The Word from . . . Nigel Bennett
by Marla Cranston
The Daily News December 1, 2000
Photo and text copyright 2000 The Daily News. Used with permission.
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Nigel Bennett is starring as Scrooge in Neptune's holiday show. Nigel Bennett is making his Neptune cast-mates howl with an impromptu impersonation of a Samurai Scrooge, complete with martial arts gestures. You can't blame him for slipping from the Dickensian tale into more familiar action terrain - Bennett is best known as Lacroix from the vampire series Forever Knight and lately as Prince, the sexy evil guy on Salter Street's sci-fi series LEXX. The Gemini-winning actor has also had juicy bad-guy roles in big-budget Hollywood flicks: Murder at 1600, The Skulls, Narrow Margin with Gene Hackman and Legends of the Fall. "People have said I've behaved like Scrooge before, but I've never actually played him onstage," Bennett admits, relishing the part and his return to stage work (Scrooge opens tonight). He was Claudius in Neptune's recent Hamlet - after a ten-year stage hiatus - and he's cast in Art next month before shooting another season of LEXX. Growing up in England, he saw Alistair Sims' version of the holiday classic every year, and says every actor dreams of doing Scrooge. The play opens tonight at Neptune's Fountain Hall. "It's a bit like Hamlet, in a way. It's been done so often and it's so well known that you have to find your own take on it," says Bennett, who cuts quite a dashing figure for the miserly Scrooge, handsome yet intimidating in his black satin waistcoat and natty suit with tails. "We thought Scrooge would grudgingly spend money on keeping up his appearances, to a certain extent. He's sort of the businessman you might meet on Bay Sreet or in any commercial district. For him, the sacred cow is money, and nothing else. Unfortunately, there are people who are still like that in this world." On the tube: "I'm a huge Simpsons fan. D'oh! And I enjoy guy stuff, I suppose you'd call it: sports and movies and the History Channel. I'm not into sitcoms or soaps." Flick picks: Bennett goes to a lot of movies with his children, ages eight and fourteen, "so I'm really up on Pokemon and Digimon. I know what a Pikachu is." He liked The Sixth Sense, Mission to Mars and Red Planet. "I've racked my brains as to why i like science fiction, and I think because it's sort of hopeful. It always envisages a future that's expansive and looking out. And we're still here." Music: Alison Krauss is one of his favourite singers, along with Willie Nelson and Trisha Yearwood. And "there's something right with a species that can do opera. We can't be all bad if we can make such a beautiful sound." Hobbies: Bennett golfs, skis, spends a lot of time fixing up his cottage and hunts in northern Nova Scotia. This fall, "I got a ten point buck. Big buck. Really nice. Tastes good, too." |