Ben Porter - Giving Acting a Shot

HIBS Old Boy Ben Porter (Class of 2019) has had a busy few years…. He moved up to Auckland to study Medicine and given his previous history with his heart, (he had a hole in it! which has since been repaired) it seemed like a natural progression for him. But deep down “I wanted to be an actor, ironically his heart wasn’t in medicine so he swapped degrees to make it easier to keep his acting dreams alive. He recently graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Marketing and Management. Congratulations Ben, what is more amazing is that whilst he was studying his acting career took off….

Ben says “It’s crazy how fast time flies since leaving HIBS”. He still keeps in contact with his mates from HIBS and is currently flatting with one now. Bens love for dancing and performing remained strong and he decided to give acting a shot whilst studying. He went large and signed up with Kathryn Rawlings Actors and went from strength to strength. Bens journey is even more remarkable considering he has no formal acting training or qualification - “I just decided to give it a shot”

In 2020 and 2021 he filmed two rounds of a show with TVNZ called The Eggplant – playing a kid called Logan Murray which he describes as epic. In 2022 he landed a gig on a TikTok original series called n00b which has since been picked up by TV3 and is being considered for a TV show. Towards the end of 2022 he auditioned and landed a role on Shortland Street playing Milo Cross a troubled teen. A role that originally was meant to be a 6 week stint and lasted 7 months culminating in his character being the catalyst for the mid-season cliff-hanger. Ben was super pumped to have been asked to take on such a huge role and was overwhelmed with the positive comments he received.

‘I’m not sure what’s next for me but I’m definitely still loving acting”

We look forward to seeing what’s next for you Ben and wish you all the best for your next adventure in acting. We have no doubt we will see your name and photo on a billboard or big screen again sometime soon.