PIXELS film adaptation (2010s decade)

Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith (Levine), a teacher at a nursery school, and Stanley Alan Sandler, an electrical engineer. He is of Russian Jewish descent. At 17, he took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took the stage at a Boston comedy club. He found he was a natural comic. He nurtured his talent while at New York University (graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1991) by performing regularly in clubs and at universities. During his freshman year, he snagged a recurring role as the Huxtable family's friend Smitty on The Cosby Show (1984). While working at a comedy club in L.A., he was "discovered" by Dennis Miller, who recommended him to Saturday Night Live (1975) producer Lorne Michaels and told him that Sandler had a big talent. This led to his being cast in the show in 1990, which he also wrote for in addition to performing. After Saturday Night Live (1975), Sandler went on to the movies, starring in such hit comedies as Airheads (1994), Happy Gilmore (1996), Billy Madison (1995) and Big Daddy (1999). He has also starred in Mr. Deeds (2002) alongside Winona Ryder; Eight Crazy Nights (2002), an animated movie about the Jewish festival of Chanukah; and Punch-Drunk Love (2002). He also writes and produces many of his own films and has composed songs for several of them, including The Wedding Singer (1998). Sandler has had several of his songs placed on the "Billboard" charts, including the classic "The Chanukah Song".

An actor, comedian and writer, Seth Rogen has come a long way from doing stand-up comedy as a teen.

Rogen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Sandy (Belogus), a social worker, and Mark Rogen, who worked for non-profits. His father is American-born and his mother is Canadian. He is of Russian Jewish descent. He attended Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School and Point Grey Secondary School (although he dropped out of high school to move to Los Angeles) and was known for the stand-up comedy he performed at Camp Miriam, a Habonim Dror camp. At sixteen, Rogen placed second in the 1998 Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest.

Soon after that he landed his first role in Judd Apatow's short-lived but well regarded TV series Freaks and Geeks (1999), taking on the role of Ken Miller. Though the show only lasted one season, it was the launching pad for many careers, including Rogen, Apatow, James Franco, and Jason Segel. This early work sharpened Rogen's keen improvisational skills, which he's used on many projects since.

Following Freaks and Geeks (1999), he participated in a few unsuccessful television projects, and then joined the American television version of Da Ali G Show (2000) as a writer during its second and last season, along with his childhood friend and writing partner Evan Goldberg. The writing team received an Emmy nomination. As a huge fan of the first season, Rogen was thrilled to get the chance to work with Sacha Baron Cohen.

Continuing his work with Apatow, he joined the cast of Apatow's debut film The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) and is credited as co-producer. After that he took the lead in Knocked Up (2007), Apatow's second movie and a huge success. He's since been a frequent collaborator with Apatow, in projects such as Superbad (2007), Pineapple Express (2008) and Funny People (2009). He co-wrote Superbad (2007), with Goldberg; the pair started the project when they were teens. They won the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Writing in a Film in 2008. They later wrote Pineapple Express (2008) and The Green Hornet (2011), also starring Rogen.

A talented voice artist, Rogen is in the animated films Horton Hears a Who! (2008), Kung Fu Panda (2008), and Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), and has voiced characters for The Simpsons (1989) and American Dad! (2005).

Rogen was named the Canadian Comedy Person of the Year by the Canadian Comedy Awards in both 2008 and 2009.

Rogen lives in Los Angeles with Lauren Miller Rogen, whom he met in 2004. They became engaged in September 2010 and married in October 2011.

Peter Dinklage is an American actor. Since his breakout role in The Station Agent (2003), he has appeared in numerous films and theater plays. Since 2011, Dinklage has portrayed Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011). For this role, he won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (four times) and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2011.

Peter Hayden Dinklage was born in Morristown, New Jersey, to Diane (Hayden), an elementary school teacher, and John Carl Dinklage, an insurance salesman. He is of German, Irish, and English descent. In 1991, he received a degree in drama from Bennington College and began his career. His exquisite theater work, which brilliantly expresses the unique range of his acting qualities, includes remarkable performances full of profoundness, charisma, intelligence, sensation, and insights in such plays as "The Killing Act," "Imperfect Love," and Ivan Turgenev's "A Month in the Country," as well as the title roles in William Shakespeare's "Richard III" and in Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya."

