Benjamin John McNair (born 25 August 1974, London) is an Australian actor, best known for his role as

Malcolm Kennedy Malcolm Kennedy is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Benjamin McNair. Shortly after he was cast, McNair relocated to Melbourne to be closer to the studio. He admitted that it was a shock lea ...

in the soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

''.

Early life

McNair moved to Australia with his family when he was 18 months old. He developed an interest in performing and began studies at the

Australian Theatre for Young People Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) is the flagship youth theatre company located in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, New South Wales, Australia. It was founded in 1963 by Eleanor Witcombe. History The first committee was formed in 1963 and ...

and completed a season at the NIDA Summer School in Sydney.

Career

After leaving school in 1992, McNair appeared in several television commercials and had guest roles in television dramas '' G.P.'' and ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...

''. McNair played

in the soap opera ''

'' from 1994 to 1997, returning briefly in 2002, 2004, 2011 and 2014 with a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

in 2005, and also in 2022. He left ''

'' in 1997 and travelled to the UK where he performed on stage in several Christmas

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

s such his role as Prince Charming in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

's ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' and at Tunbridge Wells in ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

''. Since leaving Neighbours, McNair has continued acting on television and stage. He was cast as Joseph in the original ''

The Secret Life of Us ''The Secret Life of Us'' is an Australian television drama series set in the beachside neighbourhood of St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a drama with some comedic moments. The series was produced by South ...

'' telemovie for

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

in Australia in 2001 and later played Joseph, the boyfriend of

Deborah Mailman Deborah Jane Mailman (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian television and film actress, and singer. Mailman is best known for her characters: Parliament of Australia, MP Alexandra "Alex" Irving on the Australian political drama series ''Total Co ...

, during the first season of television series of the same name. He has guest-starred in television series such as ''

All Saints All Saints' Day is a Christian holiday. All Saints, All Saints Day or Feast of All Saints may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''All Saints'' (film), a 2017 Christian drama film * ''All Saints'' (TV series), an Australian hospital drama * ...

'' (1999), ''

Something in the Air "Something in the Air" is the debut single by British rock band Thunderclap Newman, written by Speedy Keen who also provided lead vocals. It was a No. 1 single for three weeks in the UK Singles Chart in July 1969. The song has been used for fi ...

'' (2001), and ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for twelve years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted th ...

'' (2000; 2002; 2005). He also played lead roles in ''

Marshall Law ''Marshall Law'' is an Australian television series, which aired on the Seven Network in 2002, starring Lisa McCune and Alison Whyte as lawyers and sisters. History The show was originally conceived as a legal drama mixed with ''Ally McBeal' ...

'' (2002);

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

's '' Stingers'' (2004); '' Last Man Standing'' (2005); and the children's series ''

Wicked Science ''Wicked Science'' is an Australian television series, which debuted on 24 February 2004. The series focuses on Toby (played by André de Vanny) and Elizabeth (played by Bridget Neval), two teenagers who are mysteriously turned into Wizard (fant ...

''. He co-starred in the short film ''Umbrella Men'' with

Damian Walshe-Howling Damian Walshe-Howling is an Australian actor, well known for his role as Andrew "Benji" Veniamin in the Australian underworld drama '' Underbelly'', for which he won the Best Supporting or Guest Actor in a Drama Series at the 2008 AFI Awards. ...

. McNair continued to perform on stage, returning to England to play the role of Ferdinand in the Stafford Summer Festival's production of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' 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 Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

''The Steve Promise Story''. McNair is a

voice over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non-d ...

artist who can be heard on numerous radio and television adverts. He returned to ''

'', once again playing Malcolm for short stints in 2002 and 2004. In mid-2005 he made another return to ''Neighbours'' as part of the series' 20th anniversary episode. On 9 May 2011, it was announced that McNair would be returning to ''Neighbours'' in July 2011 for a four-month guest stint.

Filmography

Television

Film

Stage

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McNair, Benjamin Australian male stage actors Australian male soap opera actors Male actors from New South Wales 1974 births Living people