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Christopher Robert Evans is an American actor, film producer, and director. Evans began his acting career in typical fashion: performing in school productions and community theatre.
He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Lisa (Capuano), who worked at the Concord Youth Theatre, and G. Robert Evans III, a dentist. His uncle is former U.S. Representative Mike Capuano. Chris's father is of half German and half Welsh/English/Scottish ancestry, while Chris's mother is of half Italian and half Irish descent. He has an older sister, Carly Evans, and two younger siblings, a brother named Scott Evans, who is also an actor, and a sister named Shana Evans. The family moved to suburban Sudbury when he was 11 years-old. Bitten by the acting bug in the first grade because his older sister, Carly, started performing, Evans followed suit and began appearing in school plays. While at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, his drama teacher cited his performance as "Leontes" in "The Winter's Tale" as exemplary of his skill. After more plays and regional theatre, he moved to New York and attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.
On the advice of friends, he landed an internship at a casting office and befriended a couple of the agents he regularly communicated with - one of whom later took him on as a client. The screen - not the stage - then became his focus; Evans soon began auditioning for feature films and television series. Evans made one of his first appearances on The Fugitive (2000) (CBS, 2000-2001), a remake of the 1960s series and feature film starring Harrison Ford. In the episode "Guilt", Evans played the son of a small-town sheriff who tries to exact revenge after Dr. Richard Kimble - incognito as a liquor store owner - refuses to sell him and his friends alcohol. After small roles in Cherry Falls (1999) and The Newcomers (2000) - two unknown low-budget features - Evans appeared in Boston Public (2000) (Fox, 2000-2004) as a murder suspect. He then appeared in his first major feature, Not Another Teen Movie (2001), a spoof on teen comedies wherein he played a jock who makes a bet that he can turn an unpopular and unkempt girl (Chyler Leigh) into prom queen.
After filming a couple of television pilots he was confident would be successful - Just Married (2003) and Eastwick (2002) - he appeared in another listless teen comedy, The Perfect Score (2004), playing an average, ho-hum student who takes part in a plot to steal the SAT test. Hijinks naturally ensue. Then, Evans broke through to the Big Time, grabbing the lead in the kidnapping thriller, Cellular (2004), a suspenseful B movie with a cheesy gimmick - a random wrong number on his cell phone forces him into a high-stakes race to save an unknown woman's life. Despite an unassuming performance from Evans and Kim Basinger as the damsel in distress, Cellular (2004) failed to break any box office records or please a wide majority of critics. Evans then prepared himself for super stardom when he signed on to play Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four (2005), 20th Century Fox's long-awaited adaptation of the Marvel comic. Although the film was wildly uneven and disappointing, Evans nearly stole the show with his energetic, unfettered performance. In that year itself, Chris was noticed by critics and made it into magazine and Internet countdowns, scoring himself a third position of the hot body countdown from Gay.com and #18 on E! Television's 2006 101 Sexiest Celebrity Bodies.
The year 2007 also proved to be one successful year for Chris, as he had two movies released around the world that same year, starting with the second installment of the Marvel franchise Fantastic Four. Chris received positive reviews for his performance. The Nanny Diaries (2007), where Evans played Harvard Hottie, showed his sensitive. The year 2008 saw Chris Evans' part of the movie Street Kings (2008), playing the character Detective Paul Diskant. The movie is about police officers trying to cover up their wrongdoings and audiences got to see a serious side of Chris. In the same year, Chris also worked on the movie The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008).- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Robert Downey Jr. has evolved into one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. With an amazing list of credits to his name, he has managed to stay new and fresh even after over four decades in the business.
Downey was born April 4, 1965 in Manhattan, New York, the son of writer, director and filmographer Robert Downey Sr. and actress Elsie Downey (née Elsie Ann Ford). Robert's father is of half Lithuanian Jewish, one quarter Hungarian Jewish, and one quarter Irish, descent, while Robert's mother was of English, Scottish, German, and Swiss-German ancestry. Robert and his sister, Allyson Downey, were immersed in film and the performing arts from a very young age, leading Downey Jr. to study at the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate New York, before moving to California with his father following his parents' 1978 divorce. In 1982, he dropped out of Santa Monica High School to pursue acting full time. Downey Sr., himself a drug addict, exposed his son to drugs at a very early age, and Downey Jr. would go on to struggle with abuse for decades.
Downey Jr. made his debut as an actor at the age of five in the film Pound (1970), written and directed by his father, Robert Downey Sr.. He built his film repertoire throughout the 1980s and 1990s with roles in Tuff Turf (1985), Weird Science (1985), True Believer (1989), and Wonder Boys (2000) among many others. In 1992, Downey received an Academy Award nomination and won the BAFTA (British Academy Award) for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of Chaplin (1992).
In Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), he appeared as an aspiring film make-up artist whose best friend commits murder. In Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994), with Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, Downey starred as a tabloid TV journalist who exploits a murderous couple's killing spree to boost his ratings. For the comedy Heart and Souls (1993), Downey starred as a young man with a special relationship with four ghosts. In 1995, Downey starred in Restoration (1995), with Hugh Grant, Meg Ryan and Ian McKellen, directed by Michael Hoffman. Also that year, he starred in Richard III (1995), in which he appears opposite his Restoration (1995) co-star McKellen.
In 1997, Downey was seen in Robert Altman's The Gingerbread Man (1998), alongside Kenneth Branagh, Daryl Hannah and Embeth Davidtz; in One Night Stand (1997), directed by Mike Figgis and starring Wesley Snipes and Nastassja Kinski; and in Hugo Pool (1997), directed by his father, Robert Downey Sr. and starring Sean Penn and Patrick Dempsey. In September of 1999, Downey appeared in Black & White (1999), written and directed by James Toback, along with Ben Stiller, Elijah Wood, Gaby Hoffmann, Brooke Shields and Claudia Schiffer. In January of 1999, he starred with Annette Bening and Aidan Quinn in In Dreams (1999), directed by Neil Jordan.
In 2000, Downey co-starred with Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire in Wonder Boys (2000), directed by Curtis Hanson. In this dramatic comedy, Downey played the role of a bisexual literary agent. In 2001, Downey made his prime-time television debut when he joined the cast of the Fox-TV series Ally McBeal (1997) as attorney "Larry Paul". For this role, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, as well as the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Comedy Series. In addition, Downey was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
The actor's drug-related problems escalated from 1996 to 2001, leading to arrests, rehab visits and incarcerations, and he was eventually fired from Ally McBeal (1997). Emerging clean and sober in 2003, Downey Jr. began to rebuild his career.
He marked his debut into music with his debut album, titled "The Futurist", on the Sony Classics Label on November 23rd, 2004. The album's eight original songs, that Downey wrote, and his two musical numbers debuting as cover songs revealed his sultry singing voice and his musical talents. Downey displayed his versatility in two different films in October 2003: the musical/drama The Singing Detective (2003), a remake of the BBC hit of the same name, and the thriller Gothika (2003) starring Halle Berry and Penélope Cruz. Downey starred in powerful yet humbling roles inspired by real-life accounts of some of history's most precious kept secrets, including Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly (2006) in 2006 co-starring Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder and Woody Harrelson, and Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006) co-starring Nicole Kidman, a film inspired by the life of Diane Arbus, the revered photographer whose images captured attention in the early 1960s. These roles exhibited Downey's momentum from the previous year of 2005, in which he starred in the Academy Award®-nominated feature film Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), directed by George Clooney and in Shane Black's action comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) co-starring Val Kilmer. In 2007, he co-starred in David Fincher's suspenseful Zodiac (2007), alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo, about the notorious serial killer who haunted San Francisco during the 1970s.
In May 2008, Downey achieved critical acclaim and worldwide box office success for his starring role in Iron Man (2008), Jon Favreau's big-screen rendering of the Marvel comic book superhero. The film co-starred Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard. In August of 2008, Downey starred with Ben Stiller and Jack Black in the comedy Tropic Thunder (2008), and went on to receive an Academy Award®-nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his, Kirk Lazarus.
In December 2009, Downey starred in the action-adventure Sherlock Holmes (2009). The film, directed by Guy Ritchie, co-starred Jude Law and Rachel McAdams and earned Downey a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical in January of 2010. In early Summer 2010, Downey re-teamed with director Jon Favreau and reprised his role as "Tony Stark/Iron Man" in the hugely successful sequel to the original film, Iron Man 2 (2010), starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and Mickey Rourke.
Downey next starred in Due Date (2010), a comedy directed by Todd Phillips, in which he plays the role of an expectant father on a road trip racing to get back in time for the birth of his first child. Due Date (2010), starring The Hangover (2009)'s Zach Galifianakis, was released in November 2010.
Downey was honored by Time Magazine's "Time 100" in 2008, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. His laurels include two Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe wins, numerous other award nominations and wins, and tremendous popular and commercial success, particularly in his roles as Sherlock Holmes and Tony Stark (the latter of which he has so far played in Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). For three consecutive years, from 2012 to 2015, Downey has topped the Forbes list of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, making an estimated $80 million in earnings between June 2014 and June 2015.
In 2005, Downey Jr. married Susan Downey, with whom he has two children. Downey also has another son, Indio Falconer Downey, born 1993, from his first marriage to Deborah Falconer, from whom he was officially divorced in 2004.
Robert has jump-started the Team Downey Production Company with wife Susan Downey.- 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
- Sound Department
Jeremy Lee Renner was born in Modesto, California, the son of Valerie (Tague) and Lee Renner, who managed a bowling alley. After a tumultuous yet happy childhood with his four younger siblings, Renner graduated from Beyer High School and attended Modesto Junior College. He explored several areas of study, including computer science, criminology, and psychology, before the theater department, with its freedom of emotional expression, drew him in.
However, Renner recognized the potential in acting as much through the local police academy as through drama classes. During his second year at Modesto Junior College, Renner role-played a domestic disturbance perpetrator as part of a police-training exercise for an easy $50. Deciding to shift his focus away from schoolwork, Renner left college and moved to San Francisco to study at the American Conservatory Theater. From there he moved to Hawaii and, in 1993, to Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, Renner devoted himself to theater, most notably starring in and co-directing the critically acclaimed "Search and Destroy." He pursued other projects during this time as well, landing his first film role in 1995's National Lampoon's Senior Trip (1995). After several commercials and supporting roles in television movies and series, Renner captured the attention of critics with his gripping, complex portrayal of the infamous serial killer in the 2002 film Dahmer (2002). Renner's performance, which earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination, is especially remarkable for painting a humane and sympathetic, yet deeply disturbing, portrait of the title character.
In 2003, Renner took a break from small indie films to work on his first commercially successful movie, S.W.A.T. (2003), with Colin Farrell. In 2005, he played the leading role in Neo Ned (2005) as an institutionalized white supremacist in love with a black girl, winning the Palm Beach International Film Festival's best actor award. Renner's pivotal supporting roles in 2005's 12 and Holding (2005) and North Country (2005) earned him accolades from critics, and his 2007 turn in Take (2007) garnered him the best actor award at California's Independent Film Festival. Also in 2007, Renner played a leading role in the horror film 28 Weeks Later (2007) as well as a supporting role in the underrated Western epic The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), with Casey Affleck, Brad Pitt, and Sam Rockwell.
Renner's depiction of Jeffrey Dahmer in 2002 caught the attention of director Kathryn Bigelow, and, in 2008, she cast him in his most famous role as Sergeant First Class William James in The Hurt Locker (2008). Renner's performance as a single-minded bomb specialist scored him an Academy Award nomination for best actor. He also earned best actor nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards, the Screen Actors Guild, and the BAFTA Awards, as well as wins in this category from several film critics groups.
In 2009, Renner starred in the short-lived TV series, The Unusuals (2009), and in 2010 he played the chilling but loyal criminal Jem in Ben Affleck bank-heist thriller The Town (2010). In the fall of 2010, Renner began filming Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011). He has also since starred in The Avengers (2012), American Hustle (2013), and Kill the Messenger (2014).
Renner's strengths as an actor derive not only from his expressive eyes but also from his ability to thoroughly embody the characters he portrays. His visceral depiction of these individuals captivates audiences and empowers him to steal scenes in many of his films, even when playing a minor role. Renner gravitates toward flawed, complicated, three-dimensional characters that allow him to explore new territory within himself.
In addition to his work as an actor, Renner continues to cultivate his lifelong love of music. A singer, songwriter, and musician, he performed with the band Sons of Ben early in his career. Scenes in Love Comes to the Executioner (2006), North Country (2005), and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) briefly showcase Renner's singing talents.
Despite traveling the world for film roles and, recently, as a United Nations Goodwill Peace Ambassador to raise awareness for mine-clearing efforts in Afghanistan, Renner remains close to his roots. In 2010, Modesto Junior College presented him the Distinguished Alumnus award in recognition of his body of work as an actor. He also headlined at a benefit for Modesto's Gallo Center for the Arts in the fall of 2010.
Renner maintains a sense of humility and gratitude, even in the wake of his recent successes and recognition. He keeps himself grounded by renovating and restoring old and rundown iconic Hollywood homes, an enterprise he began back in his early days in Los Angeles. He values loyalty and a sense of both age and history, and enjoys the opportunity to help conserve these qualities in a town that favors the young and the new.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Christopher "Chris" Hemsworth was born on August 11, 1983 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to Leonie Hemsworth (née van Os), an English teacher & Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counselor. His brothers are actors, Liam Hemsworth & Luke Hemsworth; he is of Dutch (from his immigrant maternal grandfather), Irish, English, Scottish, and German ancestry. His uncle, by marriage, was Rod Ansell, the bushman who inspired the comedy film Crocodile Dundee (1986).
