Hey, I’m Ben Monahan.
I was raised in a small New England town, and dreamed of leaving from a young age, watching “The Wizard of Oz” countless times. The fixation with life outside of my proverbial “Kansas” and embodying someone else led me to appear in my first play at 14. Luckily for me, I moved away from my hometown before turning into the Wicked Witch of the West… or Norman Bates, for that matter. I soon arrived in NYC (arriving without a job and with $900 to my name) to chase my dream, but life kept me driving in circles instead.
At 20, I became a bus and truck driver, which came in handy in the creative realm as well- in the film "The French Minister" where you can see me narrowly escaping crashing into cars on the Williamsburg Bridge! One day I lucked out, being selected for Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street", where I appeared in many scenes as a Stratton Broker (and on the movie poster as well) and became eligible to join SAG-AFTRA.
Eventually I realized that no matter what, I couldn’t drive away from myself! So instead of joining a cult, I pursued a career in nursing where I can be paid to a glutton for punishment. Of course this led to me playing a nurse on many network series until I earned my first official credit as Mark David Chapman in “The Lennon Report”, where I was reminded of the thrill of playing a psycho. I also had the privilege of appearing at Theater Row in an Off-Broadway play “Concrete”, as a darkly comedic Psychiatrist enabling a troubled patient. Not one to give up on comedy, I appeared at the Comic Strip Live in NYC and was selected to be a part of the NY Underground Comedy Festival in 2020.
I have been on the front line of the Covid pandemic since the first wave hit New York City. Despite world circumstances, I return to my first passion of acting, and what makes me happiest- playing the calculated mastermind killer, the aloof genius hacker, or the wise but awkward comedic best friend. The electrifying experience of portraying a character and transporting the audience along the way is what keeps the acting bug calling.
When I’m not acting, I enjoy road trips (from Zion National Park to the North Maine Woods), travel (as an RN or just for pleasure), karaoke (from grunge to metal to ‘80s pop), concerts and festivals. And if you didn’t think I’m weird enough, I have a condition known as synesthesia, so every time I hear a word, I taste something. If anyone cared enough to want to know what their name tasted like, I’d be rich.