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- Actor
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- Stunts
Jason Statham was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, to Eileen (Yates), a dancer, and Barry Statham, a street merchant and lounge singer. He was a Diver on the British National Diving Team and finished twelfth in the World Championships in 1992. He has also been a fashion model, black market salesman and finally of course, actor. He received the audition for his debut role as Bacon in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) through French Connection, for whom he was modeling. They became a major investor in the film and introduced Jason to Guy Ritchie, who invited him to audition for a part in the film by challenging him to impersonate an illegal street vendor and convince him to purchase fake jewelry. Jason must have been doing something right because after the success of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) he teamed up again with Guy Ritchie for Snatch (2000), with co-stars including Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina and Benicio Del Toro. After Snatch (2000) came Turn It Up (2000) with US music star Ja Rule, followed by a supporting actor role in the sci-fi film Ghosts of Mars (2001), Jet Li's The One (2001) and another screen partnership with Vinnie Jones in Mean Machine (2001) under Guy Ritchie's and Matthew Vaughn's SKA Films. Finally in 2002 he was cast as the lead role of Frank Martin in The Transporter (2002). Jason was also in the summer 2003 blockbuster remake of The Italian Job (1969), The Italian Job (2003), playing Handsome Rob.
Throughout the 2000s, Statham became a star of juicy action B-films, most significantly Crank (2006) and Crank: High Voltage (2009), and also War (2007), opposite Jet Li, and The Bank Job (2008) and Death Race (2008), among others. In the 2010s, his reputation for cheeky and tough leading performances led to his casting as Lee Christmas in The Expendables (2010) and its sequels, the comedy Spy (2015), and as (apparently) reformed villain Deckard Shaw in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), The Fate of the Furious (2017), and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019). Apart from these blockbusters, he continued headlining B-films such as Homefront (2013).
In 2017, he had his first child, a son with his partner, model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.- Actress
- Producer
- Music Department
Elegant Nicole Kidman, known as one of Hollywood's top Australian imports, was actually born in Honolulu, Hawaii, while her Australian parents were there on educational visas.
Kidman is the daughter of Janelle Ann (Glenny), a nursing instructor, and Antony David Kidman, a biochemist and clinical psychologist. She is of English, Irish, and Scottish descent. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Washington, D.C., where Nicole's father pursued his research on breast cancer, and then, three years later, made the pilgrimage back to her parents' native Sydney in Australia, where Nicole was raised. Young Nicole's first love was ballet, but she eventually took up mime and drama as well (her first stage role was a bleating sheep in an elementary school Christmas pageant). In her adolescent years, acting edged out the other arts and became a kind of refuge -- as her classmates sought out fun in the sun, the fair-skinned Kidman retreated to dark rehearsal halls to practice her craft. She worked regularly at the Philip Street Theater, where she once received a personal letter of praise and encouragement from audience member Jane Campion (then a film student). Kidman eventually dropped out of high school to pursue acting full-time. She broke into movies at age 16, landing a role in the Australian holiday favorite Bush Christmas (1983). That appearance touched off a flurry of film and television offers, including a lead in BMX Bandits (1983) and a turn as a schoolgirl-turned-protester in the miniseries Vietnam (1987) (for which she won her first Australian Film Institute Award). With the help of an American agent, she eventually made her US debut opposite Sam Neill in the at-sea thriller Dead Calm (1989).
Kidman's next casting coup scored her more than exposure. While starring as Tom Cruise's doctor/love interest in the racetrack romance Days of Thunder (1990), she won over the Hollywood hunk hook, line and sinker. After a whirlwind courtship (and decent box office returns), the couple wed on December 24, 1990. Determined not to let her new marital status overshadow her fledgling career, the actress pressed on. She appeared as a catty high school senior in the Australian film Flirting (1991), then as Dustin Hoffman's moll in the gangster flick Billy Bathgate (1991). She reunited with Cruise for Far and Away (1992), the story of young Irish lovers who flee to America in the late 1800s, and starred opposite Michael Keaton in the tear-tugger My Life (1993). Despite her steady employment, critics and moviegoers still had not quite warmed to Kidman as a leading lady. She tried to spice up her image by seducing Val Kilmer in Batman Forever (1995), but achieved her real breakthrough with Gus Van Sant's To Die For (1995). As a fame-crazed housewife determined to eliminate any obstacle in her path, Kidman proved that she had an impressive range and deadly comic timing. She took home a Golden Globe and several critics' awards for the performance. In 1996, Kidman stepped into a corset to work with her countrywoman and onetime admirer, Jane Campion, on the adaptation of Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady (1996). A few months later, she tore across the screen as a nuclear weapons expert in The Peacemaker (1997), adding "action star" to her professional repertoire.
She and Cruise then disappeared into a notoriously long, secretive shoot for Stanley Kubrick's sexual thriller Eyes Wide Shut (1999). The couple's on-screen shenanigans prompted an increase in public speculation about their sex life (rumors had long been circulating that their marriage was a cover-up for Cruise's rumored homosexuality); tired of denying tabloid attacks, they successfully sued The Star for a story alleging that they needed a sex therapist to coach them through love scenes. Family life has always been a priority for Kidman. Born to social activists (mother was a feminist; father, a labor advocate), Nicole and her little sister, Antonia Kidman, discussed current events around the dinner table and participated in their parents' campaigns by passing out pamphlets on street corners. When her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, 17-year-old Nicole stopped working and took a massage course so that she could provide physical therapy (her mother eventually beat the cancer). She and Cruise adopted two children: Isabella Jane (born 1993) and Connor Antony (born 1995). Despite their rock-solid image, the couple announced in early 2001 that they were separating due to career conflicts. Her marriage to Cruise ended mid-summer of 2001.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Kari Samantha Wuhrer was born on April 28, 1967 in Brookfield, Connecticut, the daughter of Karin, a payroll officer and Andrew, a former police officer and car salesman. Kari has three siblings. She studied acting at age 13 at the Wooster School, and headed to New York City to do rounds of auditions. She was signed to the Ford's Model Talent Division and appeared in several commercials, most notably Clairol, as well as performing in theater productions. After a role in the drama film Fire with Fire (1986), Kari landed a job on MTV as a VJ and was a co-host of the game show Remote Control (1987). Wuhrer snuck out of her family home as a teenager to sing in nightclubs; she was the youngest member of the band Freudian Slip. She studied drama at New York University, Marymount Manhattan College, Columbia University, and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England with famed teacher Uta Hagen. Her biggest career break came when she was cast to play Maggie Beckett on the sci-fi television series Sliders (1995) from 1997 to 2000. She was signed to a record deal by American Recordings impresario Rick Rubin, which eventually appeared on the small Del-Fi label; her debut album "Shiny" produced the successful single "There's a Drug".- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Chris Parnell enrolled at Germantown High School where he took drama and auditioned for every play. In 1985, when he was a senior at Germantown, he was voted "Most Talented" by his classmates. Right after graduating high school, Chris attended North Carolina School of Arts in Winston-Salem, where he received his BFA in Drama. He later performed with the Berkshire Theatre in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas. Afterwards Chris moved back to Tennessee and taught acting, film, and video at his own Germantown High School. He became bored, however, with teaching and moved to Los Angeles. Once in LA, he got a job at FAO Schwartz in Beverly Center, where he eventually became Operations Manager. During that time, Chris began taking classes at The Groundlings Main Company, where many Saturday Night Live (1975) cast members are discovered. Fate would have it that talent scouts from Saturday Night Live (1975) saw him and asked him to fly to New York for an audition. Completely surprised by his chances, he took the offer. To his amazement soon after he joined Saturday Night Live (1975) and became a featured player in the 1998-99 season. Parnell has since performed many impressions as NBC News' Tom Brokaw, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Tom Hanks, Senator John McCain, and Eminem. Parnell has also appeared as a member of Saturday Night Live (1975)'s resident boy band "Seven Degrees Celsius," but his biggest claim to fame on the show was when he performed an unforgettable hardcore gansta rap fantasizing about a dream date with Britney Spears on Weekend Update. He spends most of his summers in L.A. where he owns his own car and apartment.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Denis Villeneuve is a French Canadian film director and writer. He was born in 1967, in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. He started his career as a filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada. He is best known for his feature films Arrival (2016), Sicario (2015), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), and Incendies (2010). He is married to Tanya Lapointe.- Don Gilet was born on 17 January 1967 in Walsall, West Midlands, England, UK. He is an actor, known for EastEnders (1985), The Beekeeper (2024) and Love & Marriage (2013).
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Julia Fiona Roberts never dreamed she would become the most popular actress in America. She was born in Smyrna, Georgia, to Betty Lou (Bredemus) and Walter Grady Roberts, one-time actors and playwrights, and is of English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Swedish descent. As a child, due to her love of animals, Julia originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but later studied journalism. When her brother, Eric Roberts, achieved some success in Hollywood, Julia decided to try acting. Her first break came in 1988 when she appeared in two youth-oriented movies Mystic Pizza (1988) and Satisfaction (1988). The movies introduced her to a new audience who instantly fell in love with this pretty woman. Julia's biggest success was in the signature movie Pretty Woman (1990), for which Julia got an Oscar nomination, and also won the People's Choice award for Favorite Actress. Even though Julia would spend the next few years either starring in serious movies, or playing fantasy roles like Tinkerbell, the movie audiences would always love Julia best in romantic comedies. With My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) Julia gave the genre fresh life that had been lacking in Hollywood for some time. Offscreen, after a brief marriage, Julia has been romantically linked with several actors, and married cinematographer Daniel Moder in 2002; the couple has three children together.
Julia has also become involved with UNICEF charities and has made visits to many different countries, including Haiti and India, in order to promote goodwill. Julia Robert remains one of the most popular and sought-after talents in Hollywood.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
He is most often recognized for his integral role in the series "Lost" as Richard Alpert, as well as his turn as Mayor Anthony Garcia opposite Gary Oldman in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight". He reprised his role as the Mayor in the box-office hit "The Dark Knight Rises".
Nestor can be seen starring in Universal's "Bates Motel" (2013-2017) as Sheriff Alex Romero, lover to Vera Farmiga's Norma Bates and nemesis to her son Norman. In the final season Nestor directed his third episode, which introduces Rihanna playing the role of Marion Crane from "Psycho". On the feature side, he will next be seen in the (2017) Sundance world premier of "Crown Heights". He most recently starred with Daniel Radcliffe and Toni Collette in Lion's Gates' release, "Imperium" (2016).
