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English film actor, director and author Andy Serkis is known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for such computer-generated characters as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001-2003) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), the eponymous King Kong in the 2005 film, Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Captain Haddock / Sir Francis Haddock in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin (2011) and Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). Serkis earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for his portrayal of serial killer Ian Brady in the British television film Longford (2006), and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his portrayal of new wave and punk rock musician Ian Dury in the biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010). In 2015, he had a small role in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Serkis has his own motion capture workshop, The Imaginarium Studios in London, which he will use for his directorial debut, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018).
Andrew Clement G. Serkis was born April 20, 1964, in Ruislip Manor, West London, England. He has three sisters and a brother. His father, Clement Serkis, an ethnic Armenian whose original family surname was Serkissian, was a medical doctor working abroad, in Iraq; the Serkis family spent time around the Middle East, and for the first ten years of his life, Andy traveled between Baghdad and London. His mother, Lylie (Weech), who is British-born, was busy working as a special education teacher of handicapped children, so Andy and his four siblings were raised with au pairs in the house. Young Serkis wanted to be an artist; he was fond of painting and drawing, and visualized himself working behind the scenes. He attended St. Benedict's School, a Roman Catholic School for boys at the Benedictine Abbey in London. Serkis studied visual arts at Lancaster University in the north-west of England. There, he became involved in mechanical aspects of the theatre and did stage design and set building for theatrical productions. Then, Serkis was asked to play a role in a student production, and made his stage debut in Barrie Keeffe's play, "Gotcha"; thereafter, he switched from stage design to acting, which was a real calling that transformed his life.
Instead of going to an acting college, Serkis, in 1985, began his professional acting career at the Duke's Playhouse in Lancaster, where he was given an Equity card and performed in fourteen plays, one after another, as an apprentice of Jonathan Petherbridge. After that, he worked in touring theatre companies, doing it for no money, fueled by a sense of enthusiasm, moving to a new town every week. He has thus appeared in a host of popular plays and on almost every renowned British stage. In 1989, he appeared in a stage production of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth", so beginning his long association with the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, where he would return many times, to appear in "She Stoops to Conquer", "Your Home in the West" and the "True Nature of Love", among other plays. In the 1990s, Serkis began to make his mark on the London stage, appearing at the Royal Court Theatre as "The Fool" in "King Lear", making his interpretation of "The Fool" as the woman that "Lear", a widower, could relate to - a man, in drag, as a Victorian musician. He also appeared as "Potts" in the hit play, "Mojo", playing in front of full houses and earning huge critical success. In 1987, Serkis made his debut on television, and he acted in several major British TV miniseries throughout the 1990s.
In 1999, Andy Serkis landed the prize role of "Gollum" in Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's saga, "The Lord of the Rings". He spent four years in the part and received awards and nominations for his performance as "Gollum", a computer-generated character in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), which won 11 Oscars. "Gollum" was the collaborative team's effort around Serkis's work in performance capture - an art form based on CGI-assisted acting. Serkis's work was an interactive performance in a skin-tight CGI suit with markers allowing cameras to track and register 3D position for each marker. Serkis' every nuance was picked up by several cameras positioned at precisely calculated angles to allow for the software to see enough information to process the image. The images of Serkis' performances were translated into the digital format by animators at Weta Digital studio in New Zealand. There, his image was key-frame animated and then edited into the movie, Serkis did have one scene in "The Return of the King" showing how he originally had the ring, killing another hobbit to posses it after they found it during a fishing trip. He drew from his three cats clearing fur balls out of their throats to develop the constricted voice he produced for "Gollum" and "Sméagol", and it was also enhanced by sound editing in post-production.
Serkis spent almost two years in New Zealand and away from his family, and much of 2002 and 2003 in post-production studios for large periods of time, due to complexity of the creative process of bringing the character of "Gollum" to the screen. Serkis had to shoot two versions for every scene; one version was with him on camera, acting with (chiefly) Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, which served both to show Wood and Astin the moves so that they could precisely interact with the movements of "Gollum", and to provide the CGI artists the subtleties of Gollum's physical movements and facial expressions for their manual finishing of the animated images. In the other version, he'd go the voice off-camera, as Wood and Astin repeated their movements as though "Gollum" were there with them; that take would be the basis for inserting the CGI Gollum used in the released movie. In post-production, Serkis was doing motion-capture wearing a skintight motion capture suit with CGI gear while acting as a virtual puppeteer redoing every single scene in the studio. Additional CGI rotomation was done by animators using the human eye instead of the computer to capture the subtleties of Serkis' performance. Serkis also used this art form in his performance as "Kong" in King Kong (2005), which won him a Toronto Film Critics Association Award (2005) for his unprecedented work helping to realize the main character in "King Kong", and a Visual Effects Society Award (2006) for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture.
