{{Short description|English barrister and former actor}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{BLP sources|date = August 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Ben Silverstone | image = Bensilverstone.jpg | caption = Ben Silverstone in 2001 | birth_name = Benjamin Maurice Silverstone | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1979|4|9}} | birth_place = [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]], [[London]], England, UK | death_date = | death_place = | othername = | alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[London School of Economics]] ([[Master of Laws|LLM]]) | years_active = 1994–2007 (as actor) | occupation = {{Hlist|Barrister|former actor}} | spouse = | website = http://www.bensilverstone.net }} '''Benjamin Maurice Silverstone''' (born 9 April 1979){{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} is an English [[barrister]] and former actor. Silverstone appeared in the 1998 [[Paramount Classics]] feature film, ''[[Get Real (film)|Get Real]]''.<ref>[https://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/member/ben-silverstone/ "Matrix Chambers"] Retrieved 3 January 2019</ref>
==Early life and education== Silverstone was born in [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]], [[London]], the son of Beverly and Anthony Silverstone. He has one sister and one brother. He studied English at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], and law (LLM) at the [[London School of Economics]].
== Acting career == Prior to ''[[Get Real (film)|Get Real]]'', Silverstone appeared in [[Adrian Lyne]]'s adaptation of ''[[Lolita (1997 film)|Lolita]]'' in 1997 and [[Mike Figgis]]' ''[[The Browning Version (1994 film)|The Browning Version]]'' in 1994. ''Get Real'' was based on [[Patrick Wilde]]'s stage play ''[[What's Wrong with Angry?]]'', and is a love story between two British schoolboys. Silverstone made the front cover of ''[[Gay Times]]'' in May 1999 to mark the release of the film.
The film achieved cult status with many fans, and even gave rise to two fan-organised gatherings in the filming locations around [[Basingstoke]].<ref name="basingstokepilgrimage">[http://www.bensilverstone.net/bspete2000.asp BenSilverstone.net] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513091005/http://www.bensilverstone.net/bspete2000.asp |date=13 May 2008 }}, ''Basingstoke Pilgrimage''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-09.</ref> The events in themselves attracted the attention of the television media, as fans of the film travelled several thousand miles to the event.<ref name="meridienTV">[http://www.bensilverstone.net/bsmeridiantv.asp Meridian Television] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512234307/http://www.bensilverstone.net/bsmeridiantv.asp |date=12 May 2009 }}, ''Meridian Tonight News''. URL last accessed on 2007-04-09.</ref>
Immediately after the release of ''Get Real'', Silverstone went to [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]]. While there, he acted in student productions of ''[[King Lear]]'', ''The Whiteheaded Boy'', ''[[The Duchess of Malfi]]'', ''[[The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui]]'', ''Near Miss'' and ''[[The Winter's Tale]]''. In his first term at Cambridge, Silverstone was initially cast as Lieutenant Yolland in the [[ADC Theatre]] production of the [[Brian Friel]] play "Translations": however, he turned the part down, and was replaced with another Cambridge freshman, [[Tom Hiddleston]]. His involvement in student theatre at Cambridge also overlapped with Oscar winner [[Eddie Redmayne]].
Since 2001, Silverstone has appeared in numerous stage productions such as ''[[The Tempest (play)|The Tempest]]'' and ''[[My Boy Jack (play)|My Boy Jack]]'' and was nominated for both a ''The Times'' Theatre Award and an ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Award for his portrayal of Basil Anthony in the [[West End theatre|West End]] production of ''[[Man and Boy (play)|Man and Boy]]''<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/51st-evening-standard-theatre-awards-shortlist-7247354.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914100938/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-20888382-details/51st+Evening+Standard+Theatre+Awards+shortlist/article.do | url-status=live | archive-date=14 September 2012 | access-date=29 May 2009 | title=51st Evening Standard Theatre Awards shortlist | first=Luke | last=Leitch | newspaper=[[Evening Standard]]|location=London | date=10 November 2005 }}</ref>
His most recent film project is ''Jump!'' (2007), in which he starred as a young Jewish photographer charged with the murder of his father, based on the real-life story of [[Philippe Halsman]], opposite [[Patrick Swayze]] and [[Martine McCutcheon]].
