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Shaun Benson
Benson at National Canadian Film Day 2018
Born	(1976-01-16) January 16, 1976 (age 48) Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)	Actor, director
Years active	1990s–present

Shaun Benson (born January 16, 1976) is a Canadian actor and director. He acted in several theatre productions in the 1990s before embarking on his film and television career.

In 2002, Benson appeared alongside Harrison Ford in the American submarine film K-19: The Widowmaker and has since starred in various films including ARQ (2016), Never Saw It Coming (2017) and I Still See You (2018). He portrayed Dr. Steven Webber in the American daytime TV soap opera General Hospital in 2004 and 2005. More recently, he appeared as Gary Yolen in the first season of the horror anthology series Channel Zero (2016) and Topher Brooks in the Netflix series Tiny Pretty Things (2020).

He has trained in the Meisner technique of acting and teaches Meisner acting classes.

Early life

Benson was born in Guelph, Ontario. He is the son of Eugene Benson, an English professor and a prolific novelist, playwright and librettist. He later graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a bachelor of science in chemistry and biochemistry, before studying acting at the George Brown College Theater School in Toronto.

While at university he began training in karate. He holds a 5th Degree Black Belt and his Renshi Teaching Certificate in Legacy Shorin Ryu under Hanshi Gary Legacy and Kyoshi Randy Dauphin and a Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from Toronto BJJ under Jorge Britto with his time in Los Angeles spent training with Jean-Jacques Machado.

Career

Acting

Benson's early roles as an actor included theatrical productions of John Palmer's Singapore, Fabrizio Filippo's Waiting for Lewis, William Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, and Robin Fulford's Steel Kiss.

In 2000, he appeared in a Molson Canadian commercial as a Canadian office worker who unleashes a torrent of hockey-style violence on an American coworker taunting him with Canadian stereotypes. In 2001, he was cast in a lead role in the television drama series The Associates.

In 2002, following the cancellation of The Associates, he was cast in the legal drama series Just Cause, which ran for one season.

He played the recurring role of Dr. Steven Lars Webber on the soap opera General Hospital from 2004 to 2005, which attracted him considerable attention compared to his previous roles. Since his time on General Hospital, Benson has guest starred in numerous television series, including Cold Case, The Unit, and Being Erica. In 2008, he appeared in the Proud Family film Oscar Proud.

In 2012, he starred in the IMAX 3D documentary film Flight of the Butterflies and in French comedy Populaire.

In the 2015 made-for-TV movie Kept Woman, he played an eccentric professor, Simon, who kidnaps his neighbor Jessica, played by Courtney Ford. Also in 2015, he starred in the Starz television series The Girlfriend Experience.

In 2016, Benson appeared in the Netflix time loop thriller ARQ as Sonny, as well as Season 2 of the series Gangland Undercover as Crowbar. He subsequently appeared in the SyFy series Channel Zero as the town sheriff, Gary Yolen.

Between 2017 and 2021, he appeared in many prestige projects including The Boys on Amazon as Ezekiel, Tiny Pretty Things on Netflix as Brooks, Code 8 as Dixon, as well as independent and TV film work for Lifetime, SyFy, etc.

Benson has trained as an actor using the Meisner technique and teaches Meisner acting classes in Toronto.

Directing

In 2013, Benson directed Stop/Kiss by Diana Son for the Toronto Fringe Festival. The play won best of festival and garnered and extended run.

He directed the 2015 independent film Barn Wedding, which won the HMV People's Pick For Best Flick award at the 2015 Canadian Film Fest.

In 2021, he co-wrote, co-directed and starred, with Karen Knox, in Borderline which had its World Premiere in the UK at Crystal Palace International Film Festival and its North American Premiere at Dances With Films at the Chinese Theatre.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1. ^ "Famous Guelphites: Benson, Shaun". Guelph Public Library. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
2. ^ "Just Cause for Benson: The actor can stay in Vancouver - series gets an extension". The Province, March 7, 2003.
3. "A bad taste that lingers". National Post, April 3, 2000.
4. "Plays about teens not up to challenge ; Productions confront questions of fame and homophobia". Toronto Star, April 17, 1999.
5. "Oakville ups ante on outdoor Shakespeare Review". Toronto Star, July 24, 1999.
6. "From a gang of thugs to a bunch of losers". National Post, January 15, 1999.
7. "'I am Canadian' the sequel: Meet the obnoxious American". Toronto Star, July 29, 2000.
8. "The associates deliver their verdict: How close does CTV's new television series come to life at a law firm?". National Post, January 13, 2001.
9. "Fall TV looks to Vancouver: Several new shows are being filmed here or feature local talent". Vancouver Sun, September 11, 2002.
10. "Soapfest lures dedicated fans". Windsor Star, February 22, 2005.
11. "a Canadian story that's top flight". The Globe and Mail, April 12, 2013.
12. "A slight rom-com, but that's all; Paint-by-numbers Populaire powered by chemistry between stars". Montreal Gazette, February 8, 2013.
13. Butler, Hayley (February 3, 2020). "Shaun Benson: Meisner Technique & Life as an Actor". sailfinproductions.com. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
14. Julianna Cummins March (March 30, 2015). "Canadian Film Fest unveils 2015 winners". Playback. Retrieved July 14, 2016.

External links

• Shaun Benson at IMDb

• 1976 births
• Living people
• Canadian male soap opera actors
• Canadian male television actors
• Canadian people of Northern Ireland descent
• People from Guelph
• Male actors from Ontario
• University of Western Ontario alumni
• George Brown College alumni
• Canadian male film actors
• Canadian male stage actors
• Film directors from Ontario
• Canadian theatre directors
• 20th-century Canadian male actors
• 21st-century Canadian male actors