Hottest Actors
The hottest actors around (in my opinion anyway!!)
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John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II was born on June 9, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky, to Betty Sue Palmer (née Wells), a waitress, and John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer. He was raised in Florida. He dropped out of school when he was 15, and fronted a series of music-garage bands, including one named 'The Kids'. When he married Lori A. Depp, he took a job as a ballpoint-pen salesman to support himself and his wife. A visit to Los Angeles, California, with his wife, however, happened to be a blessing in disguise, when he met up with actor Nicolas Cage, who advised him to turn to acting, which culminated in Depp's film debut in the low-budget horror film, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), where he played a teenager who falls prey to dream-stalking demon Freddy Krueger.
In 1987 he shot to stardom when he replaced Jeff Yagher in the role of undercover cop Tommy Hanson in the popular TV series 21 Jump Street (1987). In 1990, after numerous roles in teen-oriented films, his first of a handful of great collaborations with director Tim Burton came about when Depp played the title role in Edward Scissorhands (1990). Following the film's success, Depp carved a niche for himself as a serious, somewhat dark, idiosyncratic performer, consistently selecting roles that surprised critics and audiences alike. He continued to gain critical acclaim and increasing popularity by appearing in many features before re-joining with Burton in the lead role of Ed Wood (1994). In 1997 he played an undercover FBI agent in the fact-based film Donnie Brasco (1997), opposite Al Pacino; in 1998 he appeared in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), directed by Terry Gilliam; and then, in 1999, he appeared in the sci-fi/horror film The Astronaut's Wife (1999). The same year he teamed up again with Burton in Sleepy Hollow (1999), brilliantly portraying Ichabod Crane.
Depp has played many characters in his career, including another fact-based one, Insp. Fred Abberline in From Hell (2001). He stole the show from screen greats such as Antonio Banderas in the finale to Robert Rodriguez's "mariachi" trilogy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). In that same year he starred in the marvelous family blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), playing a character that only the likes of Depp could pull off: the charming, conniving and roguish Capt. Jack Sparrow. The film's enormous success has opened several doors for his career and included an Oscar nomination. He appeared as the central character in the Stephen King-based movie, Secret Window (2004); as the kind-hearted novelist James Barrie in the factually-based Finding Neverland (2004), where he co-starred with Kate Winslet; and Rochester in the British film, The Libertine (2004). Depp collaborated again with Burton in a screen adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and later in Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Dark Shadows (2012).
Off-screen, Depp has dated several female celebrities, and has been engaged to Sherilyn Fenn, Jennifer Grey, Winona Ryder and Kate Moss. He was married to Lori Anne Allison in 1983, but divorced her in 1985. Depp has two children with his former long-time partner, French singer/actress Vanessa Paradis: Lily-Rose Melody, born in 1999 and John Christopher "Jack" III, born in 2002. He married actress/producer Amber Heard in 2015, divorcing a few years later.- Producer
- Actor
- Executive
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt was born on December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri to Jane Etta Pitt (née Hillhouse), a school counselor & William Alvin "Bill" Pitt, a truck company manager. At Kickapoo High School, Pitt was involved in sports, debating, student government and school musicals. Pitt attended the University of Missouri, where he majored in journalism with a focus on advertising. He occasionally acted in fraternity shows. He left college two credits short of graduating to move to California. Before he became successful at acting, Pitt supported himself by driving strippers in limos, moving refrigerators and dressing as a giant chicken while working for El Pollo Loco.
Pitt's earliest credited roles were in television, starting on the daytime soap opera Another World (1964) before appearing in the recurring role of Randy on the legendary prime time soap opera Dallas (1978). Following a string of guest appearances on various television series through the 1980s, Pitt gained widespread attention with a small part in Thelma & Louise (1991), in which he played a sexy criminal who romanced and conned Geena Davis. This led to starring roles in badly received films such as Johnny Suede (1991) & Cool World (1992).
But Pitt's career hit an upswing with his casting in A River Runs Through It (1992), which cemented his status as an multi-layered actor as opposed to just a pretty face. Pitt's subsequent projects were as quirky and varied in tone as his performances, ranging from his unforgettably comic cameo as stoner roommate Floyd in True Romance (1993) to romantic roles in such visually lavish films as Interview with the Vampire (1994) and Legends of the Fall (1994), to an emotionally tortured detective in the horror-thriller Se7en (1995). His portrayal of frenetic oddball Jeffrey Goines in 12 Monkeys (1995) won him a Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.
Pitt's portrayal of Achilles in the big-budget period drama Troy (2004) helped establish his appeal as an action star and was closely followed by a co-starring role in the stylish spy-versus-spy flick Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). It was on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith that Pitt, who married Jennifer Aniston in a highly publicized ceremony in 2000, met Angelina Jolie. Pitt left Aniston for Jolie in 2005, a break-up that continues to fuel tabloid stories years after its occurrence.
He continues to wildly vary his film choices, appearing in everything from high-concept popcorn flicks such as Megamind (2010) to adventurous critic-bait like Inglourious Basterds (2009) and The Tree of Life (2011). He has received two Best Actor Oscar nominations, for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Moneyball (2011). In 2014, he starred in the war film Fury (2014), opposite Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Jon Bernthal, and Michael Peña.
