Benjamin McNair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Benjamin John McNair (born 25 August 1974, London, England) is an Australian actor.
McNair is perhaps best known for his role as Mal Kennedy in the soap opera Neighbours which he played from 1994 - 1997 returning briefly in 2002 and 2004 with a cameo appearance in 2005.
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[edit] Early life
McNair moved to Australia with his family when he was 18 months old.[1] He developed an interest in performing and began studies at the Australian Theatre for Young People and completed a season at the NIDA Summer School in Sydney.
Priorto his role in Neighbours he appeared in several television commercials as well as gueat roles is television shows such as GP and Home and Away.
[edit] Neighbours
At the age of 19 McNair moved to Melbourne having secured the role of Mal, the oldest of the Kennedy's children.
During this period he travelled to the UK where he performed on stage in several Christmas pantomimes such his role as Prince Charming in Sunderland's Cinderella and at Tunbridge Wells in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
McNair left the soap in 1997, with his character moving to London.
[edit] After Neighbours
Since leaving Neighbours, McNair has continued acting on television and stage.
He was cast as Joseph in the original The Secret Life of Us telemovie for Network Ten in Australia in 2001. He would later play Joseph, Deborah Mailman’s boyfriend, during the first season of television series of the same name.
He has guest-starred in popular television series such as All Saints (1999), Something in the Air (2001), and Blue Heelers (2000; 2002; 2005). He also played lead roles in Marshall Law (2002); Nine Network's Stingers (2004); Last Man Standing (2005); and the children's series Wicked Science. He co-starred in the short film Umbrella Men with Damian Walshe-Howling.
McNair continued to perform on stage, returning to England to play the role of Ferdinand in the Stafford Summer Festival’s production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in 1999. He has also appeared as Matt in Broken; Darko Reeves in Blowback; Casper St Clair in Next Best Thing and seven different characters in the black comedy The Steve Promise Story.
He returned to Neighbours, once again playing son Mal for short stints in 2002 and 2004.
In mid-2005 he made another return to Neighbours as part of the series' "20th Anniversary Speical", making a cameo appearance in Annalise Hartman's documentary.
[edit] Trivia
McNair is an accomplished Voice Over Artist who can be heard on numerous radio and television commercials.
He is sometimes credited as Benjie McNair and Benji McNair.