Chris saw quite a bit of the country in his youth, after his family moved to the Northern Territory before finally settling on Phillip Island, to the south of Melbourne. In 2004, he unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Robbie Hunter in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1988) but was recalled for the role of Kim Hyde which he played until 2007. In 2006, he entered the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars (2004) and his popularity in the soap enabled him to hang on until show 7 (Episode #5.7 (2006)) when he became the fifth contestant to be eliminated.
His first Hollywood appearance was in the science fiction blockbuster Star Trek (2009), but it was his titular role in the superhero blockbuster Thor (2011) which propelled him to prominence worldwide. He reprised the character in the superhero blockbusters The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Chris's American representative, management company ROAR, also manages actress Elsa Pataky, and it was through them that the two met, marrying in 2010. The couple have a daughter and twin sons. He was appointed Member of the Order of Australia at the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to the performing arts and to charitable organisations.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Thomas William Hiddleston was born in Westminster, London, to English-born Diana Patricia (Servaes) and Scottish-born James Norman Hiddleston. His mother is a former stage manager, and his father, a scientist, was the managing director of a pharmaceutical company. He started off at the preparatory school, The Dragon School in Oxford, and by the time he was 13, he boarded at Eton College, at the same time that his parents were going through a divorce. He continued on to the University of Cambridge, where he earned a double first in Classics. He continued to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 2005.
Whilst at University of Cambridge, he was seen by the Hamilton Hodell agency in the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" and was signed. Following this, he was cast in his first television role in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (2001). Hiddleston won his first film role as Oakley in Joanna Hogg's award-winning first feature, Unrelated (2007). His breakthrough role came when he portrayed the nemesis Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe feature film Thor (2011). He reprised the character in The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
He has also appeared in Steven Spielberg's War Horse (2011), The Deep Blue Sea (2011), Woody Allen's romantic comedy Midnight in Paris (2011), and the romantic vampire film Only Lovers Left Alive (2013). On television, he appeared on the BBC series The Hollow Crown (2012), in the adaptations of Shakespeare's "Henry IV" and "Henry V". In theatre, he has been in the productions of "Cymbeline" (2007) and "Ivanov" (2008). In December 2013, he starred as the title character in the Donmar Warehouse production of "Coriolanus" which played until February 2014. He won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Play for his role in "Cymbeline" while also being nominated for the same award the same year for his role as Cassio in "Othello".- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Taylor Daniel Lautner was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Deborah, a software company worker, and Daniel Lautner, a pilot for Midwest Airlines. He and his younger sister Makena were raised in a well-mannered, Roman Catholic household in Hudsonville, Michigan. He is of English, German, Dutch, and Scottish descent. At the age of six, Taylor began studying martial arts at Fabiano's Karate School and he, along with his family, quickly noticed his unique and natural talent for the sport. He was soon invited to train with seven-time world karate champion Michael Chaturantabut (aka Mike Chat) and, at the age of eight, he was asked to represent his country in the 12-years-and-under division in the World Karate Association, where he became the Junior World Forms and Weapons champion, winning three gold medals. In 2003, Taylor continued to flourish in the martial arts circuit where he ranked number one in the world for NASKA's Black Belt Open Forms, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons, and Traditional Forms and, at the age of 12, he became the three-time Junior World Champion.
However, in addition to his love for martial arts, Taylor quickly developed a love for acting at the age of seven years old when his martial arts instructor, who was involved in show business, encouraged him to audition for a small appearance in a Burger King commercial. Although he was unsuccessful, he enjoyed the experience so much that he told his parents that he wanted to pursue a career in acting. Soon, he and his family were traveling back and forth from their home in Michigan to California so Taylor could regularly audition for acting roles. When Taylor was 10, with the frequent traveling and air fares starting to become overwhelming, his family made the crucial decision to relocate to Los Angeles, where Taylor would have the advantage of being able to audition for films, television, and commercials full-time.
Once Taylor moved with his family to Los Angeles, he found himself landing more and more small acting roles. He booked many occurring roles on various television shows such as My Wife and Kids (2000), Summerland (2004), and The Bernie Mac Show (2001). Taylor also found himself becoming successful in films as well. In 2005, he landed the role of Sharkboy in the family blockbuster flick, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D (2005), and the role of Eliot Murtaugh in Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005). However, it would be one single role that would ultimately change Taylor's life forever. In 2008, Taylor auditioned for the iconic role of werewolf hunk Jacob Black in the record-smashing, blockbuster hit Twilight (2008). With the sudden and unexpected success of the film, Taylor, along with fellow cast members Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, found himself being propelled into a world that would forever change his life and his career.
Taylor has continued to portray Jacob Black in the following film adaptations of The Twilight Saga as well as branch out into other roles and films, such as the star-studded romantic comedy Valentine's Day (2010) and the action-packed thriller Abduction (2011). Taylor Lautner has quickly become one of the most famous, talented, and successful young Hollywood actors thanks to the blockbuster success of the Twilight (2008) films. It has quickly been established by this young man's diverse and gifted talent that we will continue to be his audience for many years to come.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson was born May 13, 1986 in London, England, to Richard Pattinson, a car dealer importing vintage cars, and Clare Pattinson (née Charlton), who worked as a booker at a model agency. He grew up in Barnes, southwest London with two older sisters. Robert discovered his love for music long before acting and started learning the guitar and piano at the age of four. He became a big cinephile for love of auteur cinema in his early teens and preferred to watch films rather than doing his homework. In his late teens and early twenties, he used to perform solo acoustic guitar gigs at open mic nights in bars and pubs around London where he sung his own written songs. Thinking about becoming a musician or going to university to study speech-writing, he never thought about pursuing an acting career and his drama teacher in school even advised him not to join the drama club because she thought he wasn't made for the creative subjects. But as a teenager, he joined the local amateur theatre club after his father convinced him to attend because he was quite shy. At age 15 and after two years of working backstage, he auditioned for the play 'Guys and Dolls' and he got his first role as a Cuban dancer with no lines. He got the lead part in the next play 'Our Town', was spotted by a talent agent who was sitting in the audience and he began looking for professional roles.
His first screen role was a small part in Vanity Fair (2004), but he'd been cut out of the final film and didn't know about it until he attended the premiere. The casting director felt so guilty for not telling him, that she got him the audition for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). He was lucky and succeeded in gaining the role of Cedric Diggory, which brought him to a wider audience at the age of 19 and he continued to star in mostly smaller British TV productions. Hollywood expressed only mild interest in him and he was still debating whether or not he wished to pursue acting. Throughout that period, Pattinson would occasionally send audition tapes for roles in America. One, for a rom-com, led to the opportunity for an in-person audition in Los Angeles. That audition did not pan out, but while in town he went in for another, with Thirteen (2003) director Catherine Hardwicke, for a part in what he understood to be an indie movie based on a low-profile book about a vampire. Being the last one out of 3000 male actors to audition for the part, the role of Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight novels written by Stephenie Meyer brought him to unexpected worldwide stardom at age 22 and the five films between 2008 and 2012 grossed over $3.3 billion in worldwide receipts. Between the Twilight Saga films, he also starred in Remember Me (2010), Water for Elephants (2011) and Bel Ami (2012).
Pattinson's Twilight-era was surreal. He had been catapulted onto Hollywood's A-list as a heartthrob, but also experienced certain preconceptions about what he wanted - or was capable of doing - as an actor. That changed with an unexpected straight offer from auteur director David Cronenberg to star in Cosmopolis (2012), which he described as an eye-opening experience: It reminded him of his love for cinema, why he wanted to become an actor in the first place and solidified his foremost desire for the coming years to work with great filmmakers. With Pattinson being a big cinephile, he since then starred in mostly independent films from respected auteur directors, such as The Rover (2014), Maps to the Stars (2014), Life (2015), Queen of the Desert (2015) and The Childhood of a Leader (2015). His unrecognizable role as an explorer in the amazon jungle in The Lost City of Z (2016) from director James Gray brought him much critical acclaim. His transformation to a sleazy, manic conman in the gritty crime thriller Good Time (2017) earned a six-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival and brought him a nomination for Best Actor at the Independent Spirit Awards. It was a major step for his transition into a character actor with incredible range, with critics calling his performance a revelation and career-defining. He starred in the western-comedy Damsel (2018) as a cowboy with sociopathic characteristics and played a convict sent to space for sexual experimentation in the psychological mystery drama High Life (2018) from acclaimed French auteur director Claire Denis. He returned to work with director David Michôd in The King (2019) and starred in the black-and-white fantasy-horror movie The Lighthouse (2019) from director Robert Eggers, which earned him his second Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor. In Netflix's The Devil All the Time (2020), Pattinson played a corrupt preacher preying on young girls.
He returned to mainstream films with a leading role in Christopher Nolan's time bending spy film Tenet (2020) and will star as the DC Comics superhero Batman in Matt Reeves' film The Batman (2022).- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Actor and model Kellan Lutz was born in Dickinson, North Dakota, to Karla (Theesfeld) and Bradley Lutz. He has six brothers and a sister, and is of German, as well as smaller amounts of English, Swedish, and Dutch, descent. As a child, his family moved around, and he grew up in North Dakota, the Midwest and Arizona. Upon high school graduation, Lutz relocated to California to attend Chapman University and study Chemical Engineering, but left in order to pursue a career in acting.
Lutz had picked up a few modeling jobs as a teenager, but got his first TV break with a small role in The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) in 2004. More television success followed, including parts in The Comeback (2005) and Generation Kill (2008). He was also cast in some film roles, including Accepted (2006) and Prom Night (2008), but his major break came in 2008 when he won the role of vampire Emmett Cullen in the smash hit Twilight (2008), and its subsequent sequels.- Actor
- Producer
- Composer
Internationally recognized for his breakout role as Jasper Hale in The Twilight Saga (2008-2012) Jackson Rathbone was born to American parents living in the Republic of Singapore. Growing up internationally, Jackson spent his adolescent years living in Tananger, Norway and Midland, Texas. After graduating high school from the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting and music.
As an actor, Jackson has appeared in over twenty motion pictures, including two international franchises, and appeared in multiple television shows as leads, guest stars, and in recurring roles.
Jackson has produced several indie films (such as Gotham award winning "Girlfriend"), as well as Warner Brothers backed webseries ("Aim High"). In 2015, Jackson wrote, directed, and starred in the webseries Couch Surfing, USA (Marseille Web Fest official selection, Vancouver Web Fest WINNER Best Comedy).
As a musician and songwriter, Jackson has released multiple albums with his international touring band 100 Monkeys. Jackson is also a multi-instrumentalist and has released many songs under his name where he writes, sings, and plays every instrument (guitar, piano, bass, drums, harmonica, ukulele, and banjo).
Currently, Jackson resides in Los Angeles, CA and would very much like to work with Roy Andersson (You, the Living, Songs from the Second Floor, A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence).- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Peter Facinelli was born in Queens, New York, the youngest child of Bruna (Reich) and Pierino Facinelli, a waiter. His parents are Italian immigrants, originally from Trentino, Northern Italy. He has three sisters. Peter was educated at St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows, New York, and went on to attend St. John's University, but left after a year to follow his interest in acting at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School, also in New York. There Facinelli was taught by such distinguished actors as Academy Award nominees William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman.
He made his screen debut in 1995, appearing in Rebecca Miller's Angela (1995) and has worked consistently ever since. Notable projects include The Price of Love (1995), An Unfinished Affair (1996) (where he met his future wife, Jennie Garth), Touch Me (1997) and The Scorpion King (2002). Facinelli has also had re-occurring roles in such TV shows such as Fastlane (2002), Six Feet Under (2001), Damages (2007) and Nurse Jackie (2009). In 2008, he won the role of Dr. Carlisle Cullen in the wildly popular Twilight (2008) and its sequels.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Xavier Samuel was born on 10 December 1983 in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia. He is an actor, known for Blonde (2022), Fury (2014) and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010).- Actor
- Stunts
- Producer
Booboo Stewart was thrust into the spotlight with his winning the coveted role of Seth Clearwater in the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) and reprising the role in both The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011) and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012). At age 10 Booboo began his career as a model, participating in numerous campaigns. He received a record deal at the age of 12 with Walt Disney records-touring with acts such as The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and The Cheetah Girls. Booboo first worked on camera as a stunt person in films like Beowulf (2007) and then was captured by the acting bug after watching Heath Ledger's performance as the 'Joker' . Booboo strives to play interesting roles and he can soon be seen in White Frog (2012), The Last Survivors (2014), Space Warriors (2013) and An Evergreen Christmas (2014). Booboo is an accomplished martial artist - winning two World Championships and being inducted into the Jr Blackbelt Hall of Fame. He is sponsored by Gibson Guitars and resides in Los Angeles with his family.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Alex Meraz was born on 10 January 1985 in Mesa, Arizona, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) and Suicide Squad (2016). He has been married to Kim since 31 December 2007. They have two children.- Chaske Spencer is an award-nominated actor who currently stars in Marvel Studios' new series ECHO as 'Henry "Black Crow" Lopez, Maya's (Alaqua Cox) well-intended uncle with ties to Fisk's (Vincent D'Onofrio) criminal underworld. His recent co-lead opposite Emily Blunt in Hugo Blick's limited series THE ENGLISH Amazon/BBC) garnered him critical acclaim including: BAFTA Awards and Royal Television Society (RTS) Programme Awards with a 2023 Leading Actor nomination and Outstanding Performance in a New Series nomination at the 2023 Gotham Awards. On the feature side, he starred in WILD INDIAN which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival for which Chaske was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the 2022 Independent Spirit Awards.