He has demonstrated his versatility through a variety of film roles including his turn as the emotionally tortured hitman Pasquale Acosta in Joe Carnahan's "Smokin' Aces", the socially conscious theater director Moises Kaufman in "The Laramie Project", the idealistic revolutionary Luis Fellove in Andy Garcia's "The Lost City", the pragmatic and ruthless Mayor Picazo in "For Greater Glory", and the womanizing and morally conflicted father in the title role of the Sundance indies, "Jack the Dog" and "Manhood".
Nestor was born in New York City and raised in numerous locales including, Mexico, Venezuela, Florida, Connecticut, the Bahamas and London. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English. It was during his time in college that a first-year drama course led to his interest in performing. Upon graduating he moved to New York and starred in the Off Broadway world premier of the two-hander, "A Silent Thunder". He continued to work in theater, most notably in Stephen Sondheim's premier of "The Doctor is Out" at The Old Globe in San Diego.
Nestor currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Shannon Kenny, and their two sons Rafa and Marco.- Producer
- Actor
- Director
Vin Diesel was born Mark Sinclair in Alameda County, California, along with his fraternal twin brother, Paul Vincent. He was raised by his astrologer/psychologist mother, Delora Sherleen (Sinclair), and adoptive father, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theatre manager, in an artists' housing project in New York City's Greenwich Village. He never knew his biological father. His mother is white (with English, German, Scottish, and Irish ancestry), and his adoptive father is African-American; referring to his biological father's background, Diesel has said that he himself is "definitely a person of colour".
His first break in acting happened by chance, when at the age of seven he and his friends broke into a theatre to vandalize it. A woman stopped them and offered them each a script and $20, on the condition that they would attend everyday after school. From there, Vin's fledgling career progressed from the New York repertory company run by his father, to the Off-Off-Broadway circuit. At age seventeen and already sporting a well-honed physique, he became a bouncer at some of New York's hippest clubs to earn himself some extra cash. It was at this time that he changed his name to Vin Diesel.
Following high school, Vin enrolled as an English major at Hunter College, but dropped out after three years to go to Hollywood to further his acting career. Being an experienced theatre actor did not make any impression in Hollywood and after a year of struggling to make his mark, he returned to New York. His mother then gave him a book called "Feature Films at used Car Prices" by Rick Schmidt. The book showed him that he could take control of his career and make his own movies. He wrote a short film based on his own experiences as an actor, called Multi-Facial (1995), which was shot in less than three days at a cost of $3,000. Multi-Facial (1995) was eventually accepted for the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it got a tumultuous reception.
Afterwards, Vin returned to Los Angeles and raised almost $50,000 through telemarketing to fund the making of his first feature, Strays (1997). Six months after shooting, the film was accepted for the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, and although it received a good reception, it did not sell as well as hoped. Yet again Vin returned disappointed to New York only to receive a dream phone call. Steven Spielberg was impressed by Multi-Facial (1995) and wanted to meet Vin, leading him to be cast in Saving Private Ryan (1998). Multi-Facial (1995) earned Vin more work, when the director of The Iron Giant (1999) saw it and decided to cast Vin in the title role. From there, Vin's career steadily grew, with him securing his first lead role, as Richard B. Riddick in the sci-fi film Pitch Black (2000). The role has earned him a legion of devoted fans and the public recognition he deserves.
Since then, he has headlined a series of blockbusters, often but not only centered on fast-driving motor vehicles: The Fast and the Furious (2001), xXx (2002), The Pacifier (2005), Fast & Furious (2009), Fast Five (2011), Fast & Furious 6 (2013), and Furious 7 (2015). He also voiced Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and starred in the lower-budgeted courtroom drama Find Me Guilty (2006), the latter directed by Sidney Lumet.- Actress
- Producer
Carrie-Anne Moss was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. At age 20, after studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she moved to Europe to pursue a career in modeling. While in Spain she was cast in the TV show Dark Justice which was produced in Barcelona for its first season and Los Angeles for its second. Once in LA, Carrie-Anne was cast in other series regular opportunities like Matrix (which coincidentally presaged the movie that would later make her famous), and then Aaron Spelling's Models Inc.
Carrie-Anne's work was gaining attention when the late great Mali Finn brought her in to audition for The Wachowski's, who offered her the opportunity to create the iconic cyber warrior "Trinity". Alongside her "One" Keanu Reeves, in stride with Laurence Fishburne and the multifaceted Hugo Weaving. Carrie-Anne Moss galvanized her place in cinematic history in one of the highest grossing sci-fi action franchises of all time.
Carrie-Anne began receiving a wide range of scripts but it was the complex screenplay Memento that stirred her creative senses and once meeting the then unknown writer/director Christopher Nolan, it was without hesitation that she accepted the role of "Natalie" in Nolan's directorial debut. Her remarkable performance won her the coveted Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female that year.
Prominent directors and producers continued to pursue her. She survived with Val Kilmer on the Red Planet for Warner Bros; sweetened Lasse Hallstrom's multi Oscar nominated Chocolat for Miramax and tracked Sir Ben Kingsley in Paramount's Suspect Zero. She mothered Shia LaBeouf in DreamWork's box-office hit Disturbia; and together with Samuel L. Jackson, led the intense interrogation of Michael Sheen in Sony's Unthinkable.
Carrie-Anne continued to collaborate on independent projects including The Chumscrubber with Ralph Fiennes and Glenn Close; the comedy noir Mini's First Time also starring Alec Baldwin and Luke Wilson; Snow Cake the touching drama with Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman; Fireflies in the Garden in the company of Ryan Reynolds, Julia Roberts and Willem Defoe; and the retro zombie rom-com Fido along with Billy Connelly and Dylan Baker.
Throughout her career, Carrie-Anne has joined compelling television projects such as Ryan Murphy's Pretty Handsome; CBS's Vegas for James Mangold and Marvel's Jessica Jones as "Jerry Hogarth" for show runner Melissa Rosenberg. She recently finished acting and also producing in her second season, the bi-lingual English/Norwegian detective crime series Wisting, as an FBI agent set in the Norwegian landscape.
Next up, Carrie-Anne returns once again to star as "Trinity" in the much anticipated fourth installment of Lana Wachowski's Matrix Resurrections opposite Keanu Reeves for Warner Bros, which launches globally December 22, 2021- Actor
- Soundtrack
Rufus Sewell was born on the 29th of October 1967 in Twickenham, England. His mother, Jo, was Welsh, and was an artist and painter. His father, Bill Sewell, was an English-Australian animator who was born in Australia to English parents and died when Rufus was 10. He has one brother, Caspar. He attended London's Central School of Speech and Drama and left in June of 1989 after completing three years of training.
He made his London Stage debut in "Making It Better" for which he won the "Best Newcomer Award"; he also originated the role of Septimus Hodge in Tom Stoppards "Arcadia" and was nominated for an Olivier Award. On the Broadway stage, he debuted in "Translations" and received the Broadway Theater World Award. His film work has been equally varied and acclaimed from the junkie in Twenty-One (1991), the sweet bus driver in A Man of No Importance (1994), and the volatile artist in Carrington (1995). The lustful son in Cold Comfort Farm (1995), the protagonist hounded Dostoevsky-like in Dark City (1998), the star-crossed suitor in Dangerous Beauty (1998), to the the bitter, acidic, alcoholic coke-head of The Very Thought of You (1998), he has appeared in some of the most acclaimed theatre, film and television productions.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Paul Giamatti is an American actor who has worked steadily and prominently for over thirty years, and is best known for leading roles in the films American Splendor (2003), Sideways (2004), and Barney's Version (2010) (for which he won a Golden Globe), and supporting roles in the films Cinderella Man (2005), The Illusionist (2006), and San Andreas (2015).
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti was born June 6, 1967 in New Haven, Connecticut, and is the youngest of three children. His mother, the former Toni Marilyn Smith, was an actress before marrying. His father, Bart Giamatti (Angelo Bartlett Giamatti), was a professor of Renaissance Literature at Yale University, and went on to become the university's youngest president (in 1986, Bart was appointed president of baseball's National League. He became Commissioner of Baseball on April 1, 1989 and served for five months until his untimely death on September 1, 1989. He was commissioner at the time Pete Rose was banned from the game). Paul's father also wrote six books. Paul's older brother, Marcus Giamatti, is also an actor. His sister, Elena, designs jewelry. His ancestry is Italian (from his paternal grandfather), German, English, Dutch, Scottish, and Irish.
Paul graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall prep school, majored in English at Yale, and obtained his Master's Degree in Fine Arts, with his major in drama from the Yale University School of Drama. His acting roots are in theatre, from his college days at Yale, to regional productions (Seattle, San Diego and Williamstown, Massachusetts), to Broadway.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Steve Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, to Zelda, who worked at a YMCA, and Carleton Edward Zahn, a Lutheran pastor at Peace Lutheran Church, Robbinsdale, Minnesota. His career kicked off in his native Minnesota when he crashed the audition of a local stage production of "Biloxi Blues" and won the lead role. He next trained at American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA; then moved to New York City, where he won a role touring for 13 months in national company of Tommy Tune-directed version of "Bye Bye Birdie". Back in New York, he played opposite Ethan Hawke in "Sophistry" at Playwright's Horizon, where Ben Stiller noticed him and cast him and Hawke in Reality Bites (1994).- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Maria Bello was born on 18 April, 1967 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, to Kathy, a nurse and teacher, and Joe Bello, a contractor. She is of Italian and Polish descent. Maria went to Villanova University, majoring in political science. She had every intention of becoming a lawyer, but she took an acting class during her senior year, just for fun. She discovered she was very good at it, and she was soon cast in small off-Broadway plays, such as "The Killer Inside Me", "Small Town Gals With Big Problems" and "Urban Planning". She later guest-starred on episodes of The Commish (1991), Nowhere Man (1995), Misery Loves Company (1995), and Due South (1994). She got her big break when producers Kenny Lenhart and John J. Sakmar cast her in the spy show Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1996) as "Mrs. Smith" (they remembered her from her performance in a failed pilot that was a remake of the classic TV series 77 Sunset Strip (1958)). The show was canceled after eight weeks on the air. Then came a spot on ER (1994) as "Dr. Anna Del Amico", in which she guest-starred on the final three episodes of the third season. The show's producers were so impressed with her that they asked her back as a regular on the series.- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Melora Hardin is an American actress, singer and director from Houston, Texas who is known for playing Jan Levinson from The Office and Trudy Monk from Monk. She also acted in The Rocketeer, 24 Dresses, 17 Again, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Transparent, The Bold Type and The Hot Chick. She had two daughters with Gildart Jackson, a British actor.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
John William Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, to Betty Kay (Overman), a teacher, and Roy Lee Ferrell, Jr., a musician. His parents were originally from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.
