‘It really feels terrifying’: The New Look’s Ben Mendelsohn on fitting in, portraying Christian Dior, and making it through acting dry spells

Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn’s family ‘never stopped moving for very long’. He became shy because of it and, as a child, often struggled to fit in

He was sent to, and kicked out of, a US boarding school, and took up performing when he was living with his grandmother during ‘the saddest point’ in his life

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Ben Mendelsohn as Christian Dior in a still from the Apple TV+ series The New Look. He talks about being cast as the designer, why he often struggled to fit in as a child, and why he dropped out of a US boarding school. Photo: TNS

Published: 11:15am, 14 Feb 2024Updated: 11:58am, 14 Feb 2024

When Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn was a kid, his family was constantly on the move. All that uprooting has affected his whole life.

The performer in shows like Bloodline, Captain Marvel, Animal Kingdom and the latest, The New Look, says he became hopelessly shy because of it.

“You have to learn how to fit in and, because I went to a couple of different countries, I had that shock of, ‘Oh, my, how do we do it?’ Because it felt like survival back then. It really feels terrifying. Everyone’s thrown together … and I do feel perennially like I’ve got to move on.

“That’s never stopped. I’ve never stopped moving for very long. Normal life feels blissful when you have it.”

Mendelsohn at the premiere of The New Look in New York. Photo: AP

A blissful life has not been on the cards for Mendelsohn. When he was a toddler, he had a severe reaction to a vaccine and was in hospital for a month. He remembers it vividly.