The Umbrella Academy Interview With Ben Hargreeves Actor Justin H. Min

One of the most significant changes The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman made to the acclaimed comic by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá is in the depiction of Ben Hargreeves, whose mysterious death splintered the dysfunctional family of superheroes. Better known as The Horror, for his ability to summon eldritch creatures through a portal beneath his skin, Ben is shown in the source material only in flashbacks. While still dead on the Netflix series, he maintains a presence as a spirit attached to Klaus, serving as a conscience of sorts for his adoptive brother before becoming more vital to the present-day action.

With his role as Ben kept under wraps until the show's release, actor Justin H. Min wasn't part of the early publicity for The Umbrella Academy. But now the cat's long out of the bag, and the relationship between Ben and Klaus (Robert Sheehan) has become a fan favorite, CBR had an opportunity to speak with Min about his unique experience filming the series, his insights into Ben, and the undead(?) sibling's role in the messed-up Hagreeves family.

CBR: Describe the audition process for us. How much did you know about the character of Ben going in?

Justin H. Min: I knew absolutely nothing going in. I ended up getting an audition; they told me that it was for a Netflix series. I was given fake audition sides, which means that it’s not actually from the show or scenes that I’d be playing. I did the best that I could knowing nothing about the character. I think that, in that way, the creative team was sort of looking for more of an essence of who I was. So I did the best that I could. I ended up getting called back, and there were multiple rounds -- again, all fake sides. Then when I got the call from my agent and manager that I booked the job, I was obviously so excited. But as soon as we stopped screaming, they said, "We have no idea who you are still."

So, it was another week after I booked the job that they finally let me know that I was Ben Hargreeves, which was so exciting. So I frantically went to the comic book store and bought all the comics and started to read and, lo and behold, Ben is dead! I was even more confused than when I started because I was like, “Am I gonna be in flashbacks or what, still nothing." And then finally I got to Toronto. I got the first script, and then all the pieces started to unlock. And then obviously I had my sit-down conversation with our showrunner to really find out who Ben was and find out what sort of role he would be playing this season.

Oh, my God, it's like you were in your own personal episode of Lost.

[laughs] I saw that every layer I would get more information and ... then I ended up being more confused.

Did you ask Steve Blackman why Ben's character was adapted this way?

No, I didn’t, and now that I think about it, I should actually ask him that. That’s a really good question! No, I didn’t really hear about why they decided to give him a bigger role in the show. Obviously, I am so glad they did. But I think it was a conversation that he had with Gerard.

What’s interesting is that even for the comic book fans, Ben was sort of a fan favorite even though he was rarely mentioned in the comic books, which is so funny and ironic. So I think in that way both Steve and Gerard knew that Ben had this special place in a lot of the comic book fans' hearts, so I can only assume they might have wanted to tap a little more into that.

[Not to mention] the fact that Ben’s journey is so integral to Klaus’ journey and arc, and to really help Klaus explore that I think Ben’s character was really important. I’m glad they did, and I’m just along for the ride.

NEXT PAGE: Justin H Min Isn't Allowed to Discuss Ben's Death on The Umbrella Academy

Given Ben's unique, "postmortem" status within the Hargreeves family, what was it like filming with the rest of the ensemble?

It was hilarious, because every scene that I was in we had to shoot multiple times. When I was in it, and then we’d shoot it without me. It was just really hilarious, because I’d be making interactions with Klaus, and I’d be making eye contact with the other cast members, but the other cast members weren’t allowed to make eye contact with me because, obviously, they weren’t allowed to see me. So, it was just really fun. I had a lot of fun with it. I was trying to make a lot of them look at me, and I was making funny faces and trying [to make them laugh], and there were definitely a few times where we had to reshoot scenes because they accidentally looked at me or referenced me when they weren’t allowed to see that I was there.

But I think from day one the entire cast we had such an easy, fun, casual dynamic. We always joke about how our characters are really extensions of ourselves, so even when the cameras are not [on], you still feel the sort of family dynamic with all of us. And obviously most of my scenes are with Robbie, so Robbie and I got to know each other quite well throughout the process.

Let's talk about Ben's death. It's still a mystery in the comics and on the show. Have you seen any of the theories people have come up with regarding what happened? Do you have any of your own?

[laughs] We can’t speak of his death. We can’t speak of the death but, yes, of course, I’ve definitely heard the theories; I’ve read some of the articles. Obviously, I get hundreds and hundreds of messages asking me how I die. But, yeah, I think it’ll be exciting to potentially explore that in a potential future season. Because obviously it was a huge reason why the family broke up, and there’s so many unanswered questions about that. I’m excited to see what happens.

Back to the family, why do you think Ben is so attached to Klaus? Why does he stick around him the way he does when other spirits don't?

I think growing up they had a very special connection, I think they always looked out for each other. I think in death obviously their relationship even grew more so because [Klaus] was the only one who could see and interact with him. I think the reasons behind why Ben stays there and is with Klaus always, as opposed to the other ghosts in Klaus’ life, who sort of come and go ... I think there’s definitely territory to be explored there with that.

I don’t think it’s just Klaus. I think there is and you see that towards the end of the season with the unlocking of Klaus’ powers, there’s a sort of independence and agency that Ben starts to achieve. But even with that I think Ben chooses to stay and the reasons behind that I think are really things that I would like to explore if the show moves forward.

Why do you think The Umbrella Academy has turned into such a massive hit?

I didn’t expect the response, and it’s been nothing short of amazing and incredible and overwhelming and exciting. You know, as an actor you sort of train yourself to go into projects expecting the worst, because there are too many times in this industry where you think something will hit and it doesn’t. And so the fact that it has and it's resonated [with] so many people has been so incredible to be a part of.

I think it resonates with a lot of audiences because, at the end of the day, it's a family story, and these are things and themes that we can all relate to: family dynamics and the issues we all have to go through. In every way all families are dysfunctional in some shape or form. Obviously, the Hargreeves family is dysfunctional way more than most families … and I think the show hits so many things that people like. They like superheroes, but they like things that are fun and quirky and different, and I think the show has so much humor and life to it. And so I think for all those things it’s been able to resonate.

Oh, and the idea of rooting for the underdog and rooting for this crazy family.

Streaming now on Netflix, The Umbrella Academy Season 1 stars Ellen Page, Mary J. Blige, Tom Hopper, Cameron Britton, Robert Sheehan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Adam Godley, Aidan Gallagher, David Castañeda, John Magaro, Ashley Madekwe, Justin H. Min and Colm Feore.