Peter Dinklage received acclaim for his first film, Living in Oblivion (1995), in which he played an actor frustrated with the limited and caricatured roles offered to actors who have dwarfism. In 2003, he starred in The Station Agent (2003), written and directed by Tom McCarthy. The movie received critical praise as did Dinklage's work, including nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the Screen Actors Guild and Best Male Lead at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. One of his next roles was as Miles Finch, an acclaimed children's book author, in Elf (2003). Find Me Guilty (2006), the original English Death at a Funeral (2007), its American remake Death at a Funeral (2010), Penelope (2006), The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) are also included in his brilliant work concerning feature films.

Dinklage's fine work in television also includes such shows as Entourage (2004), Life as We Know It (2004), Threshold (2005), and Nip/Tuck (2003). In 2011, the primary role of Tyrion Lannister, a man of sharp wit and bright spirit, in Game of Thrones (2011) was incarnated with unique greatness in Dinklage's unparalleled performance. The series is an adaptation of author George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and Dinklage's work in it has received widespread praise, highlighted by his receiving of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards (2011), The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards (2015), The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards (2018), and The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards (2019), as well as of the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Dinklage has voiced, among other characters, Captain Gutt in Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and the Mighty Eagle in The Angry Birds Movie (2016), and starred in the comedy horror film Knights of Badassdom (2013) while his tour de force interpretations as a multifarious chameleon of substantial mastery and artistic generosity also include film and TV gems such as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Three Christs (2017), and I Think We're Alone Now (2018).

Kevin James was born Kevin George Knipfing on April 26, 1965, in Mineola, Long Island, New York, to Janet (Klein), an office worker, and Joseph Valentine Knipfing, Jr., an insurance agency owner. He was raised in Stony Brook, and attended SUNY Cortland, where he played fullback on the football team while majoring in sports management. He realized after three years that this wasn't the path for him. After returning home, he decided to break up the monotony of the summer, and joined a community theater. During a play in which he had a comedic role, he so enjoyed the crowd reaction, that he joined his brother's (comedian Gary Valentine's) improv group. He began going to clubs with Gary and realized he, too, had the knack for comedy. He has performed stand-up up for about 11 years. It was on the comedy circuit that he met Ray Romano. While Ray was getting a big break with his own sitcom, Kevin was getting recognition on Star Search (1983). After appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), his big break came at the 1996 "Just for Laughs" Montreal Comedy Festival. Afterward, he landed a recurring role on Ray's sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond (1996).

He starred in his own sitcom, The King of Queens (1998), as Doug Heffernan, from 1998 to 2007, and later began a career as a leading film actor, co-starring in Hitch (2005), I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007), Grown Ups (2010), and Grown Ups 2 (2013), and headlining Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009), Zookeeper (2011), Here Comes the Boom (2012), and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015).

Josh Gad is an American actor and singer who is well-known for voicing Olaf the Snowman in Disney's Frozen franchise. He was also in Beauty and the Beast as LeFou, Ghostbusters: Afterlife as Muncher, The Wedding Ringer, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Pixels, The Internship, The Rocker, 21 and The Angry Birds Movie 1 and 2.

Rip Torn was born Elmore Rual Torn Jr. on February 6, 1931 in Temple, Texas, the son of Thelma Mary (Spacek) and Elmore Rudolph Torn, who was an agriculturalist and economist, credited with popularizing the custom of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. "Rip" is a family name, taken by generations of Torn men and bestowed on Elmore by his father, who was also called "Rip." He was of German, Austrian, Bohemian, and Moravian descent. His mother was an elder sister of actress Sissy Spacek's father, Edwin Spacek.

