Mark Bennington Wiki, Height, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Mark Bennington is an American actor, photographer, drummer, and author who gained recognition for playing the role of Donze in the OTT series “Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo” (2023).

Wiki/Biography

Mark Bennington was born on Saturday, 20 March 1976 (age 47 years; as of 2023) in Davis, California. His zodiac sign is Pisces. He attended Davis Senior High School, Davis, California. In 1994, he pursued a master’s degree in fine arts at New Actors Work Shop, New York. During his childhood in Davis, California, and the South Sacramento neighbourhood, Mark became fascinated with acting at the age of eight after watching John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever on TV. Initially unsure whether he wanted to be a dancer, actor, or musician, he eventually realized his passion for acting and began participating in school plays.

When he reached a point where he aimed to make a living, he committed to a serious pursuit of acting. At the age of 18, he enrolled in an acting program, the New Actor Workshop by Mike Nichols in Manhattan, New York, marking the beginning of his acting journey.

As a child, he also dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer and an architect.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 6′ 0″

Hair Colour: Brown

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Parents & Siblings

Marks’s father’s name is Kent Bennington, who is a psychologist. He died in 2019.

His mother’s name is Cynthia Selby, who is an educator and activist.

Wife & Children

Mark got married to Taapsi Ramchandani, CEO of Poocho on 21 December 2013.

Together, they have two daughters, Yodhi and Yaari.

Career

Musician

From October 2005 to November 2010, Mark was part of a band called 50 Cent Haircut as a drummer. The band, based in Los Angeles, was quite popular, playing over 400 shows in various venues across southern California, including BB King’s. Mark’s musical inspirations during this time were primarily The Police and Led Zeppelin. Despite the vibrant music scene in LA, where over 50 bands could be found playing on any given night, Mark’s focus was on his musical journey with 50 Cent Haircut.

Theatre

Following the completion of the acting course, he started working as a theatre artist for some time and also engaged in regional projects in France.

He dedicated three years to experimental theater, collaborating with Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus in her ensemble, known as ‘Project 400.’ He has appeared in various plays and played the role of Sir Trevor Nunn in ‘An Enemy of the People’ with Sir Ian McKellen, Paul Sills in ‘Ghost & Love Stories,’ ‘William Shakespeare’ in Marowitz’s play ‘Murdering Marlowe,’ Elyot in ‘Private Lives,’ Lomov in ‘A Marriage Proposal,’ Sebastian in ‘Twelfth Night,’ Howard Rudd in ‘Holy Ghosts’ and Bassino in ‘The Merchant of Venice.’

He has contributed as a theatre director and produced Elizabeth Logun’s ‘On My Knees’ and Off-Broadway at Alice’s ‘Fourth Floor.’ He also directed Noel Coward’s “Mild Oats” in Los Angeles at The Classical Theater Lab. In 2019, after a break of 16 years, Mark returned to the theatre world. He directed a play titled ‘The Mumbai Terror Attacks’ by Jeff Goldberg at The Royal Opera House in Mumbai.

Television

After working for a long time in theatre, he went to Los Angeles and hired a good agent and manager, leading to a decade-long stint in television. In 2000, he made his debut with the television show Diagnosis Murder and played the role of Teamster.

During his time in Los Angeles, he featured in TV series such as Titans (2000), Star Trek: Voyager (2001), V.I.P (2001), Charmed (2001), and NYPD Blue (2004).

He made his Hindi television debut with the show Chandrashekhar in 2018.

He also did some other TV series including Karenjit Kaur – The Untold Story of Sunny Leone (2018-2019), The Family Man (2019), Bombay Begums (2021), Inside Edge (2021), Human (2022), Rocket Boys (2023), and Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo (2023).

Film

Mark made his Hollywood debut with the film And Then Came Summer in 2000 and played the role of Kevin.

In 2010, he arrived in India for a photography assignment. While there, his casting director acquaintance, Shanoo Sharma, invited him to audition for an English role she was casting for. Initially unsure, he eventually secured a part in the film ‘The Letters’ (2014), a biographical drama depicting Mother Teresa’s life.

After dedicating 12-13 years to photography, his friend Dibakar Banerjee contacted him in 2015 for a part in the film Detective Byomkesh Bakshi. Initially hesitant due to his upcoming marriage and lack of interest in acting, he accepted his friend’s request to play the challenging role, which involved speaking a lot of Hindi.