==Law career== Silverstone left Cambridge in 2001 with a [[British undergraduate degree classification|first]] class [[Academic degree|degree]]. He was [[called to the bar]] in 2009.<ref name="matrix"/> As of December 2023, Silverstone works at [[Matrix Chambers]].<ref name="matrix">{{cite web |url=https://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/members/ |title=Members |publisher=[[Matrix Chambers]] |access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref> That firm lists him as a specialist in media and information, data protection and public law.<ref name="matrixbio">{{cite web |url=https://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/member/ben-silverstone/ |title=Meet: Ben Silverstone |publisher=Matrix Chambers |access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref>
In May 2025, Silverstone asked the High Court to dismiss a lawsuit by an Afghan man against ''[[The Guardian]]'' and [[Guardian Media Group]], who accused the newspaper of using his image to illustrate a note about the [[murder of Hamed Sabouri]] in Afghanistan. Silverstone said that the article was not defamatory and did not harm the man's reputation.<ref name="jpost">{{cite news |title=Guardian forced Afghan man into hiding after using his picture in LGBT-related article - lawsuit |url=https://www.jpost.com/international/article-854013 |access-date=1 January 2026 |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=14 May 2025}}</ref>
==Selected credits==
===Theatre=== * ''The Age of Consent'' (Timmy), [[Edinburgh Fringe]] (2001) * ''The Age of Consent'' (Timmy), [[Bush Theatre]], [[London]] (2002) * ''The Lady's Not For Burning'' (Richard), [[Chichester Festival Theatre]] (2002) * ''[[The Tempest]]'' (Ariel), UK Tour (2002) * ''[[Electra (Sophocles play)|Electra]]'' (Orestes), The Gate Theatre, London (2003) * ''[[My Boy Jack (play)|My Boy Jack]]'' (Jack Kipling), UK Tour (2004) * ''[[Man and Boy (play)|Man and Boy]]'' (Basil Anthony), UK Tour (2004) * ''Man and Boy'' (Basil Anthony), Duchess Theatre, London (2005)
===Film=== * ''[[The Browning Version (1994 film)|The Browning Version]]'' (Taplow), dir. [[Mike Figgis]] (1994) * ''[[Lolita (1997 film)|Lolita]]'' (Young Humbert), dir. [[Adrian Lyne]] (1997) * ''[[Get Real (film)|Get Real]]'' (Steven Carter), dir. Simon Shore (1998) * ''[[Jump! (2007 film)|Jump!]]'' ([[Philippe Halsman]]), dir. Joshua Sinclair (2007)
===Television=== * ''[[Shackleton (miniseries)|Shackleton]]'' (Young Applicant), [[Channel 4]] (2001) * ''Timewatch: Through Hell for Hitler'' (Henry Metalmann), [[BBC2]] (2003) * ''[[Doctors (2000 TV series)|Doctors]]'' (Joe Nyland), [[BBC1]] (2003)
===Radio=== * ''[[Phobos (audio drama)|Phobos]]'' (Drew), [[BBC 7]] (2007)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0799066}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20091014082241/http://www.bensilverstone.net/ BenSilverstone.net] * [https://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/member/ben-silverstone/ Profile at Matrix Chambers]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silverstone, Ben}} [[Category:1979 births]] [[Category:20th-century English male actors]] [[Category:21st-century English male actors]] [[Category:Actors from the London Borough of Camden]] [[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]] [[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]] [[Category:English barristers]] [[Category:English male child actors]] [[Category:English male film actors]] [[Category:English male radio actors]] [[Category:English male stage actors]] [[Category:English male television actors]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Male actors from London]]