By Atkilt Geleta

Photo by Alenka Slavinec

Cle Bennett exclaims that he never ‘got into acting’.  Rather, it got into him.  Born to Jamaican parents, the Toronto raised thespian professes that since he was a child he was playing make believe, and as actors like to express sometimes, he never stopped playing.  Childish fancifulness transformed into a serious profession that eventually garnered him a supporting role alongside the likes of film giants Dustin Hoffman and Paul Giamatti.

He recently won two Gemini Awards for Best Supporting Actor in his television performances for CBC’s Guns and HBO’s The Line.  In addition, his name surfaced on the film festival circuit with his supporting role in the critically acclaimed Barney’s Version among the aforementioned Hoffman and Giamatti, set to open December 24^th in Toronto and Montreal.  The workaholic stays busy with guests star roles in a variety of television and film projects.

Cle spoke with Sway to discuss his creative process, playing make believe, wanting to play Malcolm, and channeling negative energies into success.

Were you born in Jamaica or Toronto?  What was your upbringing like?  Do a lot of your personal experiences bleed into your characters?

I was born in Toronto to Jamaican parents, and to tell you the truth I think I had a pretty normal upbringing, as far as Caribbean upbringings go.  A lot of the characters I play have experiences that are so far removed from mine, that I have no choice but to leave “me” at the door, and fully embrace their lives.

How would you describe yourself as an actor?

I’d like to be able to say that I’m a convincing or believable actor.  All I ask of other actors is that they make me believe – and this goes back to the playing as a kid thing – it’s no coincidence that it’s called playing “make believe”.  An actor’s objective is to “make” the audience “believe”.

What are your favorite films?  Why?

I have a number of them:  City of God, Malcolm X, Usual Suspects to name a few.  I guess I like them for different reasons. For example I love the story telling in City of God, and Usual Suspects; but I love the way how Malcolm X was able to move my soul.

What are your favorite performances? Why?

I would have to say my performances in Guns and The Line are my favorite. In both, I was playing what most people would refer to as “bad guys”, but I made an effort not to judge the characters.  Even though they both do a lot of dishonorable things, my objective was to play them in a way that would elicit the empathy of the audience, and I believe I succeeded in that.

You’ve been fortunate to play diverse roles.  Do you feel that being black limits you in Hollywood or in the Canadian film industry in terms of the range of characters you can play?

I don’t feel my blackness limits me in terms of the range of characters I can play – as in have the ability to play. I do however feel that the powers that be may have limitations in their own minds that cause them to limit the range of characters I can play, if you know what I mean.

How do you prepare for a role?  Any idiosyncrasies, anomalies, quirks?

If I broke down the way I prep, it would take up the whole interview, and you’d probably think I’m obsessed with this stuff – which I kind of am (laughs). So, for the sake of brevity, I’ll just say that I prepare by first getting so familiar with the dialogue that it becomes second nature.  Then with that out of the way, I dig deep – sort of like a psychoanalyst – into the character’s mind, and try to find the motivation behind every word, and action.

I read that you are really into music and that if you weren’t acting would be considering a career in it.  Does music help you to prepare for roles?  For example Daniel Day Lewis listened to a lot of Eminem to prepare for “Bill the Butcher” in Gangs of New York.

Nah, I can’t say that I use music to prepare for my roles. Not directly anyway.  I mean, usually in the early stages of my prep, I’ll go out for a run; and for that run, I have a certain playlist that gets me into a zone, but it’s not character specific.  For example “Going The Distance” off the Rocky soundtrack always gets me ready to um, [to] go the distance!

You worked opposite heavyweights like Dustin Hoffman and Paul Giamatti in Barney’s Version.  What did you learn from that experience?  Did you observe anything about their approach that you took with you?

Honestly I didn’t really learn any lessons in particular- and that’s not taking anything away from them – it’s just that we were all there to work, and so I was just focused on doing the job I was hired to.  I felt blessed and honored that my work had brought me to a place where I had the opportunity to play on the same team as those gentlemen, so If anything, I learned that, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.

What is or are your dream projects?  What kind of films do you hope to make and why?

I’m interested in playing important, historical roles.  Part of the reason I admire Denzel Washington so much is because of what he did with Malcolm X.  I would have loved to play Malcolm.  There’s a special kind of challenge in playing a role that people are already familiar with – a certain discipline – and I’d like to take on that challenge.

You won a Gemini award for your role in Guns and the The Line.  Do you feel Guns succeeded in effectively addressing the complex dynamics that perpetuate gun violence in Toronto/urban centers?

I believe so.  A spotlight has always been pointed at the black community as being responsible for all the gun violence, but you can’t have gun violence without guns being readily available.  Up ‘til now no one has known or even cared to ask where all these guns are coming from – this film redirects the light to that particular root of the problem, and shows that it’s not just a Black thing.  It’s much bigger than that.

Can you talk about the thoughts and emotions that emerged from winning the Gemini Awards?

Best feeling in the world, man!  Nothing turns me on more than setting up a goal, and then knocking it down.

In your speech you ended with “Just understand, anything’s possible, I’m the proof.”  What were you speaking about exactly?  Why do you feel that is important to address?

I was just saying I’m the proof, that if you channel all those energies I spoke of like anger, frustration, fear, etc, into something positive, it’s possible to succeed in ways that you can be proud of, instead of channeling them into negative outlets where you’ll only succeed in getting yourself incarcerated or killed.  I just wanted these guys to realize that I’m only standing there holding a trophy because I was pretending to be as angry, frustrated, and scared as they are for real!  They have real passion within themselves that can take them anywhere they want to be in life, if only they would learn to focus that passion in the right direction.

What projects are you working on currently?  What do you aim to achieve going forward?

I’m in between seasons of my two series Shattered, and Lost Girl, so I’ve been shooting a number of guest spots on various shows until we return.  As well, I’m the pre-production phase of a few film projects.   Going forward I hope to continue doing the same thing I’m doing now, but on an ever-growing scale.  As long as I get to keep playing make believe for a living, I’m good!

Photo by Alenka Slavinec

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