Having performed in numerous pantomimes over the years, including the 2018 London Palladium of Snow White, Ben Goffe performed for his second year at Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre over the 2025 festive season, playing Muddles in Sleeping Beauty alongside Abbie Budden, Jenny Ryan and David Ashley, and the previous year, he played Buttons in their pantomime Cinderella, which saw Ben be nominated for Best Comic at the 2025 Pantomime Awards. Ben played Handyman in The Choir of Man in London’s West End, where he also performed at West End Live and on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two alongside Nathaniel Morrison and Daniel Harnett. Further stage projects for Ben include the world premiere of Hex at the National Theatre, and for the Royal Shakespeare Company, he played Mustardseed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Charles 1st/Ghost in The Hypocrite and Cupid in Dido, Queen of Carthage. Also a screen actor, Ben has appeared in feature films The Heartsmith, Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and he played recurring guest character Mark across both series of Hapless. We caught up with Ben about performing at the Wyvern Theatre in Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, his time in The Choir of Man and working with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Over the 2025 festive season, you were playing Muddles in the Sleeping Beauty pantomime in Swindon, how was it returning to the Wyvern Theatre for a second year and what was Sleeping Beauty like to perform in?
It was such a joy to return to the Wyvern for the 25/26 panto season. I had my photoshoot back in May, and it was so nice to walk into the theatre and see everyone again. The whole team is brilliant, and it really feels like a family.
It was the first time I’d performed in Sleeping Beauty, so it was nice to tell a new story but with all the traditional pantomime elements. My favourite moment was having 800 schoolchildren shout back “6-7” during one of our 10am shows.
How was it working with the rest of the cast, which included Abbie Budden, Jenny Ryan and David Ashley, and getting into character as Muddles?
I had worked with David the previous year in Cinderella, so I knew we were going to have fun, especially playing the mother and son relationship as dame and comic. I met Jenny at the photoshoot, and I’d seen Abbie perform in Cruel Intentions, so I was pretty confident we were going to have a great show.
For Muddles, I didn’t really have to get into character as I’m a big kid at heart. It was just so much fun to go out on stage every day and tell a story. However, I don’t miss getting eight buckets of slosh dumped over my head every day!
For your portrayal of Buttons in Cinderella at the Wyvern Theatre the previous year, you were nominated for Best Comic at the 2025 Pantomime Awards, how did this feel?
It was such a surprise to be nominated as Best Comic! It was the first time in my career playing principal comic, so I was quite nervous about it, especially playing such a beloved pantomime character of Buttons!
To be up against some brilliant comics like Steve Royle and Johnny Mac was amazing. I’ve seen them both perform and they both had me crying with laughter.
Having performed in many pantomimes over the years, what do you enjoy most about being part of a pantomime cast, and what was it like playing Prof in Snow White at The London Palladium in 2018?
Panto is special for so many reasons. It’s one of the only forms of theatre where the whole family can come together and watch a show. For many children, it may be the first time they are seeing a show in a theatre, and if we can grab their imagination for two hours, then hopefully they will be the next generation of theatregoers.
When you’re doing 12 shows a week during the Christmas period, you come together as a cast really quickly, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have made so many friends on the panto circuit over the years, including my best friend. We were in Dick Whittington together where she played Dick and I was Tommy.
Performing on the iconic Palladium stage was a bucket list moment. The history of that building is amazing, and to lead the Magnificent Seven onto that stage every night was a dream come true. I’ll never forget standing there and singing a duet with Gary Wilmot, looking out on over 2,000 people and saying to myself, “Wow!”.
What are some of your favourite memories from your time as Handyman in The Choir of Man in the West End, and how was it returning to the show for a limited run at the end of last year?
I have so many great memories of my time working on The Choir of Man, but my stand-out moment has to be performing at West End Live. I’ve seen so many of my friends perform at the event over the years, and I’ve always said to myself that one day I will do it myself. To walk out to 15,000 people and perform our 10-minute set was incredible, especially when everyone screamed when I started playing the trumpet!
I was in the show for over a year but have come back a few times as an emergency cover. To walk into The Jungle for a few weeks last year was brilliant and it was so nice to see everyone again.
Was there anything that drew you to The Choir of Man and what were the musical numbers like to perform?
I think what really drew me to the show was the sense of community. To see nine men on stage just being themselves was really refreshing, especially being able to hear their own stories about what home means to them is truly beautiful.
The songs in the show are so much fun to perform, and I think that’s why the show is brilliant. One minute you can be laughing as we’re dad-dancing to Escape (The Piña Colada Song), and the next you could be crying as we sing Dance with My Father.
How did you find the experience performing on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two alongside your The Choir of Man co-stars Nathaniel Morrison and Daniel Harnett?
Performing on It Takes Two was a whirlwind experience. I was doing a workshop in the morning, then had to dash over to Elstree Studios to record our section before it was broadcast later that day. We then jumped in a car and headed back to the theatre to do the show in the evening.
Danny was in the show already, but Nathaniel had just found out he was going to Melbourne with the show, so this was his Choir of Man debut!
How was it being involved with the world premiere production of Hex at the National Theatre in 2021 and 2022?
Working on Hex was a bizarre time as it was at the end of COVID. As per the rules at the time, we all had to sit two metres away from each other, wear face masks outside the rehearsal room, and test every day before coming into work.
When we opened the show, some of the company did get the virus and sadly we had to close for three weeks. When we came back at the beginning of January, we were told that the show was going to be rescheduled for later in the year and we would all be re-offered the show.
