Ben Ahlers

Ben Ahlers is an American actor born on August 17, 1996, in Fort Dodge, Iowa, who appeared on Broadway in 2026 in a revival of Death of a Salesman. He began performing in community theatre at age six, with his first role as an orphan in a local production of Oliver!. After graduating as valedictorian from Fort Dodge Senior High School, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre from the University of Michigan.

Ahlers made his first appearance on network television through a small role on the NBC drama The Village, where he played Liam Kelly beginning in 2019. His screen work expanded in 2020 with a lead role in the Quibi miniseries When the Streetlights Go On, in which he portrayed Brad Kirchoff, and a supporting appearance in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as Lucas Hunt, a love interest of the main character. His feature film work began in 2017 with the short film Anna Garcia Does a One Woman Play.

In 2022, Ahlers joined the cast of the HBO historical drama The Gilded Age as John "Jack" Trotter, a footman and clockmaker. He entered the series in a recurring capacity before being elevated to series regular in the second season. To prepare for that season, he took watchmaking classes with the Horological Society of New York, an organization he has continued to engage with, including attending their 2024 gala. He has since developed a personal interest in horology and begun collecting vintage watches.

In 2025, Ahlers was cast in the second season of the HBO post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us as Burton, a soldier in the Seattle rebel militia known as the Washington Liberation Front. The character is introduced in flashback as a government recruit who is later brought into the WLF by the character played by Jeffrey Wright. That same year, in May 2025, Ahlers took on the title role in John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only!, a stage production written by Mad Men screenwriter Matthew Weiner that premiered at Center Stage in Baltimore. In July 2025, he was announced as part of the cast of Little Brother, an upcoming Netflix comedy film. The Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, led by Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf, was announced in December 2025 as an additional credit.

Ahlers grew up Catholic and worked as a personal trainer before his acting career became self-sustaining. He practices yoga and meditation, and cites directors Sean Baker, Chloé Zhao, Sam Mendes, and Yorgos Lanthimos as personal favorites, along with author David Foster Wallace. He is in a relationship with Broadway actress Micaela Diamond.