Barbara Roden
Free Press
People are often urged to “follow their dreams,” which is something easier said than done.
However, one former 100 Mile House resident is doing just that, and now finds himself on the brink of an acting career he first dreamed about at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School (PSO).
“I’ve always been an actor, ever since I was little,” says 21-year-old Ben Pilger.
However, the acting bug really hit when he was in Grade 10, and took acting at PSO under teacher Monique Corno. He continued to act through grades 11 and 12, and says he appreciated the many opportunities the acting program gave him.
“We’d put on a show every year; a full-scale production. We did everything: acted, built the sets, did the lighting and costumes.
“And I thought ‘This is what I want to do. I’m a performer.’ Acting was the thing that made me tick.”
Ben, who was born and raised in 100 Mile House, enrolled in the theatre program at Capilano University, and went there straight after high school.
He is now in his final year of the three-year diploma course, and intends to head to Douglas College as soon as he’s finished in April. Ben will spend nine months there, and obtain his Bachelor of Arts degree when he’s finished.
Between now and then, he is working on his French accent for his role as Major Domo in Capilano University’s Exit 22 Productions staging of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
“Accent work has been an amazing experience.”
The play is very subtle and nuanced; a far cry from the other production he was in this year, a version of Treasure Island.
“I played Billy Bones, the drunken sailor,” he laughs. “Major Domo is a complete 180 from that.”
The Capilano University program covers acting for both stage and screen, and Ben is slightly torn about which direction to go in when he graduates.
“I’d like to create my own acting company, write my own work, and eventually get a venue where I can help sustain the profession. But right now I’m leaning more towards film work. Theatre is my love, but film is so much fun.
“I’d like to encourage anyone in town – and especially students at the high school – who want to be an actor to pursue it. It’s worth every ounce of effort.”
