Biography - Benny Safdie

Who is Benny Safdie?

Benny Safdie is an actor, screenwriter, film director, and film editor by profession and American by nationality. With his older brother Josh Safdie, he is best known for his work in films Good Time, Uncut Gems, Oppenheimer, and the TV series The Curse.

Benny Safdie – Age, Parents, Siblings

Benny Safdie’s birth took place on February 24, 1986, in New York City, USA. His full name is Benjamin Safdie, his father’s name is Alberto Safdie and his mother’s name is Amy. He is not the only child of his parents and has a sibling- an older brother named Josh Safdie who also took the same career choices.

Following their parents’ divorce, the Safdie brothers grew up between Queens with their father and Manhattan with their mother.

Other famous names in his family include architect Moshe Safdie (uncle) and playwright Oren Safdie (cousin).

Education, Ethnicity

For education, Benny Safdie attended Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School. He went on to attend the Boston University College of Communication and graduated from the same in 2008. While still a college student, he founded Red Bucket Films with Josh Safdie, Alex Kalman, Sam Lisenco, Brett Jutkiewicz, and Zachary Treitz.

His ethnicity is Jewish - Sephardic Jew from his father’s side and Ashkenazi Jew from his mother’s side.

Benny Safdie – Girlfriend, Wife, Children, Divorce

Benny Safdie married his longtime girlfriend Ava Francis on August 10, 2013, in a Jewish wedding. With his wife, he has two children- older son Cosmo Safdie (born January 30, 2016) and younger son Murray Safdie (born May 2019).

There are no rumors of divorce surrounding the married pair.

Benny Safdie – Career

Filmmaking

Benny Safdie was aiming to become a physicist before becoming a filmmaker. His early work was as an editor in the 2008 film The Pleasure of Being Robbed. As a director and editor, he along with his brother has worked in several films including Daddy Longlegs (2009; also a writer), Lenny Cooke (2013), Heaven Knows What (2014), Good Time (2017), Uncut Gems (2019; also a writer).

With Josh Safdie, Sebastian Bear-McClard, Ronald Bronstein, and Oscar Boyson, he founded the independent film production studio Elara Pictures in 2014.

Actor

Benny Safdie’s career as an actor took off in the mid-2010s. The films in which he has starred are Person to Person (2017), Good Time (2017), Pieces of a Woman (2020), Licorice Pizza (2021), Stars at Noon (2022), Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (2023), Oppenheimer (2023), etc.

Moreover, Safdie has portrayed characters in the episodes of the TV series Togetherness (2016), the miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022), and The Curse in which he plays the main role.

Co-stars

On the set of Oppenheimer, Benny Safdie has starred alongside Rob Morgan, Alex Wolff, Olli Haaskivi, Louise Lombard, and Trond Fausa Aurvåg.

Benny Safdie – Awards, Nominations

Benny Safdie with his brother Josh Safdie has been nominated for AFI Fest (2014), Black Reel Awards (2014), Cannes Film Festival (2009, 2017), Critics' Choice Movie Awards (2020), Gijón International Film Festival (2009), Gotham Awards (2015, 2017, 2019), Independent Spirit Awards (2011, 2016, 2018, 2020), Los Angeles Film Critics Association (2019), San Diego Film Critics Society (2019), Seattle Film Critics Society (2019), Stockholm International Film Festival (2012, 2014), Sundance Film Festival (2012), etc.

Among the nominations, he received awards for Awards Circuit Community Awards (2017), three Independent Spirit Awards (2011, 2020), the National Board of Review (2019), New York Film Critics Circle (2019), San Diego Film Critics Society (2019), and Sundance Film Festival  (2012).

Benny Safdie – Net Worth, Salary

The net worth of Benny Safdie is estimated at around $2 million while the figure on his annual income is not known.

Benny Safdie – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

Safdie is active on Instagram and Twitter but is absent from Facebook.