What's Up, Benjamin Walker? The Andrew Jackson Star on Bleeding, Bombing and Being Beautiful

Two years ago, Benjamin Walker was on Broadway wooing soon-to-be real-life wife Mamie Gummer as Danceny in the revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. These days, he’s wooing audience members downtown at the Public Theater one presidential pelvic thrust at a time as the title star of the outrageous new rock comedy Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. We checked in on this rising star to find out more about his outlandish (and educational!) new show, his side gig as a stand-up comedian and the trick to playing an American president who cuts himself when the going gets tough.

The show is a kind of outrageous blend of fact and fiction. Are you a history buff?
I had a great American history teacher in high school and my father is an American history buff, so I wasn’t coming into the show blind. Growing up in the South [Walker hails from Georgia], learning about the Civil War is very much a part of who you are. I was always interested in that, and the Revolutionary War of course—when we stood on our own two feet as a country. The idea that this experiment called America worked is pretty amazing.

It must be doubly cool to be starring as a radical president then.
It is cool—I’m learning facts I never knew before.

Like what?
He was a cutter. He was the first [presidential candidate] with a theme song. I didn’t know anything about his relationship with his wife Rachel, or the horrific coincidence that she died on the eve of his inauguration. I mean, the greatest moment and worst moment in his life occurred simultaneously. Isn’t that mind-blowing? If you saw that happen in a movie you wouldn’t believe it.

You’ve got a good woman in real life. Would Mamie make a good First Lady?
What’s the phrase? “There’s an amazing woman behind every successful man?” I think she’s the amazing woman, period. She’d be fantastic.

You’re not just a hot rock president—your bio says you’re also a stand-up comedian?
I started doing stand-up while I was in school. It’s something that keeps me inspired and busy as an artist. There’s such a thriving community for it here in New York that it seemed a shame not to take part in it. I learned a lot about comedy as an actor, and a lot about acting as a comedian. They go hand in hand.

Don’t you have to be kind of a masochist to do stand-up?
Oh, it’s absolutely horrifying. That is kind of the draw of it. But you gather material and put together a set, and when it goes well it’s equally as rewarding as it is horrifying.

Have you ever bombed miserably?
Many, many times, and I’m sure I’ll do it again. The first time I ever did stand-up I absolutely tanked. It was an experience where you feel like fainting or passing out, but you’re also sick to your stomach—you suddenly understand why they call it “bombing,” because you literally feel like you’re being pulled apart. But for every time you bomb you have a good night. Hopefully.

What’s the best thing a person can do when a joke goes bad?
If a joke tanks the only thing you can do is acknowledge it. If you lob a stinker and pretend nothing happened, you’re absolutely dead in the water. But if you’re on the same page as the audience, sometimes you can pull it back. Mostly though, if you’re dead in the water there’s nothing you can do about it.

You’ve got what it takes to survive stand-up. What does it take to play President Andrew Jackson?
Luckily, we’re not going for accuracy! If we went for accuracy it would become a ten-hour long documentary. He was fascinating during an amazing time politically, one that’s not all that far from where we are now, with conversations about Obama and populism happening. But the traits that draw me to Jackson are his ability to be decisive against the odds and to be a charismatic leader. Whether I’m doing that or not is yet to be seen, but it’s what I’m working toward!

If Benjamin Walker were to run for office, what would his campaign song be?
That’s tough—it’d definitely have to be something by [Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson composer] Michael Friedman. He’s wickedly witty—you need that if you’re going to have a successful campaign.

Good looks don’t hurt. Fortunately, Paper magazine put you on the “Most Beautiful” list. Is that surreal?
It’s purely flattering and surprising. I want people to come see our show, so the more pictures we have in magazines the better.

Next Fall’s Patrick Heusinger and The Addams Family’s Wesley Taylor also made the list with you. If you three were to have a model walk-off a la Zoolander, who would win?
Ha! That’s tough. I don’t know who would win, but I know I would not. I would trip over my feet and say some horrible, dirty word and be out in the first round.