- Had a strong German accent and spoke the language fluently until the age of six when his family returned to Australia after an extended period living abroad.
- Memorized every line from Taxi Driver as a teenager because Robert DeNiro was his acting idol. They worked together in the film Killer Elite.
- After seeing a report on an Australian News program about a Datables Ball (a dance for special-needs teens with limited opportunities to meet and socialize), he offered to pay the full costs to host another.
- A passionate animal lover, he halted filming while filming Adore to make sure a stray cat made it across the street safely.
- Offered to remove his front teeth for the role of Robin in Place Beyond the Pines, which was written as having dentures. The director accepted the offer but changed his mind when an producer intervened before Mendelsohn had the dental work done.
- After his parents divorced at age six, he lived with his mother until the age of 13, when he moved to Washington DC with his father. After being expelled from his boarding school, Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, after just six months for burning things, he moved in with his grandmother in Australia until he began acting and was able to support himself.
- Mendelsohn was originally cast as Hando in Romper Stomper and had already shaved his head for the part of the neo-Nazi when Russell Crowe (his costar in Spotswood) began campaigning against him, claiming the actor wasn't threatening enough for the role. Mendelsohn was eventually dismissed and replaced by Crowe, but did star in director Geoffrey Wright's follow-up film, Metal Skin.
- Claimed in an interview to have written several books under a pseudonym.
- Supporter of the Mirabel Foundation, a charity to support children orphaned and abandoned by drug addicted parents.
- Did voice acting on the Interlude and Intro tracks of Gorillaz's album Humanz (2017).
- He hadn't watched one of his own films for six years, but was obligated to attend the screenings of Killing Them Softly at Cannes and Place Beyond the Pines at the Toronto International Film Festival. He had previously gone 10 years without seeing his own films.
- He was offered the role of Pennywise in It (2017) but turned it down due to salary conflicts.
- Appeared in a PSA with Gia Carides and Paul Gleeson in the '80s set in a nightclub to teach teenagers how to fill out their tax returns.
- He spent a lot of time in Europe and the United States growing up, returning to Australia for high school.
- Performed a one-man play, Mother, as a teenager for his entire school.
- He got into acting after taking a drama class as he thought it would be easy to pass.
- His paternal grandfather was from a Polish Jewish/German Jewish background, while the rest of his ancestry includes English, Irish, Scottish, Northern Irish, one-eighth Greek, and more distant German. Ben found out in the Australian version of the show Who Do You Think You Are? (2008) that his grandfather's ancestors were among the first Prussian Jews to be naturalized in Poland.
- Despite its large ensemble cast of Animal Kingdom, AFI winners Jacki Weaver and Joel Edgerton single out Ben Mendelson's performance in the film during their speeches. Mendelsohn had won best actor earlier that evening.
- He has said that he is often mistaken for his The New World (2005) co-star Noah Taylor.
- His father is a prominent medical researcher who heads the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne.
- To get into character for Animal Kingdom, Mendelsohn rarely spoke to James Frecheville on set and would call him John, rather than James or Jim. After production, the two became close friends during the film's promotional tour.
- Learned of method acting from costar Nina Landis (Prime Time), who suggested he read Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting as a teenager.
- Trained at the Heidelberg Theater Company.
- Seriously injured his back on his last day filming A Map of the Human Heart.
- Considers Bottom (A Midsummer's Night Dream) the greatest character in theater, a role he played in high school.
- He appeared in short films for both Geoffrey Wright and David Caesar before starring in their feature films.
- Lived with Scoot McNairy while filming Killing Them Softly.
- Is the oldest of two brothers.
- Played Rupert Murdoch in the film Black & White. Murdoch's favorite movie is Spotswood, which Mendelsohn's starred in.
- Early in his career, he was frequently compared to Australian actor Chips Rafferty.
- Was asked to star in the second and third season of Love My Way by his costar from The Big Steal, Klaudia Karvan (who produced and co-wrote series).
- Best friends with director Andrew Dominick.
- Frequently works with directors David Caesar, Nadia Tass, and Paul Moloney, and actors Noah Taylor, Kylie Minogue, Rachel Griffiths, and Toni Colette.
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