A graduate of the University of Southern California, Ferrell became interested in performing while a student at University High School in Irvine, where he made his school's daily morning announcements over the public address system in disguised voices. He started as a member of the Los Angeles comedy/improvisation group The Groundlings, where fellow cast members Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph and former Saturday Night Live (1975) repertory players such as Laraine Newman, Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman began their careers. It was there he met Chris Kattan and the two became good friends and both went on to Saturday Night Live (1975) later. He has also appeared on several television programs, including Strangers with Candy (1999), Grace Under Fire (1993) and Living Single (1993) during his time at The Groundlings. Will also lent his voice to the armless and legless dad of cartoon family "The Oblongs".
In 1995 he became a feature cast member at Saturday Night Live (1975) during the show's rapid re-casting. He was declared quite possibly the worst cast member ever during his first season. However, his talents of impersonations and range of characters shot him forward to making him arguably the greatest Saturday Night Live (1975) cast member ever. During his seven year run he is one of the few cast members to ever be nominated for an Emmy for a performance and played George W. Bush during the 2000 elections. He has appeared in every Saturday Night Live (1975) movie since his premiere on the show in 1995. In 2002 he left Saturday Night Live (1975) and was the only cast member to ever receive a farewell from all the current cast members at the end of the season finale show. Since leaving the show Will has pursued a career in films. In 2000, he married Viveca Paulin, and lives in L.A.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Award-winning actor Mark Ruffalo was born on November 22, 1967, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, of humble means to father Frank Lawrence Ruffalo, a construction painter and Marie Rose (Hebert), a stylist and hairdresser; his father's ancestry is Italian and his mother is of half French-Canadian and half Italian descent. Mark moved with his family to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he lived out most of his teenage years. Following high school, Mark moved with his family to San Diego and soon migrated north, eventually settling in Los Angeles.
Mark first took classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory and subsequently co-founded the Orpheus Theatre Company, an Equity-Waiver establishment, where he worked in nearly every capacity. From acting, writing, directing and producing to running the lights and building sets while building his resume.
Moving into film and TV, Mark's inauspicious movie debut was the drifter role of Christian in the horror opus Mirror Mirror 2: Raven Dance (1994) and returned to the film series in the role of Joey with Mirror Mirror 3: The Voyeur (1995). He continued on through the 1990's rather indistinctly with more secondary roles in the horror film The Dentist (1996) starring madman Corbin Bernsen; an amusing perf in the obscure dramedy The Last Big Thing (1996); a third billed role in the Jerry Stiller/Anne Meara bickering senior comedy A Fish in the Bathtub (1998); and the war drama Ceremony... The Ritual of Love (1976) directed by Ang Lee.
Bartending for nearly nearly a decade to make ends meet and discouraged enough to give it up, a chance meeting and resulting collaboration with playwright/screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan approaching the millennium changed everything. Ruffalo won NY success in Lonergan's 1996 off-Broadway play "This Is Our Youth," a story about troubled young adults. This led to his male lead in Lonergan's Oscar-winning film drama You Can Count on Me (2000), playing the ne'er-do-well brother of Laura Linney. The performance drew rave reviews and invited comparisons to an early Marlon Brando.
Ruffalo never looked back. Notable roles in The Last Castle (2001), XX/XY (2002), and Windtalkers (2002) followed, although in 2002 Ruffalo was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, a type of brain tumor. Though the tumor was benign, the resulting surgery led to a period of partial facial paralysis, from which he fully recovered. In 2003, Ruffalo scored leading roles alongside two popular female stars, playing a police detective opposite Meg Ryan in In the Cut (2003) and the love interest of Gwyneth Paltrow in the comedy View from the Top (2003).
Though both films were high-profile box office disappointments, Ruffalo went on to four notable (if highly disparate) films in 2004 -- We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), 13 Going on 30 (2004), and Collateral (2004) -- which solidified his ability to be both a popular leading man and an acclaimed ensemble player in either comedy or drama.
After 2004, Ruffalo was consistently at work, with leads in popular Hollywood films and independent productions that continued to solidify him as one of film's most consistently strong actors: Just Like Heaven (2005), All the King's Men (2006), Zodiac (2007), Reservation Road (2007), and The Brothers Bloom (2008). He also made his Broadway debut as Moe Axelrod in the play "Awake and Sing!"
In 2010 Ruffalo achieved something of a breakthrough, by directing the indie film Sympathy for Delicious (2010), which won him the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and co-starring as the sperm-donor father to lesbian couple Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in The Kids Are All Right (2010). His role in the idiosyncratic domestic comedy/drama earned him Academy Award, Independent Spirit Award, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He went on to earn two more Best Supporting Actor nominations as an Olympic-winning wrestling champion in Foxcatcher (2014) and as a journalist working to uncover the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal in Spotlight (2015). In 2017, the actor returned to Broadway in Arthur Miller's "The Price."
High-profile roles in Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island (2010) and Longeran's long-delayed film Margaret (2011) followed before Ruffalo's appearance as Dr. Bruce Banner, aka The Hulk, in Joss Whedon's movie blockbuster The Avengers (2012). Garnering highly positive reviews for a role in which actors Eric Bana and Edward Norton could not find success in previous films made Ruffalo a box office action star in addition to a critically-acclaimed actor. He returned to the Banner/Hulk role frequently in such Marvel movies as Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain Marvel (2019) and Avengers: Endgame (2019),
Reunited with former co-star Gwyneth Paltrow in the sex-addiction comedy-drama Thanks for Sharing (2012), he went on to earn a Golden Globe nomination for playing a bipolar Dad in Infinitely Polar Bear (2014). Ruffalo also took on the lead in Ryan Murphy's adaptation of Larry Kramer's AIDS-drama play The Normal Heart (2014) and earned a SAG Award and Emmy Nomination. He later took home the Emmy playing twin brothers, one a paranoid schizophrenic, in I Know This Much Is True (2020).
Ruffalo has been married to actress Sunrise Coigney since 2000; the couple has three children, two sons and a daughter.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Film and stage actor and theater director Philip Seymour Hoffman was born in the Rochester, New York, suburb of Fairport to Marilyn (Loucks), a lawyer and judge, and Gordon Stowell Hoffman, a Xerox employee, and was mostly of German, Irish, English and Dutch ancestry. After becoming involved in high school theatrics, he attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, graduating with a B.F.A. degree in Drama in 1989.
He made his feature film debut in the indie production Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole (1991) as Phil Hoffman, and his first role in a major release came the next year in My New Gun (1992). While he had supporting roles in some other major productions like Scent of a Woman (1992) and Twister (1996), his breakthrough role came in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997).
He quickly became an icon of indie cinema, establishing a reputation as one of the screen's finest actors, in a variety of supporting and second leads in indie and major features, including Todd Solondz's Happiness (1998), Flawless (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999), Almost Famous (2000) and State and Main (2000). He also appeared in supporting roles in such mainstream, big-budget features as Red Dragon (2002), Cold Mountain (2003) and Mission: Impossible III (2006).
Hoffman was also quite active on the stage. On Broadway, he has earned two Tony nominations, as Best Actor (Play) in 2000 for a revival of Sam Shepard's "True West" and as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) in 2003 for a revival of Eugene O'Neill (I)'s "Long Day's Journey into Night". His other acting credits in the New York theater include "The Seagull" (directed by Mike Nichols for The New York Shakespeare Festival), "Defying Gravity", "The Merchant of Venice" (directed by Peter Sellars), "Shopping and F*@%ing" and "The Author's Voice" (Drama Desk nomination).
He was the Co-Artistic Director of the LAByrinth Theater Company in New York, for which he directed "Our Lady of 121st Street" by Stephen Adly Guirgis. He also directed "In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings" and "Jesus Hopped the A Train" by Guirgis for LAByrinth, and "The Glory of Living" by Rebecca Gilman at the Manhattan Class Company.
Hoffman consolidated his reputation as one of the finest actors under the age of 40 with his turn in the title role of Capote (2005), for which he won the Los Angeles Film Critics Award as Best Actor. In 2006, he was awarded the Best Actor Oscar for the same role.
On February 2, 2014, Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in an apartment in Greenwich village, New York. Investigators found Hoffman with a syringe in his arm and two open envelopes of heroin next to him. Mr. Hoffman was long known to struggle with addiction. In 2006, he said in an interview with "60 Minutes" that he had given up drugs and alcohol many years earlier, when he was age 22. In 2013, he checked into a rehabilitation program for about 10 days after a reliance on prescription pills resulted in his briefly turning again to heroin.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Guy Edward Pearce was born October 5, 1967 in Cambridgeshire, England, UK to Margaret Anne and Stuart Graham Pearce. His father was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to English and Scottish parents, while Guy's mother is English. Pearce and his family initially traveled to Australia for two years, after his father was offered the position of Chief test pilot for the Australian Government. Guy was just 3-years-old. After deciding to stay in Australia and settling in the Victorian city of Geelong, Guy's father was killed 5 years later in an aircraft test flight, leaving Guy's mother, a schoolteacher, to care for him and his older sister, Tracy.
Having little interest in subjects at school like math or science, Guy favored art, drama and music. He joined local theatre groups at a young age and appeared in such productions as "The King and I," "Fiddler on the Roof," and "The Wizard of Oz." In 1985, just two days after his final high school exam, Guy started a four-year stint as "Mike Young" on the popular Aussie soap Neighbours (1985). At age 20, Guy appeared in his first film, Heaven Tonight (1989), then, after a string of appearances in film, television and on the stage, he won the role of an outrageous drag queen in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994).
Most recently, he has amazed film critics and audiences, alike, with his magnificent performances in L.A. Confidential (1997), Memento (2000), The Proposition (2005), Factory Girl (2006), The Hurt Locker (2008), The King's Speech (2010) and the HBO mini-series, Mildred Pierce (2011). Next to acting, Guy has had a life-long passion for music and songwriting.
Guy likes to keep his private life very private. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, which is also where he married his childhood sweetheart, Kate Mestitz in March 1997.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Laura Dern was born on February 10, 1967 in Los Angeles, the daughter of actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd. Dern was exposed to movie sets and the movie industry from infancy, and obtained several bit parts as a child. Her parents divorced when Dern was two and Dern lost contact with her father for several years as a result.
Her parents' background and her own early taste of the movie-making world soon convinced the young Dern to pursue acting herself. Like so many young actors, her decision may have been influenced by social awkwardness -- the child of 1960s counterculture parents, she was steeped in Eastern mysticism and political radicalism, and was seen as an oddball by her more conservative classmates. Even before her teens, she had achieved most of her impressive 5' 10" height and was rail-skinny with a slouching posture.. Perhaps the nine-year-old Dern found refuge by studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute.