Up next, Chaske stars in WIND RIVER: THE NEXT CHAPTER with Jason Clarke as well as the Peacock horror thriller TEACUP (executive produced by lan McCulloch, Atomic Monster's Wan, Michael Clear and Rob Hackett) alongside Yvonne Strahovski and Scott Speedman, inspired by Robert McCammon's novel Stinger.
When Chaske was young, he dreamt of becoming a photographer, but before long, he also found himself in front of the camera. Chaske moved to New York City and in between bartending and waiting tables, he was cast in his first off off-Broadway play, DRACULA, as the title role. He went on to perform at The Public Theater in NYC and The Roundabout, and soon was discovered by casting director Rene Haynes.
Chaske is well known for his portrayal of 'Sam Uley' in the Twilght Saga: New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn I and II. He starred in the Susanna White directed feature, WOMAN WALKS AHEAD, opposite Jessica Chastain and Sam Rockwell, which made its World Premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. His most notable television credits include: NatGeo's BARKSKINS, NBC's BLINDSPOT, Netflix's JESSICA JONES, the Emmy award-winning Cinemax series BANSHEE, A&E's LONGMIRE, and the Amazon series SNEAKY PETE with Bryan Cranston.
Chaske Spencer was born of the Lakota Sioux tribe, and raised on Indian Reservations in Montana and Idaho. - Actor
- Soundtrack
James Paul Marsden, or better known as just James Marsden, was born on September 18, 1973, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, to Kathleen (Scholz) and James Luther Marsden. His father, a distinguished Professor of Animal Sciences & Industry at Kansas State University, and his mother, a nutritionist, divorced when he was nine years old. James grew up with his four other siblings, sisters, Jennifer and Elizabeth, and brothers, Jeff and Robert. He has English, German, and Scottish ancestry. During his teen years, he attended Putnam City North High School which was located in Oklahoma City. After graduating in 1991, he attended Oklahoma State University and studied Broadcast Journalism. While in university, he became a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
While vacationing with his family in Hawaii, he met actor Kirk Cameron, and his actress sister, Candace Cameron Bure. They eventually invited James to visit them in Los Angeles. After studying in Oklahoma State for over a year and appearing in his college production, "Bye Bye Birdie", he left school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his interest in acting. James got his first job on the pilot episode of The Nanny (1993) as Eddie, who was Margaret Sheffield's boyfriend. He then became part of the Canadian television series, Boogies Diner (1994), which aired for one season. After that series ended, he got a brief role as the original Griffin on Fox's Party of Five (1994). His first big break came when he became the lead on the short-lived ABC series, Second Noah (1996). Although the show didn't last long, the young actor received enough exposure from the public and even managed to win the hearts of fellow teenage girls. In 1996, he attended an audition for a movie titled Primal Fear (1996) but unfortunately lost that role to Edward Norton. Two years later, he was offered a lead role in 54 (1998), which he turned down. The role later went to another actor, Ryan Phillippe.
James' star power increased when he starred in David Nutter's Disturbing Behavior (1998), alongside Katie Holmes and Nick Stahl, which had mixed reviews, but mostly positive ones. His role in the television series as Glenn Foy in Ally McBeal (1997), is probably one of his biggest achievement to date. He became one of the main cast members during the first half of season 5, where he showcased his singing abilities. It was in that show where he was able to grab the attention of audiences from different backgrounds. The 5' 10" star later played Lon Hammon Jr. in the romantic movie, The Notebook (2004), which was based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks of the same name. His movies, Lies and Alibis (2006) and 10th & Wolf (2006) was also released around the world to audiences in the year 2006. One of his most memorable roles to fans is his role as Cyclops in the X-Men (2000) movie franchise. The movie was well accepted by audiences and critics, which eventually made James one of the hottest stars since it was released. He was among the actors who starred in all three of the X-Men movies. James had the honor of working alongside Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen and Hugh Jackman in the film. However, not many people know that he actually had to wear lifts for most of his scenes in the X-men movies, because his character Cyclops is supposed to be 6" 3" compared to a 5' 3" Wolverine. In reality, he is actually under 6' 0", shorter than Famke Janssen who plays his love interest, Jean Grey, and even shorter than Hugh Jackman who played Wolverine.
In the year 2006, he played Richard White in the highly anticipated movie, Superman Returns (2006), which coincidentally was directed by Bryan Singer, who also directed previous X-Men installments. Although he appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), the third installment of the X-Men franchise, many would notice that he in fact had more screen time in 'Superman Returns', as Lois Lane's long awaiting fiancé who had to accept the fact that his fiancée is in love with the man of steel. James earned great reviews from that movie, which led to him getting more movie roles. In 2007, James played Corny Collins in the film Hairspray (2007), an adaption of the Broadway musical based on John Waters movie, Hairspray (1988). He joined a star-studded cast, starring alongside top names such as John Travolta, Queen Latifah and Michelle Pfeiffer. James not only acted in that movie, but also sang two of the film's songs, "The Nicest Kids In Town", and "Hairspray". Being part of Hairspray catapulted James to a different level of stardom as audiences got to see another side of him. His next role was in the Disney movie, Enchanted (2007), playing Prince Edward, where he acted alongside Amy Adams, Susan Sarandon and Patrick Dempsey. Once again, James had the opportunity to sing in two songs from the movie, "True Love's Kiss" and "That's Amore". Enchanted (2007) appealed to not only older audiences but also to those who were fans of Disney's network productions. Following his huge success in the years 2006 and 2007, James played the male lead role in the romantic comedy, 27 Dresses (2008), opposite actress Katherine Heigl in 2008. The movie did well at the box office, earning a gross revenue of over $159 million, which exceeded the expectations of crew members especially since it was under a $30 million budget.
Marsden played the male lead in the horror film, The Box (2009), based on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by author Richard Matheson. He starred opposite Cameron Diaz in the movie.
He co-starred in Accidental Love (2015) (previously Accidental Love (2015), a politically-themed romantic comedy, directed by David O. Russell and filmed in Columbia, South Carolina. Marsden's recent film roles include the sequel comedy Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), the romantic drama The Best of Me (2014), and the comedy Unfinished Business (2015).
James was married to Lisa Linde, an actress known from her role in Days of Our Lives (1965). Lisa is the daughter of legendary country music songwriter Dennis Linde. The couple wed on July 22, 2000 and have a son, Jack Holden Marsden who was born on February 1, 2001, and a daughter, Mary James, who was born on August 10, 2005. They divorced in 2011. James has another son, born in 2012, with model Rose Costa.
Many would assume that with all this success achieved by James at this age, he would be somewhat high-headed but James mentioned that despite all the attention he's getting from the public eye, he tries to keep himself as grounded as possible. He even admits that he flies coach instead of first class while traveling with his family. In an interview he mentioned that he believes he has a certain responsibility to let his children know that he isn't special because of what he does, but who he is as a person. With a great humble attitude and a bright future ahead of him, there's definitely more to expect from this Oklahoma native.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Andrew Russell Garfield was born in Los Angeles, California, to a British mother, Lynn, and American father, Richard Garfield. When he was three, he moved to Surrey, U.K., with his parents and older brother. He is of English and Polish Jewish heritage. Andrew was raised in a middle class family, and attended a private school, the City of London Freemen's School. He began acting in youth theatre productions while he was still at school. At age 19, he went to the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
His first professional roles were on the stage and in 2005 he made his TV debut in the Channel 4 teen series Sugar Rush (2005) in the UK. More TV work followed (reaching a wider UK audience in a two-part story in the third season of Doctor Who (2005)), as well as a number of movie appearances. Garfield played Eduardo in The Social Network (2010) and Tommy in Never Let Me Go (2010), two films that brought him to full international attention. That same year, he was cast as the title character in the reboot of the Spider-Man film franchise, The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). He reprised the role in the sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), before passing off the torch to Tom Holland.
Resuming his work in drama films, Garfield starred in Ramin Bahrani's 99 Homes (2014), with Michael Shannon, Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge (2016), about real-life Seventh Day Adventist war hero Desmond Doss, and Martin Scorsese's Silence (2016), opposite Adam Driver, playing Jesuit priests. He received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role as Doss.
In 2017, he starred in Andy Serkis-directed drama Breathe (2017), where Garfield plays Robin Cavendish, an adventurous man paralyzed by polio. In 2018, he headlines David Robert Mitchell's noir thriller Under the Silver Lake (2018).- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor, singer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer and producer. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as superhero, period, and romance characters. He is best known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as for his lead roles in the romantic-comedy fantasy Kate & Leopold (2001), the action-horror film Van Helsing (2004), the drama The Prestige and The Fountain (2006), the epic historical romantic drama Australia (2008), the film version of Les Misérables (2012), and the thriller Prisoners (2013). His work in Les Misérables earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in 2013. In Broadway theatre, Jackman won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz. A four-time host of the Tony Awards themselves, he won an Emmy Award for one of these appearances. Jackman also hosted the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009.
Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, to Grace McNeil (Greenwood) and Christopher John Jackman, an accountant. He is the youngest of five children. His parents, both English, moved to Australia shortly before his birth. He also has Greek (from a great-grandfather) and Scottish (from a grandmother) ancestry.
Jackman has a communications degree with a journalism major from the University of Technology Sydney. After graduating, he pursued drama at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, immediately after which he was offered a starring role in the ABC-TV prison drama Correlli (1995), opposite his future wife Deborra-Lee Furness. Several TV guest roles followed, as an actor and variety compere. An accomplished singer, Jackman has starred as Gaston in the Australian production of "Beauty and the Beast." He appeared as Joe Gillis in the Australian production of "Sunset Boulevard." In 1998, he was cast as Curly in the Royal National Theatre's production of Trevor Nunn's Oklahoma. Jackman has made two feature films, the second of which, Erskineville Kings (1999), garnered him an Australian Film Institute nomination for Best Actor in 1999. Recently, he won the part of Logan/Wolverine in the Bryan Singer- directed comic-book movie X-Men (2000). In his spare time, Jackman plays piano, golf, and guitar, and likes to windsurf.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Tobias Vincent Maguire was born in Santa Monica, California. His parents were 18 and 20, and not yet married, when he was born. His mother, Wendy (Brown), did advertising, publicity, and acting in Hollywood for years as she coached and managed Tobey. His father, Vincent Maguire, was a cook and sometimes a construction worker. Tobey did not finish high school in order to pursue and focus on acting roles, but he did end up getting his GED. He did several commercials (he was a model dancer for Nordstrom by age six), and he had some roles on various TV shows before landing a starring role on the Fox comedy Great Scott! (1992). That role lasted nine weeks before the show was canceled. Fox-made series were not doing well in general at the time. He avoids drugs and alcohol, and his best friend is Leonardo DiCaprio. Tobey is a vegan and studies yoga. He now has two beautiful children with his ex-wife Jennifer Meyer Maguire. Their names are Ruby Sweetheart and Otis Tobias Maguire. Another little known fact is that his two half-brothers, Jopaul and Weston Epp, were the child actors who handed Tobey (Peter Parker) his mask after the train scene in Spider-Man 2.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Ryan Rodney Reynolds was born on October 23, 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the youngest of four children. His father, James Chester Reynolds, was a food wholesaler, and his mother, Tamara Lee "Tammy" (Stewart), worked as a retail-store saleswoman. He has Irish and Scottish ancestry. Between 1991-93, Ryan appeared in Fifteen (1990), a Nickelodeon series taped in Florida with many other Canadian actors. After the series ended, he returned to Vancouver where he played in a series of forgettable television movies. He did small roles in Glenn Close's Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995) and CBS's update of In Cold Blood (1996). However, his run of luck had led him to decide to quit acting.
One night, he ran into fellow Vancouver actor and native Chris William Martin. Martin found Ryan rather despondent and told him to pack everything: they were going to head to Los Angeles, California. The two stayed in a cheap Los Angeles motel. On the first night of their stay, Reynolds' jeep was rolled downhill and stripped. For the next four months, Ryan drove it without doors. In 1997, he landed the role of Berg in Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (1998). Initially, the show was reviled by critics and seemed desperate for any type of ratings success. However, it was renewed for a second season but with a provision for a makeover by former Roseanne (1988) writer Kevin Abbott. The show became a minor success and has led to additional film roles for Ryan, most notably in the last-ever MGM film, a remake of The Amityville Horror (2005). Ryan was engaged to Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, another Nickelodeon veteran, between 2004-2006.
He has been married to Blake Lively since September 9, 2012. They have three daughters. He was previously married to Scarlett Johansson.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
In 1976, if you had told fourteen-year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be Tom Cruise, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to join the priesthood. Nonetheless, this sensitive, deeply religious youngster who was born in 1962 in Syracuse, New York, was destined to become one of the highest paid and most sought after actors in screen history.
Tom is the only son (among four children) of nomadic parents, Mary Lee (Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer. His parents were both from Louisville, Kentucky, and he has German, Irish, and English ancestry. Young Tom spent his boyhood always on the move, and by the time he was 14 he had attended 15 different schools in the U.S. and Canada. He finally settled in Glen Ridge, New Jersey with his mother and her new husband. While in high school, Tom wanted to become a priest but pretty soon he developed an interest in acting and abandoned his plans of becoming a priest, dropped out of school, and at age 18 headed for New York and a possible acting career. The next 15 years of his life are the stuff of legends. He made his film debut with a small part in Endless Love (1981) and from the outset exhibited an undeniable box office appeal to both male and female audiences.
With handsome movie star looks and a charismatic smile, within 5 years Tom Cruise was starring in some of the top-grossing films of the 1980s including Top Gun (1986); The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). By the 1990s he was one of the highest-paid actors in the world earning an average 15 million dollars a picture in such blockbuster hits as Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996), for which he received an Academy Award Nomination for best actor. Tom Cruise's biggest franchise, Mission Impossible, has also earned a total of 3 billion dollars worldwide. Tom Cruise has also shown lots of interest in producing, with his biggest producer credits being the Mission Impossible franchise.