Pitt and Jolie have 6 children, 3 adopted & 3 biological.- 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
- Soundtrack
British actor Clive Owen is one of a handful of stars who, though he is best known for his art house films, can handle more mainstream films with equal measures of grace and skill. Owen is typically cast as characters whose primary traits are a balance of physical strength, intellect, conflicting soul but forceful will. He is best known to film audiences for his work in Children of Men (2006), Closer (2004) and his breakout part in Croupier (1998).
Born in Coventry, in England's West Midlands county, on 3 October 1964, Owen is the fourth of five brothers. He is the son of Pamela (Cotton) and Jess Owen, a country and western singer. His father abandoned the family when he was three years old, and Owen was subsequently raised by his mother and stepfather. He attended Binley Park Comprehensive School and joined the youth theater at 13 after playing the scene-stealing role of the Artful Dodger in a production of "Oliver!"
Acting was not his first choice as a profession, but he changed his mind and went on to graduate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1987. Owen proceeded to join the Young Vic Theatre Company, where he honed his craft while performing in a number of Shakespearean productions.
Clive made his film debut in the British-made Vroom (1990) co-starring with David Thewlis as two fellows who restore a classic American car and take off on the road. Within two years, Clive became a full-fledged TV star playing devilish rogue Stephen Crane in Chancer (1990). However, the now-sought-after Clive abandoned the star-making part at the height of the show's popularity because of unwanted invasion of privacy and his fear of typecasting. His next project raised more than a few eyebrows when he filmed Close My Eyes (1991) in which he played a brother who acts on his incestuous desires for his older sister. Clive's reputation as a lovable shyster was completely shattered and he lost profitable commercial endorsements following the film's release. Offers fell off for the next two years as a result. But the persistent Clive carried on with stage work, including the role of a bisexual in a production of Noël Coward's "Design For Living." He returned to TV at that time as well and played a number of roles in both mini-movies and series.
In 1997, Clive had a huge hit on the London stage with "Closer," a cynical, contemporary ensemble piece about relationships. Controversy surrounded him again in the film role of Max in Bent (1997) playing a brash, reckless homosexual lothario in decadent pre-war Germany who finds unconditional love while interned in a Nazi war camp. His biggest film break, however, was in Mike Hodges' Croupier (1998), as a struggling writer-turned-casino employee who gets in over his head with a femme fatale scam artist. English audiences stayed away in droves but the U.S. embraced the film and Hollywood took notice of Clive, who was virtually unknown outside of England. Despite playing detective Ross Tanner in a series of successful "Second Sight" mini-movies and finding critical acclaim on stage with "The Day in the Death of Joe Egg" in 2001, Clive has focused primarily on film, including the offbeat Brit romantic comedy Greenfingers (2000), the classy and popular Robert Altman period piece Gosford Park (2001), the Matt Damon star-vehicle The Bourne Identity (2002), and the title role in King Arthur (2004). He has since reached the top rungs of the Hollywood ladder with the film version of his stage smash Closer (2004), in which he received an Academy Award nomination and won both the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards for "Supporting Actor." He also had noteworthy roles opposite Denzel Washington in Inside Man (2006); and Julianne Moore and Michael Caine in Children of Men (2006), as well as handling a few biopics, playing Sir Walter Raleigh opposite Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth I in the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) and Ernest Hemingway (Emmy nomination) in Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012) also starring Nicole Kidman.
More recent films include starring roles in The International (2009), Duplicity (2009), The Boys Are Back (2009), Trust (2010), Intruders (2011), Blood Ties (2013), Last Knights (2015), The Confirmation (2016) and Anon (2018). He also played Claudius in a retelling of "Hamlet" per Ophelia's perspective in Ophelia (2018); and played in support to Will Smith in the sci-fi thriller Gemini Man (2019).
Owen is married to former actress Sarah-Jane Fenton, who played Juliet to his Romeo at the Young Vic in 1998. The couple has two daughters.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
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 Native Hawaiian and Chinese ancestry while 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 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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George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, to Nina Bruce (née Warren), a former beauty pageant queen, and Nick Clooney, a former anchorman and television host (who was also the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney). He has Irish, English, and German ancestry. Clooney spent most of his youth in Ohio and Kentucky, and graduated from Augusta High School. He was very active in sports such as basketball and baseball, and tried out for the Cincinnati Reds, but was not offered a contract.
After his cousin, Miguel Ferrer, got him a small role in a feature film, Clooney began to pursue acting. His first major role was on the sitcom E/R (1984) as Ace. More roles soon followed, including George Burnett, the handsome handyman on The Facts of Life (1979); Booker Brooks, a supervisor on Roseanne (1988); and Detective James Falconer on Sisters (1991). Clooney had his breakthrough when he was cast as Dr. Doug Ross on the award-winning drama series ER (1994), opposite Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle and Julianna Margulies.
