#onlybritishmen

Ben Barnes @ “The Punisher” Premiere in New York 

I felt I had been pigeonholed. I played the same part time and time again. The really nice good guy. The romantic lead. I wanted to do smaller and more intimate, fleshed out characters. You see some actors play the same part in different movies and a part of me said “no”.

It was clear where he was heading. During his early years – he attended the private boarding school Uppingham, following a family tradition that stretched back to his grandfather, who later owned a textile mill – Riley got a taste for acting after a fortnight spell with the National Youth Theatre during one summer holiday. But he was prevented from taking it further. “I had a big falling out with the drama teacher, who refused to give me any references for the drama colleges. He told me that I wasn’t in a fit mental state.” Partly this had come from a mini-breakdown he had suffered in the wake of performing in a school production of Nicholas Nickleby – when Riley felt he’d been left to carry the play on his own.

Idris Elba for Esquire

Acting is glorified dressing up really. We get paid to fuck about.

Sam Claflin photographed by Roger Rich for L’Officiel Hommes NL

Ben Barnes photographed by Emma Holly Jones