The first success for the young Dern came in 1980, with a role in Adrian Lyne's Foxes (1980), a teen movie starring Jodie Foster. She followed this with several small parts, or parts in small movies, such as Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) and Teachers (1984), as a student who has an affair with a teacher. (Her mother objected to her active presence on movie sets at age thirteen, which required Dern to sue for emancipation so she could play her role in "The Fabulous Stains"). Her next roles, as the blind girl who befriends the deformed boy in Mask (1985), and as a teen-aged girl whose sexual awakening collides with a mysterious older man in Smooth Talk (1985), gave her career an important boost. Dern appeared to have made it with a leading role in David Lynch's acclaimed Blue Velvet (1986), but it was four years before her next notable film, and this was the bizarre Wild at Heart (1990), also directed by Lynch.
The following year, Dern starred in Rambling Rose (1991), which would become her signature performance, as a sexually-precocious, free-spirited young housemaid in the South in the 1930s. Dern earned an Oscar nomination for her performance, and so did her mother and co-star, Diane Ladd. Dern continues to win prominent roles on the big screen, often in smaller, highly-regarded human dramas such as October Sky (1999), I Am Sam (2001) and We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004), although she is perhaps most widely known for her repeat role as Ellie Sattler in the summer adventure movies Jurassic Park (1993) and Jurassic Park III (2001), or for her guest performance on Ellen (1994), as the woman to whom Ellen finally comes out as a lesbian.
Dern's pre-teen gawkiness matured into lithe beauty, but this doesn't prevent Dern from fearlessly throwing herself into a wide variety of roles which are sometimes unflattering, an excellent example being her unflinchingly comic portrayal of an intensely annoying loser whose pregnancy becomes a social and political football in Citizen Ruth (1996). This results in Dern being one of the most interesting actors working in Hollywood today.
Having previously dated such Hollywood talent as Treat Williams, Renny Harlin, Kyle MacLachlan, Jeff Goldblum and Billy Bob Thornton, Dern eventually married musician Ben Harper in 2005. Early in her career, Dern was roommate to Marianne Williamson, the spirituality guru. Dern attended two days of college at UCLA and one semester at USC.- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Ronald Joseph Livingston was born on June 5, 1967 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Linda (Rinas), a Lutheran pastor, and Kurt Livingston, an aerospace engineer. He has three siblings, Nick, John Livingston, also an actor, and Jennifer Livingston, a TV news personality at CBS/WKBT in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is of German, and smaller amounts of Welsh, Scottish, and English, ancestry.
Livingston graduated from Marion High School, then attended Yale University with Paul Giamatti and Edward Norton. It was at Yale University that he earned his B.A. degree in Theatre Studies and English Literature. He began his acting career while still an undergraduate, getting his stage credits with the Williamstown Theatre Festival and Manhattan Class Company. In 1989, after graduating from Yale, Livingston moved to Chicago, where he acted in a number of stage productions, including shows at the Goodman Theatre and other venues. His film debut was in Dolly Parton's Straight Talk (1992). He accelerated his film career by moving to Los Angeles in 1993, gaining attention as one of the buddies in the popular hit Swingers (1996). His acting credits include the cult hit Office Space (1999), in which he starred opposite Jennifer Aniston, the mini-series Band of Brothers (2001), where he co-starred with Damian Lewis, eight episodes of Sex and the City (1998) (2002-2003), where he starred opposite Sarah Jessica Parker, and the Oscar-winning Adaptation. (2002), among his other works. He was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2002 for his performance in Band of Brothers (2001). He also appears as Sebastian Charles in the episode "TB or not TB" (2005) of Fox's popular series House (2004).
In 2006, Livingston became a new spokesman for Sprint Nextel telecommunications company in their new "Power Up" campaign. He is starring as Matt Flannery, the FBI senior negotiator, in the FOX's popular television series Standoff (2006), since the series opened in September 2006.
Livingston resides in Los Angeles, California. He married actress Rosemarie DeWitt in 2009. The couple have two children.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Mira Katherine Sorvino was born on September 28, 1967 in Manhattan. She is the daughter of Lorraine Davis, an actress turned drama therapist, and veteran character actor Paul Sorvino. Her father's family were Italian immigrants. The young Sorvino was intelligent, an avid reader and an exceptional scholar. Her father discouraged her from becoming an actor, as he knew how the industry often chews up young stars. She attended Harvard, majoring in Chinese, graduating magna cum laude in 1989, largely on the strength of her thesis, a Hoopes Prize-winning thesis on racial conflict in China, written and researched during the year spent in Beijing, which helped her fluency in Mandarin Chinese.
However, she showed interest in a career in acting from an early age, and moved to New York City to try her hand in the City's film industry, waitressing, auditioning and working at the Tribeca production company of Robert De Niro. She succeeded in getting a little television work in the early 1990s, but got her first film job in the independent gangster movie Amongst Friends (1993), on which she worked her way up the ladder behind the camera to eventually associate-produce the film, and, more importantly, was eventually cast as the female lead. The indie production was well-received, and Sorvino's performance attracted enough buzz to get her cast in two more movies, one a more prominent indie, Barcelona (1994), the other her first Hollywood feature, Quiz Show (1994), and her skillful performances brought her yet more attention.
An exceptionally poised and articulate young woman, she may have seemed inappropriate to play a crazy hooker, but Woody Allen took the chance, and her magnificent performance as the female lead in his Mighty Aphrodite (1995) proved her range as a performer and earned her an Oscar (at the tender age of 29) for Best Supporting Actress. Since winning the Oscar, Sorvino has continued to take a wide range of roles, including another stretch as Marilyn Monroe in Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996), co-starring with another very intelligent and skilled young actress, Ashley Judd. Forays into action and horror, such as Mimic (1997) and The Replacement Killers (1998) show that Sorvino is not above being playful in the film roles she chooses.
However, what forever cemented her role in popular culture was her performance as charmingly silly California beach girl Romy White in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), in which she and co-star Lisa Kudrow utter one hilarious absurdity after another.
Mira Sorvino married Christopher Backus on June 11, 2004, and the couple have four children.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Tim McGraw has sold more than 90 million records worldwide and dominated the charts with 46 worldwide No. 1 singles and 19 worldwide No. 1 albums. He's won 3 Grammy Awards, 21 Academy of Country Music Awards, 14 Country Music Association Awards. His iconic career achievements include being named BDS Radio's Most Played Artist of the Decade for all music genres and having the Most Played Song of the Decade for all music genres. He is the most played country artist at radio since his debut in 1992, with two singles spending 10 weeks or more at No. 1. Known for his high energy concerts, he is one of the top touring artists of all time including the record-setting "Soul2Soul" tours with his wife, Faith Hill. An acclaimed actor, McGraw starred in and narrated the hit movie "The Shack" and co-wrote and performed the closing credit song for the Oscar winning documentary "Free Solo." His other movie credits include blockbuster hits "Friday Night Lights" and "The Blind Side. McGraw starred beside Sam Elliott and his wife Faith Hill in the Yellowstone prequel and three-time Emmy nominated 1883. McGraw has co-authored two New York Times Best Selling books, Songs of America: Patriotism, Protest and the Music that Made a Nation with Jon Meacham and fitness book Grit & Grace: Train the Mind, Train the Body, Own Your Life. As part of the host committee, McGraw welcomed the largest outdoor crowd in Nashville history to his performance at the 2019 NFL Draft. He also appeared in the NFL Tailgate Party for Super Bowl LII and the College Football Playoffs 2020. His newest single, "Standing Room Only," just launched with the most first-week streams of any track in McGraw's career.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Mia Sara is an American actress. She is best known for Legend (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).
She also had minor roles in A Stranger Among Us (1992) and Timecop (1994).
In 1996, she married Jason Connery, son of Sean Connery, with whom she performed in Bullet to Beijing (1995). In June 1997, they had a son, Dashiell Quinn Connery. The couple divorced in 2002.
She is now married to Brian Henson, oldest son of Muppets creator Jim Henson. They have one daughter, Amelia Jane Henson, born in 2005.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Benicio Del Toro emerged in the mid-1990s as one of the most watchable and charismatic character actors to come along in years. A favorite of film buffs, Del Toro gained mainstream public attention as the conflicted but basically honest Mexican policeman in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000).
Benicio was born on February 19, 1967 in San Germán, Puerto Rico, the son of lawyer parents Fausta Genoveva Sanchez Rivera and Gustavo Adolfo Del Toro Bermudez. His mother died when he was young, and his father moved the family to a farm in Pennsylvania. A basketball player with an interest in acting, he decided to follow the family way and study business at the University of California in San Diego. A class in acting resulted in his being bitten by the acting bug, and he subsequently dropped out and began studying with legendary acting teacher Stella Adler in Los Angeles and at the Circle in the Square Acting School in New York City. Telling his parents that he was taking courses in business, Del Toro hid his new studies from his family for a little while.
During the late 1980s, he made several television appearances, most notably in an episode of Miami Vice (1984) and in the NBC miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (1990). Del Toro's big-screen career got off to a slower start, however--his first role was Duke the Dog-Faced Boy in Big Top Pee-wee (1988). However, things looked better when he landed the role of Dario, the vicious henchman in the James Bond film Licence to Kill (1989). Surprising his co-stars at age 21, Del Toro was the youngest actor ever to portray a Bond villain. However, the potential break was spoiled as the picture turned out to be one of the most disappointing Bond films ever; this was lost amid bigger summer competition.
Benicio gave creditable performances in many overlooked films for the next several years, such as The Indian Runner (1991), Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) and Money for Nothing (1993). His roles in Fearless (1993) and China Moon (1994) gained him more critical notices, and 1995 proved to be the first "Year of Benicio" as he gave a memorable performance in Swimming with Sharks (1994) before taking critics and film buffs by storm as the mumbling, mysterious gangster in The Usual Suspects (1995), directed by Bryan Singer. Del Toro won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role in the Oscar-winning film.
Staying true to his independent roots, he next gave a charismatic turn as cold-blooded gangster Gaspare Spoglia in The Funeral (1996) directed by Abel Ferrara. He also appeared as Benny Dalmau in Basquiat (1996), directed by artist friend Julian Schnabel. That year also marked his first truly commercial film, as he played cocky Spanish baseball star Juan Primo in The Fan (1996), which starred Robert De Niro. Del Toro took his first leading man role in Excess Baggage (1997), starring and produced by Alicia Silverstone. Hand-picked by Silverstone, Del Toro's performance was pretty much the only thing critics praised about the film, and showed the level of consciousness he was beginning to have in the minds of film fans.
