Orion Ben is a British[1] actress of both Romanian and Moroccan descent, best known for portraying Varde in the BBC Four series Detectorists and her appearances in the second Blade Runner 2049 prequel short film 2048: Nowhere to Run and Call the Midwife.

Orion Ben
NationalityBritish
OccupationActress
Years active2012–present

Early life edit

Ben was born to a Romanian mother and a Moroccan French father. In 2012, Ben graduated from Oxford School of Drama with a Diploma in Professional Acting.[2]

Acting career edit

Starting in 2013, Ben had guest appearances on television series including the Channel 4 series Skins Pure, the BBC TV series Doctors and Stan Lee's Sky1 series Stan Lee's Lucky Man.

Ben also played the guest lead Leah Moss,[3] a young pregnant girl who is caring for her elderly agoraphobic mother in the fourth episode of the third series[4] of the BBC medical period drama Call the Midwife, which aired on 9 February 2014.[5]

Ben starred as the lead in two horror films, Breathe[6][7] and Agravoy,[8] for which she was awarded the second place in the best actress category at the Helios film festival.[9]

Ben plays the recurring role of Varde[10] in the BBC 4 comedy series Detectorists.[11]

In 2017, Ben played the mother in the Blade Runner 2049 short film 2048: Nowhere to Run; directed by Luke Scott, the film follows Sapper Morton as he protects a mother (Ben) and daughter from thugs.[12]

In 2022, Ben appeared as Pistis in episode 4 ‘Barbarians at the Gate’ of the Apple TV+ series Foundation. [13]

Filmography edit

Films and television

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Skins Nava Episode: "Skins Pure"
2013 Breathe May (Lead) Short film
2014 Call the Midwife Leah Moss
2015 Agravoy Women (Lead) Short Film
2015 Doctors Jenny Underhill Episode: "By the Lake"
2017 Stan Lee's Lucky Man Stark House Assistant Season 2
2017 Doctors Amena Malouf Tarragon
2017 2048: Nowhere to Run Mother
2021 Foundation Pistis Barbarians at the Gate
2014–2022 Detectorists Varde Recurring role

Theatre

Year Title Notes
2012 Three Sisters Young Vic Theatre

References edit

  1. ^ "הישראלית החדשה שמככבת בעולם" [The new Israeli starring in the world]. Walla!. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Spotlight: Orion Ben". Spotlight. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Call the Midwife Season 3, Episode Four". Arizona Public Media. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  4. ^ Graham, Alison. "Call the Midwife: Series 3 - Episode 4". Radio Times. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  5. ^ Walker-Arnott, Ellie (9 February 2014). "Call the Midwife series 3, episode 4 review: tears, falls and farewells". Radio Times. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  6. ^ Beggs, Scott (23 February 2015). "A Ghost Appears When You Hold Your Breath in This Twisty Short Film". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  7. ^ Kander, Ivan (9 February 2015). "Breathe by Toby Meakins: Horror Short Film". Short of the Week. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Agravoy (2015)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  9. ^ "2015 Award Winners". Helios Film Festival. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016.
  10. ^ "Detectorists characters". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  11. ^ Guide, British Comedy (6 November 2014). "BBC Four's Detectorists to return for Series 2". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  12. ^ "'Blade Runner 2049' Short Film Introduces the Backstory of Dave Bautista's Sapper". Collider. 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  13. ^ "Barbarians at the Gate". IMDb.