Why Arthur Schroedinger From Mrs. Davis Looks So Familiar
Contains spoilers for "Mrs. Davis" Season 1, Episode 1
Our first look at Arthur Schroedinger on "Mrs. Davis" is a tanned and grizzled man who hasn't come into contact with a barber in many years. He and his Persian cat, Apollo, have been marooned on an island, and he has been scraping potassium nitrate off the trees in an attempt to make fireworks big enough to alert anyone nearby of his location. Soon after they vividly light up the entire sky, a ship picks him up. Schroedinger, who has been stranded for ten years, is then introduced to "her," the all-powerful algorithm that calls itself Mrs. Davis.
Under all that matted-up hair and beard is the actor Ben Chaplin, whose character ends up much more entwined in the plot than we could begin to realize after his brief introduction. The actor, who made his screen debut on "Casualty," the world's longest-running TV medical drama, eventually broke out in Hollywood, and even though he's been picky about his roles, you've definitely seen him in quite a few films.
The Truth About Cats & Dogs made him a romantic lead
Three years after making his film debut as Charlie, Head Footman in the critically acclaimed "The Remains of the Day," Ben Chaplin was catapulted into Hollywood when he took on the role of the romantic lead opposite Uma Thurman and Janeane Garofalo in "The Truth About Cats & Dogs."
In this romantic comedy resembling "Cyrano de Bergerac" with a female twist, Chaplin plays Brian, a photographer who calls in to veterinarian Abby's (Garofalo) radio show for help with a roller-skating dog he's shooting. He later calls her office to ask her out, and she accepts his invitation to meet but tells him she's "5-foot-10 and blond" — a description of her neighbor Noelle (Thurman). As the pair keep up the ruse, Brian falls for Abby during their phone conversations but thinks he's in love with Noelle.
The Washington Post described Chaplin as "an endearing, slow-on-the- uptake [sic] Mr. Right," but the comparisons to Hugh Grant made him nervous. "I wanted to be a serious actor, but I was often referred to as a 'British hunk,'" he told the Guardian. Despite some negative reviews due to the suggestion that Garofalo wasn't attractive, the film was a hit, and Chaplin's career began picking up steam.
He saw the horrors of war in The Thin Red Line
"The Thin Red Line," Terrence Malick's take on World War II, is one of the best war movies ever made that no one saw. Despite a stellar cast consisting of Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, and many other big names, the movie only grossed about $40 million at the box office.
While few characters get much screen time, among those who do is Ben Chaplin's Private Bell. It's clear that his love and devotion to his wife, Marty (Miranda Otto), is what's keeping him alive, which makes it all the more devastating when he receives a letter telling him that she's leaving him for another man. The befuddlement he's feeling is clear in his movements: How do you hang on to hope when the only thing keeping you going is gone?
Chaplin described the making of the film as physically and emotionally draining, telling ScreenSlam, "You had to be on the edge emotionally. Nervously, you had to be on the edge. That was what was exhausting about the film, was staying in that ballpark."
He portrayed Sandra Bullock's rookie partner in Murder by Numbers
In 2002, Ben Chaplin starred in the crime thriller "Murder by Numbers" as Detective Sam Kennedy, the new partner of Sandra Bullock's Detective Cassie Mayweather. Cassie makes a habit of getting intimate with her partners while keeping them at an emotional distance, including Sam. Eventually, though, they come to trust each other, with Sam believing her when she's convinced that two high school students, Richard Haywood (Ryan Gosling) and Justin Pendleton (Michael Pitt), committed the murder the detectives are attempting to solve.
Chaplin used an American accent for the film, something that he acknowledged can affect the way he plays a role. "Some accents can inspire you and take you to a different level, while others can restrict you," he told the BBC. "You never know what they are until you try them. They all take work, there are no easy accents. The ones that you think are easy are the ones you're bad at."
We finally got to meet Cinderella's father
In 2015, Ben Chaplin appeared as Ella's (Lily James) father in the live-action remake of "Cinderella," directed by Kenneth Branaugh. With an 83% Tomatometer rating, it is one of the most well-received adaptations of a Disney animation and was nominated for an Academy Award for costume design. While the film sticks very much to the original from 65 years prior, Disney fans were enthralled, with "Cinderella" making more than $540 million worldwide.
The biggest change with this live-action version was finally getting a glimpse into Ella's life as a child, when both her parents are still alive. "In the read-through, I was moved and I was touched by the power of the story," Chaplin told Flicks and the City about why he took the part. "It's one of the biggest stories in the world, and there's a reason that it is, and it's because it's very powerful and speaks to us all, and it doesn't need dressing up or modernizing or anything. It needs to be treated with respect."
He played a Scotland Yard inspector on The Nevers
On HBO's "The Nevers," Ben Chaplin played Scotland Yard Inspector Frank Mundi, who has been searching for serial killer Maladie (Amy Manson). Although Mundi is an outwardly moral man, he also had an affair at one point, causing his fiancee, Mary Brighton (Eleanor Tomlinson), to leave him at the altar. "He's short of fuse, quick of temper," Chaplin said of Mundi in an interview with HBO. "He does genuinely care that justice is done. It's one of the therapeutic parts of the job."
In Episode 3, shortly after Mary and Mundi reconnect, she is murdered by Winemar Kroos (David Garrick), one of Maladie's followers, whom Mundi swiftly kills. In Episode 5, Maladie is seemingly hanged for her crimes only for Mundi to discover the dead woman is a decoy. Unfortunately, HBO canceled "The Nevers" halfway through Season 1, so fans never got to see how the story ends.