Benjamin Charles Aldridge (born 12 November 1985) is an English actor. He is known for his portrayals of Captain James in the BBC military drama Our Girl (2014–2018), Arsehole Guy in the dramedy series Fleabag (2016–2019), and Thomas Wayne in the crime drama series Pennyworth (2019–2023). He has starred in feature films such as Spoiler Alert (2022) and Knock at the Cabin (2023), among other work.
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Early years and education
Aldridge was born in Exeter, Devon, on 12 November 1985. He worked with the National Youth Theatre and graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art with a bursary from the Genesis Foundation for young actors.
Career
Aldridge's first professional acting role was in a play titled The Master and Margarita at Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in 2004. In 2008, he made his television debut in the Channel 4's four-part miniseries The Devil's Whore, playing Harry Fanshawe, the husband of the title character. That same year, Aldridge was featured on Screen International's "Stars of Tomorrow" list. In addition to First Light, Lewis, Toast and Vera, Aldridge also appeared as Daniel Parish in the BBC One period drama Lark Rise to Candleford. In 2011, the American network The CW cast him as the lead character in the pilot Heavenly. Later on he spent time in Belgrade shooting the partially improvised romance short film In the Night for director Ivana Bobic and cinematographer Rain Li, starring along with supermodel Danijela Dimitrovska.
Aldridge is a co-founder of In the Corner Productions. He additionally directed the comedy pilot Pet Shop Girls in late 2011, which he co-wrote and co-produced with actor and screenwriters Luke Norris, Ed Hancock and Kirsty Woodward.
In 2013, Aldridge starred in Almeida Theatre's production of American Psycho as Paul Owen, where he was cast along with Matt Smith, Susannah Fielding, Jonathan Bailey, and Lucie Jones. Aldridge joined the BBC's original drama series Our Girl in September 2024, playing the role of Captain James. He left the series after the third season in 2018. In December 2014, Aldridge joined The CW's series Reign as King Antoine of Navarre.
More recently Aldridge has starred in Fleabag (2016–2019), Pennyworth (2019–2023), Spoiler Alert (2022) and the post-apocalyptic horror movie Knock at the Cabin (2023).
Personal life
Aldridge was raised as an evangelical Christian. Both his parents and grandparents were raised in the Plymouth Brethren church, although his parents both left the denomination at the age of 18. Commenting on his relationship with religion as an adult, Aldridge stated in a 2021 interview that there were no religious aspects in his life.
In 2020, Aldridge publicly came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in a post on Instagram on the occasion of National Coming Out Day. In a 2021 interview with Attitude magazine, he said that he was gay and stated in another interview for Attitude in 2023 that his recent leading gay roles had helped him explore his own identity, adding that he felt more comfortable playing them than when he was younger. The magazine distinguished him as a "trailblazer" for the LGBTQ+ community in its 2023 article.