Ben Fransham
BiographyBen Fransham is a New Zealand actor with a broad catalogue of energetic performances, albeit with a certain affinity for projects involving the undead. Unusually, he was a professionally trained ballet dancer before turning his focus to acting, and he has imbued his many character roles in theatre, musicals and film with unique physical versatility.
Fransham is best known for his turn as the ancient and unnerving vampire Petyr in Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's internationally renowned What We Do in the Shadows (2014).
As well as featuring in Ash vs Evil Dead (2015), Fransham's previous projects for Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi include the horror feature film 30 Days of Night (2007) and fantasy action series Legend of the Seeker (2008), in which he played a variety of roles.
Fransham also has a continuing association with Peter Jackson's productions, dating back to Heavenly Creatures (1994), and his proficient motion-capture work can be found in most of Weta Digital's collaboration in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) (and the remaining films in the trilogy), The Adventures of Tintin (2011), I, Robot (2004), District 9 (2009), King Kong (2005) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) (as well as the rest of the trilogy).
In the role of actor
What We Do in the Shadows (13/02/2015)
From co-directors Taika Waititi (Eagle vs Shark) and Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) comes this mockumentary about a group of vampires living together. A documentary crew follows 379 year old Viago (Taika Waititi), 183 year old Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), and 862 year old Vladislav (Jemaine Clement) as they live together in modern Wellington, New […]
What We Do in the Shadows (15/09/2014)
From co-directors Taika Waititi (Eagle vs Shark) and Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) comes this mockumentary about a group of vampires living together. A documentary crew follows 379 year old Viago (Taika Waititi), 183 year old Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), and 862 year old Vladislav (Jemaine Clement) as they live together in modern Wellington, New […]