Before actor Tom Bennett started playing the character of Ulf the White in House of the Dragon, he was a hardworking British actor known for various comedic roles. His breakout performance was in the 2016 film Love & Friendship, where he plays Sir James Martin, a wealthy landowner who is a potential suitor for the main protagonist’s daughter. As a supporting character, he doesn’t have that much screen time, comparatively speaking, but nonetheless, he steals every single scene that he’s in.
As Sir James Martin, Bennett plays a gentle bumbling fool with wide-eyed naivety, who garners a laugh with every line. He plays him with such a simplicity and eagerness to please, that the audience can’t help but root for him. Every moment he is on-screen is an absolute hilarious delight.
The Many Faces of Tom Bennett
Tom Bennett has been working in British film and television for many years now, with his first role of note being in PhoneShop, the 2010 British sitcom on Channel 4. Set in a mobile phone store in London, the show follows Christopher (Bennett), a recent graduate who gets a job at the shop. The show ran for three series, with a total of nineteen episodes.
Bennett is often found in television and film roles that are smaller parts, but which allow for him to showcase his unique charisma. He also has a penchant for playing a lovable idiot. He has cropped up in various works by Ricky Gervais (After Life, Life on the Road) and Christopher Guest (Family Tree, Mascots). He’s also performed on the London stage, often in larger roles, including as Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses The Musical. He has even appeared in such iconic British shows as Midsomer Murders, Eastenders, Red Dwarf, and now features in HBO’s House of the Dragon, which is his most mainstream role to date.
Whit Stillman Meets Jane Austen in ‘Love & Friendship’
While House of the Dragon’s Ulf is Tom Bennett’s most prominent character so far, it is his work in 2016’s Love & Friendship that remains his critical breakthrough. The film is a comedy of manners by director Whit Stillman, based on Jane Austen’s novella, “Lady Susan”. The film — also starring Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Fry, and Chloë Sevigny — follows recently widowed Lady Susan (Beckinsale) through her mission to secure wealthy husbands for herself and for her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark). Bennett plays Sir James Martin, a wealthy landowner who is promised to Frederica.
The tone of Love & Friendship is very much in the vein of a Whit Stillman film. The dialogue has a unique humorous flow to it, and the antics are quite contrived and even ridiculous. Stillman adapts Jane Austen’s work with his own voice, while remaining faithful to her sensibility. The pairing of Stillman and Austen seems like it was destined to be, as the duo enhance each other’s strengths, heightening the wit of the material. The director has made a career out of comedies of manners, and perfects it with t he film, Love & Friendship.
Tom Bennett Gives His All as Sir James Martin in ‘Love and Friendship’
Love & Friendship is wonderfully directed and funny throughout, but Tom Bennett stands out above the rest, stealing every scene he is in. No stranger to being cast as a lovable idiot, he brings with him a confidence in playing this extremely awkward man, Sir James Martin. With a wandering look in his eyes and a strained perpetual smile, he takes up a notable physical space on screen with every fiddly movement he makes. His lines cut through with his vibrant delivery, and it’s impossible not to laugh at this unwieldy display of a man trying to fit into his given place in high society.
While the whole film relies heavily on well-written comedic dialogue, the best is saved for Bennett. He delivers each line louder, slower, and more enunciated than the others, coinciding with his jilted exaggerated movements. He also feels the need to fill minor silences with non-stop talking. His inane banter goes on far longer than it should, with every comment, anecdote, or answer he gives. He is also constantly fidgeting and laughing awkwardly as he speaks, and sometimes just as he thinks. He also makes ridiculous comments on some of the most mundane ideas, such as the name of the manor he’s arrived at. “Churchill. That’s how you say it. All together like that. Churchill,” he laughs awkwardly before continuing to rattle on. “Ah well, that explains a lot. You see, I’d heard ‘church’ and ‘hill’ but couldn’t find either. All I could see was this big house,” he laughs again. “Fine name, Churchill.” And he goes on still as the others stare at him stunned, drawing further attention to his dimwitted nature and childlike enthusiasm.
It’s not just the inane and mundane that Sir James Martin comments on, but even when trying to be anecdotal or philosophical, he gets it hilariously wrong. When discussing the Ten Commandments, he mistakenly refers to them as the “twelve commandments”. However, the most memorable scene of Tom Bennett’s in Love & Friendship involves an ordinary green vegetable. As he flings them around with his knife laughing, he remarks, “How jolly. Tiny green balls… What are they called?” “Peas,” he’s informed. “Ah yes, no, I knew that. I recall now,” he responds before continuing on. It’s so ridiculous and so brilliantly delivered for something so silly, it instantly becomes comedy gold.
Bennett’s take on Sir James Martin is so unique, it’s impossible to imagine any other actor performing the role in this way. It’s a completely new and refreshing approach to playing the fool, and his effortlessness in doing so won him The London Critics Circle Award in 2016, as well as wide critical acclaim. His brilliance in the role is so undeniable, many of his fans can’t see him in anything else without at least briefly thinking back fondly on this performance.
Love & Friendship is all around a joyous and funny film, but Tom Bennett ups the ante with his hilarious one-of-a-kind portrayal of Sir James Martin. Between his awkward physicality and bold delivery of ridiculous lines, it’s impossible not to laugh out loud at his playful portrayal. It is cinematic buffoonery at its finest.