It's a dirty job but Mark Benton is doing it

Every time you turn on the TV, Mark Benton is there, being whisked around the dance floor in Strictly Come Dancing or in his long-standing role in Waterloo Road.

But it’s the stage that the 49-year-old is now being drawn to, most recently in Hairspray The Musical and now Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Made famous in the 1980s as a Hollywood film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels follows two swindlers based in the South of France who try to outdo each other.

So what was it that grabbed Mark? “I’ve been offered quite a lot musical-wise, but nothing took my fancy until Dirty Rotten Scoundrels came along. It’s such a wonderful musical, such an uplifting piece, and really good fun,” he smiles. “So I went to the audition to show that I could sing and they said they’d love me to do it.”

The part came off the back of Hairspray, which had propelled Mark into every casting director’s little black book. So is he on a roll?

“Hairspray came out of the blue. I’ve never been in anything like that before, but it was exciting to do something different and I think my profile helped,” he says honestly.

He then decided to push himself even harder by undertaking Strictly at the same time as starring in Hairspray, “a massive juggling act but I just thought what the hell?” he grins.

It was a smart move, endearing Mark to all age groups. “Strictly was a big draw,” he accedes, “although I tore the cartilage in my knee in the second week which was painful and affected what I could do dance-wise, so I really had to rely on the acting and entertaining side of things.

“But I really enjoyed myself and I hope that’s why people liked it. You get used to the steps after a while.”

Staying in Strictly until week 10, Mark survived four dance-offs on the BBC’s Saturday night prime-time show. “I like a tough audience. It gives you something to work towards,” he smiles, “but I was ready to go because I was in agony with my knee.” But Mark’s biggest challenge is running a successful career alongside raising his family: “We don’t like being away from each other, so my wife, Sarah, and the kids come to the show as often as possible. They came to Hairspray 15 times.”

The worst commute was during Mark’s most popular stint as bumbling maths teacher, Daniel Chalk, in Waterloo Road, which was filmed in Glasgow, a long way from his Hastings home.

“It was really difficult at times,” he shrugs, “so by the time I bowed out after 20 episodes I was ready to go and try something else, something totally different.”

Few would have predicted however that Mark – perhaps best known for his role in the long-running Nationwide Building Society adverts – would then launch a bona fide musical theatre career.

“I like to keep challenging myself and surprising people,” he says.

So what of the future? “Who knows? Maybe a soap, but what is surprising, is that at my age I keep landing bigger and bigger parts, so I am blessed.

“And while this job can be very glamorous, there are hard parts to it. It’s blooming hard work doing eight shows a week and travelling around on a bus, so it’s lucky I love it.”

SEE IT
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels comes to the New Theatre, Oxford, from August 4 to 8. 
Box office on 0844 8713020 or atgtickets.com/oxford