In a special episode of The Playlist podcast, Ben Mendelsohn pops in for a conversation with Nick Bhasin and Fiona Williams, where he talks about his attraction to playing brooding bad guys, and what made him want to play a convicted paedophile being confronted by his victim, in Benedict Andrews' twisty thriller Una.
I've learned [the expression 'Going Full Mendo'] quite recently. I'm still half in the dark as to what it means, and I want to keep that innocence about it
Ben also recalls the time he signed up for SBS' ancestry series, Who Do You Think You Are, back in 2009, when he sought a definitive answer to a rumoured family connection to composer Mendelssohn. His story about adamantly resisting the WDYTYA producers' attempts to get him to cry on camera, is pretty funny stuff.
Elsewhere in the fun chat, the self-confessed Star Wars tragic revels in the fact that he got to be the guy who built the Death Star: "I mean, pfft. It's far more satisfying for me to be a part of the Empire. The Empire doesn't take just anyone. To be a rebel what have you gotta do? Turn up and have a bit of a sulk."
Watch the new series of Why Do You Think You Are
Watch 'Una'
Tuesday 11 February, 9:30PM on SBS World Movies (now streaming at SBS On Demand)
MA15+
USA, 2016
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Benedict Andrews
Starring: Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn, Riz Ahmed
What's it about?
When a young woman (Mara) unexpectedly arrives at an older man’s (Mendelsohn) workplace, looking for answers, the secrets of the past threaten to unravel his new life.
