Actor talks about having Meryl Streep as mom-in-law

WALKER. Portrays Abraham Lincoln in fantasy thriller. RUBEN V. NEPALES

LOS ANGELES—Imagine having the great Meryl Streep for a mother-in-law. Actor Benjamin “Ben” Walker does and he has a standard reply to journalists who ask the inevitable question—what’s it like to have the world’s preeminent actress for a mom-in-law?

“The only thing more intimidating than an international film star like Meryl Streep is your mother-in-law,” Ben replied with a twinkle in his eyes in a press con at the Ritz Carlton Central Park. “Just leave it at that.”

Ben, who is married to Mamie Gummer, Meryl’s daughter, who is also an actress, resembles Liam Neeson, especially on the screen. The resemblance hasn’t gone unnoticed. Ben played a younger version of Liam’s title character in Bill Condon’s “Kinsey.”

At 6’ 3”, Ben is almost as tall as Abraham Lincoln (who was an inch taller) whom he plays in the 3D fantasy thriller, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.”

“You always meet people where you work,” explained Ben on how he and Mamie met. “I met her working on a movie. Stephen Frears has a son named Will, who’s also a director. He directed a movie called ‘All Saints’ Day.’ If you haven’t seen that film, it’s lovely.” It’s a short set in New York.

Ben can now claim that he has “presidential experience.” Before becoming an ax-wielding, Kun-do fighting Lincoln in “Abraham…,” he drew raves in the title role of the acclaimed musical, “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” which premiered in LA and moved to Broadway. His earlier Broadway credits include “Inherit the Wind” and “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.”

“I do love theater,” said Ben. “I went to Juilliard for a classical training program. It’s what I’m trained to do. I’ll always return to the theater. Even when I’m not doing a play, I have a stand-up comedy show that I do and run at Joe’s Pub (New York), which is my way of having that audience interaction that I really enjoy.”

So, Meryl’s son-in-law is also a stand-up comedian. We asked him to talk some more about his funnyman side. “The comedy show is connected with the Public Theater downtown (NY). It’s an opportunity for myself and young comics to try new material.”

As the vampire-hunting Abe Lincoln in the Tim Burton-produced movie directed by Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted”), Ben figures in elaborate action scenes while wielding an ax. “I had to be big and muscular, so the first thing I had to do was lose 30 pounds,” remarked Ben about the role which imagines the 16th US president as the hunter of the undead. “Then, I went down to New Orleans and started training for about six weeks with the ax.”

“Are there vampires in my life?,” he repeated a question aloud. “I’m sure I have dated some of them,” he replied with a grin.

He relished telling a story about working with Clint Eastwood in “Flags of Our Fathers:” “On the first day of shooting, we were on a long beach in Iceland. My job was to get out of a shell hole and run to the other side of the beach and fall down. Clint said (mimicking the veteran actor-director’s voice), ‘OK, Ben, get up, run, make it sloppy and stay off the red.’ I thought, I don’t know what he means by stay off the red, but he’s Clint Eastwood. I am not going to ask him any questions. I’m going to do a great job.

Great job

“So, Clint goes, ‘Ben, start running.’ I get out of the shell hole. I start running and I look at the ground. There’s a big red circle—and it blows up. Sand flies in my face and it blows me back into the shell hole. I think, they’re going to cut. There’s no way we’re going to have to keep going. Lo and behold, here comes the camera right in my face. After that point, I don’t remember a thing, because I was not acting. I was just trying to stay alive. Then, when I fell down at the other end of the beach, Clint said, ‘Great job. Cut. We got it.’ That’s how Clint works. He does very few takes, and he’ll get a performance out of you, whether you like it or not.”

Acting was not his first passion. “When I was in high school, I thought acting was a fad,” he recalled. “You go through periods of skateboarding or doing watercolors. I really didn’t know what I was getting into, but acting seemed like fun. When I went to Juilliard, the turning point was when I realized that this was something serious and something that I could learn how to do. And, if I could stand being in this very intense conservatory, I must really like it!”

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