Ben Esler (born 1982) is an Australian actor and screenwriter, best known for playing Sean McGinnes in the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

television series ''

Hell on Wheels Hell on Wheels was the itinerant collection of flimsily assembled gambling houses, dance halls, saloons, and brothels that followed the army of Union Pacific Railroad workers westward as they constructed the first transcontinental railroad in 18 ...

'', as well as for his role as war hero Chuck Tatum in

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's ''

The Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

''. Esler is a writer and cast member of the 2023 NatGeo and

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

series

A Small Light ''A Small Light'' is a biographical war drama miniseries about Miep Gies, a secretary who helped her Jewish employer Otto Frank, his family (including Anne Frank), and other Jewish refugees go into hiding after the German invasion of the Netherl ...

which tells the story of

Miep Gies Hermine "Miep" Gies (; ; 15 February 1909 – 11 January 2010) was one of the Dutch citizens who hid Anne Frank, her family ( Otto, Margot, Edith) and four other Dutch Jews (Fritz Pfeffer, Hermann van Pels, Auguste van Pels, Peter van Pels) ...

, the young woman who protected

Anne Frank Annelies Marie Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – February or March 1945)Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new li ...

and her family during the

Shoah The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Early life

Esler was born and raised in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

, the son of Rosemary and Murray Esler. He is a graduate of the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, where he obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

Applied Ethics Applied ethics is the practical aspect of morality, moral considerations. It is ethics with respect to real-world actions and their moral considerations in private and public life, the professions, health, technology, law, and leadership. For ex ...

as well as a diploma in Professional Ethics. While a student at university, he wrote and performed sketch comedy for the long running

Law

Revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

Career

Esler began his career appearing in the popular Australian police drama ''

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 ...

'' and the award-winning

ABC Australia The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is a ...

made-for-TV movie ''

Curtin Curtin may refer to: Places *Curtin, Australian Capital Territory * Curtin, Oregon, U.S. *Curtin Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, U.S. *Curtin, Nicholas County, West Virginia, U.S. *Curtin, Webster County, West Virginia, U.S. * RAAF Base Curt ...

''. In 2010 Esler appeared in

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Gary Goetzman Gary Michael Goetzman (born November 6, 1952) is an American film and television producer and actor, and co-founder of the production company Playtone with actor Tom Hanks. Life and career Born in Los Angeles, Goetzman began his career as a ch ...

and

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

-produced and

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

Award-winning miniseries ''

'' as Private First Class Charles "Chuck" Tatum. After portraying Tatum, he was invited to contribute an afterword to Tatum's World War II memoir, ''Red Blood, Black Sand'', which was used as source material for the series. The book, including Esler's contribution, was re-released by

Penguin Publishing Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initiall ...

in May 2012. He was a series regular for the first three seasons of ''

'', a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

focusing on the construction of the

transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous rail transport, railroad trackage that crosses a continent, continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks may be via the Ra ...

, on

, Esler appeared in the role of Sean, an Irish immigrant and ruthless businessman, seeking his fortune in the American West. In 2016 he appeared in ''The Jury'' in the role of Ernest. That same year he played the role of Charlie Quinn in the SyFy Channel television series '' The Magicians'', based upon the book series by author

Lev Grossman Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist who wrote ''The Magicians Trilogy'': '' The Magicians'' (2009), '' The Magician King'' (2011), and '' The Magician's Land'' (2014). He was the book critic and lead technolo ...

. In 2017 Esler was a regular cast member in ''Welcome to OxBlood''; a pilot from Executive Producer

Marc Cherry Marc Cherry (born March 23, 1962) is an American television writer and producer. He is best known for creating the ABC dramedy series ''Desperate Housewives'' and Lifetime series ''Devious Maids''. Personal life Early life Marc Cherry was ...

and ABC, portraying the role of Hollis; "a shy, sweet and very odd guy taking care of his wheelchair-bound deaf grandmother who has no idea her grandson kidnaps women and keeps them prisoner in her attic." In 2019 he starred in the

Kriv Stenders Kriv Stenders is an Australian writer, film producer, and director, best known for his 2011 film '' Red Dog'' (2011) and the 2014 thriller film '' Kill Me Three Times''. His new film '' The Correspondent'', based on a memoir by Australian journ ...

directed Australian Vietnam-era war movie '' Danger Close'' as Ken Deacon. In 2020 he played Jed in ''

Endings, Beginnings ''Endings, Beginnings'' is a 2019 romantic drama film, directed by Drake Doremus, from a screenplay he wrote alongside Jardine Libaire. The film is semi-improvised and loosely based on the screenplay. It stars Shailene Woodley, Jamie Dornan, Se ...

'' for director

Drake Doremus Drake Doremus (; born March 29, 1983) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer best known for directing the films ''Like Crazy'' (2011), which won the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, ''Douchebag (film) ...

. He is a cast member and writer on the upcoming series

for Natgeo and

Filmography

References

External links

*
Red Blood, Black Sand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esler, Ben 1983 births Male actors from Melbourne Living people Australian male television actors