In 2017, he returned to India for a book launch. While there, his friend Shruti, who was casting for the movie “Parmanu,” urged him to accept a role. He appeared in Bollywood films including Kesari (2019), Commando 3 (2019), Bhangra Paa Le (2020), Angrezi Medium (2020), Not Out (2022), RRR (2022), Godfather (2022), Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh (2023), Devil (2023), and Captain Miller (2024).

He is scheduled to appear in two other films in 2024 including Indian 2 and Heeramandi.

Photography

After a decade in acting, he felt a desire to do something new. In 2002, he discovered his late grandfather’s camera and lenses and began taking photos of his friends. Impressed by his work, an agency offered him clients, marking the start of his professional photography journey.  Soon, photography became his newfound passion and a swift transition into a new career. His photography projects were published in The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, UpWorthy, CNN, PDN, GQ India, Variety, Verve, Man’s World, Forbes, Lucky, Self, Platform, The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, Times of India, Virginia Quarterly Review, Boston Globe, and BuzzFeed. ^[1]The Wall Street Journal After appearing in the film Detective Byomkesh Bakshi in 2015, he went back to the United States, dedicating his focus entirely to photography. In 2016, his photography project “America 2.0,” which centred on Muslim youth in NYC, received worldwide acclaim.

 

He achieved recognition among the ‘Top 10’ photographers for actor headshots in both Los Angeles and New York. His photography was showcased in numerous international venues, spanning from Jerusalem and Rome to Tokyo, New York City, Hudson, San Francisco, Berlin, and London. In 2016, he authored the photography book ‘Living the Dream: The Life of the ‘Bollywood’ Actor, published by HarperCollins. The inspiration for the book came from Nat Geo photographer David Alan Harvey, who suggested he document the lives of actors in LA. Initially, he planned to focus on Hollywood, but during a trip to India in 2010, he shifted the project to capture the lives of Bollywood actors in Mumbai. The book emerged from a genuine curiosity about their lives, and with the help of his friend Guneet, he met around 100 actors in 5 months, spending considerable time with stars like Salman Khan and Dev Anand. In an interview, he talked about the book and said,

I started the project in 2010 and I shot the majority of the book within the period of seven months, which seems incomprehensible but it just shows the kind of intense work that I was doing with the help of Guneet Monga and Shanoo Sharma. Before I met Shanoo Sharma, I met 20 actors through Guneet and from then I probably met 25 on my own. When I went to Shanoo, I had about 45 images of different actors, which happened between the periods of 6-7 months. These pictures make it interesting now, as we can look back just only a few years ago and see where certain people were and where they are now.”

Mark Bennington posing with Living the Dream The Life of the ‘Bollywood’ Actor

Professor

Between May 2014 and June 2015, he worked as an adjunct professor of photography at The S.I. Newhouse School of Media and Communication at Syracuse University.

Controversy

In 2023, Mark accused the team of the film “Devil” of not paying him. He disclosed that despite completing the movie nine months ago, he did not receive his payment. In an interview, he added,

I do not want to sound like a poor white guy, who complains about not getting paid. Everything was fine for the first few month,s but things changed while filming the last schedule. It has been 9 months since I completed my part but they haven’t paid me yet. I saw they used someone else’s voice for my character in the trailer, which is a clear violation of my contract.”

The executive producer Mohit Rawlyani commented on Mark’s post on Instagram about the allegations and wrote,

Your manager doesn’t seem to understand and is blackmailing us to pay extra for mental harassment.. seriously ?! Your payment has been cleared ..Now coming to the voice used .. can you please tell me if you can speak Telugu ?? How can you expect us to use your voice for English lines and someone else for Telugu lines ??” ^[2]The Times of India

Facts/Trivia

• At the age of 33, when he began his photography journey, his interest in acting faded, leading him to decline the roles offered to him.

• In 2018, after appearing in the film Parmanu, he got three more movies, a couple of web series, and a TV show, totalling around 11 projects within two months. Recognizing the opportunities in India, he chose to relocate there with his wife who also decided to complete her dissertation in India.

• He loved interior designing and helped design his friend Guneet Monga‘s office.

• Changing accents for various projects posed a challenge for him. However, he shared in an interview that when he fully embraces a character, the accent seamlessly becomes a significant part of his thought process. In an interview, he said,
  

  By the time I get in the room and we’re actually doing the scene, I don’t have to think about it at all. I can focus on the scene and be in the moment.”