He took a leading role with his good friend Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), co-written and directed by the legendary Terry Gilliam. Gaining 40 pounds for the role of Dr. Gonzo, the drug-addicted lawyer to sportswriter Raoul Duke, Benicio immersed himself totally in the role. Using his method acting training so far as to burn himself with cigarettes for a scene, this was a trying time for Del Toro. The harsh critical reviews proved tough on him, as he felt he had given his all for the role and been dismissed. Many saw the crazed, psychotic performance as a confirmation of the rumors and overall weirdness that people seemed to place on Del Toro.
Taking a short break after the ordeal, 2000 proved to be the second "Year of Benicio". He first appeared in The Way of the Gun (2000), directed by friend and writer Christopher McQuarrie. Then he went to work for actor's director Steven Soderbergh in Traffic (2000). A complex and graphic film, this nonetheless became a widespread success and Oscar winner. His role as conflicted Mexican policeman Javier Rodriguez functions as the movie's real heart amid an all-star ensemble cast, and many praised this as the year's best performance, a sentiment validated by a Screen Actor's Guild Award for "Best Actor". He also gave a notable performance in Snatch (2000) directed by Guy Ritchie, which was released several weeks later, and The Pledge (2001) directed by Sean Penn. Possessing sleepy good looks reminiscent of James Dean or Marlon Brando, Del Toro has often jokingly been referred to as the "Spanish Brad Pitt".
With his newfound celebrity, Del Toro has become a sort of heartthrob, being voted one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" as well as "Most Eligible Bachelors." A favorite of film fans for years for his diverse and "cool guy" gangster roles, he has become a mainstream favorite, respected for his acting skills and choices. So far very careful in his projects and who he works with, Del Toro can boast an impressive resume of films alongside some of the most influential and talented people in the film business.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Tom Hollander was born the second child of educated parents, both teachers. He grew up in Oxford, (UK).
Hollander credits the happy atmosphere of the Dragon School with his childhood introduction to acting. There, encouraged by an influential teacher named Andrew Roberts, he won the title role in "Oliver". His studies continued at Abingdon, as did his pursuit of acting. At about this point, he won a place in the National Youth Theatre, a UK organization for young people in the field of musical theatre, based in London, and later at the Children's Music Theatre. It was during CMT's "The Leaving of Liverpool" (1981) that he came to the attention of BBC television, and subsequently found himself front and center as the young protagonist in a well-regarded John Diamond (1981), based on the popular Leon Garfield adventure novel. He was just fourteen years old.
Other early projects included two roles in Bertholt Brecht's "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" (1985) for the National Youth Theatre, and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for Oxford University Dramatic Society.
Hollander attended Cambridge University at about the same time as his childhood friend Sam Mendes in a visually bold (and well-remembered) staging of "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1988). Other collaborations with Mendes have followed, including work at the West End production of "The Cherry Orchard" (1989, with Judi Dench), and the Chichester Festival Theatre (1989) as well as a Toronto staging of "Kean" (1991) with Derek Jacobi. He also appeared in the Cambridge Footlights Revue (1988).
Upon graduation, Hollander hoped to gain entry to drama school, but found himself disappointed. The oversight did nothing to discourage a successful career already well under way: he garnered an Ian Charleson Award for his turn as Witwould in "The Way of the World" (1992), was nominated again for a "splendidly sinister, manic" performance as "Tartuffe" (1996), and yet again as a finalist for his Khlestakov ("a performance of ideal vigour and impudence"), in Gogol's "The Government Inspector" (1997). Inevitably, Hollander was urged to try films, and appeared in two films as early as 1996. True Blue (1996) (aka "Miracle at Oxford") found him in a small but memorable role as the cox for Oxford's noted 1987 "mutiny crew" that went on to win the that year's boat race against Cambridge, and in a thankless role in Some Mother's Son (1996), a sober drama about an IRA gunman, playing a Thatcher representative.
Hollander's career has featured a number of memorable gay roles. His fans are especially fond of the larger-than-life Darren from Bedrooms and Hallways (1998), a romantic comedy with what one reviewer called the "funniest bedroom scene of the year" involving Hollander's character and Hugo Weaving. The over-the-top Darren was so convincing that some viewers assumed Hollander was gay. "Sometimes I call myself a professional homosexual impersonator," he told an interviewer at the time, quickly adding, "you could say that ...Sir Ian McKellen and Rock Hudson do straight actors." The following year, he would take on a very different kind of "gay" role, playing the notorious "Bosie" (Lord Alfred Douglas) against Liam Neeson's Oscar Wilde in "The Judas Kiss" (1998).
"Martha -- Meet Frank Daniel and Laurence" (aka The Very Thought of You (1998), with Joseph Fiennes and Rufus Sewell, brought accolades for his standout role as Daniel, a difficult music executive. Variety, impressed, noted him for "U.K. legit work" and called him the "undisputed hit of the pic".
2001 brought Gosford Park (2001), Robert Altman's masterfully stylized murder mystery, in which he played the quietly desperate Anthony Meredith against Michael Gambon's callously indifferent paterfamilias. Hollander's name figures in a half dozen or more "Best Ensemble" awards for this complex, multi-storied film.
Considered the character-actor-of-choice for roles with comedic qualities, Hollander has challenged assumptions about his capacity by taking on difficult, troubled characters such as the tightly-wound King George V in Stephen Poliakoff's The Lost Prince (2003) for BBC and the demented fascist dictator Maximillian II in Land of the Blind (2006). Hollander himself is particularly proud of the film Lawless Heart (2001), a slyly humorous, cleverly constructed comedy-drama told from three viewpoints. Hollander's character, the heart of the film, is a decent man, devastated by the death of his partner, and grieving privately as the stories of friends and family unfold around him. A study of desire, loyalty and courage, the film was very well reviewed and much respected.
More recent film work has brought him to the attention of mainstream movie audiences, who now know him as the magnificently petty tyrant Lord Cutler Beckett in the second and third installments of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007). This role brought another kind of achievement: Hollander could now say that he'd been commemorated in collectible action-figure form.
He's worked three times with director Joe Wright, beginning with the prissy, yet strangely likeable Mr. Collins in Pride & Prejudice (2005), as a clueless classical cellist in an unfortunately truncated role in The Soloist (2009), and as Issacs, the German henchman in Hanna (2011).
With In the Loop (2009), Hollander brought a perfectly unbearable, delicate tension to the role of Simon Foster, the earnestly clueless "British Secretary of State for International Development" who says the wrong thing at exactly the wrong moment. The film acted as a kind of companion piece to the critically-acclaimed The Thick of It (2005) on BBC2, Armando Iannucci's furious political satire on the machinations of war and media. Hollander's contribution to the expanded story was apparently so well-received he was "brought back" (but in a different role, entirely) from film to television for a series-ending surprise-appearance in series 3, delighting fans of the show.
Recent work in television has brought him the opportunity to expand on his special capacity for conveying nuanced and contradictory characters. He earned an award for Best Actor at the FIPA International Television Festival for his portrayal of Guy Burgess in Cambridge Spies (2003), and earned praise for the monstrously rude yet oddly endearing Leon in the satire Freezing (2008), with Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern) for BBC. He was unforgettable in an elegantly brief but very moving portrayal of King George III for HBO's John Adams (2008).
2010 brought Hollander to widespread attention with Rev. (2010), which he co-created with James Wood. The show, initially described in what was assumed to be familiar terms ("vicar", "comedy") became something entirely new: "...an exploration of British hypocrisy and a warmly played character piece", wrote Giles Fraser, Canon Chancellor at St Paul's Cathedral in a piece for The Sunday Telegraph. Rev. was much more than it appeared: reviews called it intelligent, realistic and very funny, with a stellar cast headed by Hollander as the sympathetic and very human vicar, Adam Smallbone. The show would garner a BAFTA in 2011 for Best Situation Comedy, among other awards and recognition.
Hollander supports a variety of charitable causes in innovative ways. In 2006 he ran his first race for the Childline Crisis hotline, and in 2007 ran for the Teenage Cancer Trust. He is a long-time supporter of the Helen and Douglas House in Oxford, which provides Hospice care for children, and continues to support charitable organizations by contributing readings and other appearances throughout the year. Hollander is a patron of BIFA, the British Independent Film Awards, and has supported the efforts of the Old Vic's "24 Hour Plays New Voices" Gala, which forwards the cause of young writers for the British stage.
Hollander continues to diversify with voicework roles in radio, reading audiobooks, doing voiceover work and onstage. He appeared in the Old Vic's production of Georges Feydeau's "A Flea in Her Ear" (2010), playing a demanding dual role: the upstanding Victor Emmanuel Chandebise and the lame-brained Poche. Reviews called it "insanity", and his performance "a breathtaking combination of lightning physical precision and shockingly true confusion".
Hollander is in production for series 2 of the winning comedy Rev. (2010).- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Pamela Denise Anderson was born on July 1, 1967 in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada at 4:08 PST, to young newlywed parents, Barry Anderson and Carol Anderson. Her ancestry includes Finnish, English, Irish, and Volga German. During her childhood, she moved to the city of Vancouver. She has a younger brother Gerry, born 1971. As a teenager, Pamela went to Highland Secondary School. She was an acrobat and gymnast ages 7-12 and an athlete throughout school. She waitressed ages 16 to 19. Pamela was first "discovered" at a British Columbia Lions football game, when her image was shown on the stadium screen. The fans cheered her and she was brought down to the football field. Because of her fame in Vancouver, she signed a commercial contract with Labatt's beer to be the Blue Zone girl. More advertising assignments followed, and soon Playboy approached her. In October 1989, Pamela was on the cover of Playboy magazine.
With success from Playboy, Pamela Anderson moved to Los Angeles, California in 1990. In 1991, she made her television debut on Home Improvement (1991), where she starred as Lisa, the Tool Time Girl. Soon, she got attention from viewers nationwide, which got her the role of C.J. Parker on Baywatch (1989). She was on one of the most viewed television series worldwide. She made her big screen debut on Raw Justice (1994). Soon after, Pamela met Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee on New Year's Eve 1994 in New York City. In February 1995, they got married in Cancun, Mexico. They both returned to Los Angeles and stunned the world.
In the spring of 1996, Pamela starred as the title role of Barb Wire (1996). While filming, she suffered a miscarriage. Pamela and Tommy were devastated, but there was hope for the couple when, on June 6, 1996, Brandon Thomas Lee was born. Soon later, a pornographic video of Pamela and Tommy was stolen from their home. Both of them sued an Internet website for stealing the video. Their case was not settled and the video is still on the Internet. Meanwhile, Pamela and Tommy were having a rocky marriage, but, on December 29, 1997, Dylan Jagger Lee was born. Two months later, Pamela filed for divorce when her husband assaulted her. Tommy was sentenced to six months in jail. In late 1998, she starred on a television series called V.I.P. (1998). Soon later, she stunned the world again by removing her breast implants.
