# Ben Bass (actor)

Ben Bass (born August 14, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as officer/detective Sam Swarek on the Global police television series Rookie Blue, which also aired on ABC.

## Life and career

At age 7, Bass moved with his family to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He speaks French fluently.
He started his television career by appearing in the show 21 Jump Street, and started his stage career when he appeared in Angry Housewives. He was nominated for a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for best supporting actor in Angry Housewives. Also, he originated the stage role of the young Elvis Presley in Are You Lonesome Tonight at The Charlottetown Festival in Prince Edward Island. Following that, he attended Theatre School at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. After returning to Canada, he appeared in television guest roles before becoming a regular cast member of the series Forever Knight as the 16th century Spanish vampire Javier Vachon.
He also appeared at the Stratford (Ontario) Festival as Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac and as the lead in In the Ring and also appeared as Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew at the Atlantic Theatre Festival in Nova Scotia.
Bass then played a lead character in season 3 of TV show The Eleventh Hour and was nominated for a Gemini Award for this role. He also starred in a TV miniseries Would Be Kings for which he received a second Gemini nomination. His next role as Sam Swarek in Rookie Blue garnered nominations for a Canadian Screen Award in 2014 and 2016. His film career includes A Cool, Dry Place, Bride of Chucky, and The 6th Day.

## Personal life

On June 14, 2011, he married actress Laura Carswell.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1987 | 21 Jump Street | Leonard | 1 episode |
| 1987 | Street Legal | New Mel | 1 episode |
| 1989 | Bordertown | Trevor Andres | 2 episodes |
| 1992 | A Killer Among Friends | Steve | TV movie |
| 1995 | Forever Knight | Javier Vachon | 13 episodes |
| 1998 | A Cool, Dry Place | Placement Agent | |
| 1998 | Bride of Chucky | Lieutenant Ellis | |
| 1998 | Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story | Rex Reed | TV movie |
| 1999 | Murder in a Small Town | Michael | TV movie |
| 1999 | Beggars and Choosers | Brian Peske | 29 episodes |
| 1999 | Da Vinci's Inquest | Rick O'Malley (1999); Hardy's Lawyer (2001) | 2 episodes |
| 1999 | Bonanno: A Godfather's Story | | TV movie |
| 1999 | The Hunger | Dave | 1 episode |
| 2000 | First Wave | Russ | 1 episode |
| 2000 | Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show | ND-3 Controller | 1 episode |
| 2000 | Hollywood Off-Ramp | 1 episode | |
| 2000 | Stargate SG-1 | Dr. Steven Rayner | 1 episode |
| 2000 | The 6th Day | Bodyguard | |
| 2000 | Big Sound | Darryl | 8 episodes |
| 2001 | Strange Frequency | Tom West | TV movie; Segment: Room Service |
| 2001 | The Lone Gunmen | Josh Gillnitz | 1 episode |
| 2001 | Night Visions | Paul | 1 episode |
| 2002 | Jeremiah | Rasmussen | 1 episode |
| 2002 | Monk | Gavin Lloyd | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Tom Stone | Graham Pearson | 7 episodes |
| 2003 | The Twilight Zone | Trevor Black | 1 episode |
| 2003 | Bliss | Marcus | 1 episode |
| 2003 | Dead Like Me | Chris Freedman | 1 episode |
| 2004 | The Chris Isaak Show | Ben | 1 episode |
| 2004 | The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess | Peter Gill | TV movie |
| 2004 | The Eleventh Hour | Henry Shelley | 13 episodes |
| 2005 | Queer as Folk | Tad | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Last Exit | David | TV movie |
| 2007 | Law & Order | Dr. Adam Vaughn | 1 episode |
| 2008 | Would Be Kings | Jamie Collins | TV mini-series |
| 2008 | Flashpoint | Harlan Geddes | 1 episode |
| 2008 | Dream | Man | Short |
| 2010–2015 | Rookie Blue | Officer/Detective Sam Swarek | Series Regular - Starring Role |
| 2014 | The Good Sister | Jack | TV movie |
| 2015 | Love's Complicated | Cinco Dublin | TV movie |
| 2016 | Casual | Harry | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Saving Hope | Doug Reid | 1 episode |
| 2018 | The Detail | Marc Savage | 5 episodes |
| 2020 | Burden of Truth | Dr. Solomon Stone/Solomon Stafford | 3 episodes |
| 2022 | Pretty Hard Cases | DS Brad Michaels | Season 2 |

## Awards

| Year | Award | Category | Work nominated | Result | Ref |
| 2005 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | The Eleventh Hour | Nominated | |
| 2008 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series | Would Be Kings | Nominated | |
| 2014 | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | Rookie Blue | Nominated | |
| 2016 | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | Rookie Blue | Nominated | [15] [16] |