Torn attended Texas A&M and the University of Texas, where he joined Sigma Chi Fraternity. He majored in animal husbandry. Extremely naïve when he was young, Torn hitchhiked to Hollywood with the idea of becoming a movie star; he wanted to make enough money in order to buy a ranch. Success did not come overnight, as he had hoped, and Torn had to work many odd jobs while occasionally being cast in television roles. He made his feature film debut in Elia Kazan's Baby Doll (1956) in a small part.

Serious about learning his craft, he moved to New York City where he studied under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Torn also studied dance with Martha Graham. His serious acting career began on the small screen, where he made a name for himself in the Golden Age of Television; between 1957 and 1960, he appeared regularly on such prestigious live shows as Omnibus (1952) and Playhouse 90 (1956).

Torn made his Broadway debut in Kazan's staging of Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" on March 10, 1959, in support of Paul Newman, Sidney Blackmer and Geraldine Page, who would become his second wife. The play was a hit, closing on January 30, 1960 after 375 performances. He won a 1960 Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Theater World award for his role as "Tom, Jr.", a role he recreated in the 1962 film. (Torn also starred as "Boss Finley" in a later television adaptation of the play).

Torn earned a reputation as an actor's actor on stage, both Broadway and off-Broadway, as well as on screen. He continued to work in the New York theater despite his demanding TV and movie schedule as both an actor and director. He won two Obie awards for his work off-Broadway, for Distinguished Performance in Norman Mailer's "The Deer Park" (for the 1966-67 season), and for Distinguished Direction for "The Beard" (1967-68). He had his own stage company, and directed his daughter Angelica Page (by Geraldine Page) in John Paul Alexander's "Strangers in the Land of Canaan" at the Actors Studio. Torn made his feature film directorial debut with The Telephone (1988).

He was constantly in demand as a character actor, in supporting, second lead and occasional lead roles. Arguably his best performance on film came in Payday (1973), and he was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for Cross Creek (1983). Most of Torn's roles were in drama, though he was adept at comedy. His role in Albert Brooks' comedy Defending Your Life (1991) led to his being cast in The Larry Sanders Show (1992), on which he played talk show producer "Artie." Torn won six consecutive Emmy nominations for the role, winning once for Best Supporting Actor in a comedy series in 1996.

Torn was married to actress Ann Wedgeworth from 1956-61, whom he divorced to marry Geraldine Page. They remained married until her death in 1987. He was married to Amy Wright until his death. Torn helped his first cousin, Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek, to make her way as an actress, seeing to it that she was accepted by the Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio and then the Lee Strasberg Institute.

Rip Torn died in on July 9, 2019 in Lakeville, Connecticut, aged 88.

Isla Lang Fisher was born on February 3, 1976 in Muscat, Oman, to Scottish parents Elspeth Reid and Brian Fisher, who worked as a banker for the U.N. She spent her early childhood in Bathgate, Scotland, before moving to Perth, Australia with her family in the early 1980s. From a young age, Isla showed an interest in both acting and writing. At nine years old, she was appearing in Australian TV commercials. She landed some small parts in the Australian television series Bay City (1993). This led to a bigger part in the television series Paradise Beach (1993). When that show ended, she landed a role in the long-running Australian soap opera Home and Away (1988). While working on that show, she indulged in another of her passions, writing, and published two best-selling novels, "Seduced By Fame" and "Bewitched". In 1997, she was picked by the readers of FHM magazine as #35 on the list of the "100 Sexiest Women in the World", and in 2003, she placed 26th.

Isla has since appeared in the films Wedding Crashers (2005), The Lookout (2007), Hot Rod (2007) and Definitely, Maybe (2008), Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009), and Now You See Me (2013).

Amber Laura Heard was born in Austin, Texas, to Patricia Paige Heard (née Parsons), an internet researcher, and David C. Heard (David Clinton Heard), a contractor. She has English, Irish, Scottish, German, and Welsh ancestry.