Apart from his line of CGI-driven characters, Serkis continued with traditional acting in several leading and supporting roles, such as his appearances as "Richard Kneeland" opposite Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30 (2004), and "Alley" opposite David Bowie in The Prestige (2006), among other film performances. On television, he starred as 'Vincent Van Gogh' in the sixth episode of Simon Schama's Power of Art (2006), the BBC2 series about artists. Serkis is billed as "Capricorn" in the upcoming adventure film, Inkheart (2008). At the same time, he continued the development of performance capture while expanding his career into computer games. He starred as "King Bothan" in the martial arts drama, Heavenly Sword (2007), a Playstation 3 title, for which he provided a basis for his in-game face and also acts as a dramatic director on the project.
Andy Serkis married actress and singer Lorraine Ashbourne, and the couple have three children: daughter Ruby Serkis (born in 1998), and two sons Sonny Serkis (born in 2000) and Louis Ashbourne Serkis (born on 19 June 2004), who is now also a movie star. Away from acting, Andy Serkis is an accomplished amateur painter. Since his school years at Lancaster, being so close to the Lake District, Serkis developed his other passion in life: mountaineering. He is a pescetarian. Serkis has been active in charitable causes, such as The Hope Foundation, which provides essential life-saving medical aid for children suffering from Leukemia and children from countries devastated by war. In October 2006, he was a presenter at the first annual British Academy Video Games Awards at the Roundhouse, London. Andy Serkis lives with his family in North London, England.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Casting Director
Charles is an Emmy Award winning Dialogue Director, Annie Award Acting Nominee, Dramalogue Winning Actor, Helen Hayes Award Acting Nominee and Casting Director. Successfully going from genre to genre, he has lent his Dialogue Direction talents to the remake of "The Nutty Professor" starring legend Jerry Lewis, the 2010 Emmy Nominated Prime Time series "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack" (Cartoon Network), the Direct to Videos dark and dramatic "Dante's Inferno" (Casting and Voice Directing), the horror success "Dead Zone" (Casting and Voice Directing), the family film "The Blue Elephant" with Carl Reiner and Martin Short and several more titles for the Weinstein Co.. He directed the performances in the long form action adventure Fire Breather for Cartoon Network which broke all records for it's time slot as well as Cast and Voice Directed Van Partiple's comedy "Johnny Bravo goes to Bollywood" starring Jeff Bennett and Brenda Vacarro. In the Adult Comedy genre Adler Voice Directed and or cast new prime time adult comedy pilots for Fox, MTV and Adult Swim Television. In the Pre-School genre Adler has Voice Directed 3 seasons of hit show Bubble Guppies for NICK Jr.. Charlie Directed Della Reese in an Alicia Keyes production of "Mamma Mae and the Blue Moon" (2012) and has also Directed and voiced(2012) 14 characters in the Children's book classic "Sweet Pickles"(Amazon Books). Adler Voice Directed all the Klasky/ Csupo franchised series and feature films, "Rugrats" (Emmy Award)", The Wild Thorn berry's" (Tim Curry), "Rocket Power", "Pre School Daze", "All Grown Up" and all of their pilots. Adler has also directed "Stripperella" (Pamela Anderson SPIKE TV), "The Replacements", "The Emperor's New School"(directing legend Eartha Kitt), "The Buzz on Maggie" all for Disney Television. Charlie also cast and Voice Directed "Eloise at the Plaza" w/Lynn Redgrave (Starz), "Holly Hobbie" with Jane Lynch (American Greeting Cards) and Spawn (Film Roman). As a Voice Actor, Adler can be heard as series regulars in well over 100 animated series often playing opposite himself. He was nominated for an Annie Award for his multiple roles as Cow, Chicken and the Red Guy in the Emmy Nominated series "Cow and Chicken", was Baboon in "I.M. Weasel" (opposite Michael Dorn) and can be heard playing 5 roles (including Cobra Commander) in the "GI Joe Resolute" Internet series as well as reprising Cobra Commander in Hasbro's "GI Joe Origins" (2010) on the HUB. Somwhere in the world daily Adler can be heard as the manic Mr. Whiskers in Disney's"Brandy & Mr. Whiskers" (opposite Kaley Cuoco), The Evil Eric Raymond and Techrat in "Jem", 3 roles in "Pet Aliens", 3 roles in "Shuriken School ", 3 roles in "Space Goofs", 2 roles in "Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks" for PBS and Dr. Doom and his mother Coco Von