Robby Benson is most persuasive when he lets a character sound unsure of himself. His Beast makes the romance in Beauty and the Beast worth believing, putting the sensitivity of his early leading roles to work in that deep voice.
Fi1m perspective
In Beauty and the Beast (1991), Robby Benson lets us hear the Beast’s discomfort with tenderness. His deep bass gives the character weight, but he allows awkwardness to remain in the voice when a smoother performance might have made the romance easier. We were moved by that uncertainty, because the affection seems to cost the character some effort. Benson gives us a reason to care about the romance before the castle’s other occupants get back to entertaining us.
The sensitive young man was familiar territory by then, from Ode to Billy Joe (1976) through One on One (1977) to Ice Castles (1978). Benson also co-wrote One on One, a coming-of-age sports drama, so his involvement in those stories extended beyond playing the lead. The weakness of that early screen persona is that it can become ingratiating, leaving too little beneath the wish to be liked. The Chosen (1981) gave him a more complex dramatic role as Danny Saunders opposite Rod Steiger.
Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale surround Benson with accomplished comic voices in Beauty and the Beast. Jerry Orbach’s expansive Lumiere and David Ogden Stiers’s exact Cogsworth supply contrasting rhythms, while Angela Lansbury’s Mrs. Potts brings warmth without fuss. Benson is valuable among them because he sounds less at ease, and the romance benefits from that difference. The small frustration is that the comic business occasionally interrupts feelings his performance has earned time to explore. We would happily lose a little bustle to let those feelings last longer.
Later voice work included returns to the Beast, while television directing took him to Friends (1995–1997). The teen-idol label describes only one stretch of his work, and misses the performance we would recommend first. Start with Beauty and the Beast, and listen for how much Benson does by sounding unsure of himself.
Biography
Robby Benson (born Robin David Segal) is an American actor, director, singer and educator. He began his career as a child performer, making his Broadway debut in the late 1960s and appearing in early films including an uncredited role in Wait Until Dark (1967). He rose to prominence in the 1970s with lead roles in films such as Ode to Billy Joe (1976), One on One (1977) and Ice Castles (1978).
Benson is best known for voicing the Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991) and its sequels and spin-offs. He has directed numerous television episodes, including six of the sitcom Friends (1995–1997), and has appeared in later roles such as Dr Mauer in Severance (2022). He has also written screenplays, composed music and taught film production at several universities.