Heard appeared in the Academy Award-nominated film, North Country (2005), in which she played Charlize Theron's character in flashbacks. Her other early film credits include: Syrup (2013), Drive Angry (2011) 3D, The Joneses (2009), Never Back Down (2008), Alpha Dog (2006) and Friday Night Lights (2004). On television, Heard starred on The CW drama, Hidden Palms (2007), and had guest starring roles on Showtime's Californication (2007) and CBS's Criminal Minds (2005).

In 2009, Heard starred in the box office hit, Zombieland (2009), opposite Woody Harrelson, Bill Murray and Jesse Eisenberg. She also starred in the suspense thriller, The Stepfather (2009), with Sela Ward, Dylan Walsh and Penn Badgley. In 2008, she garnered attention for her role in the comedic hit, Pineapple Express (2008), with Seth Rogen and James Franco. Heard received a 2008 Young Hollywood Award for her breakthrough performance in "Pineapple Express".

She appeared in The Rum Diary (2011), opposite Johnny Depp, and John Carpenter's The Ward (2010), which premiered at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival. She also starred in the independent film, And Soon the Darkness (2010), in which she additionally served as a co-producer.

Heard starred in Paranoia (2013), opposite Harrison Ford, Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman. The film was released by "Relativity Media" on August 16, 2013. She also starred in Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills (2013), which was released by "Open Road Films" on March 4, 2013, and McG's 3 Days to Kill (2014), opposite Kevin Costner and Hailee Steinfeld, which was released in 2014.

Additionally, her film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006), which premiered at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival, was released by The Weinstein Co. in theaters in the fall of 2013.

Heard resides in Los Angeles, where she is actively involved with Amnesty International. In 2015, she married actor Johnny Depp, and the two divorced in 2017.

Jane Krakowski was born in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, to Barbara (Benoit), a college theater instructor, and Edward Krajkowski, a chemical engineer. Her father was of Polish descent and her mother has French-Canadian and Scottish ancestry.

Jane was the winner of the 2003 Tony Award for her stunning and sultry portrayal of "Carla", in the Broadway musical "Nine", opposite Antonio Banderas. Her performance also earned her the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critic's Award. Krakowski also stars in Alfie (2004), the remake of the famous 1966 film, alongside Jude Law. Krakowski recently filmed Pretty Persuasion (2005) starring Evan Rachel Wood and James Woods. Other recent film credits include When Zachary Beaver Came to Town (2003), Go (1999), The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) as "Betty Rubble", Dance with Me (1998), Mrs. Winterbourne (1996), Stepping Out (1991), Fatal Attraction (1987) and National Lampoon's Vacation (1983). For television, Jane received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her portrayal of "Elaine Vassal" on Ally McBeal (1997).

She also stars in NBC's remake of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004), opposite Kelsey Grammer. Other recent television credits include: Law & Order (1990), Everwood (2002), the ABC family movie Just a Walk in the Park (2002), and the miniseries, Queen (1993) (aka Alex Haley's "Queen"). Other Broadway credits include "Grand Hotel" (Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee), "Company", "Once Upon a Mattress", "Tartuffe" and "Starlight Express". In Los Angeles, California, she starred at the Mark Taper Forum in "Henceforward", for which she won the LA Drama Critics Award and the Dramalogue Awards, and played "Mabel" in the Reprise production of "Mack and Mabel". In addition to singing on several original Broadway cast recordings of shows in which she appeared, and the Ally McBeal (1997) Christmas episode compilation CDs, Krakowski also recorded the hit single track "You" with A/C hitman Jim Brickman on his recent album "Lovesongs and Lullabies".

Mary Vernieu was born on 9 July 1963 in California, USA. She is a casting director and producer, known for Knives Out (2019), Glass Onion (2022) and Promising Young Woman (2020).

J.C. Cantu is known for Time Trap (2017), Predators (2010) and Gamer (2009).

