Spare a thought for actor Ben Porter – during his time playing troubled kid Milo on Shortland Street, his character lost his dad in a fire, his mum succumbed to cancer and he got in a fight with TK Samuels. Convinced that one of the doctors was to blame for his mother’s death, Milo then went on a lethal shooting spree in the Ferndale clinic.
It’s understandably been an intense ride for Ben, 21. “Becoming Milo definitely took a toll on me,” he tells Woman’s Day. “I had to try to get myself into the mindset of someone who was actively planning to cause harm to other humans, which was a very heavy thing for me to do.
“To prepare, I tried to re-explore some sad memories from my past or tap into some difficult journeys other people had shared online. I was definitely worried about how authentic my performance would be since I’ve never had to perform with such heighted emotions before.”
Ben admits some of the scenes had him in tears
He admits he has struggled with his mental health in the past, which resulted in him having therapy. Ben explains, “I was bullied quite a lot when I was younger because I chose to dance, which is sad looking back. Being bullied is honestly such a tough thing to navigate at any age and it’s especially horrible to go through as a young kid. It really took a toll on my self-confidence and I had to do a lot of work within myself to get it back.”
Fortunately, the cast and crew of Shorty always had his back during difficult scenes. Ben says, “I remember one morning when we were filming, I shut the door to my dressing room and cried. I just couldn’t stop. Luckily, I’ve made some incredible friends on the show and was able to talk through all my emotions with them, which was super-helpful.”
But luckily fans have gone easy on him.
Surprisingly, Shorty fans haven’t been too harsh either.
“I know some of the show’s more notorious villains have had some pretty horrible comments directed their way – heckled in public or even pushed, shoved and spat on. Honestly, I was expecting to be ripped to shreds online, but the fans have just been so lovely to me. There are, of course, the comments here and there that don’t exactly make me feel too flash, but I was warned there would be a bit of a backlash!”
