“And I’ll have Buffalo Trace on the rocks, please,” Ben added. He’d noticed the row of bourbon bottles when he first sat at the bar.
“Certainly,” Lukas said, as he began to make their drinks.
Placing the glasses on napkins in front of them, he picked up a portable scanner and waved it over each of their OceanAccess bands. “Thank you, Mr. Robert and Mr. Bentley.”
Rob smiled and said, “I love how cruise staff always uses a title with someone’s first name. So, Bentley, huh?”
Ben grinned, “Yeah. English mom, remember?”
“Oh, I do. I just hadn’t thought of Bentley. I’ve only ever seen you referred to as ‘Ben’ and I just figured it was Benjamin,” Rob said.
“I wasn’t overly fond of ‘Bentley’ when I was a kid and decided I would only answer to ‘Ben.’ It’s not so bad now, but at this point, no one really uses it. And when my brother’s in a teasing mood, it’s usually ‘Benny’ which, for the record, I hate.”
Rob looked like he was going to tease him, so Ben quickly added, “But enough about my name.” He raised his glass and looking around the ship toasted, “Here’s to new adventures!”
“To new adventures!” Rob chimed in. They touched glasses and sipped.
They watched passengers approach the bar to place orders while Lukas and another bartender quickly and efficiently made drinks. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, Ben, what made you decide to become an actor?”
Ben thought for a moment. “I wasn’t really into sports all that much in high school and a couple of my friends were in the drama club. They convinced me to give it a try and I found I was good at it. I stuck with it in college while I was studying business, but I really didn’t know what I wanted to do.
“At the end of my senior year, I was approached by a talent scout who saw me in the university’s production ofTwelve Angry Men. He thought I had potential and wanted to know if I planned on pursuing a career in acting. He managed to get me a couple of jobs in commercials and I got noticed. The rest, as they say, is history.”
“You’ve certainly done well. I’d say you made a good choice. Is making a movie as exciting as it seems?”
Rob laughed. “While there have been some exciting times, it’s often really tedious. Depending on the director, and how good your co-stars are, you might have to redo a particular scene many times until everyone is satisfied. It can take hours or even days just to get a short scene finished.
“On the other hand, I’ve had the opportunity to work with stunt people to learn how to fall so that I don’t get hurt, and I’ve learned a few foreign accents and how to shoot a gun. So yeah, some of it is fun and exciting, I guess. I’m proud of most of the movies I’ve made, but I am getting to the point where I’d like to slow down a bit. As I get older, I’m starting to realize that life is short and I want to enjoy myself a bit more, so I’m more interested in working on a few projects that I really believe in rather than going for things that will be huge blockbuster hits.”
“I admire you for that,” Rob admitted. “Most folks would just go for the money regardless of the project, even if it meant going against their better judgement.”
“I couldn’t do that and live with myself,” Ben confessed. “If a script is garbage—and believe me, I’ve been offered a lot that are—I refuse to do it no matter how much money they’re offering. I won’t compromise my beliefs. I have to respect myself and what I choose to do.”
“Wow, this got a little heavier than I expected when I first asked the question,” Rob said, “but it just proves that you’re a good man, Ben.”
Ben responded with a tip of his head and a wry smile, “Thanks.”