In 1990 he renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life. A kind and thoughtful man well known for his compassion and generosity, Tom Cruise is one of the best liked members of the movie community. He was married to actress Nicole Kidman until 2001. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV has indeed come a long way from the lonely wanderings of his youth to become one of the biggest movie stars ever.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Known for starring as musically-inclined football player Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the show Glee (2009), Mark Wayne Salling was born in Dallas, Texas. He was the younger of two children of Condy Sue (Wherry), a school secretary, and John Robert Salling, Jr., an accountant. He was home-schooled at an early age. Salling was raised in a "strict Christian home" and attended Providence Christian School and Our Redeemer Lutheran during elementary school. He attended, but did not graduate, from Culver Military Academy, and later graduated from Lake Highlands High School in 2001. While in high school, he was a member of the school wrestling team. Music was also an integral part of his teenage years; he often performed in bars despite being underage and participated in school talent shows. After graduating from high school, he attended the Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music in Pasadena, California and began studying guitar, giving guitar lessons to make a living. Mark owned a dog named Noah, which he named after his character on Glee.
He died on January 30, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.- Actor
- Composer
- Writer
Darren Criss was born on 5 February 1987 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Little White Lie (2009), Glee (2009) and A Very Potter Musical (2009). He has been married to Mia Swier since 16 February 2019. They have one child.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
It took a summer of acting in a children's theater group to convince Matthew Morrison that he wanted to become an actor. He auditioned and attended Orange County High School of the Arts, and followed that with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, although he didn't enjoy his college foray. Despite a regulation that students couldn't audition in the first two years at NYU, he got himself an agent and dropped out from NYU. His musical debut was in the musical version of Footloose (1984), which was then followed by "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." His big break, however, was in "Hairspray" when he landed the part of "Link Larkin." It was after this role that he made a debut into the television and film world, with small roles in Sex and the City (1998), Hack (2002), Encino Man (1992), and others. His self-proclaimed favorite role he did in television was in Once Upon a Mattress (2005), a musical for TV that starred Carol Burnett. He was nominated for a Tony for his role in "The Light in the Piazza" and eventually left the show in late 2005. He dabbled some more in roles among the television, film, and theater world. After starring in the Lincoln Center production of "South Pacific" as "Lieutenant Cable" in 2008, he took on the role of "Will Schuester" in the upcoming Fox series Glee (2009), which premiers in fall 2009.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Dean Geyer was born in Johannesburg South Africa and immigrated to Australia when he was 15 years old, commencing his schooling in Australia at Melbourne High School.
Geyer's family has a strong connection to martial arts. His grandfather Stan Schmidt was credited with formally introducing karate into South Africa. His father Keith Geyer, and many other members of the family are very highly regarded as being some of the most influential names in the sport both in South Africa and Australia. Following in family tradition and much of his life dedicating himself to the art, Dean attained his fourth degree black-belt.
Geyer's interest in music started during his early teens. He spent many years gigging around the city of Melbourne, and his seasoned ability was showcased during his Australian Idol audition in 2006. Dean progressed through the rounds and quickly became one of Australia's favorite competitors. He ended the competition securing 3rd place. Dean signed a record deal immediately following his departure from the show with Sony BMG. His debut album hit number 7 on the aria charts.
He was also a part-time model joining the agency 'Scene Models' in his hometown on Melbourne.
Geyer's career took a turn in 2008 where he was offered the role of Ty Harper on the long running Australian TV show Neighbors. His 8 month run on the show came to an end when Dean decided to take his passion for acting overseas. His first year in Los Angeles began with a film debut in Sony picture's Never Back Down 2, directed by Michael Jai White, where Geyer got to showcase his martial arts ability on screen as MMA fighter Mike Stokes.
Some credits throughout his years in the US include guest starring roles on VH1's 'Single Ladies', Hulu's 'Casual', NBC's 'Shades of Blue' opposite Jennifer Lopez, and a major recur on Steven Spielberg's 'Terra Nova' on Fox.
Fox's long running hit series 'Glee', picked up Dean as a major recur to play the role of Brody Weston opposite Lea Michele.
Dean moved on to shoot multiple films after his time on the show, including roles opposite Bruce Greenwood on 'Rehearsal' which he also co-produced. Most recently Geyer has two upcoming projects, scheduled to released in 2021. "Christmas in the Pines" being one which was shot during the coronavirus pandemic opposite his wife Jillian Murray.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Thomas Grant Gustin, better known as Grant Gustin, is an American actor and singer. He is known for his roles as Barry Allen / Flash on the CW series The Flash and as Sebastian Smythe on the Fox series Glee.
Gustin was born on January 14, 1990 in Norfolk, Virginia. He is the son of Dr. Tina Lynne (Sweeney) Haney, a pediatric nurse, and Thomas Avery Gustin. During his high school years, Grant attended the Governor's School for the Arts program in Norfolk, Virginia for Musical Theatre. He also went to Hurrah Players Incorporated which is a theatre organization in Virginia. In 2008, he graduated from Granby High School and went on to attend the BFA Music Theatre Program at Elon University in North Carolina for two years. He left school to take the role of Baby John in the Broadway Revival Tour of West Side Story, and performed with the tour from its opening on September 30, 2010 through September 23, 2011.
On November 8, 2011, he debuted on the television series Glee as Sebastian Smythe, an openly gay member of the Dalton Academy Warblers. Gustin won the recurring role of Sebastian, a promiscuous and scheming character, after "an exhaustive, weeks-long casting search". He originally auditioned for a role as a tap dancer, but did not get the part. However, Ryan Murphy kept him in mind. He began filming the role early on Monday, September 26, 2011, after having finished his final West Side Story performance the Friday night before. Gustin began filming A Mother's Nightmare (2012), an original film for the Lifetime network, in late May 2012. The project also stars actresses Annabeth Gish and Jessica Lowndes, and was shot in Canada. On July 11, 2012, it was announced that Gustin had landed a major role in the independent film Affluenza. On September 13, 2013, it was announced that Gustin would play Barry Allen in the second season of Arrow. He was initially supposed to appear in three episodes, the last one serving as the backdoor pilot for a potential spin-off Flash series. However, the backdoor pilot plan was dropped in favor of a stand-alone pilot, titled The Flash. The pilot was picked up with an initial order of thirteen episodes, and the series premiered on October 7, 2014, with 4.8 million viewers, the most for a premiere on The CW in five years. Two weeks later, the network increased the episode order to a full season of twenty-three in all. On January 11, 2015, the show was renewed for a second season. On March 11, 2016, it was renewed for a third season. Gustin also reprised his role in an episode of CBS series Supergirl.
In 2017, he co-starred with Nick Robinson in William H. Macy's film Krystal (2017).
In 2018, he married Andrea Thoma.- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
John Phillip Stamos was born in Cypress, California, to Loretta (Phillips), a model, and William Stamos, a restaurateur. His father was of Greek descent, with the family surname originally being "Stamotopoulos". John has two younger sisters, Janeen and Alaina, both school teachers. His first professional role was as Blackie Parrish on the daytime soap General Hospital (1963) from 1982-1984, for which he won two Soap Opera Digest Awards (1982 and 1983). In 1987 he began the role of Jesse on Full House (1987), which is his best-known role to date, spanning eight years. At his request, the writers of Full House (1987) gave his character the last name of Katsopolis, instead of the original character's name, Cochran, in order to highlight John's Greek heritage. He has played drums occasionally with The Beach Boys since 1985, and directed their "Hot Fun in the Summertime" video. He expanded his career to include the role of J. Pierrepont Finch in Broadway's production of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying!" in 1995, showcasing not only his musical talents, but his dancing ability, as well. On September 19, 1998, he married model Rebecca Romijn, of MTV's House of Style (1989), which was the first marriage for both. They were officially divorced on March 1, 2005.- Actor
- Producer
Ian Harding was born on 16 September 1986 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for Pretty Little Liars (2010), Ford v Ferrari (2019) and Adventureland (2009). He has been married to Sophie Hart since October 2019.- Keegan Allen received his breakout role in ABC Family's hit series Pretty Little Liars (2010), based on the novels by Sara Shepard. He portrayed the mysterious "Black Cat" character, "Toby Cavanaugh".
Allen has also made small appearances in TV shows, such as Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush (2009) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000). - Actor
- Soundtrack
Tyler Blackburn stars as Caleb Rivers, the bad boy with a soft side who swept Hanna off her feet on Pretty Little Liars (2010). Caleb is drawn to stay in Rosewood after witnessing some strange events that are seemingly connected to him.
Blackburn recently starred in Alloy Entertainment's web series Wendy (2011), in which he sang his own songs including theme song, "Save Me." He also starred as Jesse Pratt in the independent film Peach Plum Pear (2011), which debuted at the Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto, Canada.
A native of Burbank, California, Blackburn started his acting career at the age of 17. Prior to his role on "Pretty Little Liars," Blackburn had a major recurring role on the daytime drama Days of Our Lives (1965) as Ian, the love interest of Stephanie, played by Shelley Hennig. Other television credits include guest appearances on Cold Case (2003), Gigantic (2010) and Unfabulous (2004).
Blackburn currently resides in Los Angeles, California.- Actor
- Production Manager
- Producer
Patrick will next be seen in Eli Roth's new feature film THANKSGIVING as well as Michael Mann's new film, FERRARI, in which he stars opposite Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz. He was just seen starring in the Disney+ feature film and sequel to ENCHANTED, DISENCHANTED, opposite Amy Adams and most recently starred in the SKY-Italy television series, DEVILS that aired throughout Europe. Other credits include Universal's BRIDGET JONES'S BABY alongside Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth, and the EPIX mini-series THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIR. Patrick Dempsey is well-known for his portrayal of Dr. Derek Shepherd on the hit ABC series, GREY'S ANATOMY. His performance earned him a 2007 Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated in 2006 and 2007 for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama. Patrick's other film credits include TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, VALENTINE'S DAY, MADE OF HONOR, FREEDOM WRITERS, SWEET HOME ALABAMA, SCREAM 3, WITH HONORS, OUTBREAK, HUGO POOL, THE TREAT, THE PALACE THIEF, HEAVEN HELP US, HAPPY TOGETHER, SOME GIRLS, COUPE DE VILLE, RUN, MOBSTERS, and IN THE MOOD. Dempsey became well known from such classic '80s nostalgia films such as, CAN'T BUY ME LOVE and LOVERBOY.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Eric Dane was born on November 9, 1972, in San Francisco, California, the older of two brothers. His father is an architect and interior designer based in San Francisco. His mother, Leah (Cohn), was a homemaker. His ancestry includes English, German, Finnish, Russian Jewish, and Austrian Jewish, and he had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony.
He was a good athlete in high school. There, he started amateur stage work by playing Joe Keller in Arthur Miller's "All My Sons", and realized that this was all he wanted to do.
He moved to Los Angeles and made his television debut in 1993 on The Wonder Years (1988). In his early career, he also played bit parts on the TV series Married... with Children (1987) (1995), Silk Stalkings (1991) (1996) and Roseanne (1988) (1996). He played medical doctors more than once, first appearing as a Dr. Cooper in Gideon's Crossing (2000). He was also recurring as Jason Dean in the hit show Charmed (1998). From 2006 until 2012, he appeared as handsome Dr. Mark Sloan, the plastic surgeon on the show Grey's Anatomy (2005). He is also starring as Tom Chandler on The Last Ship (2014).
He landed his first leading role on the big screen in the German-made feature, Open Water 2: Adrift (2006). He was also a co-star in Marley & Me (2008) and Valentine's Day (2010). In X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) he played the character of Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man.
On October 29, 2004, in Las Vegas, Eric Dane married actress Rebecca Gayheart. They have two daughters.- Actor
- Soundtrack
- Director
Josh Dallas was born in Louisville Kentucky. At the age of sixteen, Josh received the Sarah Exley Scholarship, a full ride scholarship given to one American student every three years to study acting at the prestigious "Mountview Conservatoire for the Performing Arts" in London, England. As an actor, Josh has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, The English National Opera, The New Shakespeare Company, The Young Vic, to name a few.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Sebastian Stan was born on August 13, 1982, in Constanta, Romania. He moved with his mother to Vienna, Austria, when he was eight, and then to New York when he was twelve. Stan studied at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts and spent a year at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London.
When he went back to New York he started working in some projects like Law & Order (1990), Tony & Tina's Wedding (2004) and Red Doors (2005). Upon finishing college, he played Martin Waters in The Architect (2006), Chase Collins in The Covenant (2006) and worked in Eric Bogosian's theater play The Talk (2007). Also in 2007, Stan started playing Carter Baizen in Gossip Girl (2007). His following projects were Spread (2009), Kings (2009), Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), and Black Swan (2010). He landed also the role of Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). In 2012, Stan worked in several projects: Gone (2012), Political Animals (2012), The Apparition (2012), Once Upon a Time (2011) and the mini series Labyrinth (2012). In 2013, he was in Broadway's Picnic and in 2014 he was introduced as The Winter Soldier in the Marvel universe in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). He has continued his role as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier in [=tt3498820], Black Panther (2018) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Other notable projects include Ricki and the Flash (2015), The Martian (2015), The Bronze (2015) and Logan Lucky (2017). He was given high praise for his work in the recent I, Tonya (2017).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Eion is known for his performances in the Emmy and Golden Globe winning HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, character roles in "Fight Club" , "Almost Famous", "Center Stage" and leading man opposite Antonio Banderas in HBOs "And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself". Eion was nominated for a Golden Satellite award and hailed by critics for a "beautifully understated performance that brings a striking balance to the piece". The movie's legendary writer-producer Larry Gelbart of M.A.S.H. fame was quoted in Variety as saying " I see Eion as a reincarnation of Henry Fonda. He's physically attractive and exudes an effortless sincerity, he has the whole actors ball of wax".