Multiple award-winning cinematographer Dean Cundey, ASC, CSC who was nominated for an Oscar for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and took home the BAFTA for the same film, has a career spanning decades with awards and nominations including a Primetime Emmy (2023 "The Mandalorian") a Daytime Emmy (2001 "The Face: Jesus in Art"), a Chicago Film Critics Association award ("Apollo 13"), to American Society of Cinematographers awards ("Apollo 13," "Hook"). His prolific career also includes a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ASC and a President's Award from the SOC, and he's still not done shooting. Born in Alhambra, California, Cundey spent his childhood building miniature sets and reading "American Cinematographer." Following graduation from UCLA film school, where he was taught by James Wong Howe, ASC, Cundey's first job on set was as a makeup artist on Roger Corman's "Gas!" or "It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It." Cundey's first assignment as a director of photography was on the revenge film "The No Mercy Man." He continued with other horror and exploitation movies, then began a collaboration with director John Carpenter on five films for which he received accolades: "Halloween," "The Fog," "Escape from New York," "The Thing" and "Big Trouble in Little China." Cundey transitioned into a collaboration with Robert Zemeckis on impressive features such as "Romancing the Stone," all three "Back to the Future" films, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Death Becomes Her." Not content to settle for that, he also dabbled in directing with his debut on "Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves" and was also the second-unit director on "Deep Rising" and "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties." .

Hughes Winborne is known for Crash (2004), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Ghost in the Shell (2017).

Lisa Lassek is known for The Avengers (2012), The Cabin in the Woods (2011) and Serenity (2005).

Graduate of Woodridge High School in Peninsula, Ohio.

Attended Kent State University (1970-73) in Kent, Ohio, to focus on attaining an art degree. While at Kent State Mothersbaugh met Jerry Casale and Bob Lewis, who ultimately joined him in forming the 1970-80s avant-garde band Devo.

Awarded an honorary doctorate degree (2008) from Kent State in humane letters. Dr. Mothersbaugh has reciprocated KSU in diverse fashion as is his style-- gifting it with music & art, as well as time-- which is spent touting the Kent State experience through public promotions & media spots.

Allan Cameron was born on April 1, 1944. He attended art school in his native Oxford, the University of Birmingham and the Royal College of Art in London. Shortly after graduation he went into designing for television shows for ten years - including the comedy 'George and Mildred', 'Born and Bred', 'The Naked Civil Servant' and 'Edward and Mrs Simpson' for which he received a BAFTA award. He also designed all eleven of the Brent Walker series 'The Gilbert and Sullivan' collection. In the early 1980s he moved into film with 'The Honorary Consul' and has since designed for dozens of films, including 'The Mummy' and 'The Da Vinci Code'. In addition he has worked for the Kenyan Government and the British Council and in 2012 was one of four production designers jointly awarded the Art Directors' Guild Excellence in Production Design accolade for their work on the James Bond films.

Luke Freeborn is a production designer and world builder with over 24 years industry experience. Prior to Sonic 3, Mr. Freeborn had designed Knuckles and Sonic 2 for Paramount, Murder Mystery 2 Hawaii portion for Netflix, The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie: Sponge out of Water, Take with Minnie Driver and Jeremy Renner, and served as Supervising Art Director for James Cameron's Avatar 2 & 3. Mr. Freeborn is also know for his art direction work on Oscar® nominated Inception and Passengers, as well as ADG recognized movies, Logan, Star Trek, Thor, Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Angels and Demons, and numerous others.

Peter Grundy is known for Jumper (2008), Suicide Squad (2016) and Pixels (2015).

Richard L. Johnson is known for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019), The Underground Railroad (2021) and Ghost in the Shell (2017).

Steve Christensen is known for Tenet (2020), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Tomorrowland (2015).

Ramsey Avery is known for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), Captain America: Brave New World (2025) and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016).

Richard L. Johnson is known for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019), The Underground Railroad (2021) and Ghost in the Shell (2017).

Lin MacDonald is known for Tron: Legacy (2010), Tomorrowland (2015) and I, Robot (2004).

Rosemary Brandenburg is known for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), The Hateful Eight (2015) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). She has been married to Ken Haber since 17 June 1994.

Frank Helmer is known for The Italian Job (2003), DOA: Dead or Alive (2006) and Disaster Movie (2008).