While filming "ER" (1994), Clooney starred in a number of high profile film roles, such as Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), and One Fine Day (1996), opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. In 1997, Clooney took on the role of Batman in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin (1997). The film was a moderate success in the box office, but was slammed by critics, notably for the nipple-laden Batsuit. Clooney went on to star in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight (1998), Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998), and David O. Russell's Three Kings (1999).
In 1999, Clooney left "ER" (1994) (though he would return for the season finale) and appeared in a number of films, including O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Perfect Storm (2000) and Ocean's Eleven (2001). Collaborating once again with Steven Soderbergh, Ocean's Eleven (2001) received critical acclaim, earned more than $450 million at the box office, and spawned two sequels: Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007).
In 2002, Clooney made his directorial debut with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), an adaptation of TV producer Chuck Barris' autobiography. This was the first film under the banner of Section Eight Productions, a production company he founded with Steven Soderbergh. The company also produced many acclaimed films, including Far from Heaven (2002), Syriana (2005), A Scanner Darkly (2006) and Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005). Clooney won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Syriana (2005), and was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005).
In 2006, Section Eight Productions was shut down so that Soderbergh could concentrate on directing, and Clooney founded a new production company, Smokehouse Productions, with his friend and longtime business partner, Grant Heslov.
Clooney went on to produce and star in Michael Clayton (2007) (which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor), directed and starred in Leatherheads (2008), and took leading roles in Burn After Reading (2008), The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), and Jason Reitman's Up in the Air (2009). Clooney received critical acclaim for his performance in Up in the Air (2009) and was nominated for several awards, including a Golden Globe Award and Academy Award. He didn't win that year, but took home both Best Actor awards (as well as countless nominations) for his role as a father who finds out his wife was unfaithful as she lays in a coma in Alexander Payne's The Descendants (2011). Through his career, Clooney has been heralded for his political activism and humanitarian work. He has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since 2008, has been an advocate for the Darfur conflict, and organized the Hope for Haiti telethon, to raise money for the victims of the 2010 earthquake. In March 2012, Clooney was arrested for civil disobedience while protesting at the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C.
Clooney was married to actress Talia Balsam, from 1989 until 1993. After their divorce, he swore he would never marry again. Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman bet him $10,000 that he would have children by the age of 40, and sent him a check shortly after his birthday. Clooney returned the funds and bet double or nothing he wouldn't have children by the age of 50. Although he has remained a consummate bachelor, Clooney has had many highly publicized relationships, including with former WWE wrestler Stacy Keibler. In 2014, he married lawyer and activist Amal Clooney, with whom he has two children, twins.- Actor
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Bradley Charles Cooper was born on January 5, 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother, Gloria (Campano), is of Italian descent, and worked for a local NBC station. His father, Charles John Cooper, who was of Irish descent, was a stockbroker. Immediately after Bradley graduated from the Honors English program at Georgetown University in 1997, he moved to New York City to enroll in the Masters of Fine Arts program at the Actors Studio Drama School at New School University. There, he developed his stage work, culminating with his thesis performance as John Merrick in Bernard Pomerance's "The Elephant Man", performed in New York's Circle in the Square.
While still in school, Bradley began his professional career, appearing opposite Sarah Jessica Parker on Sex and the City (1998) and on the drama series The Beat (2000). His weekends were spent with LEAP (Learning through the Expanded Arts Program), a non-profit organization that teaches acting and movement to inner city school children. The summers took him all across the globe, from kayaking in British Columbia with Orca Whales to ice-climbing in the Peruvian Andes, while hosting Lonely Planet's Treks in a Wild World (2000) for the Discovery Channel. Bradley had to miss his graduation ceremony from the Actors Studio in order to star in his first feature Wet Hot American Summer (2001). After finishing his second feature Bending All the Rules (2002), his plans to relocate to Los Angeles were delayed when Darren Star hired him to star on the drama series The $treet (2000).
Bradley went on to win the role of young law student Gordon Pinella in Changing Lanes (2002), starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson, and also played Travis Paterson in My Little Eye (2002). He finally decided that it was time to forgo his other New York projects and move to Los Angeles when he was cast on Alias (2001). After supporting roles in Wedding Crashers (2005), Failure to Launch (2006), The Comebacks (2007), The Rocker (2008) and Yes Man (2008), Cooper broke out with major roles in He's Just Not That Into You (2009), The Hangover (2009) and Valentine's Day (2010). He co-starred in the action film The A-Team (2010) and headlined the thriller film Limitless (2011).
Cooper received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor after starring opposite Jennifer Lawrence in David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook (2012). He then received two more consecutive Oscar nominations, Best Supporting Actor for playing Richie DiMaso in Russell's American Hustle (2013) (again opposite Lawrence, though their characters shared no significant screen time), and Best Actor for playing Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in Clint Eastwood's American Sniper (2014), the highest grossing film of 2014. During this time period, Cooper also reprised his role in The Hangover Part II (2011) and The Hangover Part III (2013), turned in another strong dramatic turn in The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), and voiced Rocket Raccoon in the third highest grossing film of 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
In 2015, Bradley headlined two comedies, Cameron Crowe's Aloha (2015), set in Hawaii, and John Wells' Burnt (2015), set in London, and starred opposite Jennifer Lawrence again in David O. Russell's Joy (2015).
Bradley has a daughter (born 2017) with his former partner, model Irina Shayk.- Actor
- Producer
- Cinematographer
Josh Lucas was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Michele (LeFevre), a nurse midwife, and Don Maurer, an ER doctor.
Lucas' film career began by accident in 1979 when a small Canadian film production shot on the tiny coastal South Carolina island, Sullivan's Island, where Lucas and his family lived. Unbeknownst to the filmmakers, 8-year-old Lucas was hiding in the sand dunes watching filming during the climatic scene where teenage lovers engage in a lovesick fight. It was during this experience that Lucas decided to pursue a career in film which he has now done for nearly 3 decades. Born to young, radical politically active parents in Arkansas in 1971, Lucas spent his early childhood nomadically moving around the southern U.S. The family finally settled in Gig Harbor, Washington, where Lucas attended high school. The school had an award-winning drama/debate program and Lucas won the State Championship in Dramatic Interpretation and competed at the 1989 National Championship. Brief stints in professional theater in Seattle followed before Lucas moved to Los Angeles. After receiving breaks playing a young George Armstrong Custer in the Steven Spielberg produced Class of '61 (1993) and Frank Marshall's film Alive (1993), Lucas' career toiled in minor TV appearances. Frustrated, he decided to start over and relocated to New York City.
In NYC, Lucas studied acting for years under Suzanne Shepherd and worked in smaller theater productions like Shakespeare in the Parking Lot before receiving another break in 1997 when he was cast as Judas in Terrence McNally's controversial off-Broadway production Corpus Christi. The play led to his being cast in the films You Can Count on Me (2000) and American Psycho (2000). These films were followed by interesting performances in the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind (2001) and the box-office hit Sweet Home Alabama (2002).
Lucas has since worked with many of the film community's greatest talents. He starred alongside Jon Voight in Jerry Bruckheimer's Glory Road (2006), for which Lucas added 40 pounds to transform himself into legendary basketball coach Don Haskins. Lucas also starred with Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss in Wolfgang Petersen's Poseidon (2006). He starred with Morgan Freeman and Robert Redford in Lasse Hallström's An Unfinished Life (2005). He also starred opposite Jamie Bell in David Gordon Green's Undertow (2004), which was also produced by Terrence Malick. Additionally, Lucas worked alongside Christopher Walken in Around the Bend (2004).
He performed with Jennifer Connelly and Eric Bana in Ang Lee's Hulk (2003). Other credits include Wonderland (2003), The Deep End (2001), American Psycho (2000), Session 9 (2001) and You Can Count on Me (2000).
Lucas' theater credits include the off-Broadway run of "Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell"; Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie", which appeared on Broadway in 2005; Terrence McNally's "Corpus Christi" at the Manhattan Theater Club; Christopher Shinn's "What Didn't Happen"; and "The Picture of Dorian Gray".
Lucas has always been fascinated by documentaries and performed voice work with film legend Ken Burns on the documentary The War (2007), and also provided voice-over work for Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (2007), Trumbo (2007) and Resolved (2007). Lucas' first venture into production was Stolen (2009), in which he played the single father of a mentally challenged boy. The film was the first project to be produced through Lucas' production company, "Two Bridges".
In the past few years, Lucas' films include The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), Daydream Nation (2010), Peacock (2010), as Charles Lindbergh in Clint Eastwood's film J. Edgar (2011), and the massive Australian box-office and critical success Red Dog (2011), for which Lucas won Australia's best actor award (The I.F. Award). He also played Beat Generation legend Neal Cassady in Big Sur (2013). He can be seen in Kevin Connolly's Dear Eleanor (2016), the Sundance Festival film Little Accidents and the NY indie film The Mend.- Actor
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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
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Brian Austin Green was born Brian Green on July 15, 1973 in Los Angeles, California to Joyce Green (née Klein) and George Green. He has a brother, Keith, and a sister, Lorelei. Brian's father was a Country & Western artist and used to frequently take him along to gigs and soon got him interested in the world of music. His first full-time television acting job was the role of "Brian Cunningham" on Knots Landing (1979) between 1986 and 1989. He later went on to star as "David Silver" in the long-running teen show Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990). He also appeared in several television movies, such as Her Costly Affair (1996) and Unwed Father (1997) and guest-starred on other shows such as Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993) and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996). He released an album in 1996 called "One Stop Carnival" and still continues to work on producing music, especially hip-hop, with his production company and in his home studio. More recently, he has had roles as "Luke Bonner" in Resurrection Blvd. (2000) as well as in independent films as "Randy Mecklin" in Purgatory Flats (2003) and "Jack O'Malley" in Cock & Bull Story (2002). He was engaged to his Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) co-star Vanessa Marcil and the couple have a son named Kassius Lijah Marcil-Green (born March 15, 2002).- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Josh Holloway was born on 20 July 1969 in San Jose, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Lost (2004), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) and Sabotage (2014). He has been married to Yessica Kumala since 1 October 2004. They have two children.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Matthew Chandler Fox was born in Abington, Pennsylvania. His mother, Loretta B. (Eagono), was a schoolteacher, and his father, Francis G. Fox, was a consultant for an oil company, who raised longhorn cattle and horses and grew barley for Coors beer. He has Italian (from his maternal grandfather), English, and Irish ancestry. Matthew entered the Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts for a post-grad year after high school, and then matriculated at Columbia University where he played football and majored in Economics with the intent to end up on Wall Street. However, his girlfriend's mother was a modeling agent who convinced him to try some modeling which led to a couple of TV commercials. Soon after he was sold on acting.
He made his debut on an episode of _"Wings"(1990)_ in 1992. From 1994 to 2000 he played the role of Charlie Salinger in Party of Five (1994) alongside Neve Campbell and Scott Wolf. From 2004 to 2010 he starred on the popular TV-Show Lost (2004). During this time he appeared in movies such as We Are Marshall (2006), Vantage Point (2008) and Speed Racer (2008).
He has been married to his wife Margherita since 1992 and they 2 children together, a daughter and a son.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
The second of three children born to a dentist and his wife in Nashville, Tennessee, Denton grew up in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, attended Goodlettsville High School, briefly played basketball at a junior college, then went on to graduate with honors from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, snagging a degree in advertising as a television/journalism major on the way out the door. Even though his father was involved in community theater, Denton didn't jump in until he was 23, during the Tennessee bicentennial in Nashville, Tennessee. His role as "George Gibbs" in a production of "Our Town" turned out to be only the first in a long line of plays that he would do, first in Nashville and then, later, in North Carolina, Chicago and California.
Although he spent the next four years selling advertising for two radio stations and then for the CBS affiliate in Nashville, Denton's heart was already in another place and, after a short stint in North Carolina, he headed to Chicago to try his hand at acting full-time.
In Chicago, his first role was as "Stanley" in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and his last was as the terrorist "Bebert" in the French farce "Lapin Lapin". In the years that came between the two, JD was a company member at The Griffin Theater and at Strawdog Theater Ensemble. He added a steady string of roles and accolades to his quickly growing list of achievements, including one of the leads in the world premiere of "Flesh and Blood", performing in and composing the music for "the Night Hank Williams Died", and his portrayal of Kentucky preacher "C.C. Showers" in "The Diviners" - which gained him a much coveted nomination for a Best Actor Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago's only theater award). A small part in The Untouchables (1993) (the series, not the movie), JAG (1995), Sliders (1995) and Dark Skies (1996). A spot on Moloney (1996), a pilot for ABC called "L.A. Med" and a stint on the silver screen in That Old Feeling (1997), were preludes to his first appearance as "Mr. Lyle" on The Pretender (1996). Immediately afterward, JD made another pilot, this time for his own series, "The Hanleys". When ABC shelved the sitcom at the last minute, Denton continued producing chilling portrayals as "Mr. Lyle" on NBC's The Pretender (1996), as a series regular.
The summer of 1999 found Denton heading back to the theater, starring in the world premiere of the play, "In Walked Monk." During the fourth season of The Pretender (1996), Denton added three more guest-starring roles to his credits - the first on Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (1998), another on Ally McBeal (1997) and the last on the hugely popular The West Wing (1999). That summer, he co-starred in "Asylum" at The Court Theatre and, at the end of the year, headed for Canada to film two MOWs for TNT - The Pretender 2001 (2001) and The Pretender: Island of the Haunted (2001). 2001 found Denton back at ABC after Steven Bochco cast him as "Judge Augustus "Jack" Ripley," in his struggling new series, Philly (2001). Viewers liked "Judge Ripley," and hopes were high that the sizzling on-screen chemistry between Denton's character and the one portrayed by Kim Delaney would convince ABC to give the show another season to improve its ratings. Ironically, Denton was in Australia, promoting Philly (2001), when he received word that ABC had passed on renewing the show for a second season. Denton ended 2002 with a two-part guest-starring role on The Drew Carey Show (1995).
Denton returned as a guest star on JAG (1995) in 2003, and pilot season landed him the opportunity to once again head up the cast of an ABC series in Threat Matrix (2003), a Touchstone production offering up fictionalized events relating to terrorist activity around the world. Denton played "John Kilmer", the man who lead the ultra-covert team of anti-terrorist specialists and who answered solely to the President of the United States. The timely and serious role also gave Denton the opportunity to change his professional billing from "Jamie Denton" to "James Denton". Only days before the annual up-fronts in New York, where the major networks announce their new fall season line-ups, ABC picked up the show for September, 2003.
Although Threat Matrix (2003) held its own in one of the worst time-slots of the season (sandwiched between the hugely popular "Survivor" and the last season of Friends (1994)), ABC nonetheless pulled the series after only fourteen episodes aired (sixteen episodes were filmed). Threat Matrix (2003) was officially canceled on the same day as Denton's role as "Mike Delfino" on Desperate Housewives (2004), a new ABC series scheduled for the Fall, was announced at the 2004 up-fronts in New York.
On October 3, 2004, Desperate Housewives (2004) garnered incredible ratings with its debut episode and ABC picked up the rest of the first season before the end of the month. Less than three months later, Denton was included in People Magazine's 2004 "Sexiest Men Alive" issue.
During the first and second seasons of Desperate Housewives (2004), Denton managed to schedule a sweeps week guest star spot on Reba (2001) and, toward the end of the second season, played the role of "Brother John Brown" in Ascension Day (2007).
Years after composing the music for and performing in "The Night Hank Williams Died" - a play from his days in Chicago - Denton accepted an invitation that was proffered to him by Greg Grunberg (Heroes (2006)) and became a singer and guitar player for a band that was first known as "16:9" and then, later, as "The Band From TV". Other members of the band include, and have included, (the founder and drummer)Greg Grunberg, Hugh Laurie (keyboards, House (2004)), 'Bonnie Somerville' (singer, Cashmere Mafia (2008)) and Bob Guiney (singer, Bachelor #4 on The Bachelor (2002)). The band largely plays at Hollywood events but does, on occasion, play elsewhere. The band donates any money that it makes to charities that are selected by each of its primary members. When the WGA writer's strike of 2007 shut down production on TV series, there was talk of a tour for the temporarily unemployed band members. A CD that the band made in 2007, "Hoggin' All The Covers" is available for sale at Amazon.com. In addition, at least one of the band's songs are on the soundtrack for House (2004) and two of its songs, "Minnie the Moocher" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want", are available for purchase on iTunes.
While on hiatus, between the second and third seasons of Desperate Housewives (2004), Denton teamed up with Chris Kattan in the straight-to-DVD film, Undead or Alive: A Zombedy (2007).
2007 was a busy year for Denton. In addition to traveling all over the country in order to lend his celebrity to dozens of charitable causes, he also completed three projects - ABC's Masters of Science Fiction (2007)'s episode, The Discarded (2007); Custody (2007), which aired on Lifetime and Tortured (2007).
The same year, Denton, a lifelong fan of baseball, joined an Orange County investment group that purchased the Golden Baseball League Team, "The Fullerton Flyers". Shortly after the purchase and, although the team's home field remained at Cal State Fullerton, the group changed the name of the team to "The Orange County Flyers". Not content to merely be an investor, Denton took as active a role as his schedule and the team structure allowed, attending try-outs, where he had a hand in selecting some of the players during his first season as a co-owner, and attending quite a few of the home games.
When "Housewives" isn't in production, JD still takes part in other productions. These have included Group Sex (2010) and bringing the voice of "Superman" to life in the animated video, All-Star Superman (2011). He played the role of "Slim" in the independent film, Karaoke Man (2012).
Denton announced on the Christopher Gabriel radio program that he and his family were moving to Minnesota in August of 2012 and that he would pursue whatever comes next from there. His fans didn't have to wait long to hear from him again. In 2013 JD took on the role of Johnny Trey in "Grace Unplugged" and in short order won an award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor. The film won a Top Ten Family Film of the Year and the Grand Prize, "The Epiphany Award" for Most Inspirational Film of 2013. Denton went on to do the Hallmark Channel's "Stranded In Paradise", "Ovation", "Strangers", "The Dancer and the Dame" and "Revelation Road 3: The Black Rider". 2014 found Denton making a deal with The Hallmark Channel to become (as "Dr. Sam") part of their original series, "The Good Witch" which is in its seventh season.- Actor
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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
- Soundtrack
David Rodman Annable was born on September 15, 1979, in Suffern, New York, to Tammi and Rodman John Annable. He has one sister named Rebecca and a half-sister named Stacy. His mother is Jewish and his father has English, German, Irish and French ancestry. Dave grew up in Walden, a small town in upstate New York.
Growing up, he enjoyed playing baseball, rugby and hockey. Dave even played for the local Plattsburgh team. He is also a big fan of the New York Giants, New York Mets and the New Jersey Devils. While he was still in New York, he attended SUNY Plattsburgh. Dave participated in the student-run Plattsburgh State Television, both acting and behind the camera. Among the shows that he hosted were "Late Night with Dave Annable", "Cardinal Sports", "Stay Tuned", "Cardinal Hockey", "On Campus Live" and "The Roommate Game".
Dave had a semester of college left and often commuted for commercial auditions, which took 8 hours from Plattsburgh by bus. Dave then decided to tell his parents that he considered dropping out of college to become a full-time actor. Although his parents did not approve of his decision at that time because college was very important in their family, they still gave Dave the support he needed.
He eventually attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City, generally associated with the Meisner technique of Sanford Meisner. There, he studied acting with Richárd Pintér. The 5'9" star appeared in a number of commercials which included "Reebok", 'Wendy's", "Starbust" and "Pepsi". He was also a featured actor in a "Mountain Dew" commercial with former NASCAR Rookie of the year, Kasey Kahne.
Dave first gained attention from the public when he played the role of "Aaron Lewis" on the short-lived television series, Reunion (2005), which aired on Fox in 2005. "Reunion" was a teen drama/murder mystery series which explored occurrences in the lives of twenty former high school friends from 1986 through 2005, and recounted events leading up to the murder of one of the major characters. Before starring in "Reunion", Dave already had guest roles on Third Watch (1999), Other People's Business (2003) and Spellbound (2002) as well as Little Black Book (2004).
He received his breakout role in 2006, when he was offered a regular starring role on the ABC family drama, Brothers & Sisters (2006). The show was about the trials and travails of the Walker family, with every family secret unveiled. He was among the first actors cast on the show before they began signing bigger names such as Calista Flockhart, Sally Field and Rob Lowe.
Dave played the role of "Justin Walker", a psychologically damaged Afghan war veteran suffering with drug problems. In fact, Dave mentioned in an interview that he had to lose 11 kg. to play the role because they needed someone skinny to portray his character's addiction problem. Dave also won a Prism Award for Best Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline for his role in Brothers & Sisters (2006).
In a recent interview, Dave mentioned that he has actually promised his mother that he would graduate after watching his younger sister graduate from Cornell University. Dave is taking online classes in Communications and will be graduating in May 2009. He also mentioned that he will be giving the commencement speech on his graduation day.
Despite all of his accomplishments in the showbiz industry, Dave is in fact still very humble. He enjoys spending time with his family and making people laugh.- Actor
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Robert Perkins was born in Swansea, Wales, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for The Waiting Room (2011), Midsomer Murders (1997) and The Paradise Club (1989).- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Aidan Turner was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1983. After graduating from the Gaiety School of Acting in 2004, Aidan appeared in a number of stage productions, many with Ireland's national theatre, The Abbey. Such productions included The Plough & The Stars, Romeo & Juliet and A Cry from Heaven. In 2008, Turner made the transition to movies and television with a lead role in the film Alarm and a co-starring role in the popular Irish TV drama The Clinic. In 2009, Turner moved to the UK to take on a starring role in BBC's acclaimed Being Human. Aidan played the spellbinding "Mitchell" for 3 seasons during which time he also starred in BBC's Desperate Romantics and BBC's top rated TV movie Hattie. In 2011, famed director Peter Jackson cast Turner in the role of Kili in JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit. The highly successful movie trilogy filmed for approximately two years in New Zealand during which time Aidan also starred in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments.
In 2014 Turner was cast as Poldark in the BBC remake. Aidan was the only actor considered for this charismatic hero. Poldark premiered to excellent rating in the UK in March 2015 and also in the USA in June 2015. The BBC series also aired across Europe and Australia and returned for a second series, aired during 2016.
In 2015 Aidan took on a small role in The Secret Scripture so he could work with one of his favorite directors, Jim Sheridan. He also voiced a role in the first painted animation movie, Loving Vincent, co-starred in the dark comedy, Look Away and starred in the BBC mini series, And Then There Were None.
A third series of the hugely popular Poldark aired in the spring and summer of 2017.- Actor
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Jason Priestley was born on 28 August 1969 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990), Call Me Fitz (2010) and Cas & Dylan (2013). He has been married to Naomi Lowde-Priestley since 14 May 2005. They have two children. He was previously married to Ashlee Petersen.- Actor
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Christian Michael Leonard Slater was born on August 18, 1969 in New York City, to Michael Hawkins, a well-known soap actor, and Mary Jo Slater (née Lawton), a casting agent. Christian started in show business early, appearing on the soap opera The Edge of Night (1956) in 1976 at the age of 7. He went on to star in many Broadway shows in the early-1980s. He rose to fame in Hollywood after landing the role of Binx Davey in The Legend of Billie Jean (1985). He moved to Los Angeles in 1987 to pursue a further acting career after dropping out of high school. After having a starring role in the cult classic Heathers (1989), he became somewhat known as the Hollywood bad-boy, having many run-ins with the law. He is also well-known for having dated stars such as Winona Ryder, Christina Applegate, Samantha Mathis and was at one time engaged to actress/model Nina Huang. In 2000, he married Ryan Haddon, the daughter of 1970s model Dayle Haddon. The couple have two children, Jaden Christopher (b. 1999) and Eliana Sophia (b. 2001). As of early 2005, they separated and later divorced, but remain dedicated to bring up their children.- Actor
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Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford Motor Company executive from Indiana. Williams had English, German, French, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.
Robin briefly studied political science at Claremont Men's College and theater at College of Marin before enrolling at The Juilliard School to focus on theater. After leaving Juilliard, he performed in nightclubs where he was discovered for the role of "Mork, from Ork", in an episode of Happy Days (1974). The episode, My Favorite Orkan (1978), led to his famous spin-off weekly TV series, Mork & Mindy (1978). He made his feature starring debut playing the title role in Popeye (1980), directed by Robert Altman.
Williams' continuous comedies and wild comic talents involved a great deal of improvisation, following in the footsteps of his idol Jonathan Winters. Williams also proved to be an effective dramatic actor, receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), and The Fisher King (1991), before winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Good Will Hunting (1997).
During the 1990s, Williams became a beloved hero to children the world over for his roles in a string of hit family-oriented films, including Hook (1991), FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), Flubber (1997), and Bicentennial Man (1999). He continued entertaining children and families into the 21st century with his work in Robots (2005), Happy Feet (2006), Night at the Museum (2006), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Happy Feet Two (2011), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). Other more adult-oriented films for which Williams received acclaim include The World According to Garp (1982), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Awakenings (1990), The Birdcage (1996), Insomnia (2002), One Hour Photo (2002), World's Greatest Dad (2009), and Boulevard (2014).
On Monday, August 11th, 2014, Robin Williams was found dead at his home in Tiburon, California USA, the victim of an apparent suicide, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office. A 911 call was received at 11:55 a.m. PDT, firefighters and paramedics arrived at his home at 12:00 p.m. PDT, and he was pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m. PDT.- Producer
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Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York City, New York, to legendary comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. His father was of Austrian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent, and his mother was of Irish Catholic descent (she converted to Judaism).
His parents made no real effort to keep their son away from the Hollywood lifestyle and he grew up among the stars, wondering just why his parents were so popular. At a young age, he and his sister Amy Stiller would perform plays at home, wearing Amy's tights to perform Shakespeare. Ben also picked up an interest in being on the other side of the camera and, at age 10, began shooting films on his Super 8 camera. The plots were always simple: someone would pick on the shy, awkward Stiller ... and then he would always get his revenge. This desire for revenge on the popular, good-looking people may have motivated his teen-angst opus Reality Bites (1994) later in his career. He both directed and performed in the film, which co-starred Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke.
Before he got to Hollywood, he put in several consistently solid years in the theater. After dropping out of UCLA, he performed in the Tony Award winner, "The House of Blue Leaves". While working on the play, Stiller shot a short spoof of The Color of Money (1986) starring him (in the Tom Cruise role) and his The House of Blue Leaves (1987) costar John Mahoney (in the Paul Newman role). The short film was so funny that Lorne Michaels purchased it and aired it on Saturday Night Live (1975). This led to his spending a year on the show in 1989.
Stiller made his big screen debut in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987) in 1987. Demonstrating early on the multifaceted tone his career would take, he soon stepped behind the camera to direct Back to Brooklyn for MTV. The network was impressed and gave Stiller his own show, The Ben Stiller Show (1992). He recruited fellow offbeat comedians Janeane Garofalo and Andy Dick and created a bitingly satirical show. MTV ended up passing on it, but it was picked up by Fox. Unfortunately, the show was a ratings miss. Stiller was soon out of work, although he did have the satisfaction of picking up an Emmy for the show after its cancellation.
For a while, Stiller had to settle for guest appearance work. While doing this, he saved up his cash and in the end was able to scrape enough together to make Reality Bites (1994), now a cult classic which is looked upon favorably by the generation it depicted. Ben continued to work steadily for a time, particularly in independent productions where he was more at ease. However, he never quite managed to catch a big break. His first big budget directing job was Jim Carrey's The Cable Guy (1996). Although many critics were impressed, Jim Carrey's fans were not. In 1998, There's Something About Mary (1998) had propelled Stiller into the mainstream spotlight. He also starred in such hit movies as Keeping the Faith (2000) and Meet the Parents (2000).- Actor
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Andrew Lincoln is a British actor. Lincoln spent his early childhood in Hull, Yorkshire before his family relocated to Bath, Somerset when he was age 10. He was educated at Beechen Cliff School in Bath, and then the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. His father is a civil engineer and his mother is a nurse
Lincoln's first big break came when he was cast as Edgar 'Egg' Cook in the popular UK drama series This Life (1996). Various roles followed including that of teacher Simon Casey in the Channel 4 series Teachers (2001), and as Mark in the hit film Love Actually (2003). In 2010, he was cast in The Walking Dead (2010), a live action drama series based on the comic of the same name. Lincoln plays the lead character of Rick Grimes.
Lincoln is married to Gael Anderson, his father-in-law is legendary musician Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
David Matthew Macfadyen was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, to Meinir (Owen), a drama teacher and actress, and Martin Macfadyen, an oil executive. He is of Scottish and Welsh descent. Because of his father's career, he spent at least part of his childhood in Indonesia, before finishing his education back in England and winning a place at RADA in 1992. He won critical acclaim in the UK with his work with the stage company Cheek By Jowl in the 1990s and was well established as a stage actor when he made his first TV appearance in Wuthering Heights (1998). A couple more TV roles followed but it was his role as Tom Quinn, head of Section D, in the hit BBC series MI-5 (2002) that really made his name at home. And, indeed, established his home - he met his wife, Keeley Hawes, while working on the show. A steady stream of TV and film work followed, with his performance as Mr Darcy in Pride & Prejudice (2005) firmly establishing his name worldwide.- Actor
- Producer
John Hannah is the youngest child of his family, having two older sisters. Before he decided on a career as an actor, John was an apprentice electrician for four years. He gave up his work as an electrician after being accepted to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. After years of struggling, he finally got his 'big break' when he was cast as Matthew in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). He currently lives in London with his wife Joanna Roth and their two children.- Actor
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James Nesbitt was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, to May, a civil servant, and James Nesbitt, a primary school headmaster. He was educated at Coleraine Academical Institution (also the school of Brian Campbell & Brian McAlister). He originally planned to be a French teacher. It was not until teacher Robert Simpson encouraged him to take an apprenticeship at the local Riverside Theatre that his interest in acting began, eventually leading him to a drama school in London, and to what has become a highly successful acting career.
James is a lover of football.