Ben Nesbit
by Omar Salas Zamora
January 12th, 2026
Ben Nesbit is an English actor living in Los Angeles.
He recently completed work on Omar Salas Zamora’s film Good Feeling and is now preparing for his own directorial debut, Cheekbones.
Omar Salas Zamora: What did you feel like when you got the script for Good Feeling?
Ben Nesbit: I was excited because we'd been following each other on Instagram for a long time, chatting about movies. Initially, I was just happy that you reached out. I always thought your work was cool, and I honestly wondered if you’d ever get in contact to ask me about working on something.
Just waiting for the call?
Yes. Then I read the script and immediately thought that you were interested in me for Wes, which was exciting to me. But then you said you were interested in me for Vic, and I was a bit like, “What the fuck?” I’ve always seen myself playing more desperate characters, so it was a surprise, but Vic ended up being right for me.
Matthew Namik, who co-wrote the story with me, and I had a conversation after meeting you, and I became adamant that I wanted to see your face on camera. It felt different and unique. Had you ever been cast as a romantic lead?
No, I hadn’t been.That’s actually really cool to know. Most of the romantic interest roles I’d auditioned for in the past felt very YA, and I don’t think I was ever particularly right for any of those. I feel correct for this.
And then rehearsals started.
Yes, we did a lot of rehearsals. We also delayed the shoot multiple times, and I’m really, really happy we did. I think we found the project in rehearsals. I can’t imagine us shooting it right away, it would have resulted in a completely different project.
It’s a very interpretable script. I think any actor would have brought a different performance to it.
It was definitely a script that could have been interpreted any number of ways, and it was important for me to work hard and investigate it. However we approached it, the project would have resulted in something that was sexy and something that would have worked, because it’s a great story; but through the rehearsal process it became a really thick script. Honestly, as soon as I really sat down, and spent time alone with Vic, I realized it was a character study. And then during our rehearsal process, more shirtless scenes were added.
One shirtless scene was added.
One is more. So there was more. This was the first time, I think, that I was playing a character that I knew was supposed to be sexy.
You’d never played a sexually charged character?
No, I genuinely hadn’t. I don’t think that was really my casting until last year. I wanted to feel really confident on set because Vic has a quiet confidence and being in a good place with my body mentally helped me feel that type of confidence without having to play it. I remember a few times I mentioned that I wasn’t drinking at the time, and I remember you asking, “Oh, for this?” I was embarrassed, so I said no, even though the answer was yes.
Other things changed as well. He was originally written to be American and making him English informed the character in a totally different way.
Yes, you asked me my opinion on how to make him more overtly English, but I already felt that you wrote a very English-feeling character. He’s very direct, very to the point.
Had you ever been so involved in a process like this?
No. It was cool because I’ve been acting a long time, but I hadn’t really been a lead before. This was the first time I was a co-lead on something and fully incorporated into the production. Understanding what a director wants—what you wanted—was integral to the success of the film.
It wasn’t a walk-on role. There’s a rise and fall to that character’s arc.
Exactly. And it was interesting because I audition so much, I’m used to not getting to make the thing. I’m used to the character’s whole life existing only in my head, because I never talk about it with anyone else. This was a transition—realizing, okay, Ben, you’re actually doing something now. It’s not just your interpretation of the character; it’s someone else’s character too. Other times it’s felt like the character hasn’t been in my hands because I’ve played smaller, passing roles. I’ve done a lot of things where I’m just in one scene. Whereas this—almost every scene. I was the lead of another short film once; I auditioned, I got it, and it was finished in two days. So this was very different.
From the time you were cast, to when you were wrapped, it was 2 days?
Correct, I got the role the night before we started production and we finished shooting it within two days.
Now that it’s done and you’re moving on to your own movie—this is the first movie you’ve directed, right? Is this something you always wanted?
The script I’m directing, I’ve been writing for years. At first, it was just about showing people what I could do, for the sake of it leading to more acting work. I always knew I wanted to direct that particular script, but directing any further wasn’t the goal. Now it is. Now I want to keep directing, as well as continue acting.
That is your intention.
Yeah, it is my intention. I had a draft completely finished in May, and then I didn’t tell anyone about it for a long time. December was the month I started showing people the script. One friend really pushed me to explore changing the plot points, and I just really thought , “no.” I knew what I wanted. But I was happy they pushed me and didn’t love it, because it made me think deeply about why I loved it and why I wasn’t willing to change those things. I’ve only really found confidence as a writer in the past three months. I’m a confident actor because I’ve been doing it forever—I’ve put in my 10,000 hours. However, writing is new, but I do feel more secure in it now. I feel the same way I do when people don’t respond to my acting—it doesn’t bother me that much. I know what I’m doing, I know where my strengths are, and one way or another people will see my point of view. It’s specific enough that even if they don’t think it’s the right choice, it’s respectable. That’s how I feel about my writing ideas too. It’s mine. It came to me, and this is what it is. I can stand up for it.
Photography by Omar Salas Zamora
Interview by Omar Salas Zamora