Ben Weiss

BIO

Born and raised in Naperville, Illinois, Ben Weiss is an actor, singer, and teaching artist on the autism spectrum who enjoys projects that value diversity and present honest, progressive, and important work. Professional theatre credits include Is You Is with Underscore Theatre and the Emmy-nominated Trial in the Delta with Collaboraction and NBC Chicago. Ben obtained a B.A in Theatre from North Central College, where they received the 2023 Outstanding Theatre Major Award. They have also taken classes through Second City and Actors Therapy. They are a proud member of the Actors' Equity Association. ​Ben also does active volunteer work, working with the Turning Pointe Autism Foundation, and acting as a Marketing/Promotions Volunteer for The Beautiful City Project.

WHAT I MAKE

I typically create written works (essays, poems, plays, etc), and have created videos in the past. I'm interested in either writing a short play or a Ted Talk style presentation, but I'm also open to anything.

INSPIRED BY

The people I meet in my life.

EXPLORING

Due to my theatre background and interest in different artistic stylizations, much of my creativity comes from the desire to explore new avenues, taking old ideas and recontextualizing them in a way that is personal but respects the intent of those old ideas. I also tend to find myself finding creativity through gaps in the creative landscape, and I often find myself creating art in an effort to create more representation for specific groups. Recently I began work on a short film that discusses what it’s like being an actor on the spectrum, and I've thought of ways of using the artform of performance to touch on issues regarding being on the autism spectrum. 

So I have two ideas that would fulfill me. Either coming up with a sales pitch taking an existing work and finding a way to recontextualize it in a way that’s my own while still maintaining the work’s intent, or writing a script for a show that discusses issues.