadway.com. August 22, 2011.
  9. ^ Kroll, Justin (July 25, 2012). "Pair contract for 'Affluenza': Nicola Peltz, Ben Rosenfield join indie cast". Variety. Archived from the original on June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  10. ^ "Ben Rosenfield & Sophia Anne Caruso Join Cast of MCC Theater's THE NETHER". Broadway World. January 6, 2015.
  11. ^ Kilday, Gregg (June 12, 2014). "Taissa Farmiga, Ben Rosenfield Starring in Hannah Fidell's New Feature". The Hollywood Reporter.
  12. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (February 4, 2015). "SXSW First Look: Hannah Fidell's '6 Years' Stars Farmiga and Rosenfield as a Couple in Crisis". Indiewire. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  13. ^ Clement, Olivia (July 13, 2016). "Zoe Kazan, Richard Armitage and Amy Ryan Join Love, Love, Love". Playbill.
  14. ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (December 3, 2015). "Michael Cera, Abbi Jacobson & Tavi Gevinson Join 'Human People'; 'Big Bear' Wraps With Pablo Schrieber & Adam Brody". Deadline Hollywood.
  15. ^ Ausiello, Michael (April 25, 2016). "Twin Peaks Revival: Complete Cast List Revealed (and It's Bananas)". TVLine.
  16. ^ Clement, Olivia (July 26, 2017). "Cast Set for Off-Broadway Premiere of Simon Stephens' On the Shore of the Wide World". Playbill.
  17. ^ Droz Palermo, Andrew (April 15, 2017). "That's a wrap on feature number 6, and my 3rd with Hannah!..." Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-25. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  18. ^ "Annabelle Attanasio's 'Mickey And The Bear' Acquired By Utopia For Fall Theatrical Release – Cannes". May 22, 2019.
  19. ^ "Emmy Awards 2020: The key winners and nominees". BBC News. September 21, 2020.
  20. ^ "'Riverdale's Hayley Law, Ben Rosenfield To Star In Open Relationship Comedy 'Mark, Mary & Some Other People' From Hannah Marks". February 22, 2020.
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