Well folks, it’s happening: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is in its final season. And whether you love this very Jewish show (and want to find out what happens to Midge) or you love to criticize it (and can’t wait to never hear about “Maisel” again), it’s a very big moment.
Excitingly, this final season also features a few new cast members. Namely, Jewish actor Ben Rosenfield, who plays an adult version of Mrs. Maisel’s son Ethan.
Here are 18 things to know about Ben Rosenfield.
1. Ben was born on August 1, 1992 in Montclair, New Jersey to a Jewish family.
2. That makes him a Leo!
3. His ancestors hail from Ukraine, Romania, Denmark and Scotland.
4. His parents are both actors, and his dad founded the American Comedy Institute.
“[Acting] was something that I fell in love with on my own and they completely believed in me and supported me,” Ben said in an interview.
5. Meet his paternal grandparents, Abe and Eda!
6. His first “proper” role was as Tevye in his eighth grade production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
“That was one of the best things I’ve ever done — still to this day, I’d say. I have it on VHS,” he told Interview Magazine, adding, “It was between me and my best friend [for Tevye], so it got a little contentious, but he got Lazar Wolf, which is also a great part.”
7. In his younger years, Ben considered himself to be “rather religious.”
“As a child I connected deeply to my Jewish ancestry and practiced the religion faithfully, despite my family’s atheism,” he explained in 2014.
8. Ben graduated from Montclair High School in 2010, though he almost didn’t.
“I barely graduated from high school. I was an unhappy kid, I didn’t go to class very often,” he told a reporter.
9. His Off-Broadway debut was in a 2011 production of the play “Through a Glass Darkly.” In it, he starred opposite Carey Mulligan.
10. His first big TV role was as Willie Thompson on “Boardwalk Empire.”
11. In 2014, Ben starred in the movie “Affluenza,” where actor Danny Burstein played his father.
“Oh my God, Danny was one of my favorite people that I’ve ever worked with. I think he’s a tremendous actor. He’s amazing on film and he’s amazing on stage — not everyone can do that!,” Ben said at the time.
12. He has improvised an entire movie!
In 2015, Ben starred in the movie “6 Years,” a movie about a couple’s six-year-long relationship. Though filmmaker Hannah Fidell had essentially written an outline of the movie, Ben and co-star Taissa Farmiga improvised most of the lines.
“It was definitely a personal experience, a very artistic experience, a very emotional experience, making the film,” Ben explained, continuing, “I wouldn’t compare it to therapy, but I would say that there was a feeling on the set — not just between me, Taissa and Hannah, but the cinematographer and his crew and the costume designer. Everybody was invested in the story that was being told.”
13. Ben released an album of folk music in 2017!
14. He’s on Twitter asking the real questions:
Will I ever leave the house?
— Ben Rosenfield (@benarosenfield) May 26, 2017
15. You can learn more about his creative process in this podcast episode!
16. Ben played John Schlafly, the closeted son of Phyllis Schlafly, in “Mrs. America.” Click here to see what his character looked like in real life!
17. In 2021, he starred in the movie “Mark, Mary & Some Other People,” a movie about a couple in an open marriage. Oo la la!
18. Check out these stills from Ben’s appearance as Ethan Maisel in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”:
