Get Ready to Fall in Love With Firefly Lane ’s Ben Lawson

Have you been watching Netflix's latest addictive series Firefly Lane? If you have, you might have wondered, Where have I seen the actor who plays Johnny Ryan before? The Aussie native has been a working actor for over a decade, appearing in projects like Bombshell, The Good Place, 13 Reasons Why, Designated Survivor, and Doubt. Not bad for a guy who got his start on Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, an Australian TV series about a highly intelligent pet kangaroo.

Part of the charm of Lawson, 41, is that he hasn't forgotten his roots. In 2020 the actor wrote an illustrated book called To My Country, in response to the devastating Australian bushfires. Proceeds went to The Koala Hospital, which focuses on preservation and conservation. “I refer to Australia as ‘she,’” he told The Sydney Morning Herald at the time. “She provides for us the same way a mother would.”

That sweet sensitivity—and, sure, those good looks—is perfect for the role of TV producer Johnny Ryan in Firefly Lane. The character is Kate Mularkey's ex, Tully Hart's confidant, and Mara's protective dad in the series, based on Kristin Hannah's novel of the same name, but (spoiler warning) by the season's end, things aren't looking so good for him. So what's in store for the Netflix star? Time for him to answer our Inappropriate Questions, Glamour’s column that asks all the cheeky, slightly off-kilter stuff best saved for a second (or better yet, third) date.

Glamour: Your Instagram handle is @BennyVegas. Tell me the story behind the name.

Ben Lawson: It’s not as good as you think it is. When I was a young actor, around 19, I was working at a restaurant in Brisbane—where I grew up—and hustling, trying to be an actor. This guy in the restaurant started calling me Benny Vegas because he said I wanted to be Benny Hollywood, but I wasn’t quite there yet. I've had that moniker for over 20 years now.

And look at you now!

I literally live in Hollywood, and they still call me Benny Vegas. When am I going to graduate to Benny Hollywood?

I’m glad you got to keep your accent to play Johnny Ryan. Was that always the plan?

Before I went in to read for the role, there was a note that said I was welcome to do the part in my natural accent if I wanted to. I usually disregard that because it doesn’t work for the character a lot of times. If a part is written in American rhythms, the writer has written it with an American voice in their head. But I read the first couple of scripts and the audition sides and thought, This guy could totally be Australian. I played around with it, tried it in an American accent, tried with my Australian accent, and eventually settled on Aussie. It felt like a good fit when I met with the casting director. And when I met Kristin Hannah, the author of the book, I said, “Hi, I’m Ben! I hope you don’t mind I made Johnny Australian.” She said, “No, I love whatever. It’s great!”

Did you have a chemistry read with Katherine or Sarah before you got the role?

No, but I had met both of them previously. I worked with Katie in 2016 [on CBS's Doubt] and with Sarah on a pilot in 2010. Once we all got together on Firefly Lane, we just started making each other laugh. I think the chemistry ended up being pretty good.

What’s your favorite Johnny Ryan decade—the ’80s or early 2000s?

I love the ’80s, not just because of the hair and the clothes. There’s less responsibility. At the age of 25, Johnny feels like he’s washed up and his career is over, but it’s also a carefree time. They do a lot of partying, a lot of drinking, and he’s swept up into this…. I think the girls bring out his youth again. They spark this new enjoyment in the office. I loved doing those scenes. I loved running around with our little camera crew in that stupid van and being poor. It’s nice to shoot in the expensive house once the characters go off and make a lot of money, but I prefer running around in those early days, when everyone is still trying to make it.

Do you wear a wig to play ’80s Johnny, or is that hair extensions?

It’s a wig. We’re shooting sometimes two or three time periods in one day, so you have to make it as easy to change as possible. Wigs require their own degree of difficulty, but we got through it.

How much are you like Johnny in real life?

I’m probably more like Johnny than I’d like to admit. That darkness that he has, how he overthinks things…he can really get in his head and get in his own way, and I’ve been known to do that.

Spoiler to those that haven't finished the season yet, but we don't know if Johnny survives the explosion in Iraq. Do you know Johnny’s fate?

Come on, they don’t tell actors anything. You know this!

That’s not true. You just don’t want to say!

We know after the hair and makeup department knows! I’ve read Kristin Hannah’s book, and the season-one cliff-hanger comes about halfway through or two thirds through the book, so there still is more of that first book of hers to go. I have an idea of the author’s intention. I don’t know exactly what the producers of the show are going to do, but I’d like to think Johnny is going to stick around a bit for a little while longer.

Johnny also had quite a reunion with Kate before he went off to Iraq. If he’s alive and recovers from the explosion, would you like to see him work things out with Kate? Do you think they belong together?

I do. I definitely think Johnny needs Kate. He needs that real, good, kindhearted, honest person to ground him. Without Kate, Johnny would sort of burn out. He probably would have never had this huge second career on Tully’s show. He would have drunk himself into a depressing stupor. With those two women, they change the course of his life. Everyone wants a Kate Mularkey. That’s the person you marry and build a life with, but he has this other thing that he feels he was born to do and has never truly got to do. Still, I would like to see them together.

I feel like you’re going to be the next Netflix heartthrob. So if you, Ben Lawson/Johnny Ryan, could visit any fellow Netflix series, would you rather spend time on Bridgerton, Emily in Paris, or Sweet Magnolias?

You’ve just named three shows I haven’t seen. Everyone is talking about Bridgerton at the moment….

You recently posted an Insta Story about an interview you did titled “What I Know About Women” and captioned it: “Should be a short piece.” It says you’re single. So what are you looking for that you haven’t found yet?

[Laughs.] I should have never put that up. Uh, what am I looking for? Well, I’m never really looking. I mean, certainly in the last year, you’re living in your house and not going anywhere. Is it even safe to date yet? I don’t know if it is.

I don’t know if it was safe before the pandemic. I was scared then too.

Yeah, exactly. I don’t know. When you move to L.A. and want to be an actor, it takes a lot of energy to chase that dream…as long as it takes, really. That’s a deeper question than we can probably get into now. I am looking for someone to hang out with and watch Netflix shows and not argue too much. That would be fun.

Jessica Radloff is the Glamour West Coast editor. You can follow her on Instagram @jessicaradloff14.

Originally Appeared on Glamour