ABC Family's Luke Benward Reveals His Desire to Be in the Upcoming Star Wars Movies and Recounts his Ravenswood Audition on Maria Menounos' AfterBuzz TV Network
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) February 07, 2014 -- Luke Benward, star of the Disney Channel Original Movie 'Cloud 9' and ABC Family's Ravenswood, made an appearance on AfterBuzz TV's long-form interview show, Chatting with Cathy, Tuesday afternoon. In the interview, Benward talks about taping auditions with Miley Cyrus and discloses how he was nearly cast for the role of Luke on Ravenswood before they offered him his part as Dillon. The teen actor also expresses his obsession with the Star Wars franchise, desire to be in the upcoming films, as well as revealing which A-list actor's career he hopes to emulate.
Benward, who landed his breakout role in 'We Were Soldiers' at the age of 5-years-old, says he fell into acting. Although the only thing he remembers about the audition for the role is getting out of school early, the actor does remember being on set with Mel Gibson. “Mel was an amazing man and incredibly kind with us kids. He would do magic tricks at lunch,” says Benward, “He would wrestle with us between takes. It was a great experience.”
Growing up, Benward's family lived outside Nashville, TN, a long ways from most movie studios. His mother, an actor as well, used to put Benward and other local child actors on tape for auditions. “I booked How to Eat Fried Worms, when I was really young off tape,” the actor says. “We did a lot of taped auditions...if you want to see the kitchen we taped in, go look up Miley [Cyrus'] Hannah Montana audition, because my mom put her on tape for that. It was in [my family's] kitchen.”
The auditions worked for both Cyrus and Benward: he booked two Disney Channel pilots and several movies. Most recently, Benward starred as William Cloud in the DCOM 'Cloud 9' and as Dillon on the ABC Family teen drama, 'Ravenswood.'
Benward explains how he landed the role on the 'Pretty Little Liars' spin-off. “I originally went in and tested for the character of Luke. I was there with Brett [Dier]...I got the feedback that [the producers] really liked me, but that they felt that I was too young looking to play Olivia's brother. About a week later, they were like, “Hey, does Luke want to test for another character. It's just him right now...he's the only one in our minds for it.” I went in and they told me this character is the boy next door but he's going to have a twist.”
Moving forward, the 18-year-old says he hopes to emulate the career of Leonardo DiCaprio. “I'm a big Leonardo DiCaprio fan. And if I could have a career like his...he's amazing. And not only his career, his public persona and how he carries himself.”
In addition to revealing which actor he looks up to in the industry, Benward also shares his dream role. “I watched the [Star Wars] movies when I was growing up and then rewatched them like five or six years ago. I was just obsessed.” Benward says, “I want to be in [the new movies]. I want to be in Star Wars. That would be amazing.”
Links to Luke Benward's appearance can be found on AfterBuzz TV's website or through these links:
Website - http://site.afterbuzztv.com/shows/luke-benward-interview-afterbuzz-tvs-chatting-with-cathy/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnQqUsIu4Ig
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/chatting-cathy-afterbuzz-tv/id643520172?mt=2
AfterBuzz TV's Chatting with Cathy, hosted by Cathy Kelley, airs live on AfterBuzzTV.com and is available for download the next day on iTunes and YouTube. Chatting with Cathy is an in-depth interview show that broadcasts worldwide from Los Angeles, CA as part of Extra's Maria Menounos and filmmaker Keven Undergaro's online broadcast network, AfterBuzz TV. Currently, AfterBuzz TV receives over 20 million weekly downloads on iTunes from over 100 countries. For further information about the network, visit afterbuzztv.com
Pat Lambert, AfterBuzz TV, http://www.afterbuzztv.com, 3104998225, [email protected]
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