The rising actor discusses luck, the Fast and Furious, and staying true to who he is.
Recently Vinnie Bennett assessed his acting portfolio to see if he could discern a common thread, from driving cadavers carefully to the funeral home to hooning in tyre-squealing sports cars.
“I only really thought
He realised most of them were young men with internal conflicts and a degree of deep-seated anger, qualities his real-life persona couldn’t be further from.
The 29-year-old is the first to point out he's far goofier in person than any of the characters he's inhabited, from a "naïve" young Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) in American action behemoth Fast & Furious 9, to hearse driver Beau on TVNZ's larger-than-life comedy Good Grief, or the solemn William Cooper in the Rena Owen-helmed feature film Whina, in which he channels the real-life husband of iconic New Zealand figure Dame Whina Cooper. Why, then, does he think he's being cast in these roles?
He laughs, his voice deep and resonant. “I’m not sure. I guess I have an angry resting face.”
The New Zealand actor is self-effacing to a fault. Even after walking the F9 red carpet dressed in Valentino, he says he found the Viva cover shoot intimidating it's one thing to animate your performance, quite another to be still.
Then there’s his Zen-like view of the audition process: casting agents have a problem to solve, and he’s either the tool to help solve it or he’s content to walk away and wish them the best.
“There are so many things that are completely out of your control,” he explains. “I’ve been doing this 12 years professionally and what keeps me wanting to keep going is an unwillingness to give up on it.”
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Advertise with NZME.Despite a newfound ability to embrace the downtime between acting gigs, for the last few years at least, even when most of the world was in lockdown, his career has been in perpetual motion.
“I do feel very lucky because I know hundreds of other actors who work harder and are more talented but that’s not what this industry is about. There’s all these other factors that go into it other than talent, and when the time is yours, it’s time to let your talent shine.”
In 2017 he won praise for his role in New Zealand thriller Human Traces, as a mysterious man who threatens the relationship of a married couple on a subantarctic research station. Then in 2019 he earned the F9 part. Vinnie is characteristically laidback when describing the way it all went down. After the initial audition he received positive feedback but had to wait five months before getting the good news.
Rather than wait, he put in the mahi to get into the head of the troubled young Dom.
“Everyone is familiar with this character but I wanted to show who he was before he became the person he is. To show this journey from a naïve young man into this stone-cold, po-faced racer. It shows his heartbreaking journey.”
About a week before filming he got the call up, and next thing he was sitting in the makeup chair having his hair shaved off, anticipating what he figured would be an intensive workshopping period in order to help Vinnie transform into Vin. Instead, director Justin Lin crouched down beside him, asked him how he felt about the role, and suggested he tune into the role’s “rhythm”.
“He trusted me to have something and not have to talk me through it it was very hands-off.”
Likewise, a brief meeting with Vin Diesel himself didn’t occur until towards the end of the filming but it left him feeling excited for the film’s release at least until Covid put it on ice for 18 months.
Surprised and disappointed, Vinnie soon realised the gravity of the pandemic when he found the grocery store shelves bare in LA. The next day he booked to come home, where a silver lining was waiting: casting agents were keener to see him than ever.
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Advertise with NZME.Playing William Cooper in Whina opposite Miriama McDowell as the young Māori land activist came soon afterwards.
“You have jobs that are fun, action, the actor’s dream, but being part of something that’s important to my country was important to me it felt like a really overdue story.”
Vinnie’s father was Māori, and passed away when he was three months old, but his dad’s family kept in touch with him throughout his childhood, he says.
“I’d go and stay with them for the school holidays we were quite close. And I remember as a kid being taken up north, but I haven’t gone back to visit those places. I’ve been almost too nervous, for some reason.”
Next came roles in TV, taking him from the grandeur of the film set to the intimacy of a homegrown sitcom. There's his recurring guest role on seasons two and three of TVNZ drama Kura, playing his namesake Vinnie, who flats with leads Billy-John (Dahnu Graham) and Hotene (Lionel Wellington).
And as a regular on Good Grief, his character Beau finds himself in everyday entanglements: a romance with DJ Gwen; helping his daughter after his ex finds herself unemployed.
“It was very liberating to drop the bravado thing and just really relax into this lovely, clueless, super funny, quirky guy,” he says.
As a kid he remembers telling stories not just with his voice but with his whole body. “I’d get so physical with it, you know stand up and show my friends how the guy was walking and bumped into me or whatever, really get down to the specifics of human behaviour."
"And observing humans and always wanting to know more, how someone’s eyes move when they’re thinking about some particular thing, what their body’s showing me, I’m really interested in those little things. My passion for wanting to find unique ways of conveying characters and tensions is what keeps me going.”
Asked who he admires in his industry, and he says Johnny Depp. Regardless of what you make of him following his recent courtroom dramas, Vinnie says he admires the way he’s broken out of what could have been a heartthrob mould, challenging himself with every role.
“Not that I’m destined to be any kind of heartthrob,” he says. “It’s just that tough thing it could have been me. And there have been some roles that I’ve had to say no to because it hasn’t aligned with the direction I want to go and the stories I want to tell."
"It’s extremely hard, especially in New Zealand to be turning down money to do a job you love. But someone once said careers are defined by what you say no to, and that resonates with me.”
Sticking to his guns means that when the work does come along, and it’s the right role, he appreciates it all the more.
"The ability to fully embody someone that allows a story to be conveyed in the best possible way. I love being on set. When I come home from working a full day on set, that's when I feel the best."
Photographer / Mara Sommer. Fashion director / Dan Ahwa. Hair, makeup and grooming / Sophy Phillips. Photographer’s assistant / Josh Szeto. Fashion assistant / Annabel Dickson. Shoot assistant / Nathan Lockhart.
Special thanks to Joe Gibson and Webb’s for providing the 1992 Jaguar XJS V12; and Common Place Studios.
