Rob Benedict is known for his acting roles in “Waiting” opposite Ryan Reynolds, “Felicity,” and the CW hit series going into its 15th and final season, “Supernatural.” But he is also a musician and a writer. Rob is loved for his band Louden Swain and “Kings of Con.” Catch up with the “Supernatural” favorite actor and find out more about future and current projects including some inside scoop about plans for original written work, a possible solo album, and what he thought of Chuck’s return in the Season Finale of “Supernatural.”
Melissa Rothman: You recently spent some time overseas for Dark Light Con, JIB, and AHBL, what is it like traveling so far to do a convention? Is there anywhere you’ve visited, that you would not have, had it not been for the conventions?
Rob Benedict: I don’t think I would have had the opportunity to go to so many places in Germany as I have with conventions and music tours. That’s the country I’ve had the chance to tour around the most. Australia is always an adventure as well because it’s so far away and such a beautiful place. I hope to tour around the country more some day. I’d love to see the Gold Coast and of course, Perth.
MR: You have been doing conventions for a while now, does it ever interfere with other projects you want to do?
RB: Well, the convenient thing about conventions is if work interferes you have the ability to bow out of the cons to do the work. You aren’t stuck. So it allows for both. However it does take a lot of time, and so you find that between working at the cons and recovering from the cons, your energy is pretty depleted. So extra things like writing projects and music projects become harder to complete in a timely fashion. Just takes more time. And the band certainly has less time to do actual touring. As the cons lessen in time, the band is bound to do more touring.
MR: How has it felt to share your music with a larger scaled audience?
RB: It’s amazing. I never expected anyone to ever hear our music. I never expected anything from the band so any attention the band gets is the icing on the cake. More than anything it feels nice that me and the guys have worked on this for so long and people are finally keying into this special thing that we always thought we had. It’s exciting to share it.
MR: At the recent convention in Paris you debuted a new song called “Bring it In.” When introducing it you mentioned not being sure if it was a Louden Swain song, a Station Breaks song, or a Rob Benedict song. Does this mean you plan to release a solo album in the near future?
RB: I’m thinking about it. I have a lot of songs I wrote over Christmas and over these past few months. I’ve not shared them with anyone. I’m waiting for the universe to tell me what to do. My instinct is that yes, at some point there will be a solo record. It’s always fun to change things up.
MR: You are a man of many talents, you have a successful acting career, you have been in Louden Swain for an amazing 20 years and released multiple albums on which you sing and play the guitar, and you write, do you have any plans to release some original written work? Perhaps an autobiography?
RB: Yeah, I’d love to. I haven’t written anything yet but I’ve thought about it a lot. I’d like to write a biography, I’m in the early stages of a few screenplays as well – one is largely biographical. I also have an idea of publishing a book of poetry and old Louden Swain artifacts and original hand-written lyrics that I have compiled.
MR: In the finale of Supernatural” Season 14 we saw your character Chuck return, and he turned out to be the bad guy, how did you feel to find out that he was the cause of the Winchester’s misery and pain? Was it hard for you to get into that mindset of hurting people for entertainment?
RB: I mean, when I first read the script I had the same reaction that everyone else had — like, what the f–k Chuck! But I also really think it’s pretty brilliant what Andrew and the rest of the writers are setting up for the final season. It kind of HAS to happen. And it’s fun to play the catalyst. It makes sense to me – God is all of those things: delight and fun and love but also misery and pain. He’s also the creator of everything they’ve experienced. And so why not him to ultimately bring it all down. I’ve always loved the idea of Chuck as the writers behind the show winking at the audience. Watching right along with you. And pulling the strings. As an actor, it’s fun to play the bad guy, especially when you’re not a bad guy in real life!
MR: There has been a lot of fan speculation that the Chuck we saw wasn’t Chuck at all, because many fans feel his behavior was completely out of character, an that the Chuck we fell in love with, especially after Season 11’s episode “Don’t Call Me Shurley,” and being the person who helped mold Chuck into who he is he simply would not act as he did, without giving any spoilers that would put you in hot water, do you feel like Season 14 finale Chuck stayed true to his character?
RB: Hmmm, let me answer that after season 15 is over…
I do love a healthy discourse. Keep it up. Can’t wait to see it all play out!
MR: As a closing question. We here and Nerd Alert News take pride in our nerdiness. What is your nerd guilty pleasure? The one thing you would devote your time to if you weren’t as busy as you are.
RB: Well, I am a nerd and love nerding out. Some current and all-time faves pleasures are Red Dead Redemption 2, the HBO show “Barry,” anything “Star Wars,” Pearl Jam, Radiohead.
Thanks for your time Rob. We are very excited to see where all your future projects go. You have the full support of all Nerd Alert News and staff. We can’t wait to hear, read, and watch everything you got planned.
Written by Melissa Rothman
Great Interview!!! Thanks Mel!