In fall 2001, she started to date singer Kid Rock, they announced their engagement in the spring of 2002. Then, Pamela announced that she was infected with hepatitis C. The cause of it was that Pamela shared a needle with her ex-husband Tommy for a tattoo. Immediately, Pamela went into treatment and her series was canceled. In the fall of 2003, she broke up with Kid Rock and starred on a animated series by Stan Lee called Stripperella (2003). A lifelong animal rights advocate, Pamela soon joined PETA, working on many issues, including fur, slaughter of chickens and supporting vegetarians. In 2005, she starred on a FOX comedy series called Stacked (2005). Pamela also teaches at her sons' Sunday school and still poses for magazines.
at BC Lion's football game by the Jumbo-tron camera man. Quickly became known as "The Blue Zone girl" commercial campaign, face of trendsetters Gym. Playboy called (said no- too shy). Phone rang at home during a fight with ex-fiancé, she decided to spontaneously accept an offer to shoot a cover only- Asked mom... She agreed ... The family agreed after speaking with Mr. Hefner. 14 American Playboy covers. Worked with many photographers and artists worldwide. Home Improvement (3 seasons). Baywatch (5 seasons). VIP (5 seasons). Barb Wire, Borat. Theater - Aladdin (Panto) (Wimbledon and Liverpool).
She founded the Pamela Anderson Foundation, is an activist for Animal and Human Rights, NDVH and Environmental Issues, and is on the board of the Sea Shepherd. Pamela loves architecture and is designing Eco-friendly prefab small dwellings. She has a collection of linens, and shares time between the beaches of California and Vancouver Island equally. She is a 2013 New York City Marathon runner.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Jamie Foxx is an American actor, singer and comedian. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, for his work in the biographical film Ray (2004). The same year, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the action film Collateral (2004). Other prominent acting roles include the title role in the film Django Unchained (2012), the supervillain Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), and William Stacks in the modern version of Annie (2014).
Jamie Foxx was born Eric Marlon Bishop in Terrell, Texas, to Louise Annette Talley and Darrell Bishop, who worked as a stockbroker and had later changed his name to Shahid Abdula. His mother was an adopted child. When her marriage to his father failed, his maternal grandparents, Mark and Estelle Talley, stepped in and, at age seven months, adopted Jamie too. He has said that he had a very rigid upbringing that placed him in the Boy Scouts and the church choir. During high school, he played quarterback for his high school team and was good enough that he got press in Dallas newspapers. He studied music in college. He released a music album, "Peep This" (1994), and sings the theme song for his movie, Any Given Sunday (1999). However, in 1989, his life changed when a girlfriend challenged him to get up onstage at the Comedy Club. In fact, he says he took his androgynous stage name because he learned that women got preference for mike time on open stage nights. That led to his being cast on Roc (1991) and In Living Color (1990).
Foxx had his own WB television show from 1996 to 2001, the sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show (1996), in which he played Jamie King Jr. Foxx is also a Grammy Award-winning musician, producing four albums which have charted highly on the US Billboard 200: "Unpredictable" (2005), which topped the chart, "Intuition" (2008), "Best Night of My Life" (2010), and "Hollywood: A Story of a Dozen Roses" (2015). In 2012, Foxx starred in the title role of the Quentin Tarantino written and directed Django Unchained (2012). Foxx starred alongside his Ray co-star Kerry Washington, as well as Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson. In 2013, Foxx was cast as President James Sawyer in White House Down (2013) alongside Channing Tatum. The following year, Foxx appeared as the villain Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), and co-starred with Quvenzhané Wallis in Annie (2014), Sony's Will Smith and Jay-Z produced update of the comic strip-turned-musical.
He has two children, including Corinne Foxx, (born 1994), who resides with her mother.- Director
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Sam Taylor-Johnson was born on 4 March 1967 in London, England, UK. She is a director and producer, known for Nowhere Boy (2009), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) and Love You More (2008). She has been married to Aaron Taylor-Johnson since 21 June 2012. They have two children. She was previously married to Jay Jopling.- Actress
- Music Department
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Lauren Graham was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Donna Grant and Lawrence Graham, a candy industry lobbyist. Her father was from New York and her mother was from the American South, and Lauren has Irish, English, and Scottish ancestry. She grew up in Northern Virginia, USA (Fairfax, Arlington, and Great Falls, VA) Graduate of Langley High School, McLean, VA Graduate of Barnard College with a Bachelor's Degree in English. Graduate of Southern Methodist University with a Master's Degree in Acting. She was raised by a single parent, her father. Her parents divorced when she was 5. Growing up she wanted to be a jockey but her height precluded it. She traveled extensively with her father during her childhood and discovered acting while in elementary school. Her resume includes theatre, film and television.- Actress
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Courtney Thorne-Smith is an American actress. She is best known for her starring roles as Alison Parker on Melrose Place, Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal, Cheryl Mabel in According to Jim and her recurring role on Two and a Half Men as Lyndsey McElroy. Thorne-Smith was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in Menlo Park, a suburb south of San Francisco. Her father, Walter Smith, was a computer market researcher, and her mother, Lora Thorne, was a therapist. They divorced when Courtney was seven years old and she lived with both parents at different stages. She has an older sister, Jennifer, who is an advertising executive. She attended Menlo-Atherton High School, in Atherton, California, and graduated from Tamalpais High School, in Mill Valley, California, in 1985. She also performed with the Ensemble Theater Company in Mill Valley while attending high school.- Actress
- Producer
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Kate Walsh was born in San Jose, California, on October 13, 1967. She grew up partly in San Jose and partly in Tucson, Arizona, later attending the University of Arizona, where she got involved in regional theater. She later moved to Chicago where she began working with the Piven Theatre Workshop and, later, the Chicago Shakespeare Repertory. She performed on National Public Radio in the production of the radio play "Born Guilty". Walsh later moved to New York City and joined the comedy troupe "Burn Manhattan", performing in a number of Off-Broadway plays.
Her first major television appearance came on The Drew Carey Show (1995) where she portrayed Niki Fifer, Drew's girlfriend and a woman struggling with her weight. She went on to portray Carol Nelson in HBO's The Mind of the Married Man (2001) television series, and played Norm MacDonald's romantic interest in the sitcom Norm (1999). She continues to appear on television programs in supporting or bit parts.- Actress
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Connie Britton began playing country music fading sensation Rayna Jaymes in Nashville (2012) after having wrapped production for the five season long Friday Night Lights (2006) alongside Kyle Chandler. She previously appeared in Universal's Friday Night Lights (2004) -the movie- directed by Peter Berg and also starring Billy Bob Thornton; and Edward Burns' independent feature Looking for Kitty (2004).
Britton was born Constance Elaine Womack in Boston, Massachusetts, to Linda Jane (Cochran) and Edgar Allen Womack, Jr., a physicist and energy company executive. She is of Irish, German, and English descent.
Britton received accolades for her starring roles in Edward Burns' acclaimed independent films The Brothers McMullen (1995) and No Looking Back (1998). In the former, she captivated moviegoers with her portrayal of "Molly", the luminous wife of a cheating husband. This popular low-budget film went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. After nearly canceling her audition with director Edward Burns, this last meeting of the day turned into the role that would launch her career. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Britton moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, at the age of seven with her family, including her fraternal twin sister. She went on to attend Dartmouth College, where she majored in Asian studies and spent a term in Beijing, China. Upon graduation, she moved to New York, where she spent two years at the Neighborhood Playhouse studying with Sanford Meisner, and an additional two years performing in regional theater and off-Broadway productions. She moved to Los Angeles after the success of The Brothers McMullen (1995).
She starred in ABC's Lost at Home (2003) opposite Mitch Rouse and Gregory Hines. Her other television credits include The Fighting Fitzgeralds (2001) opposite Brian Dennehy, a recurring role in the highly-acclaimed drama The West Wing (1999) and a starring role in the award-winning comedy Spin City (1996) opposite Michael J. Fox. Additionally, Britton starred in the recent feature films The Next Big Thing (2001) and One Eyed King (2001).
In her free time, Britton, who resides in both New York and Los Angeles, enjoys hiking, yoga, and doing volunteer work.- Actress
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Miranda Otto is an Australian actress. Otto is a daughter of actors Barry Otto and Lindsay Otto, and half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. She began her acting career at age 18 in 1986, and has appeared in a variety of independent and major studio films. Otto made her major film debut in Emma's War (1987), in which she played a teenager who moves to Australia's bush country during World War II. After a decade of critically acclaimed roles in Australian films, Otto gained Hollywood's attention during the 1990s after appearing in supporting roles in the films The Thin Red Line (1998) and What Lies Beneath (2000). She played Éowyn in the second and third installments of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film series.
Otto's first post-graduation film role in 1991, as Nell Tiscowitz in The Girl Who Came Late (1992), was her breakthrough role, which brought her to the attention of the Australian film industry and the general public. In the film, directed by Kathy Mueller, she starred as a young woman who could communicate with horses. Her appearance garnered Otto her first Australian Film Institute nomination for Best Actress the following year.
Otto's next role was in the film The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992), which portrayed the complex relationships between the members of an Australian family. The film earned Otto her second Australian Film Institute nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actress.
In 1993, Otto co-starred with Noah Taylor in the sexually provocative comedy film The Nostradamus Kid (1993), which was based on the memories of author Bob Ellis during the 1960s. Otto was drawn to the film because she was "fascinated by the period and the people who came out of it." A small role in the independent film Sex Is a Four Letter Word (1995) followed in 1995.
In 1995, she began to doubt her career choice as she failed to get the parts for which she auditioned. She fled to her home in Newcastle for almost a year, during which she painted her mother's house. In 1996, director Shirley Barrett cast Otto as a shy waitress in the film Love Serenade (1996). She played Dimity Hurley, a lonely young woman, who competes with her older sister Vicki-Ann for the attention of a famous DJ from Brisbane. She starred in the 1997 films The Well (1997) and Doing Time for Patsy Cline (1997). When Otto received the film script for The Well, she refused to read it, fearing that she would not get the part. Otto believed that she could not convincingly play the role of Katherine, who is supposed to be 18, as she was 30 at the time. The film, directed by Samantha Lang, starred Otto as a teenager involved in a claustrophobic relationship with a lonely older woman. The Well received mixed reviews; critic Paul Fisher wrote that Otto's performance was not "convincing" as she was "playing another repetitious character about whom little is revealed", while Louise Keller stated that Otto had delivered "her best screen performance yet." Otto earned her third Australian Film Institute nomination for the film. Later that year, she co-starred with Richard Roxburgh in the drama Doing Time for Patsy Cline. The low-budget Australian film required Otto to perform country music standards and also received mixed reviews from film critics.