In September 2003, Variety Magazine honored Bailey as one of the top ten emerging actors to watch. He has appeared in Showtime's original movie, "Sexual Life", where he was voted the prestigious 'breakthrough performance of the year award' by audience members of The Phoenix International Film Festival after only twenty minutes of screen time.
Eion joined the cast of ER for half a season, and was recognized by People Magazine as one of the Fifty Most Eligible Bachelors of 2005 and US magazine named Eion and his cast mate Maura Tierney as one of the sexiest couples on television. Eion has since starred opposite Ellen Pompeo in the television movie "Life of the Party", for which he was awarded his first Emmy for 'Outstanding Performance in a 'Youth or Family Special'.
On stage, Eion has appeared in numerous plays, most notably as Alan Strang in the psychological masterpiece "Equus" at the Pasadena Playhouse. In this daring role that requires an on stage mental breakdown and prolonged full nudity, critics once again found Eion's performance to be remarkable. Variety called him "excellent as Strang" Hollywood Reporter "expert" and Drama Logue noted that "his performance moves to a profoundly moving crescendo by plays end".
More recently his turn as as Steve Knight on Showtimes "Ray Donovan" attracted attention along with an international fan following for his multi-year recurring role on ABC's "Once Upon A Time". In 2017 Eion is shooting "The Last Tycoon" for Amazon and his starring turn in the nautical-drama "Extortion" with Academy award nominee Barkhad Abdi and Danny Glover will be released by Lionsgate May 16th.- Actor
- Director
- Cinematographer
Julian Morris is a familiar and popular face to film and television audiences worldwide.
Morris stars in the Emmy-winning Man in an Orange Shirt for the BBC, opposite Vanessa Redgrave; in Amazon's Hand of God directed by Marc Forster; and on the global-hit, Pretty Little Liars.
His recent work includes playing Bob Woodward opposite Liam Neeson in Felt, a film about the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon; and in the feature film Viper Club, opposite Susan Sarandon and produced by JC Chandor.
Other work includes the BAFTA-winning film Kelly + Victor, New Girl, and the BBC/PBS adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women with Emily Watson and Michael Gambon.
He is currently shooting Morning Show for Apple, opposite Reese Witherspoon, and in a cast that includes Steve Carell and Jennifer Aniston.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Tom Welling is probably best known for playing Clark Kent on the hit television series Smallville (2001).
He was born Thomas Joseph Welling in Putnam Valley, New York, to Bonnie and Thomas Welling, who is a retired executive for General Motors. He has a younger brother, Mark Welling, who is also an actor, and two older sisters. He is of three quarters German and one quarter British Isles (mostly Irish) descent. Welling graduated from Okemos High School in Okemos, Michigan, when he was eighteen years old. Before that, he spent his freshman year in the Salesianum School in Wilmington, Delaware. He played a lot of varsity soccer in his high school and received "fair" grades on his exams. But even so, Tom did not want to go to college. He wanted to be a construction worker and after graduation worked in a construction service site.
Tom eventually moved on to modeling after spending a period of time working in the construction business. While modeling, he met fellow celebrity and model Ashton Kutcher while they were booked for a project together. The two eventually become good friends. Even though both Ashton and Tom were famous models, Tom decided to be an actor. He had an offer from a guy who worked in the agency he was signed with to be an actor. Tom attended a few casting calls and not too long later, became an actor.
The acting gigs that he received eventually made directors take more notice of him. Tom Welling was asked to play the role of Clark Kent in the hit series Smallville (2001). What many people probably don't know is that Tom turned down the role twice. He said that the reason he turned down the role wasn't because the story wasn't good, but it was because he thought the role was bigger than he was and he didn't want people to think that he wasn't a good enough actor.
Even so, Tom ended up taking the role because he had the feeling that the show was going to be a great hit and he would be a fool not to take it. Tom even said he felt some sort of connection between himself and his character, Clark Kent. Therefore, Tom made himself a household name.
Other than only becoming a face on television, Welling also acts in other movies. The movie with which he is probably most associated is Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), in which he starred with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, and its sequel, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005), in which he repeated his prior role. Tom has also starred in a B-grade horror flick, The Fog (2005), together with Lost (2004)'s star, Maggie Grace. Although that movie didn't really achieve box-office success, Tom's acting talents still got noticed by the critics. More recently, he co-starred in the fictional historical drama Parkland (2013) with Zac Efron, whom he befriended.
Tom married Jamie White, one of his closest friends, on July 5, 2002. Tom has said that the person he respects the most is his wife, because she has the greatest heart. According to reports, while working on Smallville, he lived with his wife in Los Angeles, and relocated to Vancouver for filming. Tom and Jamie separated in 2013.- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Jared Padalecki was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Sherri (Kammer), a teacher of English, and Gerald Padalecki, a tax accountant. He is of Polish (father) and German, English, Scottish, and French (mother) descent. Jared started to take acting lessons when he was 12. Then, he won the "Claim to Fame" Contest in 1999 and got to appear on the Teen Choice awards. Jared lived in San Antonio, Texas and attended James Madison High School. He was named a candidate for the year 2000 Presidential Scholars Program. After graduating in the year 2000, he moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career. He played "Dean Forester" on Gilmore Girls (2000) on the WB starting in 2000 and ending in 2005. From 2005 to 2020, he portrayed "Sam Winchester" on the CW's Supernatural (2005). He also has several feature film credits.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Milo Ventimiglia is an American actor, director and producer.
Milo currently stars on the critically acclaimed drama series "This is Us." He has been nominated twice for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (2017 & 2018) and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series (2019) for his portrayal of the family patriarch, Jack Pearson. The show won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and the People's Choice Award for Best New Drama. In 2016 he reprised his role of Jess in the continuation of critically acclaimed television drama "Gilmore Girls,' which returned with four 90-minute episodes on Netflix. His other television credits include a memorable recurring role as 'The Ogre' in the FOX drama "Gotham," the Frank Darabont helmed TNT drama "Lost Angels," NBC's "Heroes," the critically acclaimed drama "American Dreams" and David. E. Kelley's drama "Boston Public."
Milo's passion for the art of acting keeps him drawn to both studio and independent features. Milo is wrapped production on the Fox 2000 feature film "The Art of Racing in the Rain," an adaptation of the international best-selling novel by Garth Stein. The book focuses on a family dog named Enzo who evaluates his life through the lessons learned by his human owner, a professional race-car driver named Denny Swift, played by Milo. The film will be released in September 2018. Ventimiglia recently starred alongside Jennifer Lopez in the romantic comedy "Second Act" and had a memorable cameo in "Creed II." He starred alongside Sylvester Stallone as his son in sixth installment of the Rocky series "Rocky Balboa, in Adam Sandler's "That's My Boy," and "Grown Ups 2" and alongside Nicole Kidman in "Grace of Monaco." His other film credits include Xan Cassavetes' "Kiss of the Damned," a remake of the 1986 Burt Reynolds drama "Heat" alongside Jason Statham" and the "Killing Season" with Robert DeNiro.
Behind the camera Ventimiglia and his partner at Divide Pictures Russ Cundiff are involved in traditional content having sold TV shows to NBC, SyFy and FX, and producing the independent feature TELL which Ventimiglia co-starred along side of Jason Lee and Katee Sackoff as well as STATIC, which Ventimiglia co-starred with Sarah Shahi and Sara Paxton. Ventimiglia also produced the web-series Chosen, now in it's second season for Sony's Crackle as well as directed other digital projects for American Eagle Outfitters, Cadillac, GQ and Liberty Mutual. Divide Pictures' latest web-series "The P.E.T. Squad" Files for CW's Seed, is about a group of amateur ghost hunters who chase fame without having seen an actual apparition. The show launches summer 2013 from San Diego Comicon. Ventimiglia's passion for comic books led him to produce two titles for Top Cow / Image Comics "Rest" and "Berserker."
Ventimiglia spends his free time working with vets through the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America as well as taking USO tours to troops abroad.- Actor
- Producer
Brandon James Routh (pronounced like "south") was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and grew up in nearby Norwalk. He is the son of Catherine (Lear), a teacher, and Ronald Routh, a carpenter. He has English, Scottish, and German ancestry. Brandon attended the University of Iowa and starred in many productions at the Norwalk Theater of Performing Arts. His first professional acting role was in the ABC television series Odd Man Out (1999), and he went on to guest star in the series Gilmore Girls (2000) and Undressed (1999). He came to fame with Superman Returns (2006) and DC's Legends of Tomorrow (2016). In his spare time, Routh enjoys playing soccer and basketball, swimming, biking and reading.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jensen Ross Ackles, better known as simply Jensen Ackles, was born on March 1, 1978, in Dallas, Texas, to Donna Joan (Shaffer) and actor Alan Ackles. He has English, German, and Scottish ancestry. Jensen grew up in Richardson, Texas, together with his older brother, Joshua, and a younger sister, Mackenzie. Jensen graduated from Dartmouth Elementary School in 1990, he graduated from Apollo Junior High School in 1993, and LV Berkner High School in 1996.
Jensen is a sports junkie. He loves football, lacrosse, baseball and basketball. He even played on the baseball and lacrosse teams in high school. The 6' 1" actor first started modeling when he was just 2 years old. When he turned 4, he started appearing in TV commercials for Nabisco, RadioShack and Wal-Mart. He caught the acting bug because he was mostly influenced by his father, who was an actor in Dallas. He used to watch his father study scripts, and that taught him a few things about the industry. During his later years in high school, he started taking theater classes, where he claimed he was the only "jock" in that department. When he was just a sophomore, a friend of Jensen had asked him to attend a local acting seminar. Two guys, Craig Wargo, and an agent, 'Michael Einfeld', were interested in Jensen's talent and wanted him to go to Los Angeles with them.
Jensen had to say no to the offer and admitted at one point, he thought they would forget about him but, eventually, when he went to Los Angeles, he still managed to get help from them. Prior to that, Jensen actually planned to study sports medicine at Texas Tech University and become a physical therapist, before he decided to move to Los Angeles to give acting a try. In 1996, he managed to secure guest roles on several TV shows, which included Wishbone (1995), Mr. Rhodes (1996) and Sweet Valley High (1994). Jensen's big break came when he was cast in the NBC soap opera, Days of Our Lives (1965), as Eric Brady in 1997. He won a Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Male Newcomer in 1998, and was nominated three times in 1998, 1999, and 2000 for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his work on Days of Our Lives (1965). After spending about three years on a soap set, he left Days of Our Lives (1965) and went on to appear in the mini-series Blonde (2001), which was about the life of Marilyn Monroe, playing Eddie G. He also auditioned for the role of Clark Kent on Smallville (2001), but lost the part to Tom Welling, instead.
Not giving up hope, he went for a few auditions and managed to secure a guest role on the popular James Cameron TV series, Dark Angel (2000), as serial killer Ben/X5-493, the brother of main character Max/X5-452, who was played by Jessica Alba. His character died in the episode, but Jensen eventually returned to the show as a regular in the second season as Ben's clone, Alec/X5-494 and continued on until the show's cancellation in 2002. In 2003, he joined the cast of Dawson's Creek (1998), playing the role of C.J., Jen Lindley's lover. He also filmed episodes of the TV series, Still Life (2003), playing the role of Max Morgan, not knowing that the series was actually dropped. He also had a small role in the short film, The Plight of Clownana (2004), playing the role of Jensen. That same year, he was offered the part of Eliza Dushku's love interest on the second season of Tru Calling (2003). Jensen, however, turned down the role which was later offered to another actor, Eric Christian Olsen. He was subsequently cast on Smallville (2001), as Assistant football coach Jason Teague, the new love interest of Lana Lang. In 2005, Jensen managed to earn a lead role in the movie, Devour (2005), playing the role of Jake Gray. Jensen also earned the opportunity to work his father, actor Alan Ackles, who happened to play his character's father, Paul Kilton. The movie, however, received mixed reviews from the public.
That same year, Jensen joined the cast of the CW series, Supernatural (2005), where he plays the role of Dean Winchester. Dean and his brother Sam, who is played by Jared Padalecki, are brothers who drive throughout the United States hunting paranormal predators, sometimes with their father, John Winchester, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It was reported that the creator of the show, Eric Kripke, mentioned that the show will last for a maximum of five seasons. In 2006, Jensen took on a role in the Independently filmed comedy/drama movie, Ten Inch Hero (2007), which explores the theme of honesty and the flaw of judging by appearances. In 2007 the film began a limited run at number of film festivals including the Newport Beach Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival and the Santa Cruz Film Festival but never made it into major mainstream theatrical release. In the Spring of 2008 Ten Inch Hero was released onto DVD exclusively through Blockbuster. Jensen however, received high praise for his work as Priestly, who one of the movie's more quirky characters.
From June 5-10 in 2007 Jensen had his professional stage debut as Lt. Daniel Kaffee in "A Few Good Men" at Casa Manana Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas, working along side Lou Diamond Phillips. This proved to be another successful acting venture for Jensen, as critics were impressed with his work in this role. During his free time, Jensen enjoys golfing, horseback riding, scuba diving and photography. He is also a big fan of country music. His favorite musician is Garth Brooks. He even sang back-up vocals on good friend Steve Carlson's albums "Spot in the Corner" and "Rollin' On." In the summer of 2008 Jensen traveled to Kittaning, PA to film the horror/thriller movie, My Bloody Valentine (2009), which was filmed in the cutting edge Real D technology, Jensen played the lead role of Tom Hanniger and starred alongside Jaime King and Kerr Smith.
Jensen splits his time between Vancouver, British Columbia where he films Supernatural (2005) and his home in Austin, Texas.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Liam Hemsworth was born on January 13, 1990, in Melbourne, Australia, and is the younger brother of actors Chris Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth. He is the son of Leonie (van Os), a teacher of English, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counselor. He is of Dutch (from his immigrant maternal grandfather), Irish, English, Scottish, and German ancestry. His uncle, by marriage, was Rod Ansell, the bushman who inspired the film Crocodile Dundee (1986).
The Hemsworth family lived primarily on Phillip Island, a small island located south of Melbourne. Following in the footsteps of his older brothers, who went into acting in their teens, Liam scored his first audition at age sixteen and appeared on the Australian TV series Home and Away (1988) and McLeod's Daughters (2001) before taking on a recurring character role on the soap opera Neighbours (1985), in which his brother Luke had also appeared. Roles on TV shows The Elephant Princess (2008) and Satisfaction (2007) followed before Liam moved to the United States to pursue a big-screen career.
After suffering two setbacks - his character was written out of the script for The Expendables (2010) days before filming and he lost the title role of Thor (2011) to his brother Chris - Liam was cast opposite Miley Cyrus in the Nicholas Sparks drama The Last Song (2010). The two, who played love interests in the film, soon started dating, and Liam appeared in Cyrus' music video "When I Look at You." Following that film's modest commercial success, and the attendant press coverage of his rising career and high-profile romance, he was almost immediately thrust into leading man status, and was cast as Gale Hawthorne in the big-screen adaptation of the best-selling novel The Hunger Games (2012). Following the blockbuster success of that film, Liam nabbed a number of roles, including a supporting part in The Expendables 2 (2012) and leading roles in the war drama Love and Honor (2013), the crime drama Empire State (2013), and the thriller Paranoia (2013). He reprised the role of Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014), and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015), played a hero fighter pilot in Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), a period Australian in The Duel (2016), and a romantic comedy archetype opposite Rebel Wilson in Isn't It Romantic (2019).
Hemsworth married American singer and actress Miley Cyrus in December 2018, after a decade-long courtship.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Neil Jackson was born on 5 March 1976 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Stargirl (2020), The King's Man (2021) and Absentia (2017).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Johnny Pacar was born in Dearborn, Michigan. He grew up an avid hockey player, who always dreamed of one day playing in the NHL. However, Johnny's hockey career was put on hold after he was discovered while performing in his high school's theater productions. Johnny received great feedback for his acting talents and was encouraged to move to Los Angeles. Within a month of arriving in Los Angeles Pacar booked a national commercial. Not long after that came numerous television roles on many prime time shows including recurring characters on Boston Public and American Dreams.
He became a teen icon when landing the lead in the Disney Channel Original Movie Now You See It.... He went on to star as a series regular in NBC/Discovery Kids hit series Flight 29 Down (2005-2007). His success in television propelled him into film landing him many starring roles in such features as Universal Pictures Wild Child and the lead opposite Richard E. Grant in the romantic comedy Love Hurts which earned him numerous acting nominations and a Best Supporting Actor award win. He also starred in the CBS/Hallmark hit Front of the Class (based on the novel "Front of the Class" that explored a families struggle with Tourette's Syndrome).
In 2009 he landed a role in ABC Family's gymnastics hit series Make It or Break It where he played the bad boy rocker Damon Young. While on hiatus from the show he got the chance to star opposite one of his childhood idols Christian Slater in the thriller Playback. He continued landing roles in film and television such as SyFy Network's hit TV movie Zombie Apocalypse and in the MTV pilot Hot Mess where he played the heartthrob Ben. He also starred in the Sony/Affirm thriller The Remaining. Aside from his acting career Johnny is an accomplished musician releasing two records with his pop/rock band Forever The Day where he served as frontman/lead singer and has released several singles as a solo artist as well. Johnny played for the charity celebrity basketball organization the Hollywood Knights playing for local schools and USO sponsored tours overseas.
When he's not acting or making music his other passions include cooking, painting and writing.- Actor
- Music Department
- Writer
Cody Longo was an American actor and musician. The early stages of his career began onstage before eventually moving to Los Angeles to pursue film and television. He studied psychology and film at UCLA.
Cody had various film and television roles since he started his professional career in 2009. He was a singer/songwriter who broke into the Billboard Top 100 charts in 2014 with his song "She Said", which charted #3 along with his debut album. He was a music supervisor and executive producer on various film and television projects. He had his hand in charities and pushed to keep both art programs in schools domestically, and continue to help build housings that provides schooling for children around the world. He headed his own non-profit LiveAlive, and was heavily involved with Make a Wish foundation and Pencils of Promise.
Cody relocated to Nashville, Tennessee to write and produce music. He co-founded and served as chief music executive officer of Circle 11 Entertainment, a company that would help create and mold up-and-coming talent. He was poised to return to acting in 2023 before his untimely death.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Joshua Ryan Hutcherson was born on October 12, 1992 in Union, Kentucky to Michelle Fightmaster, who worked for Delta Air Lines, and Chris Hutcherson, an EPA analyst. He has one younger brother, Connor Hutcherson. From the age of four, Josh knew that he wanted to be an actor. In order to pursue his goal, Josh and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was nine-years-old.
In 2002, Josh landed his first acting role in the TV film, House Blend (2002), with Amy Yasbeck, Dan Cortese and Sean Faris. The same year, Josh was cast in the pilot, Becoming Glen (2002), but Fox did not order it to series (though, several years later, it was reconfigured as the short-lived series, The Winner (2007), starring Rob Corddry, and co-written/produced by Seth MacFarlane). Toward the end of 2002, Josh appeared on an episode of ER (1994).
Josh made his big-screen debut, in 2003, with a bit part in the Oscar-nominated American Splendor (2003). His career began its measured ascent in 2005 with a supporting slot as one of Will Ferrell's kids in Kicking & Screaming (2005), a co-starring role in the indie hit Little Manhattan (2005), and another co-starring role in Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), which was originally conceived as a sequel to Jumanji (1995). Despite underperforming at the box office, "Zathura" helped earned for Josh his first Young Artist Award for "Leading Young Actor".
2006 saw bigger returns for Josh's burgeoning film career with a role as one of Robin Williams' sons in the modest hit, RV (2006). The following year, he landed his first breakthrough role in Bridge to Terabithia (2007), the kid-approved adaptation of Katherine Paterson's novel that co-starred AnnaSophia Robb, whose career was also taking off at this time.
Josh starred as Brendan Fraser's nephew in another family-film hit, Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), and he had a smaller role in the Crash-like drama, Fragments (2008), though by now his face and name were being used in movie-marketing materials. Though it wasn't a hit, Josh's character in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) served as a major plot device early in the story.
In 2010, Josh co-starred in the critically-acclaimed film, The Kids Are All Right (2010), alongside Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, and Mia Wasikowska. The film received several awards and four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Josh's performance as the youngest child in a family, led by two mothers, earned him acclaim from audiences and the industry, alike. Josh followed up with an expanded role in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), which saw Dwayne Johnson take over as the main character from Brendan Fraser. Between the star power and the allure of 3D, the sequel was a worldwide hit and a third installment is in development.
With the announcement that he would portray the beloved "Peeta Mellark" in The Hunger Games (2012), the film adaptation of the best-selling novel written by Suzanne Collins, Josh became an instant celebrity. In the wake of the movie's massive worldwide success, Detention (2011), a horror/comedy that Josh made before "The Hunger Games", was released. Josh was also an executive producer on that feature.
Before Josh reprises his role as "Peeta" in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), we will see him in the long-delayed remake of Red Dawn (2012); the omnibus 7 Days in Havana (2011) (aka "7 Days in Havana") (Josh's segment was directed by Benicio Del Toro); The Forger (2012) opposite Lauren Bacall, Alfred Molina, and Hayden Panettiere; and the animated Epic (2013) from Ice Age (2002) co-director (and voice of "Scrat"), Chris Wedge.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Ioan Gruffudd was born on October 6, 1973 in Cardiff, Wales, UK to educators Gillian (James) and Peter Gruffudd. He has a brother, Alun, who is two years younger and a sister, Siwan, who is seven years younger. He got his start at age 13 in the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm (1974). He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1992 to 1995, and was then cast as the title role of the television remake Poldark (1996). After playing Oscar Wilde's lover John Gray in Wilde (1997) and Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in Titanic (1997), Gruffudd became a leading man in the Hornblower series of television movies between 1998 and 2003. He then played Pip in the big budget BBC production of Great Expectations (1999). Other film roles include 102 Dalmatians (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001), King Arthur (2004), Amazing Grace (2006), Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).
He resides in Los Angeles, California.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Alexander Richard Pettyfer was born in Hertfordshire and raised in Windsor. His mother, Lee (Robinson), is an interior designer. His father, Richard Pettyfer, is a fellow actor. His parents divorced and Alex now has a younger half-brother, James, from his mother's re-marriage to a property developer, Michael Ireland. James is a junior tennis player.
At age 7, Alex started modeling for Gap's children range. He also appeared in TV commercials for other brands. When he was older, he modeled for Burberry to fund his traveling adventures.
Alex attended various private schools. During this time, he enjoyed performing in school plays. At age 13, he auditioned and won a role in the TV movie Tom Brown's Schooldays (2005). At age 15, he went to Los Angeles and was cast as "Alex Rider", the main character in Stormbreaker (2006) (aka "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker"). This was his breakthrough role and he was nominated for a Young Artist Award and an Empire Award for this role.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Grammy-winning band Maroon 5's frontman Adam Noah Levine was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He is the son of Patsy (Noah), an admissions counselor, and Fredric Levine, who founded the retail chain M. Fredric. Adam's father's family is Jewish, while Adam's mother is of half Jewish (her own father) and half German and Scottish (her own mother) ancestry. His uncle, Timothy Noah, is a journalist. Adam began playing music with his junior-high friends guitarist, rather than the keyboardist (for which he is known in the band Maroon 5) Jesse Carmichael and bassist Mickey Madden. Their first gig was at a school dance and Levine was terribly shy so he played with his back to the audience. Ryan Dusick joined the band as drummer and the alternative rock band Kara's Flowers were born (1994). They released an album called "The Fourth World" (1997). Then, he headed to New York City with Carmichael to study music at Five Towns College on Long Island. While they were there, he was surrounded by new music scenes and influences which give him whole new perspective on songwriting and singing. He dropped out of school after a semester and headed back to California with Carmichael to reunite with their pals and develop their band. He began writing a bunch of songs that were inspired by his recently failed relationship. After adding in new guitarist James Valentine (moving Carmichael over to keyboards) Maroon 5 was officially born. The band released their debut album "Songs About Jane", which included international hits "This Love", "Sunday Morning" and "She Will Be Loved" (2002).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Born Ryan Thomas Gosling on November 12, 1980, in London, Ontario, Canada, he is the son of Donna (Wilson), a secretary, and Thomas Ray Gosling, a traveling salesman. Ryan was the second of their two children, with an older sister, Mandi. His ancestry is French-Canadian, as well as English, Scottish, and Irish. The Gosling family moved to Cornwall, Ontario, where Ryan grew up and was home-schooled by his mother. He also attended Gladstone Public School and Cornwall Collegiate & Vocational School, where he excelled in Drama and Fine Arts. The family then relocated to Burlington, Ontario, where Ryan attended Lester B. Pearson High School.
Ryan first performed as a singer at talent contests with Mandi. He attended an open audition in Montreal for the TV series "The Mickey Mouse Club" (The All New Mickey Mouse Club (1989)) in January 1993 and beat out 17,000 other aspiring actors for a a spot on the show. While appearing on "MMC" for two years, he lived with co-star Justin Timberlake's family.
Though he received no formal acting training, after "MMC," Gosling segued into an acting career, appearing on the TV series Young Hercules (1998) and Breaker High (1997), as well as the films The Slaughter Rule (2002), Murder by Numbers (2002), and Remember the Titans (2000). He first attracted serious critical attention with his performance as the Jewish neo-Nazi in the controversial film The Believer (2001), which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. He was cast in the part by writer-director Henry Bean, who believed that Gosling's strict upbringing gave him the insight to understand the character Danny, whose obsessiveness with the Judaism he was born into turns to hatred. He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as Best Male Lead in 2002 for the role and won the Golden Aries award from the Russian Guild of Film Critics.
After appearing in the sleeper The Notebook (2004) in 2004, Gosling won the dubious honor of being named one of the 50 Hottest Bachelors by People Magazine. More significantly, he was named the Male Star of Tomorrow at the 2004 Show West convention of movie exhibitors.
Gosling reached a summit of his profession with his performance in Half Nelson (2006), which garnered him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. In a short time, he has established himself as one of the finest actors of his generation. Throughout the subsequent decade, he has become all three of an internet fixation, a box office star, and a critical darling, having headlined Blue Valentine (2010), Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011), Drive (2011), The Ides of March (2011), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), The Nice Guys (2016), and La La Land (2016). In 2017, he starred in the long-awaited science fiction sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017), with Harrison Ford.
Ryan has two children with his partner, actress Eva Mendes.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Rob Lowe was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, to Barbara Lynn (Hepler), a schoolteacher, and Charles Davis Lowe, a lawyer. His brother is actor Chad Lowe. He has German, as well as English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry. Lowe's family moved to Dayton, Ohio, when he was a child. Rob broke into acting in his teens. He spent the 1980s as a member of the "Brat Pack", a group of young, powerful and reckless actors and actresses that included Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen and Judd Nelson, among others. In 1988 Lowe was involved in a scandal centering around a sexually explicit videotape which involved a minor, for which he did 20 hours of community service in Dayton. He subsequently sought help for his problems with drugs and alcohol and has re-emerged in the 1990s as a clean and sober husband and father.- Actor
- Producer
Armand Douglas Hammer was born in Los Angeles, California, to Dru Ann (Mobley) and Michael Armand Hammer, a businessman. His great-grandfather, Armand Hammer, was a prominent tycoon and philanthropist who ran the company Occidental Petroleum for many decades. Armie's ancestry includes Russian-Jewish, English, Scots-Irish, and German. He has a younger brother, Viktor Hammer (Armie and Viktor share the same first names as their great-grandfather and his brother). His father is chairman and CEO of the Armand Hammer Foundation, where his mother is a board member. His parents also serve together on the boards of the Los Angeles Dream Center and Knoedler & Hammer Galleries in New York. In addition, his father is a member of the board of trustees for Oral Roberts University, and his mother, a former bank loan officer, teaches Bible study in Los Angeles.
His family moved to Dallas, Texas, when he was approaching school age. They moved to the Cayman Islands in 1993, where they stayed for 5 years. While here, Armie attended the Grace Christian Academy, a school that his father set up. They returned to Los Angeles when Armie was thirteen. He attended L.A. Baptist High School and Calvary Junior High School. He made his stage debut playing "Rooster Hannigan" in a 6th-grade production of "Annie". He left school in the 11th grade so that he could pursue acting. His parents were keen for him to continue his studies, so he took courses at Pasadena City College and UCLA.
He had various small parts, before being cast as Billy Graham in Billy: The Early Years (2008). His breakthrough role came when he played the "Winklevoss Twins" in The Social Network (2010), in a dual role. He has since played "Clyde Tolson" in J. Edgar (2011), "Prince Alcott" in Mirror Mirror (2012), and starred in the title role, John Reid, in the 2013 version of The Lone Ranger (2013), opposite Johnny Depp as Tonto.
In 2015, Hammer starred with Henry Cavill in the spy thriller The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), playing Russian spy Illya Kuryakin and American agent Napoleon Solo, respectively. His 2016 films include the historical drama The Birth of a Nation (2016), the thrillers Nocturnal Animals (2016) and Mine (2016), and the crime drama Free Fire (2016). In 2017, he voiced Jackson Storm in the CGI sequel Cars 3 (2017), and starred as Oliver, an American scholar, in the drama Call Me by Your Name (2017), opposite Timothée Chalamet. For the role, Armie received his first Golden Globe nomination, for Best Supporting Actor.
In 2018, he played David in the drama Hotel Mumbai (2018), and starred as real life taxation law expert Martin D. Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex (2018), a biopic of Martin's wife, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. More recently, he headlined the unusual horror film Wounds (2019) and was Maxim de Winter in the drama-thriller Rebecca (2020).
Armie was married to actress, model, and television personality Elizabeth Chambers in 2010. They announced their divorce in July 2020. They have two children, a boy and a girl.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Zachary David Alexander Efron was born October 18, 1987 in San Luis Obispo, California, to Starla Baskett, a secretary, and David Efron, an electrical engineer. He has a younger brother, Dylan. The surname "Efron", which is Hebrew and a Biblical place name, comes from Zac's Polish Jewish paternal grandfather.
Zac was raised in Arroyo Grande, CA. He took his first step toward acting at the age of eleven, after his parents noticed his singing ability. Singing and acting lessons soon led to an appearance in a production of "Gypsy" that ran 90 performances, and he was hooked. After appearing on-stage in "Peter Pan", "Auntie Mame", "Little Shop of Horrors" and "The Music Man", guest parts quickly followed on television series, including Firefly (2002), ER (1994), CSI: Miami (2002), NCIS (2003), and The Guardian (2001). After guest-starring in several episodes of Summerland (2004), Zac joined the regular cast as girl-crazy Cameron Bale. He also starred in several pilots, such as The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke (2003) and Triple Play (2004), and played an autistic child in the television film Miracle Run (2004), alongside Mary-Louise Parker and Aidan Quinn. He graduated from Arroyo Grande High School in June 2006.
Efron came to fame for starring in the Disney Channel original film High School Musical (2006), for which he won the Teen Choice Award for Breakout Star. He returned to the role of Troy Bolton in High School Musical 2 (2007), which broke cable TV records with 17.5 million viewers.
He had the lead roles in the fantasy romance Charlie St. Cloud (2010) and the comedy 17 Again (2009), both from director Burr Steers, and as the lovable Link Larkin in 2007's smash hit musical Hairspray (2007), directed by Adam Shankman. As part of the all-star cast, he shared a Critics Choice Award for Best Acting Ensemble and the 2007 Hollywood Film Festival Award for Ensemble of the Year, and was honored with a Screen Actors Guild Award® nomination for Outstanding Motion Picture Cast. In addition, he won an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance.
Efron then starred in Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles (2008), an adaptation of the novel by Robert Kaplow, which premiered to rave reviews at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. That same year, he led Kenny Ortega's High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008), which set a box office record for the highest grossing opening weekend for a musical. In 2012, Efron took the lead in The Lucky One (2012), a film adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel, playing a marine who returns to North Carolina after serving in Iraq in search for the unknown woman he believes was his good luck charm during the war. He also lent his voice to the animated feature Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (2012), and co-starred in Lee Daniels' thriller The Paperboy (2012), alongside Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey and Scott Glenn, as well as Josh Radnor's Liberal Arts (2012), which premiered to rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. Another indie film he co-starred in, At Any Price (2012), was released in 2013.
Most recently, Zac starred with Seth Rogen in the hit comedy film Neighbors (2014), headlined the 2015 drama We Are Your Friends (2015), carried three 2016 comedies, Dirty Grandpa (2016), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), and starred opposite Hugh Jackman and Zendaya in the musical drama The Greatest Showman (2017), about showman P. T. Barnum. The latter title was a sleeper hit in the winter of 2017, becoming Zac's highest-grossing live action film in the U.S.
Zac's 2019 roles include a supporting part in Harmony Korine's The Beach Bum (2019), and playing serial killer Ted Bundy in Joe Berlinger's biographical drama Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019).
Efron's favorite sports include golf, skiing, rock climbing, and snowboarding. He added surfing after spending days on the beach for "Summerland." He played the piano at home. He has also fixed up two cars in his spare time, a Delorean and '65 Mustang convertible, both treasured hand-me-downs from his even-more-treasured grandfather.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Chris Warren was born on 15 January 1990 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Grand Hotel (2019), Sistas (2019) and The Fosters (2013). He has been married to Layla Warren since 23 May 2019.- Actor
- Soundtrack
- Producer
Cobin Bleu was born Corbin Bleu Reivers on February 21, 1989 in Brooklyn, New York City, to Martha (Callari) and David Reivers, an actor. His mother is of Italian descent and his father is Jamaican.
Corbin began appearing in television commercials at the age two, for products such as Life cereal, Bounty, Hasbro, and Nabisco. It was at that time he also discovered his love for dance when he began taking jazz and ballet classes, usually the only boy in the class. By the age of four he was a model with the Ford Modeling Agency in New York. He appeared in print ads for stores such as Macy's, Gap, Target, and Toys R Us, and fashion spreads in Child, Parent, and American Baby magazines, as well as having his image on toys and game packaging. At age six Corbin appeared in his first professional theater production off Broadway playing an abandon homeless mute in the play "Tiny Tim is Dead".
Corbin and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1996 and he quickly landed a recurring role on the television series High Incident (1996). He continued to land small roles in such feature films as Soldier (1998) with Kurt Russell, Mystery Men (1999) with Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, and Greg Kinnear, and Galaxy Quest (1999) with Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman. He also guest starred on such television shows as ER (1994), Malcolm & Eddie (1996), Cover Me (1999), and The Amanda Show (1999). Corbin also continued dancing, eventually becoming one of the first students at the prestigious Debbie Allen Dance Academy. He then attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a theater major, this time following in his mother's footsteps who attended New York City's famed High School of Performing Arts. While in his freshman year Corbin was cast in his first lead role in the feature film Catch That Kid (2004). Back in school in his sophomore year he played the lead role of Ren in the musical "Footloose" and the role of Sonny in the musical "Grease". That same year Corbin was honored with the award of Theatre Student of the Year. In the summer of 2004 Corbin became a part of the ensemble cast for the new Discovery Kids television series Flight 29 Down (2005), filmed on location in Hawaii on the island of Oahu. During the summer of 2005 Corbin was cast as Chad in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical (2006) which was directed by Kenny Ortega. Being a big fan of musical theater, Corbin was thrilled to be a part of this musical movie project in which he gets to showcase his dance skills.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Nick Jonas is best known as one of the Jonas Brothers, a band formed with his brothers Kevin and Joe. He has appeared in films such as Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) and Careful What You Wish For (2015). He has also appeared television series Last Man Standing (2011) and Hawaii Five-0 (2010). Jonas starred in Jonas (2009), a Disney Channel original series. In 2014, Jonas began work as Demi Lovato's musical and creative director.
Nick was born in Dallas, Texas, to Denise (née Miller), a teacher and singer, and Paul Kevin Jonas, a musician and former ordained minister. He has German, English, Scottish, Irish, Italian/Sicilian (from a great-grandfather), and French-Canadian ancestry.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Zachary Adam Gordon is an American actor. He began his professional acting career at the age of eight and as a child came to prominence playing Greg Heffley in the first three films of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series. He then went on to play Tate Wilson in Good Trouble and Jason Cohen in Dead of Summer.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bruno is the son of an international banker, Paulo, and an actress, Thania. Although born in Rio de Janeiro, he grew up Brazil, Toronto, Bahrain, and Houston. He has three sisters - Mara, age 33 (in 1999); Adriana, age 32; and Mariana, age 21. At age 14, he attended Michigan's Interlochen Arts Acadamey. He then studied drama at Northwestern University. He got his acting break by returning to Brazil, where he starred in the 1996 film O Quatrilho (1995) which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Picture.- Actor
- Producer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Gerard James Butler was born in Paisley, Scotland, to Margaret and Edward Butler, a bookmaker. His family is of Irish origin. Gerard spent some of his very early childhood in Montreal, Quebec, but was mostly raised, along with his older brother and sister, in his hometown of Paisley. His parents divorced when he was a child, and he and his siblings were raised primarily by their mother, who later remarried. He had no contact with his father between the ages of two and 16 years old, after which time they became close. His father passed away when Gerard was in his early 20s. Butler went on to attend Glasgow University, where he studied to be a lawyer/solicitor. He was president of the school's law society thanks to his outgoing personality and great social skills.
His acting career began when he was approached in a London coffee shop by actor Steven Berkoff, who later appeared alongside Butler in Attila (2001), who gave him a role in a stage production of "Coriolanus" (later, Butler played Tullus Aufidius in a big screen Coriolanus (2011). After that, Butler decided to give up law for acting. He was cast as Ewan McGregor's character "Renton" in the stage adaptation of Trainspotting. His film debut was as Billy Connolly's younger brother in Mrs. Brown (1997). While filming the movie in Scotland, he was enjoying a picnic with his mother near the River Tay when they heard the shouts of a young boy, who had been swimming with a friend, who was in some trouble. Butler jumped in and saved the young boy from drowning. He received a Certificate of Bravery from the Royal Humane Society. He felt he only did what anyone in the situation would have done.
His film career continued with small roles, first in the "James Bond" movie, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and then Russell Mulcahy's Tale of the Mummy (1998). In 2000, Butler was cast in two breakthrough roles, the first being "Attila the Hun" in the USA Network mini-series, Attila (2001). The film's producers wanted a known actor to play the part but kept coming back to Butler's screen tests and decided he was their man. He had to lose the thick Scottish accent, but managed well. Around the time "Attila" was being filmed, casting was in progress for Wes Craven's new take on the "Dracula" legacy. Also wanting a known name, Butler wasn't much of a consideration, but his unending tenacity drove him to hounding the producers. Eventually, he sent them a clip of his portrayal of "Attila". Evidently, they saw something because Dracula 2000 (2000) was cast in the form of Butler. Attila's producers, thinking that his big-screen role might help with their own film's ratings, finished shooting a little early so he could get to work on Dracula 2000 (2000). Following these two roles, Butler developed quite a fan base, and began appearing on websites and fancasts everywhere.
Since then, he has appeared in Reign of Fire (2002) as "Creedy" and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003) as "Terry Sheridan", alongside Angelina Jolie. The role that garnered him the most attention from both moviegoers and movie makers, alike, was that of "Andre Marek" in the big-screen adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel, Timeline (2003). Butler played an archaeologist who was sent back in time with a team of students to rescue a colleague. Last year, he appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, The Phantom of the Opera (2004), playing the title character in the successful adaptation of the stage musical. It was a role that brought him much international attention. Other projects include Dear Frankie (2004), The Game of Their Lives (2005) and Beowulf & Grendel (2005).
In 2007, he starred as Spartan "King Leonidas" in the Warner Bros. production 300 (2006), based on the Frank Miller graphic novel, and Shattered (2007), co-starring Pierce Brosnan and Maria Bello, which aired on network TV under the title, "Shattered". He also starred in P.S. I Love You (2007), with Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank.