For Hex 2.0, I was asked to be dance captain, which I’d never done before. It was a real lesson for me, but one I really enjoyed as I got to experience something different. However, being in a position where you have to re-block the entire show with only 15 minutes before it starts was rather scary!
Can you tell us about performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Mustardseed, The Hypocrite as Charles 1st/Ghost and Dido, Queen of Carthage as Cupid?
My time with the RSC is a true career highlight. The production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was a touring version where, in each venue, the Mechanicals were played by a local theatre company and the fairy train was a group of 30 schoolchildren.
The rehearsal process was insane as we had our “Bottom-Hubs” every Wednesday evening with each group joining us on a Zoom meeting. When we were on the road, we would meet the local actors and children at the beginning of the week, perform seven shows with them and then travel onto the next venue. At the end of the tour, we went back to Stratford-upon-Avon and all the groups came to join us for two or three shows. My personal highlight was when I was made Patron of The Castle Players after I stepped into the role of Snug because one of their members had sadly injured themselves.
The Hypocrite was a laugh from start to finish! Working with Mark Addy and Caroline Quentin was a joy as they are just brilliant actors. We spent three months at the Hull Truck before transferring to the Swan Theatre in Stratford. What I loved most was how different the audiences reacted to the show. One particular highlight was seeing Anthony Sher, who had come to watch the show following his stint with the RSC the previous year, crying with laughter when we mentioned the premise of King Lear and how long the play goes on for!
Dido was my first (Christopher) Marlowe play, and my first role where I really had to test myself as an actor. With Cupid, he’s the villain of the piece, disguising himself so he can hit Dido with his love arrow and make her fall in love. People blame him for the sad ending of the play and say if he didn’t make Dido fall in love, maybe it would be a happier ending.
On screen, you have been involved with the feature films The Heartsmith, Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; how was it on set of each?
My first movie was Harry Potter when I was 12 years old. I got a call from my agent saying they were looking for actors to be in a moving portrait. It was to be a family scene and would I be interested? Of course, I said yes due to being a big fan of the books and having seen the two previous films.
I was driven to Leavesden Studios to have a day of hair/makeup/costume tests, and to meet the director Alfonso CuarĂłn. During that day, I was taken around the studios and managed to walk onto the Great Hall set, meet some of the Creature Effects team and also got to see a bit of filming. The highlight though was getting to meet the three leads of the movies: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.
Artemis Fowl was another incredible film to work on as it was the first film I had any dialogue. Originally, I was asked if I could come in and workshop an idea with Josh Gad, who played Mulch Diggums. The character was supposed to be a dwarf, but they didn’t know if they wanted to shrink Josh down in height or to leave him as he is. We improvised a scene together about him believing he was a dwarf, but because he wasn’t short, no one took him seriously. It worked so well that Sir Kenneth Branagh decided to put the scene into the film.
I wasn’t originally cast in The Heartsmith, as the role of Sid was supposed to be played by Mike Edmonds. Sadly, Mike had to pull out of filming and had asked my dad if he would step in. He sadly couldn’t make it either, but passed my details onto the production instead, and the next day, I was in front of the camera.
What was it like filming as the recurring guest role of Mark across both series of Hapless?
I knew I wanted to be part of Hapless when I was halfway through reading the script – I had never laughed so hard in my life! Working alongside Tim Downie was great as we really got each other’s sense of humour immediately and wanted to get as much comedy out of our scenes as we could.
After the first series had been released, I was asked if I would come back for Series 2, as my character Mark had a good relationship with Tim’s character. Again, two pages into the script, I was doubled over with laughter and knew we would have another great time together. I’ll never forget seeing the look on people’s faces when they saw me sat in a child’s car seat, trying to shut the door of a moving car!
How did you originally get into acting and was it always something you wanted to do professionally?
Both of my parents are in the industry, so I grew up within the world of performing. My dad has been is some iconic movies such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Star Wars and the Harry Potter films. My mum was originally a dancer but is now an international dance examiner, travelling all over the world examining children’s dancing.
When I was growing up, they ran their own theatre school, which is where I started dancing when I was three years old. I still go to them for advice about the industry, and they’re both extremely supportive of my career – even if they do give me the odd note here and there, but that’s my parents for you!
Do you have any favourite theatre shows to watch, and which would you like to see that you haven’t done so as yet?
My favourite show has to be Starlight Express, as it was the first show I remember seeing as a child. An ex-pupil from my parents’ theatre school was in the show, and afterwards they took us on a backstage tour. I remember putting on one of the huge race helmets and saying to myself, “I want to do this as my job!”.
In fact, my best friend is currently over in Bochum with the show, and I try and go out there every six months or so to see her. I made a surprise visit a few weeks ago as she was on for one of her cover tracks which I hadn’t seen before.
How do you like to spend your time away from your acting career?
For me, I love getting out in the fresh air. I’m fortunate to live very close to Richmond Park, so during COVID, I started the Couch to 5K programme. I really enjoyed running round the park and seeing the deer. I enjoyed it so much that I try to get out and do a run every now and then around the park still. I also like to try and visit my parents every few months or so when I can. They currently socialise Medical Detection Dogs, so often that can be a reason to go home and see the new puppy and play with it!
What are you hoping this year brings for you, and do you have any upcoming projects that you can tell us about?
I do have a very exciting project which will be coming to your TV screens this summer, but that’s all I can say for now. I should also be working with the brilliant team at Imagine Theatre for another panto season. Fingers crossed I’ll be back at the Wyvern performing in Jack and the Beanstalk.
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