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Vin Diesel was born Mark Sinclair in Alameda County, California, along with his fraternal twin brother, Paul Vincent. He was raised by his astrologer/psychologist mother, Delora Sherleen (Sinclair), and adoptive father, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theatre manager, in an artists' housing project in New York City's Greenwich Village. He never knew his biological father. His mother is white (with English, German, Scottish, and Irish ancestry), and his adoptive father is African-American; referring to his biological father's background, Diesel has said that he himself is "definitely a person of colour".
His first break in acting happened by chance, when at the age of seven he and his friends broke into a theatre to vandalize it. A woman stopped them and offered them each a script and $20, on the condition that they would attend everyday after school. From there, Vin's fledgling career progressed from the New York repertory company run by his father, to the Off-Off-Broadway circuit. At age seventeen and already sporting a well-honed physique, he became a bouncer at some of New York's hippest clubs to earn himself some extra cash. It was at this time that he changed his name to Vin Diesel.
Following high school, Vin enrolled as an English major at Hunter College, but dropped out after three years to go to Hollywood to further his acting career. Being an experienced theatre actor did not make any impression in Hollywood and after a year of struggling to make his mark, he returned to New York. His mother then gave him a book called "Feature Films at used Car Prices" by Rick Schmidt. The book showed him that he could take control of his career and make his own movies. He wrote a short film based on his own experiences as an actor, called Multi-Facial (1995), which was shot in less than three days at a cost of $3,000. Multi-Facial (1995) was eventually accepted for the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it got a tumultuous reception.
Afterwards, Vin returned to Los Angeles and raised almost $50,000 through telemarketing to fund the making of his first feature, Strays (1997). Six months after shooting, the film was accepted for the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, and although it received a good reception, it did not sell as well as hoped. Yet again Vin returned disappointed to New York only to receive a dream phone call. Steven Spielberg was impressed by Multi-Facial (1995) and wanted to meet Vin, leading him to be cast in Saving Private Ryan (1998). Multi-Facial (1995) earned Vin more work, when the director of The Iron Giant (1999) saw it and decided to cast Vin in the title role. From there, Vin's career steadily grew, with him securing his first lead role, as Richard B. Riddick in the sci-fi film Pitch Black (2000). The role has earned him a legion of devoted fans and the public recognition he deserves.
Since then, he has headlined a series of blockbusters, often but not only centered on fast-driving motor vehicles: The Fast and the Furious (2001), xXx (2002), The Pacifier (2005), Fast & Furious (2009), Fast Five (2011), Fast & Furious 6 (2013), and Furious 7 (2015). He also voiced Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and starred in the lower-budgeted courtroom drama Find Me Guilty (2006), the latter directed by Sidney Lumet.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Paul William Walker IV was born in Glendale, California. He grew up together with his brothers, Caleb and Cody, and sisters, Ashlie and Amie. Their parents, Paul William Walker III, a sewer contractor, and Cheryl (Crabtree) Walker, a model, separated around September 2004. His grandfather, William Walker, was a Pearl Harbor survivor and a Navy middleweight boxing champion, while his maternal grandfather commanded a tank battalion in Italy under General Patton during World War II. Paul grew up active in sports like soccer and surfing. He had English and German ancestry.
Paul was cast for the first season of the family sitcom, Throb (1986) and began modeling until he received a script for the 1994 movie, Tammy and the T-Rex (1994). He attended high school at Village Christian High School in Sun Valley, California, graduating in 1991. With encouragement from friends and an old casting agent who remembered him as a child, he decided to try his luck again with acting shortly after returning from College.
He starred in Meet the Deedles (1998), a campy, silly but surprisingly fun film which failed to garner much attention. However, lack of attention would not be a problem for Paul Walker for long. With Pleasantville (1998), he appeared in his first hit. As the town stud (a la 1950s) who more than meets his match in modern day Reese Witherspoon, he was one of the most memorable characters of the film. That same year, Paul and his then-girlfriend Rebecca had a baby girl named Meadow Walker (Meadow Rain Walker). Even though Paul publicly admitted that Meadow was not planned, he said that she is his number one priority. Paul and Rebecca separated and Meadow lives with her mother in Hawaii. She often visited with Paul as his homes in Santa Barbara and Huntington Beach, California.
Roles in the teen hits Varsity Blues (1999), She's All That (1999) and The Skulls (2000) cemented Walker's continued rise to celebrity. He was chosen to be one of the young stars featured on the cover of Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood issue in April 2000. While the other stars on the cover, brooded and tried their best to look sexy and serious, Paul smiled brightly and showed why he is not part of the norm. This is one young actor who certainly stood apart from the rest of the crowd, not only with his talent but with his attitude. The Dallas Morning News commented in March of 2000 that, "Paul is one of the rarest birds in Hollywood- a pretension free movie star." The latest blockbuster hit, The Fast and the Furious (2001), had raised his stardom to an even higher level.
His fighting scenes in movies lead to a passion for martial arts. He has studied various forms of Jujitsu, Taekwondo, Jeet Kune Do and Eskrima. Paul mentioned in a magazine interview that he had hoped enroll in the Keysi Fighting Method when it comes to the United States. Other than practicing martial arts, Paul enjoyed relaxing at home with his daughter, Meadow Rain, surfing near his Huntington Beach abode, walking his dogs and just driving.
When Paul seriously did get a break from the entertainment business, he said he loved traveling. Paul had traveled to India, Fiji, Costa Rica, Sarawak, Brunei, Borneo and other parts of the Asian continent. Tragically, Paul Walker died in a car crash on Saturday November 30, 2013, after attending a charity event for "Reach Out Worldwide".
Several of Paul's films were released after his death, include Hours (2013), Brick Mansions (2014), and his final starring role in The Fast and the Furious series, Furious 7 (2015), part of which was completed after his death. The film's closing scenes paid tribute to Walker, whose character met with a happy ending, and rode off into the sunset. He appeared archival footage in Fast X (2023).- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Jason Statham was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, to Eileen (Yates), a dancer, and Barry Statham, a street merchant and lounge singer. He was a Diver on the British National Diving Team and finished twelfth in the World Championships in 1992. He has also been a fashion model, black market salesman and finally of course, actor. He received the audition for his debut role as Bacon in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) through French Connection, for whom he was modeling. They became a major investor in the film and introduced Jason to Guy Ritchie, who invited him to audition for a part in the film by challenging him to impersonate an illegal street vendor and convince him to purchase fake jewelry. Jason must have been doing something right because after the success of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) he teamed up again with Guy Ritchie for Snatch (2000), with co-stars including Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina and Benicio Del Toro. After Snatch (2000) came Turn It Up (2000) with US music star Ja Rule, followed by a supporting actor role in the sci-fi film Ghosts of Mars (2001), Jet Li's The One (2001) and another screen partnership with Vinnie Jones in Mean Machine (2001) under Guy Ritchie's and Matthew Vaughn's SKA Films. Finally in 2002 he was cast as the lead role of Frank Martin in The Transporter (2002). Jason was also in the summer 2003 blockbuster remake of The Italian Job (1969), The Italian Job (2003), playing Handsome Rob.
Throughout the 2000s, Statham became a star of juicy action B-films, most significantly Crank (2006) and Crank: High Voltage (2009), and also War (2007), opposite Jet Li, and The Bank Job (2008) and Death Race (2008), among others. In the 2010s, his reputation for cheeky and tough leading performances led to his casting as Lee Christmas in The Expendables (2010) and its sequels, the comedy Spy (2015), and as (apparently) reformed villain Deckard Shaw in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), The Fate of the Furious (2017), and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019). Apart from these blockbusters, he continued headlining B-films such as Homefront (2013).
In 2017, he had his first child, a son with his partner, model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Thomas Mark Harmon was born on September 2, 1951, in Burbank, California, to football player and broadcaster Tom Harmon and actress and artist Elyse Knox (née Kornbrath). Harmon played college football and found success as one of TV's hunkiest actors. While many of his roles have relied on good looks, Harmon was impressive on St. Elsewhere (1982) as the suave doctor who contracted AIDS.
His sisters are Kelly Harmon, the Tic Tac model; and Kristin Harmon, a painter and ex-wife of musician Ricky Nelson. He is the uncle of musicians Matthew Nelson and Gunnar Nelson of the band Nelson, and actress Tracy Nelson. In 1987, Harmon and his wife, actress Pam Dawber, sued his sister Kristin Harmon, for custody of her youngest son, Sam.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Willard Carroll "Will" Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has enjoyed success in television, film, and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him "the most powerful actor in Hollywood". Smith has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won four Grammy Awards.
In the late 1980s, Smith achieved modest fame as a rapper under the name The Fresh Prince. In 1990, his popularity increased dramatically when he starred in the popular television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show ran for six seasons (1990-96) on NBC and has been syndicated consistently on various networks since then. After the series ended, Smith moved from television to film, and ultimately starred in numerous blockbuster films. He is the only actor to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office, eleven consecutive films gross over $150 million internationally, and eight consecutive films in which he starred open at the number one spot in the domestic box office tally.
Smith is ranked as the most bankable star worldwide by Forbes. As of 2014, 17 of the 21 films in which he has had leading roles have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of over $100 million each, five taking in over $500 million each in global box office receipts. As of 2014, his films have grossed $6.6 billion at the global box office. He has received Best Actor Oscar nominations for Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness.
Smith was born in West Philadelphia, the son of Caroline (Bright), a Philadelphia school board administrator, and Willard Carroll Smith, Sr., a refrigeration engineer. He grew up in West Philadelphia's Wynnefield neighborhood, and was raised Baptist. He has three siblings, sister Pamela, who is four years older, and twins Harry and Ellen, who are three years younger. Smith attended Our Lady of Lourdes, a private Catholic elementary school in Philadelphia. His parents separated when he was 13, but did not actually divorce until around 2000.
Smith attended Overbrook High School. Though widely reported, it is untrue that Smith turned down a scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); he never applied to college because he "wanted to rap." Smith says he was admitted to a "pre-engineering [summer] program" at MIT for high school students, but he did not attend. According to Smith, "My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college."
Smith started as the MC of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, with his childhood friend Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes as producer, as well as Ready Rock C (Clarence Holmes) as the human beat box. The trio was known for performing humorous, radio-friendly songs, most notably "Parents Just Don't Understand" and "Summertime". They gained critical acclaim and won the first Grammy awarded in the Rap category (1988).
Smith spent money freely around 1988 and 1989 and underpaid his income taxes. The Internal Revenue Service eventually assessed a $2.8 million tax debt against Smith, took many of his possessions, and garnished his income. Smith was nearly bankrupt in 1990, when the NBC television network signed him to a contract and built a sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, around him.
The show was successful and began his acting career. Smith set for himself the goal of becoming "the biggest movie star in the world", studying box office successes' common characteristics.
Smith's first major roles were in the drama Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and the action film Bad Boys (1995) in which he starred opposite Martin Lawrence.
In 1996, Smith starred as part of an ensemble cast in Roland Emmerich's Independence Day. The film was a massive blockbuster, becoming the second highest grossing film in history at the time and establishing Smith as a prime box office draw. He later struck gold again in the summer of 1997 alongside Tommy Lee Jones in the summer hit Men in Black playing Agent J. In 1998, Smith starred with Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State.
He turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix in favor of Wild Wild West (1999). Despite the disappointment of Wild Wild West, Smith has said that he harbors no regrets about his decision, asserting that Keanu Reeves's performance as Neo was superior to what Smith himself would have achieved, although in interviews subsequent to the release of Wild Wild West he stated that he "made a mistake on Wild Wild West. That could have been better."
In 2005, Smith was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for attending three premieres in a 24-hour time span.
He has planned to star in a feature film remake of the television series It Takes a Thief.
On December 10, 2007, Smith was honored at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Smith left an imprint of his hands and feet outside the world-renowned theater in front of many fans. Later that month, Smith starred in the film I Am Legend, released December 14, 2007. Despite marginally positive reviews, its opening was the largest ever for a film released in the United States during December. Smith himself has said that he considers the film to be "aggressively unique". A reviewer said that the film's commercial success "cemented [Smith's] standing as the number one box office draw in Hollywood." On December 1, 2008, TV Guide reported that Smith was selected as one of America's top ten most fascinating people of 2008 for a Barbara Walters ABC special that aired on December 4, 2008.
In 2008 Smith was reported to be developing a film entitled The Last Pharaoh, in which he would be starring as Taharqa. It was in 2008 that Smith starred in the superhero movie Hancock.
Men in Black III opened on May 25, 2012 with Smith again reprising his role as Agent J. This was his first major starring role in four years.
On August 19, 2011, it was announced that Smith had returned to the studio with producer La Mar Edwards to work on his fifth studio album. Edwards has worked with artists such as T.I., Chris Brown, and Game. Smith's most recent studio album, Lost and Found, was released in 2005.
Smith and his son Jaden played father and son in two productions: the 2006 biographical drama The Pursuit of Happyness, and the science fiction film After Earth, which was released on May 31, 2013.
Smith starred opposite Margot Robbie in the romance drama Focus. He played Nicky Spurgeon, a veteran con artist who takes a young, attractive woman under his wing. Focus was released on February 27, 2015. Smith was set to star in the Sci-Fic thriller Brilliance, an adaptation of Marcus Sakey's novel of the same name scripted by Jurassic Park writer David Koepp. But he left the project.
Smith played Dr. Bennet Omalu of the Brain Injury Research Institute in the sports-drama Concussion, who became the first person to discover chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a football player's brain. CTE is a degenerative disease caused by severe trauma to the head that can be discovered only after death. Smith's involvement is mostly due to his last-minute exit from the Sci-Fi thriller-drama Brilliance. Concussion was directed by Peter Landesman and-bead filmed in Pittsburgh, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. It received $14.4 million in film tax credits from Pennsylvania. Principal photography started on October 27, 2014. Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw played his wife. Omalu served as a consultant.
As of November 2015, Smith is set to star in the independent drama Collateral Beauty, which will be directed by David Frankel. Smith will play a New York advertising executive who succumbs to an deep depression after a personal tragedy.
Nobel Peace Prize Concert December 11, 2009, in Oslo, Norway: Smith with wife Jada and children Jaden and Willow Smith married Sheree Zampino in 1992. They had one son, Trey Smith, born on November 11, 1992, and divorced in 1995. Trey appeared in his father's music video for the 1998 single "Just the Two of Us". He also acted in two episodes of the sitcom All of Us, and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and on the David Blaine: Real or Magic TV special.
Smith married actress Jada Koren Pinkett in 1997. Together they have two children: Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (born 1998), his co-star in The Pursuit of Happyness and After Earth, and Willow Camille Reign Smith (born 2000), who appeared as his daughter in I Am Legend. Smith and his brother Harry own Treyball Development Inc., a Beverly Hills-based company named after Trey. Smith and his family reside in Los Angeles, California.
Smith was consistently listed in Fortune Magazine's "Richest 40" list of the forty wealthiest Americans under the age of 40.- Producer
- Actor
- Composer
American actor Mark Wahlberg is one of a handful of respected entertainers who successfully made the transition from teen pop idol to acclaimed actor. A Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee for The Departed (2006) who went on to receive positive critical reviews for his performance in The Fighter (2010), Wahlberg also is a solid comedy actor, proven by his starring role in Ted (2012).
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg was born June 5, 1971 in a poor working class district, Dorchester, of Boston, Massachusetts. He is the son of Alma Elaine (Donnelly), a nurse's aide and clerk, and Donald Edward Wahlberg, a delivery driver. Wahlberg is the youngest of nine children. He is of Swedish (from his paternal grandfather), French-Canadian, English, Irish and Scottish, descent. The large Wahlberg brood didn't have a lot growing up, especially after his parents divorced when he was eleven. The kids crammed into a three-bedroom apartment, none of them having very much privacy. Mark's mother has said that after the divorce, she became very self-absorbed with her own life. She has blamed herself for her son's subsequent problems and delinquency. Wahlberg dropped out of high school at age fourteen (but later got his GED) to pursue a life of petty crime and drugs. He'd spend his days scamming and stealing, working on the odd drug deal before treating himself to the substances.
The young man also had a violent streak - one which was often aimed at minorities. At age sixteen, he was convicted of assault against two Vietnamese men after he had tried to rob them. As a result of his assault conviction, he was sentenced to serve 50 days in prison at Deer Island penitentiary. Whilst there, he began working out to pass time and, when he emerged at the end of his sentence, he had gone from being a scrawny young kid to a buff young man. Wahlberg also credits jail time as being his motivation to improve his lifestyle and leave crime behind him.
Around this time, his older brother Donnie Wahlberg had become an overnight teen idol as a member of the 1980s boy band New Kids on the Block. A precursor to the boy-band craze, the group was dominating the charts and were on top of their game. Mark himself had been an original member of the band but had backed out early on - uncomfortable with the squeaky clean image of the group. Donnie used his connections in the music business to help his little brother secure a recording contract, and soon the world was introduced to Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, with Wahlberg as a bad-boy rapper who danced in his boxers. Despite a lack of singing ability, promoters took to his dance moves and a physique they knew teenage girls would love.
Donnie scripted some easy songs for Mark, who collected a troupe of dancers and a DJ to become his "Funky Bunch" and "Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch" was born. His debut album, "Music for the People", was a smash hit, which was propelled along by the rapper's willingness to disrobe down to boxer-briefs on stage, not to mention several catchy tunes. Teenage girls thrilled to the rapping "bad boy". Record producer David Geffen saw in Wahlberg a cash-cow of marketing ability. After speaking to designer Calvin Klein, Marky Mark was set up as the designer's chief underwear model.
His scantily clad figure soon adorned billboards across the nation. Ironically, while the New Kids on the Block's fame was dwindling as audiences tired of their syrupy lyrics, "Marky Mark's" bad boy image was becoming even more of a commodity. He was constantly in the headlines (often of the tabloids) after multiple scandals. In 1992, he released a book dedicated to his penis. Wahlberg was constantly getting into rumored fights, most memorably with Madonna and her entourage at a Los Angeles party. While things were always intense, they were relatively harmless and made for enjoyable reading for the public. However, when the story of his arrest for assault (and the allegations of racism) broke in the press, things took on a decidedly darker note. People were not amused. Soon after, while on a British talk show along with rapper Shabba Ranks, he got into even more trouble. After Ranks made the statement that gays should be crucified, Wahlberg was accused of condoning the comments by his silence. Marky Mark was suddenly surrounded by charges of brutality, homophobia and racial hatred. His second album, "You Gotta Believe", had not been faring well and, after the charges surfaced, it plummeted from the charts.
Adding to the hoopla, Wahlberg was brought to court for allegedly assaulting a security guard. He was ordered to make amends by appearing in a series of anti-bias advertisements. Humbled and humiliated by his fall from grace in the music world, Wahlberg decided to pursue another angle, acting. He dropped the "Marky Mark" moniker and became known simply as Mark Wahlberg. His first big screen role came in Penny Marshall's Renaissance Man (1994). Despite the name change, many people snickered at the idea of the has-been rapper thinking he could make it as an actor. From the get-go, he was proving them wrong. In Renaissance Man (1994), he gave an utterly charming performance as a simple but sincere army recruit. What naysayers remained found it increasingly difficult to write Mark Wahlberg off as he delivered one fine performance after another. He blew them away in the controversial The Basketball Diaries (1995) and chilled them in Fear (1996) as every father's worst nightmare.
The major turning point in Wahlberg's career came with the role of troubled porn star Dirk Diggler in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997). Since then, Wahlberg has chosen roles that demonstrate a wide range of dramatic ability, starring in critically acclaimed dramas such as Three Kings (1999) and The Perfect Storm (2000), popcorn flicks like Planet of the Apes (2001) and Contraband (2012), and even indies such as I Heart Huckabees (2004).
Wahlberg was the executive producer of such television series as Boardwalk Empire (2010), In Treatment (2008) and the highly successful comedy Entourage (2004), which was partly based on his experiences in Hollywood.
Wahlberg and his wife Rhea Durham have four children.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Michael Dudikoff was born in Redondo Beach, California, USA. Michael is an actor and assistant director, known for Platoon Leader (1988), American Ninja (1985) and Bachelor Party (1984). Michael has been married to Belle since 18 September 2004. They have three children.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
The Australian actor Alex O'Loughlin was born in August 1976.
Alex started out his film career in 2004, when he starred in Oyster Farmer (2004) as Jack Flange. The following year, he returned to the big screen as Michael Carter in Feed (2005), a movie that he also co-produced and helped write. Also released that year was a movie titled Man-Thing (2005), in which Alex played Deputy Eric Fraser.
However, his most recent role in a feature film was that of "Marcus Bohem" in The Invisible (2007). Alex acted in the Australian miniseries Mary Bryant (2005) as the title role's husband. He made his way to American serialized television in The Shield (2002) as Detective Kevin Hiatt, the newest member of the strike team. Alex can be seen as Marshall in the movie August Rush (2007), and also in Whiteout (2009). In 2005, he was nominated for the Australian Film Institute's Best Lead Actor in Television for his role in Mary Bryant (2005). In 2006, he was nominated for the Logie Awards' Silver Logie in the same category and role.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Engaged on the big and small screen, he has always dedicated his energies to social commitment. The role played in Capitano Ultimo is the one he is most attached to. He supported Sergio De Caprio in the creation of a non-profit foundation and the Casa Famiglia Capitano Ultimo, in the Parco della Mistica, on the south-eastern outskirts of Rome, with the aim of defeating the culture of ethnic, religious, social or physical diversity by welcoming underprivileged minors who are given education and training that allows them to undertake honest work. He works alongside the Io Ci Sono association for the reconstruction of multifunctional centers in the areas of central Italy hit by the earthquake in 2016. In 2010, during the World Food Day ceremony, he was appointed FAO Good Will Ambassador. In 2005 he decided to research and produce stories in which he could express himself freely on an acting, creative and productive level, creating his own Film Production Company. The intent is to give space to projects with social value, which can, through cinema and television, spread messages that lead to reflection. He produces Sbirri, a docu-film on the world of police and drugs, which has enjoyed considerable success with audiences and critics both at the cinema and on TV. He presents the short film 15 Seconds in Brussels, against the death penalty, sponsored by the European Parliament, the Presidency of the Republic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education. He co-produces Io, l'altro which talks about racism and preconceptions and how the way of seeing others has changed after September 11th. With MediaFriends he produced two social shorts: Graffiti and Amore nero, the latter shot as a manifesto against violence against women, starring Michelle Hunziker and the directorial debut of Raoul himself. The short receives an official commendation from the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano. He works with some of the most influential names in the national and international film industry. In collaboration with Mediaset he produces successful television series such as Fuoco Amico Task Force 45, Come un Delfino with the music of Ennio Morricone and Come un Delfino-La serie. His debut as an actor took place in Una storia italiana directed by Stefano Reali, since then he has acted alongside Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren, Giancarlo Giannini, Michele Placido, F. Murray Abraham, Sylvester Stallone, Carole Bouquet, Diane Lane, Sarah Jessica Parker, Angelina Jolie and many others. Protagonist of some of the most successful television series, such as the most recent Buongiorno mamma and Don Matteo (he recently finished filming its second season), and the recently aired I Fantastici 5, where the theme of youth disability is addressed, while we will soon see him on the big screen in the film Greta e le favole vere.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known as The Rock, was born on May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California. He is the son of Ata Johnson (born Feagaimaleata Fitisemanu) and professional wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles). His father, from Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada, is black (of Black Nova Scotian descent), and his mother is of Samoan background (her own father was Peter Fanene Maivia, also a professional wrestler). While growing up, Dwayne traveled around a lot with his parents and watched his father perform in the ring. During his high school years, Dwayne began playing football and he soon received a full scholarship from the University of Miami, where he had tremendous success as a football player. In 1995, Dwayne suffered a back injury which cost him a place in the NFL. He then signed a three-year deal with the Canadian League but left after a year to pursue a career in wrestling.
He made his wrestling debut in the USWA under the name Flex Kavanah where he won the tag team championship with Brett Sawyer. In 1996, Dwayne joined the WWE and became Rocky Maivia where he joined a group known as "The Nation of Domination" and turned heel. Rocky eventually took over leadership of the "Nation" and began taking the persona of The Rock. After the "Nation" split, The Rock joined another elite group of wrestlers known as the "Corporation" and began a memorable feud with Steve Austin. Soon the Rock was kicked out of the "Corporation". He turned face and became known as "The Peoples Champion". In 2000, the Rock took time off from WWE to film his appearance in The Mummy Returns (2001). He returned in 2001 during the WCW/ECW invasion where he joined a team of WWE wrestlers at The Scorpion King (2002), a prequel to The Mummy Returns (2001).
Dwayne has a daughter, Simone Alexandra Johnson, born in 2001, with his ex-wife Dany Garcia, and daughters, Jasmine, born in 2015, and Tiana Gia, born in 2018, with his wife, singer and songwriter Lauren Hashian.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Christopher Eugene O'Donnell was born on June 26th, 1970 in Winnetka, Illinois, to Julie Ann (Rohs) and William Charles O'Donnell, Sr., who managed a CBS radio station, WBBM-AM. He is the youngest child in his family, with four sisters and two brothers. His father had Irish ancestry and his mother's lineage includes German, English, and Swiss.
O'Donnell first started modeling at the age of thirteen and continued until the age of sixteen, when he appeared in commercials. When he was seventeen, he was preparing to stop acting and modeling, but was asked to audition for what would be his first film, Men Don't Leave (1990). He didn't want to go to the audition, but his mother bribed him by saying she would buy him a new car if he went and he duly got the role.
Ever since that moment in his life, Chris has appeared in some major motion pictures including Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Scent of a Woman (1992), Mad Love (1995) and Vertical Limit (2000). He played a part in Kinsey (2004), which appeared in theaters in the year 2004.
Chris took time off from acting to spend time with his wife, Caroline, son, Chris Jr., and his daughter Lilly. He also spent two months in New York performing in Arthur Miller's "The Man Who Had All the Luck".- Actor
- Producer
Shemar Franklin Moore (born April 20, 1970) is an American actor and former fashion model. His notable roles are that of Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless from 1994 to 2005, Derek Morgan on CBS's Criminal Minds from 2005 to 2016, and as the third permanent host of Soul Train from 1999 to 2003.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Born in Munich in 1969, Gedeon was raised bilingual (English & German). He was sent to boarding school in England at the age of 8 and transferred to American high school at the age of 12. Gedeon starred in his first movie (Aunt Maria) when he was 10, his second lead role followed one year later in the American / German co-production Blood and Honor (3 part mini series) as Hartmut Keller. By demand of the American and German Producers each scene was shot once in English and once in German, due to his bilingual upbringing, Gedeon was the only actor who did not have to be dubbed in either version.
Gedeon continuously worked in various projects during school vacations until he dropped out of high school after 11th grade. At this time he concentrated on training for 2 years, attending musical school and taking speech and acting classes on the side.
In 1988 Gedeon starred, next to Tony Curtis and Birol Head On by Fathi Akin), in the motion Picture Welcome to Germany which marked the beginning of his career as a grownup. Since then Gedeon has acted in numerous films, including Acting it Out (German film award/ Movie and Bavarian Film award/Actor) by acclaimed German director Wortman, Silence like Glass by Carl Schenkel and Making Up (Student Academy Award USA/German Film Award) by Katja von Garnier. He also starred in the internationally successful television series Detectiv Rex (sold to over 140 territories) and Kobra 11 (Action series, sold to over 120 territories).
in 2006 Gedeon portrayed Henry Neumann, a Jewish boxer trapped in a boxcar with his family on the way to Auschwitz, in the motion picture The last Train. This challenging part, it seems, was the perfect preparation for the biggest opportunity in his career to date, the part of the Jewish Basterd (Will Wicky) in Quentin Tarantino's new movie Inglorious Basterds.- René Steinke was born on 16 November 1963 in East Berlin, East Germany. He is an actor, known for Alarm für Cobra 11 - Einsatz für Team 2 (2003), Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei (1996) and Der Ferienarzt (2004).
- Actor
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The middle of five children, Bratt hails from a close-knit family. His mother, an indigenous Quechua Peruvian from Lima, moved to the U.S. at age 14. He grew up in San Francisco. He is known for his roles in the films Traffic (2000), Miss Congeniality (2000), and Despicable Me 2 (2013). He is married to actress Talisa Soto.- Actor
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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
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Samuel Henry John Worthington was born August 2, 1976 in Surrey, England. His parents, Jeanne (Martyn) and Ronald Worthington, a power plant employee, moved the family to Australia when he was six months old, and raised him and his sister Lucinda in Warnbro, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Worthington graduated from NIDA (Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art) in 1998 at the age of 22. He received critical acclaim for his portrayal of "Arthur Wellesley" in his first professional role in the Belvoir Street Theatre production "Judas Kiss" (directed by Neil Armfield). He then went on to work in Australian television on such shows as Water Rats (1996) and "Backburner" and then on the American TV show JAG (1995)'s 100th episode (Boomerang: Part 1).
Worthington made his film debut in the highly acclaimed Australian movie Bootmen (2000), a film about a troop of "tap dogs". Minor roles proceeded in Hart's War (2002) and A Matter of Life (2001) before he was cast in another hailed Australian drama, Dirty Deeds (2002), co-starring Toni Collette and John Goodman.
The following year, he starred in yet another Aussie film, opposite David Wenham in Gettin' Square (2003). The director of the film, Jonathan Teplitzky, originally tested actors who were up to 8 years older than the then-27-year-old Worthington. Teplitzky wasn't sure Sam "could convincingly play a tough guy and also have elements of the leading man about him", but in the end Teplitzky decided he was "fantastic", and had "David playing the older, slightly more streetwise accomplice" proclaiming "it worked".
But it wasn't until 2004 that Sam got his big break. He was offered the starring role in Cate Shortland's acclaimed Australian drama Somersault (2004), opposite Abbie Cornish. The film made a clean sweep of the Australian Film Institute awards in 2004, winning in 13 film categories - the first time this has ever occurred in the award's history. Worthington also won the AFI award for Best Male Actor.
Worthington's career took off internationally when he was cast as Jake Sully in James Cameron's Avatar (2009) and as Marcus Wright, a cyborg who assists the humans despite their suspicions of him in Terminator Salvation (2009). Worthington soon became a household name, and starring in high profile films Clash of the Titans (2010), The Debt (2010), Texas Killing Fields (2011), Man on a Ledge (2012), and Wrath of the Titans (2012). Worthington also provided the voice for the Call of Duty: Black Ops video games.
In 2010, Worthington started a production company, Full Clip Productions, with two of his close friends John Schwarz and Michael Schwarz. The company teamed with Radical studios to print two graphic novels Damaged and Patriots.- Actor
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Keanu Charles Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian, was born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is the son of Patric Reeves, a showgirl and costume designer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist. Keanu's father was born in Hawaii, of British, Portuguese, Native Hawaiian, and Chinese ancestry, and Keanu's mother is originally from Essex England. After his parents' marriage dissolved, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister, Kim Reeves, to New York City, then Toronto. Stepfather #1 was Paul Aaron, a stage and film director - he and Patricia divorced within a year, after which she went on to marry (and divorce) rock promoter Robert Miller. Reeves never reconnected with his biological father. In high school, Reeves was lukewarm toward academics but took a keen interest in ice hockey (as team goalie, he earned the nickname "The Wall") and drama. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue an acting career.
After a few stage gigs and a handful of made-for-TV movies, he scored a supporting role in the Rob Lowe hockey flick Youngblood (1986), which was filmed in Canada. Shortly after the production wrapped, Reeves packed his bags and headed for Hollywood. Reeves popped up on critics' radar with his performance in the dark adolescent drama, River's Edge (1986), and landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated Dangerous Liaisons (1988) with director Stephen Frears.
His first popular success was the role of totally rad dude Ted "Theodore" Logan in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989). The wacky time-travel movie became something of a cultural phenomenon, and audiences would forever confuse Reeves's real-life persona with that of his doofy on-screen counterpart. He then joined the casts of Ron Howard's comedy, Parenthood (1989) and Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death (1990).
Over the next few years, Reeves tried to shake the Ted stigma with a series of highbrow projects. He played a slumming rich boy opposite River Phoenix's narcoleptic male hustler in My Own Private Idaho (1991), an unlucky lawyer who stumbles into the vampire's lair in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), and Shakespearean party-pooper Don John in Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
In 1994, the understated actor became a big-budget action star with the release of Speed (1994). Its success heralded an era of five years in which Reeves would alternate between small films, like Feeling Minnesota (1996) and The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997), and big films like A Walk in the Clouds (1995) and The Devil's Advocate (1997). (There were a couple misfires, too: Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Chain Reaction (1996).) After all this, Reeves did the unthinkable and passed on the Speed sequel, but he struck box-office gold again a few years later with the Wachowski siblings' cyberadventure, The Matrix (1999).
Now a bonafide box-office star, Keanu would appear in a string of smaller films -- among them The Replacements (2000), The Watcher (2000), The Gift (2000), Sweet November (2001), and Hardball (2001) - before The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) were both released in 2003.
Since the end of The Matrix trilogy, Keanu has divided his time between mainstream and indie fare, landing hits with Something's Gotta Give (2003), The Lake House (2006), and Street Kings (2008). He's kept Matrix fans satiated with films such as Constantine (2005), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008). And he's waded back into art-house territory with Ellie Parker (2005), Thumbsucker (2005), The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), and Henry's Crime (2010).
Most recently, as post-production on the samurai epic 47 Ronin (2013) waged on, Keanu appeared in front of the camera in Side by Side (2012), a documentary on celluloid and digital filmmaking, which he also produced. He also directed another Asian-influenced project, Man of Tai Chi (2013).
In 2014, Keanu played the title role in the action revenge film John Wick (2014), which became popular with critics and audiences alike. He reprised the role in John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), taking the now-iconic character to a better opening weekend and even more enthusiastic reviews than the first go-around.- Actor
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Maximilian Carlo Martini was born in New York to an Italian father and an American mother. He is a citizen of the United States, Canada, and Italy and speaks Italian fluently. His Roman father was a sculptor and Doctor of Philosophy and Phenomenology and instilled in him an appreciation for all things creative. His mother was a Texas law enforcement officer. After moving around a bit as a child, Martini made his way back to New York City and began to study acting. He started out at the Neighborhood Playhouse intensive he but did the majority of his training privately with Michael Howard in Manhattan. After launching Theater North Collaborative (NYC) and staging new works from both the United States and Canada, Martini took a break from the stage to focus on his early love of fine art. He attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan where he received his BFA in painting and sculpture while working as an artist assistant to Julian Schnabel. After completing university Martini began to work steadily in both film and television.
Martini starred George Clooney's (dir) feature 'The Tender Bar' (2022) for Amazon Studios as well as the recently aired USA network television series The Purge. He also starred in the recently released Netflix original movie Eli. In 2019 he completed directing his second feature film The Manson Brothers Midnight Zombie Massacre. His directorial debut; Sgt. Will Gardner he starred in along with Omari Hardwick, Lily Rabe, Robert Patrick, Dermot Mulroney, Elisabeth Röhm and Gary Sinise. Martini starred in season one of the Netflix series The Order. Additionally, he starred in Bigger (2019); the Joe Weider biopic, Michael Bay's 13 Hours, Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim and Paul Greengrass' Captain Phillips. Martini is recognized from such films as Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, David Mamet's Red Belt, David Ayer's Sabotage and the Legendary/Universal feature Spectral. Max Martini also starred in the television series The Unit which ran for four years on CBS. Max Martini has over 32 film titles and 200 segments of television.
Max Martini is heavily involved in charitable work benefiting veterans. Aside from multiple trips to the middle east, attending every veteran event he is able, supporting veteran small businesses and helping veterans in film, tv and radio, he also works closely with Warriors Heart Addiction and PTSD Treatment Center and the Special Operations Charity Network. Martini sits on the board of both. He also supports Higher Ground USA and The Gary Sinise Foundation in any way possible.- Actor
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Johnny Messner was born on 11 April 1970 in Syracuse, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Running Scared (2006), Tears of the Sun (2003) and Spartan (2004).- Actor
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Channing Tatum was born in a small town, Cullman, Alabama, 50 miles north of Birmingham. He is the son of Kay (Faust), an airline worker, and Glenn Matthew Tatum, who worked in construction. Growing up, he was full of energy and somewhat troublesome, so his parents decided to enroll him in different sports such as track and field, baseball, soccer, and football to keep him out of trouble. In the ninth grade he was sent to Catholic school. It was there that he discovered his passion for football and his hopes became centered on earning an athletic college scholarship. Channing's goal was finally met, and in his senior year in high school, he was recruited and earned a full athletic college scholarship to a school in West Virginia.
Tatum is also skilled in Kung Fu and in Gor-Chor Kung Fu, a form of martial arts, in which he has earned belts. Channing later left college and, in the meantime, worked as a construction worker, a stripper, a mortgage broker and salesman. He has modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch, Nautica, Gap, Aeropostale, Emporio Armani, and has been featured in television commercials for American Eagle, Pepsi, and some very popular Mountain Dew commercials.
Channing can be seen on the big screen as a featured actor in Coach Carter (2005), in which he plays a high school basketball player. He was also in the very popular TV series CSI: Miami (2002) where he played the role of Bob Davenport.- Actor
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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
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Gary Edward Daniels (born 9 May 1963) is an English actor, a martial arts artist, a martial arts action film star, a producer, and a fight coordinator. . Daniels who was also interested in films, starred in two motion pictures in 1988 made in the Philippines. These were Teddy Page's action martial arts film Final Reprisal (1988), and the jungle adventure, The Secret of King Mahi's Island (1988). Daniels returned to the US, and continued competing. From 1991 to 1994, Daniels was seen acting in several action and martial arts films, within those he had a supporting role in Albert Pyun's Knights (1993), and played an adversary who had showdowns with Jackie Chan in City Hunter (1993) and Don Wilson in Ring of Fire (1991), and Bloodfist IV: Die Trying (1992). On his own, Daniels was the star of the action films Capital Punishment (1991), American Streetfighter (1992), Firepower (1993), Full Impact (1993), and Deadly Target (1994).
In 1995, Daniels played the lead role of Kenshiro in Tony Randel's American live-action version of Japanese manga Fist of the North Star. The film had a notable cast that included Costas Mandylor, Isako Washio Malcolm McDowell, etc. From its release on, the film was widely seen on television and on home video. From that point up until 2001, Daniels, now an established action film actor, acted in many films mixed between action, martial arts, and science fiction. Some of these efforts included Albert Pyun's Heatseeker, Joseph Merhi's Rage, Art Camacho's Recoil, Jeff Burr's Spoiler, Master P's No Tomorrow, Isaac Florentine's Cold Harvest, Joseph Zito's Delta Force One: The Lost Patrol, Bloodmoon, White Tiger, Hawk's Vengeance, Riot, Epicenter, Fatal Blade, City of Fear, Black Friday, Queen's Messenger, and Witness to a Kill.
From 2004 on, Daniels took on more supporting roles, this includes the role of Ed Parker in the Bruce Lee biographical mini-series The Legend of Bruce Lee, with contemporary martial artists Mark Dacascos, Ray Park, Ernest Miller, and Michael Jai White. He is also known for his supporting role as Bryan Fury in the 2009 live-action film Tekken, and its 2014 prequel, based upon the popular fighting game series. Daniels acted alongside Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, and Randy Couture in the Sylvester Stallone film The Expendables as Lawrence "The Brit" Sparks, an ally of the villain. Daniels appeared in La Linea, an action-crime film with an ensemble cast that includes Ray Liotta, Andy García, Armand Assante, etc. Next was Across the Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright alongside Aidan Quinn, Andy García for the second time, Mario Van Peebles, etc. Other efforts among many include David DeCocteau's The Wrong Child with Vivica A. Fox, the Wesley Snipes action vehicle Game of Death, Steve Austin's action vehicle Hunt to Kill, Stu Bennett's thriller I am Vengeance, etc. Some of the lead roles Daniels took are the martial arts fighting films Forced to Fight with Peter Weller, and Rumble. He was also the lead actor in the thriller Misfire, where he plays seasoned DEA agent, who descends into the underworld of Tijuana, and the jaded former hitman in Skin Traffik going against a gangster played by Mickey Rourke, with an ensemble cast including Daryl Hannah, Eric Roberts, Michael Madsen, Jeff Fahey, Dominique Swain, and Alan Ford.- Actor
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American actor and producer Matthew David McConaughey was born in Uvalde, Texas. His mother, Mary Kathleen (McCabe), is a substitute school teacher originally from New Jersey. His father, James Donald McConaughey, was a Mississippi-born gas station owner who ran an oil pipe supply business. He is of Irish, Scottish, German, English, and Swedish descent. Matthew grew up in Longview, Texas, where he graduated from the local High School (1988). Showing little interest in his father's oil business, which his two brothers later joined, Matthew was longing for a change of scenery, and spent a year in Australia, washing dishes and shoveling chicken manure. Back to the States, he attended the University of Texas in Austin, originally wishing to be a lawyer. But, when he discovered an inspirational Og Mandino book "The Greatest Salesman in the World" before one of his final exams, he suddenly knew he had to change his major from law to film.
He began his acting career in 1991, appearing in student films and commercials in Texas and directed short films as Chicano Chariots (1992). Once, in his hotel bar in Austin, he met the casting director and producer Don Phillips, who introduced him to director Richard Linklater for his next project. At first, Linklater thought Matthew was too handsome to play the role of a guy chasing high school girls in his coming-of-age drama Dazed and Confused (1993), but cast him after Matthew grew out his hair and mustache. His character was initially in three scenes but the role grew to more than 300 lines as Linklater encouraged him to do some improvisations. In 1995, he starred in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994), playing a mad bloodthirsty sadistic killer, opposite Renée Zellweger.
Shortly thereafter, moving to L.A., Matthew became a sensation with his performances in two high-profile 1996 films Lone Star (1996), where he portrayed killing suspected sheriff and in the film adaptation of John Grisham's novel A Time to Kill (1996), where he played an idealistic young lawyer opposite Sandra Bullock and Kevin Spacey. The actor was soon being hailed as one of the industry's hottest young leading man inspiring comparisons to actor Paul Newman. His following performances were Robert Zemeckis' Contact (1997) with Jodie Foster (the film was finished just before the death of the great astronomer and popularizer of space science Carl Sagan) and Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997), a fact-based 1839 story about the rebellious African slaves. In 1998, he teamed again with Richard Linklater as one of the bank-robbing brothers in The Newton Boys (1998), set in Matthew's birthplace, Uvalde, Texas. During this time, he also wrote, directed and starred in the 20-minute short The Rebel (1998).
In 1999, he starred in the comedy Edtv (1999), about the rise of reality television, and in 2000, he headlined Jonathan Mostow's U-571 (2000), portraying officer Lt. Tyler, in a WW II story of the daring mission of American submariners trying to capture the Enigma cipher machine.
In the 2000s, he became known for starring in romantic comedies, such as The Wedding Planner (2001), opposite Jennifer Lopez, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), in which he co-starred with Kate Hudson. He played Denton Van Zan, an American warrior and dragons hunter in the futuristic thriller Reign of Fire (2002), where he co-starred with Christian Bale. In 2006, he starred in the romantic comedy Failure to Launch (2006), and later as head coach Jack Lengyel in We Are Marshall (2006), along with Matthew Fox. In 2008, he played treasure hunter Benjamin "Finn" Finnegan in Fool's Gold (2008), again with Kate Hudson. After playing Connor Mead in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009), co-starring with Jennifer Garner, McConaughey took a two year hiatus to open different opportunities in his career. Since 2010, he has moved away from romantic comedies.
That change came in 2011, in his first movie after that pause, when he portrayed criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller in The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), that operates mostly from the back seat of his Lincoln car. After this performance that was considered one of his best until then, Matthew played other iconic characters as district attorney Danny Buck Davidson in Bernie (2011), the wild private detective "Killer" Joe Cooper in Killer Joe (2011), Mud in Mud (2012), reporter Ward Jensen in The Paperboy (2012), male stripper club owner Dallas in Magic Mike (2012), starring Channing Tatum. McConaughey's career certainly reached it's prime, when he played HIV carrier Ron Woodroof in the biographical drama Dallas Buyers Club (2013), shot in less than a month. For his portrayal of Ron, Matthew won the Best Actor in the 86th Academy Awards, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, among other awards and nominations. The same year, he also appeared in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). In 2014, he starred in HBO's True Detective (2014), as detective Rustin Cohle, whose job is to investigate with his partner Martin Hart, played by Woody Harrelson, a gruesome murder that happened in his little town in Louisiana. The series was highly acclaimed by critics winning 4 of the 7 categories it was nominated at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards; he also won a Critics' Choice Award for the role.
Also in 2014, Matthew starred in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi film Interstellar (2014), playing Cooper, a former NASA pilot.- Eddie Cahill was born in New York on January 15, 1978. With Italian and Irish descent, Eddie is the second born to his parents, having one older and one younger sister. He studied acting for a year and a half at New York University with the Atlantic Theater Co. Acting School.
He appeared in Nicky Silver's Off-Broadway play The Altruists in 2000. He made his move onto TV screens in June of 2000 guest-starring opposite Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City (1998). He made his big break in October of 2000 winning the role of Rachel's new assistant in Friends (1994)
His other TV appearances include Charmed (1998), Felicity (1998) Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)
In 2001 Eddie signed a holding deal with The WB Network to star in his own TV show. Glory Days (2001), debuted in 2002 but, while well received by critics and viewers, it did not last long. Not discouraged, Eddie went on to make appearances in the series "Haunted" and Dawson's Creek (1998).
In 2004 he made his leap onto the big screen in Disney's Miracle (2004) playing his childhood hero Jim Craig. He continued his movie career in 2005 appearing in the movie Lords of Dogtown (2005).
Also, in 2004 he joined the cast of the newest addition to the "CSI" franchise CSI: NY (2004) He can be seen playing Detective Don Flack every Wednesday on CBS at 10/9 central. - Actor
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Paul Leyden is an Australian born actor/writer/director. He moved to New York in 2000 where he played the popular rogue 'Simon Frasier' on 'As the World Turns' for four years. He was cast alongside Heather Locklear and Blair Underwood in NBC's 'LAX' which saw Paul relocate to Los Angeles. It was here after he sold his first screenplay to Joel Silver and Dark Castle Pictures, 'The Factory' starring John Cusack, that Paul made the permanent shift to writer and director and has since had many projects, both film and TV, produced and developed in the States and Australia. He married French actress Alexia Barlier in 2018.- Actor
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Justin Bruening was born on 24 September 1979 in St. Helena, Nebraska, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Good Behavior (2016), Sweet Magnolias (2020) and Grey's Anatomy (2005). He has been married to Alexa Havins since 5 June 2005. They have three children.- Producer
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Bear Grylls was born on 7 June 1974 in Isle of Wight, England, UK. He is a producer and writer, known for You vs. Wild (2019), You vs. Wild: Out Cold (2021) and The Count of Monte Cristo. He has been married to Shara Cannings-Knight since 19 January 2000. They have three children.- He was raised in the Muslim faith. At the age of four, he moved to Munich with his mother and sister in 1973. He last spent his school years at a boarding school on Lake Chiemsee. He then studied political science and economics. In 1992 he traveled to Paris, where he began a career as a model. Meanwhile, he's keeping an eye on acting. After his first film projects in 1997, Sander celebrated his television debut in Germany in 1999 with the TV pilot for the series "Sinan Toprak - The Untouchable". In 2000 he married Caroline Godet, a niece of film director Oliver Stone. By 2001, 16 episodes of the series "Sinan Toprak" had been created with Sander. In the same year he appeared in front of the camera for the TV film "Now we're killing our men". With "The Apocalypse" (2002) and "Forever Lost" (2003) he also asserted himself in demanding roles.
He celebrated his breakthrough in 2003 in the role of the Persian ruler Shah in Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in the two-part TV series "Soraya", which was about the life story of Soraya of Persia. In the same year the TV film "My husband, my life and you" was made. Erol Sander made his film debut in 2004 in a supporting role in "Aexander", directed by Oliver Stone. For the 2007 open-air season he took on the role of Winnetou at the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg. At the same time, he starred in the films "A Love in the Sign of the Dragon" and "A Love in Cuba," among others. From 2006 to 2010 he was a Dr. Daniel Guth in front of the camera for the TV series "The Alpine Clinic - Love Heals Wounds" (ARD). This was followed in 2011 by the crime novels "Istanbul Murder Commission - Blood Ties" and "Istanbul Murder Commission - Transit". - Actor
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Actor, producer, writer, and director Til Schweiger is Germany's best-known actor and also the country's most successful director. With more than 51 Million admissions no other German filmmaker drew more people to cinemas. He runs his own production company Barefoot Films based in Berlin, Germany.
Til Schweiger (born December 19, 1963) was raised along with his two brothers in his hometown Giessen. In his early years, Schweiger began studying German and Medicine. He decided to drop out of university to pursue his career as an actor and went to drama school from 1986-1989. After graduation, he played at several theaters as a stage actor to gain more experience.
In 1991, Schweiger landed his first lead role in Manta, Manta (1991) following his big breakthrough role on Maybe... Maybe Not (1994) with the support of Germany's renowned film producer and mentor Bernd Eichinger. In 1996, Til Schweiger founded his first film production company Mr. Brown Entertainment together with business partner and film producer Tom Zickler. Schweiger debuted as producer with Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997) winning several Festival Awards. The road movie remains a cult favorite with audiences worldwide. Within the same year, Schweiger was the first foreign actor to win the "Polish Oscar" at the International Warsaw Film festival for his performance in in Bandyta (1997). He has since built up acting credits in dozens of German movies including Der Eisbär (1998), where Schweiger made his debut as director.
Judas Kiss (1998) was Schweiger's first role in an international film. He then appeared in several internationally acclaimed movies including SLC Punk! (1998), The Replacement Killers (1998), Driven (2001), Intimate Affairs (2001), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003), King Arthur (2004), New Year's Eve (2011), and many more.
To this day, Schweiger has delivered a series of German-language hits and won numerous Awards as actor/writer/director/producer: Barefoot (2005) grossed about $7,7 million with 1,5 million admissions, Rabbit Without Ears (2007) was up to 2014 Schweiger's most successful film and earned some $74 million locally, followed by the sequel Rabbit Without Ears 2 (2009). In 2011, Schweiger wrote, produced and directed Kokowääh (2011), which grossed $43 million, starring alongside his youngest daughter Emma. A sequel hit theaters in 2013.
As an actor, he received widespread critical acclaim and further recognition for his portrayal as the legendary Hugo Stieglitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009).
In December 2014, Til Schweiger released the family-friendly dramedy Head Full of Honey (2014) , which he co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in. It is his most successful film to date breaking the 6, 3 million admissions barrier of his 2007 hit Rabbit Without Ears (2007).
Schweiger, who started his career in German TV, plays the lead role on hit local crimes series Tatort (1970)(Hamburg) (Scene of the Crime). His debut generated the best ratings for the long-running procedural in 20 years.- Actor
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Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, Karl Urban now lives in Auckland. Born on June 7, 1972, he is the son of a leather-goods manufacturer (who had hoped that Karl would follow in his footsteps). His first acting role was when he was 8 -- he had a line on a television series. However, he did not act again until after high school. He was offered a role in the NZ soap opera Shortland Street (1992) as he was preparing to attend Victoria University. After appearing on the series for the 1993-1994 season, he attended the university for one year, then left to pursue his acting career. Over the next few years, he landed several theater roles in the Wellington area. Eventually, he moved to Auckland, where a number of guest roles in NZ television followed. One of his first roles was that of a heroin addict in the drama series Shark in the Park (1989). He was in a movie as well, entitled Once in Chunuck Bay (aka Chunuk Bair (1992)). Other television roles followed, including a guest-starring role in the series White Fang (1993). Karl's biggest roles include Éomer in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek (2009), William Cooper in RED (2010) and Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012).- Actor
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Kenny Wormald grew up in Stoughton, Massachusetts, and began taking dancing lessons at the age of six. He won a string of dance contests throughout the Northeast in his teens and took to dancing professionally. He worked as a dancer and choreographer, appearing in a number of music videos and touring with Justin Timberlake. He made his television debut in an episode of The Drew Carey Show (1995) in 2002, but he rose to worldwide fame in 2010 when Paramount announced that he was to star in the remake of Footloose (2011).- Actor
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Austin Stowell was born and raised in Kensington, Connecticut, by his father, Robert, a retired steelworker, and his mother, Elizabeth, a schoolteacher. He graduated from Berlin High School in 2003. Upon acceptance at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut, he studied with the Department of Dramatic Arts, a division of the School of Fine Arts. He performed in several productions with the Connecticut Repertory Theatre, including Julius Caesar, It Can't Happen Here, and As You Like It. Stowell graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2007.- Actor
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Luke George Evans was born in Pontypool, Wales, and grew up in Aberbargoed, in the south of Wales. He is the son of Yvonne (Lewis) and David Evans. He moved to Cardiff at the age 17. He then won a scholarship to the London Studio Centre, and graduated in 2000.
He starred in many of London's West End theatre productions. In 2009, he landed the role of Apollo in Clash of the Titans (2010) (2010). Then, he quickly landed roles in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010) (2010), Robin Hood (2010) (2010), Tamara Drewe (2010) (2010), Blitz (2011) (2010), The Three Musketeers (2011) (2011), Ashes (2011), Immortals (2011) (2011) and The Raven (2012) (2012). He's also scheduled to star in The Amateur American (2012), No One Lives (2012) (2012) and Only God Forgives (2013) (2013).
Luke Evans resides in Shoreditch, London.- Eddie Cibrian was born on 16 June 1973 in Burbank, California, USA. He is an actor, known for The Cave (2005), The Best Man Holiday (2013) and Sunset Beach (1997). He has been married to LeAnn Rimes since 22 April 2011. He was previously married to Brandi Glanville.
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Andrew McCarthy grew up in Westfield, New Jersey, until he was 15, when his family moved to Bernardsville. He attended the Pingry School, a prep school, where he performed in plays and musicals and played basketball. At 18, he went to New York University as a theatre major and wound up as the lead in the 1983 film Class (1983). He also studied at the Circle in Square Theater School in New York. He has been in several on and off Broadway shows, such as 'Long Day's Journey', as well as over 40 movies. He continues to show his talented acting abilities in upcoming movies and shows.
Since the mid-2000s, McCarthy has had a second career as a travel writer for such publications as National Geographic Traveler, Travel+Leisure, Afar, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Bon Appetit, The New York Times, Men's Journal, and Slate, among others. In 2010, the Society of American Travel Writers awarded McCarthy their Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism prize and named him Travel Journalist of the Year.- Actor
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Luke Goss started his acting career playing 'Danny Zuko' in the smash hit musical Grease, on London's West End, and later toured with the production throughout the United Kingdom. He established himself as a screen actor in 2002 with performances in two very different features: David Goyer's independent drama ZigZag, with John Leguizamo, Oliver Platt, Natasha Lyonne and Wesley Snipes; and Guillermo Del Toro's supernatural action feature Blade II, with Snipes and Ron Perlman. The following year, he starred in the title role of the critically acclaimed British gangster film Charlie, and in the role of the monster in the Emmy Award-winning Hallmark miniseries Frankenstein, with Donald Sutherland and William Hurt. In 2005, Goss traveled to India to play the role of King Xerxes in the Biblical epic One Night With The King, opposite Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole, firmly establishing him as a versatile actor. He then went on to star in The Man, with Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy; Mercenary, with Steven Seagal; Bone Dry, with Lance Henriksen; Unearthed, with Emmanuelle Vaugier; Deep Winter, with Michael Madsen; and Shanghai Baby, with Bai Ling. 2008 reunited Goss with Guillermo Del Toro in Universals Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the sequel that opened in the number one spot at the U.S. box office. The role earned Goss 2 MTV Movie Award nominations. He had the starring role in Tekken, a sci-fi feature thriller based on the popular video and arcade game. He has completed filming his first role for Network Television in JJ Abrams "Fringe". Luke has also played leading roles in Across The Line, Blood Out, and has taken over Universals Death Race franchise, firmly establishing him as a leading man.
He was born in Lewisham, London, to Carol (Read) and Alan Goss.- Actor
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Dylan Bruno was born on 6 September 1972 in Milford, Connecticut, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Thumb Runner (2020), Where the Heart Is (2000) and Taken 3 (2014). He has been married to Emmeli Hultquist since 24 June 2006. They have two children.- Actor
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January 2020, Paramount Network ordered straight to series 'Mayor of Kingstown.' The series comes from co-creator and executive producer, Academy Award nominated director Taylor Sheridan, along with co-creator and executive producer Hugh Dillon. Executive produced by Antoine Fuqua, and co-starring Jeremy Renner, Dianne Wiest and Kyle Chandler, the series will start streaming November 2021.
Combining acting with a distinguished career as a singer songwriter, Dillon earned notoriety in his multi-platinum punk rock band. It was early in the band's success when Hugh caught the attention of filmmaker Bruce McDonald, who cast him in the 1996 film Hard Core Logo. Quentin Tarantino saw it at South by Southwest, deciding on the spot to distribute the movie through Rolling Thunder.
This caught the attention of Debra Granik (Winter's Bone), who cast Dillon to star opposite Vera Farmiga in the Sundance Film Festival award winning film, Down To The Bone.
Dillon's ability to capture honest and realistic portrayals of complicated characters has been his calling card. The award-winning actor starred in the dark and twisted serial Durham County, leading him to his breakout role in CBS/CTV co-production Flashpoint, which aired for five seasons.
Early 2013 saw Dillon join AMC's The Killing, simultaneously appearing on Showcase's drama Continuum. Dillon has been busy since then with various productions, more recently adding roles in 2017 in Twin Peaks and feature film Wind River, alongside Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner, with director Taylor Sheridan. Dillon also appears alongside Kevin Costner, in Sheridan's critically acclaimed Paramount Network show Yellowstone, set to air its fourth season in summer 2021.
Dillon has continued to push the boundaries of his creativity, taking a hands-on approach to developing and producing unique stories, such as short film The Offer, and Issues, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Following a celebrated return to the stage with the Headstones, Dillon has since been back in the studio to record the band's latest two full-length albums, and their first vinyl release. 2017 has seen the release of their latest album Little Army, where the band gave their fans an exclusive behind the scenes look into the making of the album, in real time, and includes the #1 hit single 'Devil's On Fire'. Late 2019 saw the release of the eagerly anticipated new album 'PEOPLESKILLS', and with Lead single, 'Leave It All Behind' hitting number 3 on the Billboard Rock Charts.- Actor
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Rick Rossovich, considered one of the nicest people to work with, is also a devoted family man. He and his wife Eva have two kids, Roy and Isabel. For three months each year, the family lives at their home in Sweden, where Eva is from, so that the kids can have both sides of their parents' upbringing. Rick lives in Ojai, California.- Actor
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John Murice Jackson (born June 1, 1950) is an American actor, best known for playing Rear Admiral A. J. Chegwidden on the CBS series JAG and also as a special guest star on its spin-off NCIS and recurring cast to its spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles.John was forced to use his middle initial "M." for his professional name because there was already a "John Jackson" registered with the Screen Actors Guild when he joined the union and SAG rules prohibit two or more members from using exactly the same name.