Why ‘Westworld’ star Ben Barnes turned to music — after years of playing ‘manipulative liars’ onscreen

nypost.com:

“Westworld,” “The Punisher,” “Shadow and Bone,” and movies like “The Chronicles of Narnia,” has released his debut album, called “Where The Light Gets In” (now available).

His music video for his song “One Minute More” feat. Monica Martin is out Friday, Feb. 14. “The fact that I’m doing this new thing in my 40s is something that people have really found that they can take some kind of comfort in.

It’s never too late to try something new,” Barnes, 43, told The Post. “As I’ve been doing shows [on tour], I found myself talking about that more and more — about just getting out and doing the thing that makes you happy, because our time is very precious on this planet.”He added that it’s been gratifying to see his fans follow him into this new endeavor. “They’ve gone with me through playing psychopathic murderers in Marvel shows,” he said, referring to his character Billy Russo / Jigsaw on “The Punisher.” He continued, “All the way through to all different genres that I’ve done…And now I’m doing this music thing, which is so much more and about sharing something of my authentic self, rather than hiding behind a character or delivering someone else’s script.”Barnes’ musical sound is a mixture of poppy and soulful.

He cited Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald, and The Rolling Stones as being among his influences that he liked listening to during his childhood in England.