Benjamin Josiah Tan

Benjamin Josiah Tan is a Singaporean actor. He was born on July 9, 1989 and raised in Singapore, to May Orr, a deputy general manager in a Japanese manufacturing company, and Cheng Jin Tan, a taxi driver. He has an older brother, Xavier, who is an IT Consultant. Benjamin is the only member in his family to pursue a career in acting. He is of Chinese, Javanese and Peranakan descent. Benjamin began acting in Chinese Opera productions when he was 14. From there, he transitioned into stage theater productions. After graduating from National University of Singapore, with his major in Finance, Benjamin went on to attend Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in Los Angeles, California. During his time in Los Angeles, he also started training in classical ballet. He made his film debut in 2016, as Ah Hee, in Jack Neo's Long Long Time Ago (2016). Since then, he has expended his body of work to include local television productions and independent films. In 2017, Benjamin played the lead role in Nocturne, one of the five short films in 667 (2017), an anthology film by acclaimed director, Royston Tan. 667 (2017) was one of the top two contenders to represent Singapore for the 2018 Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Benjamin speaks fluent English, Mandarin and Hokkien, and is one of the few Singaporean actors who is able to transition between stage, TV and films seamlessly.