Kiwi audiences know him as troubled teenager Milo Cross from Shortland Street, or murdered jock Chad Feldman on The Brokenwood Mysteries, but actor Ben Porter went into The Traitors NZ excited to play not a character, but himself.
However, that plan went out the window fast.
“I quickly realised you can’t be your true self in a game like this,” he says. “I had to tone down my personality so I could slot in without getting too much attention. It felt good to be a Faithful, where I could develop proper friendships and not have anything to hide.”
The 22-year-old strategically downplayed his acting prowess to his competitors. “I told them that I was a marketer. I do have a marketing degree and I have worked as a marketer. So, I didn’t really feel like I was lying.”
His strategy helped. People trusted and liked Ben, and ex-cop and Traitor Jane Massey immediately took him under her wing. That relationship held strong until she started floating his name around, leading to her banishment.
Ben says while he seemed comfortable with the darker and more sinister aspects of the season, it was all an act.
“I was shit scared of the missions,” he admits, with players having been kidnapped, electrocuted and made to eat raw animal flesh. “I don’t know who came up with them, but they need therapy!”
After spending most of the game as a Faithful, wedding videographer Bailey Kench and actor/teacher Siale Tunoka seduced Ben to join the Traitors.
“I thought we’d be a good team,” he explains. Ben didn’t realise that the pair had invited him into the conclave to ruthlessly backstab him. “The moment they started putting my name out there, I realised what was about to happen. I felt so blindsided. Looking back, it was so obvious!”
It was the end of his game, but Ben regrets nothing.
“I made it 10 days and to be honest, I was used as a pawn by the Traitors. How cool is that?!”
To cover for his absence during The Traitors, Ben told his close-knit family he was going camping.
“It was hard not being honest with them, but they’re big fans of the franchise. They were really excited when they found out.
“We’re not really an artsy family,” says Ben, the youngest of four. His brother Brett is a farmer-turned-carpenter, sister Tash works as a teacher aide, as well as being a full-time mum, and sister Nicole works in management for Silver Fern Farms.
Originally from Wellington, Ben moved to Auckland to pursue a medical degree. However, he soon realised his true passion was acting. He set aside his med school dreams, switched to studying commerce, and signed with an acting agent in the same month.
His first TV role quickly followed when he was cast as Logan Murray on high-school comedy The Eggplant. He starred alongside icons Tammy Davis and Karen O’Leary. “When I first met them, I was so starstruck. It was so exciting to go to work and I knew I wanted to do this for a job.
“I’m super-ambitious, so sometimes I feel like I’m not being successful and it does get me down. It’s not until I take a step back that I realise how incredible the past four years have been. Having never been in front of a camera before, getting to do TV and films is amazing. I’m so lucky and grateful.”
Ben’s eagerly anticipating the release of Pike River, a feature film he shot last year alongside Kiwi acting royalty Robyn Malcolm and Melanie Lynskey. “I was pinching myself because they are genuinely the most incredible actors in the world,” he gushes.
The film tells the tale of the horrific 2010 mining disaster that took the lives of 29 men on the West Coast.
“It’s about the ongoing battle of justice, which brings to light so many wounds that were never healed,” Ben explains. “It’s such an incredibly powerful thing to be part of.”
Ben says during filming it was a privilege getting to know Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton tragically died in the mine.
“She is such a beautiful soul,” says Ben. He plays Rob Osborne, her son, in the movie, while Melanie portrays Anna.
“The wrongs were never righted and I’m hoping that by telling her story, the world will listen and something will actually happen.”
The Traitors New Zealand screens Mondays and Tuesdays on Three, and streams on ThreeNow.
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