Ben Cotton

Ben Cotton
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Portrays:	Terrified Man (TRS) Atreus (Caprica) Coker Fasjovik (Blood & Chrome)
Date of Birth:	July 26, 1975
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
Age:	50
Nationality:	CAN
Related Media
		@ BW Media
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IMDb profile

Ben Cotton (born July 26, 1975) is a Canadian actor who portrayed the terrified man whom William Adama meets on the ice planet in "Razor". Cotton's other Re-imagined Series-continuity credits include Caprica as Atreus, and as Coker Fasjovik, William Adama's ECO, in Blood and Chrome.

Career

Ben Cotton was born on July 26, 1975, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Cotton has built a successful career in Canadian film and television, establishing himself as a recognizable character actor in the science fiction and drama genres.

Cotton's breakthrough role came as the prickly scientist Dr. Kavanagh in Stargate Atlantis (2004-2009), appearing in six episodes over five seasons. His other notable television work includes playing Shane Pierce on CBS's Harper's Island, Pastor Mike on AMC's The Killing, and Tweedledum on ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.

Cotton has had extensive roles in Canadian-filmed science fiction and fantasy series, including Riese: Kingdom Falling as Herrick, as well as appearances in Dark Angel, Kyle XY, Smallville, Supernatural, and The X-Files. His film credits include The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) and Stan Helsing (2009).

Voice Acting

Cotton has performed significant voice work in video games, most notably as Leon Bell in the zombie survival horror game Dead Rising 2 (2010) and its related expansions Dead Rising 2: Case West and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. He also provided voice work as Faraday in the 2008 film Edison and Leo.

Blood & Chrome Production

Cotton was cast as Coker Fasjovik after a series of auditions and callbacks, culminating in a screen test in Los Angeles where he met his co-star Luke Pasqualino. The screen test proved particularly memorable, as Cotton and Pasqualino read opposite each other with multiple potential co-stars. Cotton recalled the chemistry was immediate: "Right from the get-go, we just had a great time... we could throw the proverbial ball back and forth to each other in any way, performance-wise." The production shot for 15 days with three weeks of rehearsal beforehand, a significantly longer commitment than his brief one-day appearance as the terrified man in "Razor."

The cast underwent extensive military training before filming, including weapons handling, tactical maneuvers, and combat techniques. Cotton described the preparation: "We learned how to do tactical things, like coming in and sweeping a room, how you would work in a group of three, just a lot of technical things, the way that you walk, the positions you take, and when you change positions."

Working extensively with green screen technology presented unique challenges for Cotton. The entire production was filmed against green screen, with Cotton noting: "I don't think there was a single wall in that set. Anything that we touched was real. We actually got into the ship, but, otherwise, everything around us, was green screen." He compared the experience to black box theater: "You just imagine everything, so it's a fun exercise, but you really have to do your homework and know what you're looking at." Director Jonas Pate allowed Cotton and Pasqualino significant creative freedom to develop their characters' relationship, with Cotton noting there was "real freedom on the set, to just sort of let it go and play with each other."

To prepare for his role, Cotton deliberately avoided extensive viewing of previous Battlestar Galactica episodes, explaining: "I started watching the series, and then I had to decide to sort of pull the plug on that. There's so much to watch, and it's so rich. In my case, I wasn't playing a character who had existed in that world. There wasn't much I needed to be familiar with." He did acknowledge drawing some parallels between Coker and Colonel Tigh from the original series, though noted he "wasn't playing Colonel Tigh."

Cotton expressed interest in exploring more of Coker's backstory, particularly his relationship with his wife and his drinking habits: "I probably would have liked to know more about him and his wife, because I thought a lot about that relationship that I made up in my mind. That relationship intrigued me... I was also curious about his vices. I wanted to hear Coker defend himself about his drinking."

Notable Television Roles

Cotton gained critical recognition for his portrayal of Pastor Mike in season three of AMC's The Killing (2013). His character served as a red herring in the series' investigation of the "Pied Piper" serial killer. Cotton described the role as "a really fun exercise in trust," noting that he had to prepare for the possibility that his character might be revealed as the antagonist while ultimately playing someone with a guilty past but innocent of the suspected crimes.

To prepare for the role, Cotton conducted extensive research, including reading the Bible and watching documentary footage about heroin addiction and runaway teens on YouTube. He noted that while his character wasn't guilty of what the detectives suspected, "he DID have guilt" from his past experiences.

References