Soon after the release of The Well and Doing Time for Patsy Cline, magazines and other media outlets were eager to profile the actress. In 1997, Otto began dating her Doing Time for Patsy Cline co-star Richard Roxburgh. Her involvement with Roxburgh made her a regular subject of Australian tabloid magazines and media at the time, a role to which she was unaccustomed.
Otto's next project was the romantic comedy Dead Letter Office (1998). The film was Otto's first with her father, Barry, who makes a brief appearance. In the Winter Dark (1998), directed by James Bogle, followed later that year. Otto played Ronnie, a pregnant woman recently abandoned by her boyfriend. The film was a critical success in Australia, and Otto was nominated for her fourth Australian Film Institute Award. A small role in The Thin Red Line, led to further film roles outside of Australia, such as in Italy, where she co-starred as Ruth in the low-budget Italian film The Three-Legged Fox (2004), produced in 2001 and broadcast for the first time on Italian television in March 2009.
Otto's first Hollywood role was opposite Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer in the suspense thriller What Lies Beneath in 2000. She played Mary Feur, a mysterious next-door neighbor. The film was met with mixed reviews, but was an international success, grossing US$291 million. In 2001, she was cast as a naturalist in the comedy Human Nature (2001). Writer Charlie Kaufman, impressed by her audition two years earlier for his film Being John Malkovich (1999), arranged for Otto to audition and meet with the film's director Michel Gondry. Human Nature was both a commercial and critical disappointment.
Otto made her theatrical debut in the 1986 production of The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant for the Sydney Theatre Company. Three more theatrical productions for the Sydney Theatre Company followed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2002, she returned to the stage playing Nora Helmer in A Doll's House opposite her future husband Peter O'Brien. Otto's performance earned her a 2003 Helpmann Award nomination and the MO Award for "Best Female Actor in a Play".
Her next stage role was in the psychological thriller Boy Gets Girl (2005), in which she played Theresa, a journalist for a New York magazine. Otto committed to the project days before she found out she was pregnant. Robyn Nevin, the director, rescheduled the production from December 2004 to September 2005 so Otto could appear in it. In 2005, Nevin began pre-production on a play commissioned especially for Otto.- Actor
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Liev (pronounced Lee-ev) Schreiber was born in San Francisco. His mother, Heather (Milgram), is a painter, and his father, Tell Schreiber (Tell Carroll Schreiber III), is a theatrical actor who had a small role in The Keeper (1976). His mother is from a working-class Jewish family from Poland and Ukraine, while his father is from an upper-class Protestant family. His parents moved the family to Canada when Liev was one, and divorced when he was five. He and his mother moved to New York, where she drove a cab. During that time, they lived as squatters in abandoned buildings. His mother taught him to read, and she also forbade him from seeing color movies. He grew up seeing silent and black & white movies at a local revival house and particularly enjoyed those of Charles Chaplin. His mother now lives in an ashram in Virginia. He began acting at Hampshire College and continued at the Yale University School of Drama in 1992. He originally wanted to be a playwright, but his teacher encouraged him to become an actor.- Actress
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Lili Taylor is a well-known and successful American actress. She acts in film, TV and stage. She was born in Glencoe, Illinois, to Marie (Lecour) and George Park Taylor, an artist and hardware store operator. Lili graduated from New Trier High School in 1985. Then, she attended the Theatre School at DePaul University and the Piven Theatre Workshop. Lili first earned fame for acting in the 1988 movie, Mystic Pizza (1988), which co-starred Julia Roberts. Then, she acted in a number of successful movies, including Dogfight (1991) and Short Cuts (1993). But, she was more highly recognized for appearing in the 1996 film, I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), for which she was nominated for several awards. Lili's notable works for television include the TV series, Six Feet Under (2001), and in the television movies, Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001) and Live from Baghdad (2002). In 2009, she played "Sheriff Lillian Holley" in the movie, Public Enemies (2009). The movie co-starred Johnny Depp, with whom Lili also appeared in the 1993 movie, Arizona Dream (1993). Lili is also a successful stage actress. She has appeared in a number of plays staged on Broadway, including "The Three Sisters" (1997). Lili Taylor continues to act in stage, TV and film. She is married to Nick Flynn and they have a daughter.- Actress
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Kristen Johnston studied acting at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School in New York City.
She won two Emmys for her role on 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996). She has appeared on many other television shows, including Ugly Betty (2006), ER (1994), Bored to Death (2009) and, perhaps most memorably, as the party girl whose famous final words were "I'm so bored I could die" on Sex and the City (1998). She's currently, on television, on TV Land's hit series, The Exes (2011), which is now in its fourth season. Just a few of Johnston's many stage credits are "So Help Me God!" (Drama desk nomination), "The Women", "Aunt Dan & Lemon", "Love Song" on the West End, as well as starring in three "Shakespeare in Central Park" productions, "Much Ado About Nothing", "12th Night", and "The Skin of our Teeth". She is a long-time member of The Atlantic Theater Company, and her roles over the years have included "The Lights" (Drama Desk Nomination) and "Scarcity". Kristen's film credits include Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), the 2nd Austin Powers film (as "Ivana Humpalot"), Finding Bliss (2009), Bad Parents (2012), Bride Wars (2009), Life Happens (2011), Vamps (2012), Strangers with Candy (2005), and the upcoming independent film, Lovesick (2014), with Matt LeBlanc. Johnston teaches acting at The Atlantic Theater Company's Acting School at NYU. She founded an organization called SLAM, whose goal is the creation of a desperately needed sober high school in New York City. Johnston's first book was a New York Times Bestselling memoir, entitled "GUTS: the endless follies and tiny triumphs of a giant disaster".- Actor
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Rhys Ifans was born and raised in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, the son of teacher parents, Beti Wyn (Davies) and Eirwyn Evans. He was educated in two Welsh language schools - Ysgol Pentrecelyn, where his mother taught, and Ysgol Maes Garmon. During his childhood, Ifans showed an interest in performing and attended youth acting school. He went on to train at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
Ifans made his small screen debut as the host of Welsh children's TV show, Stwnsh. Various roles in theater and Welsh language television also followed. His breakthrough on the big screen came in the British hit Twin Town (1997), where he acting alongside his younger brother Llyr Ifans. More film success followed, notably as Hugh Grant's scruffy housemate in Notting Hill (1999). Other projects include Dancing at Lughnasa (1998) , Little Nicky (2000), Enduring Love (2004), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).
In 2004, he played iconic British comedian Peter Cook in the TV film Not Only But Always (2004). His performance earned him an Emmy nomination and a BAFTA award for Best Actor.- Actor
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Matt LeBlanc was born on 25 July 1967 in Newton, Massachussetts. His mother, Patricia, is of Italian origin, and worked as an office manager, and his father, Paul LeBlanc, who was from a French-Canadian family, was a mechanic. After graduating from high school, he spent some time as a photo model in Florida before moving to New York where he took drama classes. After a few small roles on stage and on TV, he became famous for his role as Joey in Friends (1994), and in a less successful spin-off, Joey (2004), which only aired for two seasons. After the show got canceled he took a break and didn't return until 2011 where he stars as a fictional version of himself on Episodes (2011).
From 2003 to 2006, he was married to Missy McKnight, with whom he had one child, Marina Pearl (born 2004).- Actor
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Claes Kasper Bang is a Danish actor and musician. He is best known for playing the leading role of Christian in Ruben Östlund's 2017 film The Square. For that role he won the European Film Award for Best Actor, being the first Dane to do so. He played the role of Sasha Mann in the final series of The Affair.
He graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre in 1996 and has worked mainly on stage and in television in Denmark.
Since 2002 he has performed a monologue based on Jan Guillou's novel Evil more than 300 times, including an English-language version at St. James Theatre in London in 2015.
He played the leading role of the art museum curator Christian in Ruben Östlund's 2017 film The Square, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. He also won the European Film Award for Best Actor, being the first Dane to do so. As a side project, he makes music under the moniker This Is Not America.
In November 2018, Bang was cast to play Count Dracula in the BBC mini-series Dracula.
He married the stylist Lis Louis-Jensen in 2010. He is stepfather to her two children, and step-grandfather to her grandson. They reside in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen.- Actor
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Michael Jai White is an American actor and martial artist who has appeared in numerous films and television series. He is the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, having starred as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn. White portrayed Jax Briggs in Mortal Kombat: Legacy (2011). White also portrayed boxer Mike Tyson in the 1995 HBO television movie Tyson.- Actor
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Gil Bellows was born on 28 June 1967 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Patriot (2015), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Love and a .45 (1994). He has been married to Rya Kihlstedt since 3 October 1994. They have two children.- Actor
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Tyler Gerald Burrell was born on August 22, 1967 in Grants Pass, Oregon, where his family owned a business. He is the son of Sheri Rose (Hauck), a teacher, and Gary Gerald Burrell, a family therapist, and is primarily of English and German ancestry. He earned a BA from Southern Oregon University and attended The University of Oregon while working as a bartender; he finished his education at Penn State where he got an MFA.
In his early career, Burrell appeared in the films Black Hawk Down (2001) and Dawn of the Dead (2004). He also appeared in a Broadway production of "Macbeth".
After a few appearances on Law & Order (1990) Burrell starred in the comedy sitcoms Out of Practice (2005) and Back to You (2007), costarring Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer. He also made film appearances in The Incredible Hulk (2008) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007).
In 2009, Christopher Lloyd gave him the part of Phil Dunphy on the smash hit television series Modern Family (2009), which has gotten rave reviews, Emmys, and the #1 spot on television several times. Burrell has gotten five Emmy nominations and two wins for the popular role.
