Benjamin "Ben" Rosenfield is an American actor and musician, best known for playing Willie Thompson on the fourth and fifth seasons of HBO's period crime drama series Boardwalk Empire. He has starred as Tommie Scheel in the documentary film Teenage, Henry Ellis in the musical drama Song One, Fisher Miller in the teen drama Affluenza, Dan Mercer in the romantic drama6 Years, and Bertram Flusser in the period drama Indignation. In 2017, he portrayed Sam Colby in the third season of Twin Peaks.
Early life
Rosenfield was born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey. His father, Stephen Rosenfield, is a teacher of stand-up comedy and the founder of the American Comedy Institute in New York City. His mother, Katherine Mathilde "Kate" Redway Rosenfield, is an actress. Rosenfield has one younger brother, Nate. He is Jewish, and has said that he "used to be rather religious" despite his family's atheism. His ancestors were from Ukraine, Romania, Denmark, and Scotland. Rosenfield attended Glenfield Middle School where, in eighth grade, he portrayed Tevye in a production of Fiddler on the Roof. He then attended and graduated from Montclair High School in 2010.
Career
In 2011, Rosenfield made his stage debut in the Off-Broadway production of the playThrough a Glass Darkly, alongside Carey Mulligan and Chris Sarandon. In August of the same year, it was announced that Rosenfield had been cast to co-star as Tim Buckley in the drama filmGreetings from Tim Buckley. The film also featured Penn Badgley and Imogen Poots in main roles. The following year, he starred as Tommie Scheel in the documentary film Teenage, and joined the cast of Boardwalk Empire in the recurring role of Willie Thompson, Eli's son. For the fifth and final season, he was promoted to a series regular. Rosenfield then co-starred in the films Jamesy Boy and Song One, before having his first leading role in the film Affluenza, which also starred Grant Gustin and Nicola Peltz. Also in 2014, Rosenfield appeared in a supporting role in the crime drama A Most Violent Year, opposite Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac. in May 2016 In January 2015, Rosenfield was cast as Woodnut in Jennifer Haley's play The Nether with the MCC Theater, which ran from February 4 to March 15, 2015 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Rosenfield then portrayed Dan Mercer in Hannah Fidell's relationship drama film 6 Years, starring opposite Taissa Farmiga. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 14, 2015, and was released through video on demand on August 18, 2015. He next had a supporting role in Woody Allen's comedy-drama Irrational Man, co-starring Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. The film premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and was released in theaters on July 17, 2015. Rosenfield then co-starred as Bertram Flusser in the drama film Indignation, an adaptation of Philip Roth's 2008 novel of the same name, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2016 and was released to theaters on July 29, 2016. Also in 2016, he starred alongside Richard Armitage and Zoe Kazan in the Off-Broadway play Love, Love, Love, from the Roundabout Theatre Company. Rosenfield is part of the ensemble cast of the drama film Person to Person, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. He was also cast as Sam Colby in the Showtime series revival of David Lynch's Twin Peaks. In 2017, Rosenfield portrayed Alex Holmes in the Off-Broadway premiere of the Simon Stephens play On the Shore of the Wide World. He will next be seen in the comedy filmThe Long Dumb Road, re-teaming with director Hannah Fidell.