In 2007, he appeared in Nim's Island (2008) and RocknRolla (2008), and completed the new Mark Neveldine / Brian Taylor film, Gamer (2009). His next films included The Ugly Truth (2009), co-starring Katherine Heigl, which began filming in April 2008, The Bounty Hunter (2010), How to Train Your Dragon (2010), Chasing Mavericks (2012) and Olympus Has Fallen (2013). In recent years, he has appeared in films such as Gods of Egypt (2016), Geostorm (2017), Den of Thieves (2018), The Vanishing (2018) and Hunter Killer (2018). Butler is related to writer-director Mark Flood.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
"Shall We Begin!", the battlecry of The undefeated Gaul Crixus first bought Manu Bennett's voice & acting career to international attention. Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011) spoke a universal language that slowly but surely captured a massive audience. The the show lost lead actor Andy Whitfield to cancer, Bennett's pivotal role, transitioning from Spartacus' nemesis to a slave rebel leader, he was credited for maintaining throughout, the heart & strength of the series. Producer/Director Peter Jackson then employed Bennett to portray Orc Leader "Azog - The Defiler". At the World Premiere of The Hobbit, Peter Jackson told press that Bennett's was the "The Breakout Performance". Although many Tolkein fans failed to recognize him beneath the CGI veneer, Bennett's looming presence, hunting down Thorin Oakenshield & culminating in the ultimate face-off, where both characters die, Bennett entered the catalogue of the great cinematic Villain Performances. DC Comic soldier of fortune, Slade Wildon aka Deathstroke had slumbered for two decades until Bennett reprised the role on the CW series Arrow. Many DC fans declared Bennett as the best villain on the hit series when he established a heartfelt dominant core relationship with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell). The two befriended upon the Island of Lian Yu before an incident with a super-drug called Mirakuru transformed Slade into the archetypal good guy/bad guy Deathstroke. Originally penned by Marv Wolfman & illustrated by George Perez, Deathstroke has now become a hot property for the DC Universe with Tony Daniels illustrating the new series of Deathstroke comic books & a Warner Bros Deathstroke feature film pending. When MTV shifted their focus toward producing original series they selected Bennett to portray the Dark Druid Allanon in the newly acquired Shannara Chronicles Series. Bennett had just the right mix of stoicism, angst & dramatic suave sought by the Shannara producers & author Terry Brooks. Manu Bennett is of Maori, Scottish, English, French & Finish ancestry. Bennett was born in Auckland, New Zealand. Bennett's great grandfather Frederick Augustus Bennett was the first Maori Bishop of the Anglican Church in New Zealand. Bennett's namesake Manuhuia Bennett (grandfather) was also ordained an Anglican Bishop. The Bennett name has roots dating back to a French Benedictine Monastery established in Northumbria in Northern England circa 500AD. The monastery was subsequently turned into a defensive fort named Chillingham Castle. With the advent of surnames circa 1000AD, the name Bennett was derived from Benedictine.
Manu Bennett's father Charles Edward Tiwha (Ted) Bennett was a popular New Zealand singer who recorded a No.1 hit "Clap Your Hands" & several other hits in the early 1960's. Bennett's mother Jean Clark was a bikini model from Australia who paraded the very first two piece bikini for designer Paula Stafford. Bennett's parents met during the Spring Blossom Festival in Hastings New Zealand. Bennett has two older siblings, Stephen & Rachel. The Bennett family moved to Australia in 1970. Jean Bennett nee Clark, was the winner of the Miss Paradise Beach, a swimsuit title held on the Gold Coast of Australia. Bennett's first acting job was on a series titled Paradise Beach, where he played stud, surf lifesaver, iron man Kirk Barsby. Bennett's mother, Jean, died in a car accident in 1985. His brother Stephen suffered injuries in a separate car accident & died only two weeks later.
During his schooling Manu Bennett trained as a dancer & musician & well as playing Rugby Union. Bennett was selected for the First XV for Te Aute College a Maori Boy school know for their strong rugby union history. On return to Australia Bennett was selected for the NSW Schoolboys Rugby Union Team & to trial for the Australian National Team. Bennett was prevented from attending the National trial outs due to a prior commitment to a ballet production of Swan Lake in which he had to perform the male lead. In the the 90's Bennett had to choose between a ballet scholarship in New York or an acting scholarship at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Bennett decided to pursue his acting career & attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Los Angeles.
Manu has appeared on various TV dramas & feature films, including multiple award winning "Lantana," opposite Anthony La Paglia. His first physical role was with appearing opposite Jon Cena on "The Marine". WWE was impressed with Bennett so gave him a role in their second feature film The Condemned starring opposite "Stone Cold" Steve Austin & Vinnie Jones. Rob Tapert cast Bennett as Marc Antony in Xena Warrior Princess, then opposite Josh Hartnett in the Vampire Horror 30 Days Of Night, then was pivotal in Bennett getting the role of Crixus in the series Spartacus.
Previous TV credits include starring roles in successful New Zealand productions "Shortland Street," "Street Legal," "Mataku," "Creature Of Quest," "Going Straight," and as Marc Antony opposite his "Spartacus" co-star Lucy Lawless in Tapert and Raimi's hit series "Xena: Warrior Princess."- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jonathan David Bennett was born in Rossford, Ohio, to RuthAnne (Mason) and Dr. David Paul Bennett. He headed straight to New York to pursue acting after graduating from the theater program at Otterbein. He was actually discovered by an agent while sitting on a train. Six months later he signed on to the iconic soap opera "All My Children," playing J.R. Chandler. Since then Jonathan's career has been on fire. He has appeared in a slew of teen comedies, side-by-side with some of the biggest and brightest stars of their time including; "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" (with Steve Martin) and "Lovewrecked" (with Amanda Bynes). He also stepped into and took over the iconic role replacing Ryan Reynolds as Van Wilder in "Van Wilder: Freshman Year."- Actor
- Producer
- Editorial Department
Christian Charles Philip Bale was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK on January 30, 1974, to English parents Jennifer "Jenny" (James) and David Bale. His mother was a circus performer and his father, who was born in South Africa, was a commercial pilot. The family lived in different countries throughout Bale's childhood, including England, Portugal, and the United States. Bale acknowledges the constant change was one of the influences on his career choice.
His first acting job was a cereal commercial in 1983; amazingly, the next year, he debuted on the West End stage in "The Nerd". A role in the 1986 NBC mini-series Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986) caught Steven Spielberg's eye, leading to Bale's well-documented role in Empire of the Sun (1987). For the range of emotions he displayed as the star of the war epic, he earned a special award by the National Board of Review for Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor.
Adjusting to fame and his difficulties with attention (he thought about quitting acting early on), Bale appeared in Kenneth Branagh's 1989 adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry V (1989) and starred as Jim Hawkins in a TV movie version of Treasure Island (1990). Bale worked consistently through the 1990s, acting and singing in Newsies (1992), Swing Kids (1993), Little Women (1994), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), The Secret Agent (1996), Metroland (1997), Velvet Goldmine (1998), All the Little Animals (1998), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999). Toward the end of the decade, with the rise of the Internet, Bale found himself becoming one of the most popular online celebrities around, though he, with a couple notable exceptions, maintained a private, tabloid-free mystique.
Bale roared into the next decade with a lead role in American Psycho (2000), director Mary Harron's adaptation of the controversial Bret Easton Ellis novel. In the film, Bale played a murderous Wall Street executive obsessed with his own physicality - a trait for which Bale would become a specialist. Subsequently, the 10th Anniversary issue for "Entertainment Weekly" crowned Bale one of the "Top 8 Most Powerful Cult Figures" of the past decade, citing his cult status on the Internet. EW also called Bale one of the "Most Creative People in Entertainment", and "Premiere" lauded him as one of the "Hottest Leading Men Under 30".
Bale was truly on the Hollywood radar at this time, and he turned in a range of performances in the remake Shaft (2000), Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001), the balmy Laurel Canyon (2002), and Reign of Fire (2002), a dragons-and-magic commercial misfire that has its share of defenders.
Two more cult films followed: Equilibrium (2002) and The Machinist (2004), the latter of which gained attention mainly due to Bale's physical transformation - he dropped a reported 60+ pounds for the role of a lathe operator with a secret that causes him to suffer from insomnia for over a year.
Bale's abilities to transform his body and to disappear into a character influenced the decision to cast him in Batman Begins (2005), the first chapter in Christopher Nolan's definitive trilogy that proved a dark-themed narrative could resonate with audiences worldwide. The film also resurrected a character that had been shelved by Warner Bros. after a series of demising returns, capped off by the commercial and critical failure of Batman & Robin (1997). A quiet, personal victory for Bale: he accepted the role after the passing of his father in late 2003, an event that caused him to question whether he would continue performing.
Bale segued into two indie features in the wake of Batman's phenomenal success: The New World (2005) and Harsh Times (2005). He continued working with respected independent directors in 2006's Rescue Dawn (2006), Werner Herzog's feature version of his earlier, Emmy-nominated documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997). Leading up to the second Batman film, Bale starred in The Prestige (2006), the remake of 3:10 to Yuma (2007), and a reunion with director Todd Haynes in the experimental Bob Dylan biography, I'm Not There (2007).
Anticipation for The Dark Knight (2008) was spun into unexpected heights with the tragic passing of Heath Ledger, whose performance as The Joker became the highlight of the sequel. Bale's graceful statements to the press reminded us of the days of the refined Hollywood star as the second installment exceeded the box-office performance of its predecessor.
Bale's next role was the eyebrow-raising decision to take over the role of John Connor in the Schwarzenegger-less Terminator Salvation (2009), followed by a turn as federal agent Melvin Purvis in Michael Mann's Public Enemies (2009). Both films were hits but not the blockbusters they were expected to be.
For all his acclaim and box-office triumphs, Bale would earn his first Oscar in 2011 in the wake of The Fighter (2010)'s critical and commercial success. Bale earned the Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal of Dicky Eklund, brother to and trainer of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward, played by Mark Wahlberg. Bale again showed his ability to reshape his body with another gaunt, skeletal transformation.
Bale then turned to another auteur, Yimou Zhang, for the epic The Flowers of War (2011), in which Bale portrayed a priest trapped in the midst of the Rape of Nanking. Bale earned headlines for his attempt to visit with Chinese civil-rights activist Chen Guangcheng, which was blocked by the Chinese government.
Bale capped his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012); in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado tragedy, Bale made a quiet pilgrimage to the state to visit with survivors of the attack that left theatergoers dead and injured. He also starred in the thriller Out of the Furnace (2013) with Crazy Heart (2009) writer/director Scott Cooper, and the drama-comedy American Hustle (2013), reuniting with David O. Russell.
Bale will re-team with The New World (2005) director Terrence Malick for two upcoming projects: Knight of Cups (2015) and an as-yet-untitled drama.
In his personal life, he devotes time to charities including Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Foundation. He lives with his wife, Sibi Blazic, and their two children.- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
Pierce Brendan Brosnan was born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, to May (Smith), a nurse, and Thomas Brosnan, a carpenter. He lived in Navan, County Meath, until he moved to England, UK, at an early age (thus explaining his ability to play men from both backgrounds convincingly). His father left the household when Pierce was a child and although reunited later in life, the two have never had a close relationship. His most popular role is that of British secret agent James Bond. The death, in 1991, of Cassandra Harris, his wife of eleven years, left him with three children - Christopher and Charlotte from Cassandra's first marriage and Sean from their marriage. Since her death, he has had two children with his second wife, Keely Shaye Brosnan.
Brosnan is most famous for starring in the TV series Remington Steele (1982) as the title character, as well as portraying famous movie character James Bond in GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Colin Andrew Firth was born into an academic family in Grayshott, Hampshire, England. His mother, Shirley Jean (Rolles), was a comparative religion lecturer at the Open University, and his father, David Norman Lewis Firth, lectured on history at Winchester University College (formerly King Alfred's College) in Winchester, and worked on education for the Nigerian government. His grandparents were missionaries. His siblings Katie Firth and Jonathan Firth are also actors.
Firth's first acting experience came in infant's school when he played "Jack Frost" in a Christmas pantomime. Three of his four grandparents were Methodist missionaries and he spent his early childhood in Nigeria, returning to England at age five where he entered a comprehensive school in Winchester. He spent two years at the Drama Centre, then in Chalk Farm, where he was "discovered" whist playing "Hamlet" during his final term. His first professional role was as "Bennet" in the West End production of "Another Country". From this performance, he was chosen to play the character of "Judd" in the movie of the play. He went on to play a variety of character parts in both film and television. For his portrayal of "Robert Lawrence" in the 1989 TV production Tumbledown (1988), he received the Royal Television Society Best Actor award and also a BAFTA nomination. He also received a BAFTA nomination for "Mr. Darcy" in the 1995 TV version of Pride and Prejudice (1995). In 2011, he won the Oscar for Best Actor for his commanding leading role, playing British King George VI in The King's Speech (2010).- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Dominic Edward Cooper was born and raised in Greenwich, London, England. His mother, Julie (Heron), is a nursery school teacher and a keen theater-goer. His father, Brian Cooper, is an auctioneer. They divorced when Dominic was age 5. His maternal great-grandfather was film enthusiast E.T. Heron, who published The Kinematograph Weekly. He has two older brothers, Nathan and Simon. He had a sister who died in a car accident when she was age 5, which happened before Dominic was born. He also has a half-sister from an extramarital affair by his father and a half-brother from his father's second marriage.
He went to school in Kidbrooke, attending the Thomas Tallis School. He didn't know what to do afterwards and his girlfriend, at the time, suggested that he should apply to drama school. He did his training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He performed in the end of year play 'Waiting For Godot' and this performance landed him the renowned agent Pippa Markham.
He graduated in 2000 and started with a few minor roles in television and theater. In 2004, he landed a role at the National Theatre with 'The History Boys'. He originated the role of Dakin, as he was involved in the play from the very beginning. He played the role for two years on the stage and then, for the final time, in his breakthrough film role The History Boys (2006).