Ben Mehl is expertly portrayed by rising sensation Dante. As we go more into Joe Goldberg’s insane mind, you seem to get crazier. In season three, Joe and Love go to the bucolic Madre Linda suburb of California to raise their son Henry there, apart from the memory of their terrible past. Love and Joe are unable to flee the violence since it is already inside of them.
After Joe burns their house and murders Love in self-defense, the dream disintegrates. He departs from Henry along with Dante, a blind coworker, and Lansing, his husband. One of the brand-new characters in season 3 was Dante. It’s unlikely that Joe intends to abandon his child permanently, so Dante may show up in the upcoming season.
Ben has Stargardt’s disease, which Causes Progressive loss of Central Vision
Page Contents
- 1 Ben has Stargardt’s disease, which Causes Progressive loss of Central Vision
- 2 Mehl points to his Late Mother as his Biggest Inspiration in life
- 3 Ben is so busy with his Twin Daughters that he doesn’t watch much Television
- 4 Ben worked with a Specialist to better bring out Dante’s total Blindness
- 5 Ben hopes that his Career will Pick up following his Appearance
Ben is sight impaired yet not completely blind. Stargardt’s illness, which results in a progressive loss of central vision, affects Ben Mehl. Ben Mehl was on stage performing Reefer Madness when he noticed that something was amiss with his vision.
He described the experience to The University of Toronto Magazine as “like when a flash goes off and you have that dot in your vision.” Except mine never disappeared.
Ben expressed his concerns about acting to Authority Magazine: “How could I understand my scripts? How would I be able to see my scene partner’s facial expression? I vowed not to let this illness define me and that I would learn what it meant to be an actor with this impairment after spending some time grieving the loss of my central vision and coming to terms with my new life.
Without his optimistic outlook, Ben would not have overcome the difficulty presented by Stargardt’s illness. He’s not sure if he’ll ever lose all of his vision, but he’s convinced it won’t affect his life or his profession. Ben reportedly said to The University of Toronto Magazine:
“I’m not scared anymore, but I don’t know how it will go. I don’t have preconceived notions about how my life should be, therefore I can’t see how my illness will keep me from attaining that. I’m intrigued by the limitless range of options.
Mehl points to his Late Mother as his Biggest Inspiration in life
Years after his parents and two elder brothers emigrated from South Africa, Ben Mehl was born in Toronto. Ben said to Authority Magazine,
“I came as a surprise.”
Mehl has always had a passion for acting and performing, so watching his brothers participate in school plays made him giddy. Ben told The National Post, “My parents always commented, ‘oh you’re such a performer’ anytime I did dumb things to try and make them laugh.
Ben was in fourth grade when his instructor encouraged him to try out for the Claude Watson School for the Arts. Due to his mother’s encouragement, Ben was able to get the one available fifth-grade place.
Mehl told Authority Magazine,
“My mom always taught me there was no such term as “can’t” and that I could do anything I set my mind to.”
Mehl profited from Claude Watson’s increased attention to the arts. After finishing high school, he attended Earl Haig Secondary School, where he discovered his affinity for space. He picked a school that offered a double major in Astrophysics and Drama since he didn’t want to give up his acting dream. He clarified:
I wasn’t ready to give up acting when it came time for college, but I also wanted to keep studying science because I wanted to become an astronaut. As a result, I pursued a double degree in astronomy and drama at the University of Toronto.
Ben’s mother never stopped encouraging him after she passed away. She died two months after Mehl welcomed his twin twins, he revealed to Authority Magazine. He succinctly described how she had impacted his life:
Ben is so busy with his Twin Daughters that he doesn’t watch much Television
Given that his wife is a full-time healthcare worker, Ben spends a lot of time with his twin girls. Mehl doesn’t have enough free time to watch television with his job and raise his girls.
Mehl thus was unaware of You before appearing in the Dante role audition. “I had not seen you, or honestly ever heard of it,” he admitted to The National Post. I soon realized that I was one of the only individuals in the world who was unaware of it, loved it, or was looking forward to the third season!
Ben was initially perplexed as to why You were so popular. After appreciating the humor tying the mayhem together, he only started to like the series. Ben told ScreenRant,
“There was a lot of humor in it, I couldn’t stop watching and started to truly enjoy the writing and the acting.”
While getting his girls ready for a bath, Ben discovered that he had been cast in the part. He spoke with ScreenRant about his humorous reaction to hearing that he had landed the part that he had been vying for:
Ben told Authority Magazine that “she had devoted countless hours and a lot of passion towards helping to open opportunities for performers with impairments.” Without the efforts of many disabled artist advocates like her, I might not have been given the chance to try out for this part.
Ben worked with a Specialist to better bring out Dante’s total Blindness
Mehl practiced using a white cane under the guidance of an orientation and mobility specialist. He practiced with and without a blindfold, and he concluded that playing Dante gave him the freedom to concentrate on his blind areas.
According to Ben, who played Dante,
“I generally strain to focus on what I can see in my peripheral vision, but for once I could just let my focus rest in the nothingness in the center of my view.” “Letting go and allowing myself to simply not see was an amazing kind of release for me. I sometimes had the impression that I was getting ready for whatever lay ahead.
Mehl spent hours observing how blind individuals entered and exited a building designed for their protection. He was impressed by the “assurance and poise” they exuded when performing, and he made an effort to convey such confidence when playing Dante. Added him:
“What became so crucial was not to depict someone who is floundering around trying to locate things, but rather somebody who understands how to traverse the world without sight; someone who has had that experience and can live with confidence and independence as does Dante.
It’s extremely normalized because he [Dante] just so happens to be blind, just like some of us just so happen to have blue eyes. It’s not extraordinary, which I believe makes it extraordinary… He has certain blind spots, just like other people do, and we all try to avoid them as much as we can.
Ben hopes that his Career will Pick up following his Appearance
Ben Mehl enjoyed the chance to work with such a wonderful cast, even though he knew it would be challenging to introduce a new character in the third season of such a very successful program. Both critics and viewers concur that Ben did a fantastic job portraying Dante. Ben stated to the Albuquerque Journal:
“Before I arrived, this series had already achieved success. Observing this amazing machine in action with so many great people working together for a common cause. I entered the room, did my duty, and did my best to authentically portray Dante. I set myself the challenge of doing that.
Mehl has seen many setbacks throughout his acting career. He told The National Post,
“Auditioning, being rejected, auditioning, being rejected, auditioning, being rejected.”
Ben hopes to have more opportunities to appear on screen in the future. He started to ScreenRant:
“Having a wide variety of unique personalities is something I am enthusiastic about and something I constantly hope for. My interest in theater was sparked by the idea of actually changing into different characters. I, therefore, hope to portray a variety of quite distinct personas as I go on. That is my objective.
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