Burrell's recent films roles include Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), Finding Dory (2016), and Rough Night (2017).- Actress
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Auburn haired Kerri Green was born in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA on 14 January 1967. In 1984, Kerri decided to skip summer camp and attend some movie auditions in New York City instead. This led her to the attention of none other than Steven Spielberg, who cast her as Andy in Richard Donner's adventure movie The Goonies (1985), which was one of the biggest hits of 1985. Also that year, she played one of John Candy's three children in the movie Summer Rental (1985). However, she gave her most accomplished performance in David Seltzer's Lucas (1986) - Corey Haim was the title character, a bespectacled, intelligent and unpopular 14-year-old misfit, who befriends 16-year-old Maggie, played brilliantly by Kerri, who Lucas soon falls in love with. However, Maggie has fallen for handsome football hero Cappie (Charlie Sheen), which breaks Lucas' heart. A heartwarming, realistic and enjoyable teen movie, Lucas also featured Ally McBeal star Courtney Thorne-Smith and, making her film debut, Winona Ryder. Kerri was reunited with Charlie Sheen for 1987's road movie Three for the Road (1987), in which she played Robin, the rebellious daughter of a ruthless senator. Following the release of that movie, Kerri decided to quit acting and studied art at Vassar College. Audiences didn't see her again until the TV movie Blue Flame (1993). She received critical acclaim for her direction of the film Bellyfruit (1999). Her marriage in the 90s has led to her now being credited as "Kerri Lee Green" and she now only pops up now and then on television - most notably in an episode of "ER" as a mother of several children, who tearfully wants to terminate her latest pregnancy.- Actor
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Marc Warren is an English actor, known for his British television roles. His roles have included Albert Blithe in Band of Brothers, Danny Blue in Hustle, Dougie Raymond in The Vice, Dominic Foy in State of Play, Rick in Mad Dogs, the Comte DE Rochefort in The Musketeers and the Gentleman in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and Piet Van Der Valk in TV series Van Der Valk.- Actress
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Emily Watson was born and raised in London, the daughter of Katharine (Venables), an English teacher, and Richard Watson, an architect. After a self-described sheltered upbringing, Watson attended university for three years in Bristol, studying English literature. She applied to drama school and was rejected on her first attempt.
After three years of working in clerical and waitress jobs she was finally accepted. In 1992, she took a position with the Royal Shakespeare Company where she met her future husband, Jack Waters. Continuing stage work, Watson landed her first screen role as Bess McNeill in Breaking the Waves (1996) after Helena Bonham Carter pulled out of the role. For this initial foray into movies, Watson was nominated for an Academy Award. She continued to gain success in Britain in the leading roles in Metroland (1997) and The Mill on the Floss (1997), but her first popular film in the United States came in 1997 when she played Daniel Day-Lewis's long-suffering love interest in The Boxer (1997).
In the next two years she won critical acclaim for her portrayal of cellist Jacqueline du Pré in Hilary and Jackie (1998) and landed a small part in the ensemble cast of Tim Robbins's Cradle Will Rock (1999). Critical acclaim and North American success came together for Watson in 1999 with the release of Angela's Ashes (1999), the film adaptation of Frank McCourt's bestselling book of the same name. She achieved top billing as Angela McCourt, the hardworking mother of several children and wife of a drunken husband in depression-era Ireland. After less-celebrated roles in 2000's Trixie (2000) and The Luzhin Defence (2000), Watson again returned to an ensemble cast in Robert Altman's Gosford Park (2001).
Watson's status as a leading actress in major Hollywood productions was cemented in 2002 with her roles in Red Dragon (2002), the third installment of Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lechter series; the futuristic Equilibrium (2002); and, most notably, in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love (2002), playing opposite Adam Sandler. While returning to the stage in 2002 and 2003 on both sides of the Atlantic, Watson has expressed interest in again working with Anderson. Emily Watson lives in London, England, UK, with her husband, Jack Waters.- Actor
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Born and raised in London, England, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje began his career as a model in Milan. He graduated with a masters degree in Law from London's prestigious Kings College, before moving to Los Angeles to make the transition to acting. Fluent in several languages, including English, Italian, Yoruba and Swahili, he is best known for his roles in the movies Congo (1995) and The Mummy Returns (2001), and the HBO series Oz (1997).- Actor
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David Costabile was born on 9 January 1967 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Lincoln (2012), Billions (2016) and Breaking Bad (2008). He has been married to Eliza Baldi since 25 June 2012. They have two children.- Jonathan Gilbert was born on 28 April 1967 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Little House on the Prairie (1974), The Miracle Worker (1979) and Little House: Look Back to Yesterday (1983).
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Tara Fitzgerald was born in Sussex, England. Her mother, Sarah Fitzgerald, is Irish, and her father, Michael Callaby, was Italian. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Freeport, in the Bahamas where her grandfather, David Fitzgerald, was a well-established lawyer. Her sister, Arabella Fitzgerald, was born there, but the family returned to London when Tara was three. Her mother and father separated when she was four-years-old and, along with her mother and sister, Tara moved in with her uncle and Aunt Caroline. Her mother married the Irish actor Norman Rodway when Tara was age 6, and the birth of her half-sister, Bianca Rodway, followed shortly thereafter. Rodway and Sarah Fitzgerald separated when Tara was seven.
Tara's formative years were spent moving around - a lifestyle that saw her attending five primary schools while living in a variety of locations which included Glasgow, Dublin, and Stratford-upon-Avon. Eventually, Sarah and her three daughters returned to South London, but she left at the age of 16 after passing her "O" level examinations, now known as the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams. Her reason for taking a break from the educational process was that she was not allowed to pursue her goal of attending drama school. Tara had auditioned for RADA and the Guildhall, but she was unable to secure a placement. She now recognizes that, at age 17, she really had not been ready.
Tara spent the next two years working her way around Europe as a waitress, an experience that provided her with an improved perspective. When she returned to London and decided to audition for a place at the Drama Centre, she was accepted immediately. Her training at the Drama Centre leaned heavily toward method acting which she recalls was like one long therapy session of breaking down the ego, and then rebuilding it. (Other well-known actors who trained at the Drama Centre include Anthony Hopkins, Colin Firth, Simon Callow and Pierce Brosnan).
Life at the Drama Centre consisted of long days and hard work, but Tara recalls the time as being one of the best in her life. She was living at home with her mother, and working as a waitress at "The Ark" restaurant in Kensington to repay the bank loan which she had secured to cover her tuition fees. A theatrical agent noticed her performance in an amateur production, and arranged for Tara to audition for a co-starring role in the offbeat comedy Hear My Song (1991). Tara was the first actress to audition and, after the director had seen another 300 young hopefuls, the role was hers. Two weeks after graduating from college in July, 1990, Tara was at work on a major film that turned out to be a surprise success, and generated rave reviews of her performance. Tara never looked back.
Starring roles in several successful television productions during 1991 and 1992 followed. Tara received critical acclaim for The Black Candle (1991), Six Characters in Search of an Author (1992), The Camomile Lawn (1992) and Anglo Saxon Attitudes (1992). Her next major step was a co-starring role in the West End play, "Our Song", where she acquitted herself nightly opposite one of the legends of the London stage, Peter O'Toole. This success was followed by a role opposite Hugh Grant in the Australian hit film, Sirens (1994), for which the Australian Film Institute nominated Tara as Best Actress in a Lead Role.
An American mini-series, Fall from Grace (1994), was followed by the Irish film, A Man of No Importance (1994), which found Tara sharing honors with Albert Finney. Then came the two widely different television productions Mystery!: Cadfael (1994) (The Leper of St. Giles (#1.3)) and The Vacillations of Poppy Carew (1995).
Tara was back co-starring with Hugh Grant in The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995) before she embarked upon another major change of pace by playing "Ophelia" opposite Ralph Fiennes in "Hamlet" on the London and Broadway stages. Ralph received the notoriety, but Tara received the award for Best Supporting Actress from the New York Critics Circle.
Tara's next success was co-starring with Ewan McGregor in the highly acclaimed comedy/drama Brassed Off (1996). Then, it was back to BBC television for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996), The Woman in White (1997) and The Prince of Hearts (1997), all of which were featured on the U.S. mainstay, "Masterpiece Theatre". Tara's next theatrical film was Conquest (1998), which was produced in Canada. Back on the British side of the Atlantic, Tara starred in the contemporary Little White Lies (1998) and the Daphne Du Maurier swashbuckler (also featured on Masterpiece Theatre) Frenchman's Creek (1998), for which she received the award for Best Actress at the 1999 Reims International Television Festival.
A major part in the film Childhood (2001) (which, regrettably, has never been released) was followed by the harrowing role of a stalked woman in the psychological drama In the Name of Love (1999). Radio dramatizations have included "A Handful of Dust", "Look Back in Anger", "The African Queen" and, most recently, "Laughter in Leningrad".
Tara has been heard as the voice of the narrator in such diverse television mini-series as Wild Thing (Animal Life), The Final Day (Celebrity Deaths), Vice - Inside Britain's Sex Business (Self-explanatory), Reputations (Biographies), Omnibus: A Long Time Ago, The Story of Star Wars (TV Special) and, most recently, The Changemakers.
You also will hear Tara's great voice doing radio and television advertisements for products ranging from Johnson's Facial Wipes to Norwich Union Insurance.
Tara's recent cinematic appearances have included co-starring with Rutger Hauer in New World Disorder (1999), and starring opposite Rhys Ifans and Joseph Fiennes in Rancid Aluminum (2000).
During this period, Tara appeared on stage in the title role of "Antigone", and as "Blanche du Bois" in "A Streetcar Named Desire".
In 2001, Tara appeared as the female lead in the World War II drama, Dark Blue World (2001) (aka "Dark Blue World"), a Czech film by Academy Award-winning director Jan Sverák (Kolya (1996)). She was also seen on the big screen in I Capture the Castle (2003), a romantic comedy based upon the 1948 novel by Dodie Smith (101 Dalmatians).
Tara's recent television work has included a starring role in a segment of the highly-regarded psychological drama series Murder in Mind (2001), Echoes (2003). She also played the leading female role in Love Again (2003), a dramatization of the life of British poet Philip Larkin, which was telecast on the BBC in July.
Tara has completed work on Secret Passage (2004) opposite John Turturro, a period drama which is set in Venice during the Spanish Inquisition, and Five Children and It (2004), a family adventure film based on E. Nesbit's classic 1902 novel, which was released in the U.K. on October 22, 2004. During the late winter and early spring of 2004, Tara completed a very successful tour of the United Kingdom playing the role of "Nora Helmer" in "A Doll's House", for which she received high critical acclaim. In the fall of 2004, she began a tour in the role of "Mara Hill" in a new comedy "Clouds", by Michael Frayn.
During her career, Tara has picked her roles cautiously, always seeking to play the role of a strong woman. She feels that playing characters who have weak and insipid parts do not provide her with the motivation that the role of a strong woman can deliver. She has been remarkably successful in a variety of genre ranging from historical costume dramas (The Woman in White (1997), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996) and Frenchman's Creek (1998)), to contemporary psychological suspense dramas (Little White Lies (1998) and In the Name of Love (1999)), as well as comedy dramas (Brassed Off (1996) and Conquest (1998)), and offbeat comedies (Sirens (1994) and The Vacillations of Poppy Carew (1995)). Her fine performance in the World War II drama Dark Blue World (2001) (aka "Dark Blue World") and her recent work on stage give further evidence of her acting versatility.