Doom in "Marvel Super Hero Squad". He has has also Voice Directed two Marvel Super Hero Squad video games for THQ. He is the voice of Starscream in the Michael Bay mega blockbuster Transformers Movie Trilogy and has reprised his role of Starscream for the 2012 Universal Theme Park "Transformers Ride". Some other notable characters of Adler's are Buster Bunny in Steven Spielberg's "Tiny Toon Adventures," Ickis in "AAAHH!!! Real Monsters" and Ed and Bev Bighead in "Rocko's Modern Life." He has also been an original "Smurf", was an original "G.I. Joe", an original "Transformer", a "Glow Friend" ,was 3 roles in original "My Little Pony " series(Spike the Baby Dragon, Moochick, Trundle King)and was in Ralph Bakshi's cult classic "Cool World" playing opposite Kim Bassinger and Brad Pitt as Nails Pitt's neurotic sidekick. Named one of the "Top 13 All Time Voice-Over Artists" by Animation Magazine and "Voice of The Decade" by Animation World News(2000), Adler is at the undisputed top of the animation world. Adler is also the Director, co-writer and star of the independent live action movie "No Prom for Cindy," appearing in over 45 prestigious film festivals worldwide and winning numerous awards in Acting/and Directing categories. The movie was adopted by San Francisco State University's Film Department as part of their curriculum. As a stage actor, Charlie starred on Broadway in "Torch Song Trilogy"(1984) as a successor to Harvey Feinstein and toured in the First National Company which earned him a "Helen Hayes Award Best Actor" nomination (1985). Off-Broadway, Adler co-starred in the hit "Family Business" at the Astor Place Theater for a year as well as appearing in Alan Albert's acclaimed Improv. Company, "The Proposition". Adler co-starred and played opposite comedy legend Imogene Coca in "Once Upon a Mattress," with Professor Irwin Corey in Neil Simon's "God's Favorite" and toured as Edward Albee's complex anti hero in "Zoo Story." In addition, he has played Israel Horowitz's Hero in "Dr. Hero" ( another disturbed soul), as well as the Emcee in "Cabaret." On television Charlie appeared on "The Redd Foxx Show (with Pam Adlon)(Lorimar ABC)" assumed the roles of three generations of sons for PBS in "Then and Now,"and guest starred On "Hot in Cleveland" opposite Susan Lucci and Wendie Malick in the two part "I Love Lucci" as Lucci's Director. In his youth, (when he had brown hair and eyelids), Adler was a familiar face in dozens television commercials for Coca-Cola, McDonalds, IBM, G.E. Big Red Gum and Safeguard Soap. As a writer, Adler has co-written "Steven Spielberg's Tiny Toon Adventures" episodes and his critically acclaimed One Man Show (playing eleven characters), "There Used to Be Fireflies," which won him a Dramalogue Award for "Best Actor "(1996), (a performance he reprised in 2006 Directed by Asaad Kelada) and a Dramalogue Award for Set Design (1996) as well. He also paints and sells his work to calm down and remember just who in the hell he is.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Sound Department
Robin Atkin Downes is a seasoned performer with an extensive and distinguished career as an Actor in the film and Television industry. He recently portrayed The voice of The Master on Guillermo Del Toro's cult hit "The Strain," which ran for four seasons on FX. Other camera credits include series regular, recurring and guest starring roles on many top network shows including "Criminal Minds", "the Orville" "NCIS", "Entourage", "CSI Miami", "The Starter Wife", and "In Plain Sight"among others. He has also worked on many blockbuster feature films including "The Conjuring 2", Voice of Valak, The Crooked Man and Bill.... "Batman Vs Superman", "Suicide Squad", "Transformers 2 Revenge of The Fallen", "How To Train Your Dragon", "Pirates of The Caribbean", among many others. As a Voice Over artist, Robin is one of the most prolific voice actors in Los Angeles. Born and raised in the U.K., and trained in the United States, with a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Temple University, Robin credits his European background and American upbringing to giving him an edge as an Actor by exposing him to many different cultures. Accents come easy to him and he is proficient in over 60 dialects. He has voiced roles & performed Motion Capture work on 100's of the top interactive titles in the industry, as well as animated films and television shows. His animated series work includes roles on "Star Wars Clone Wars, Rebels and Bad Batch", " Avengers Assemble", "Ultimate Spiderman", "Voltron", "Ben Ten", "Hulk & The Agents of Smash" 'Beware The Batman" "Thundercats", "The Clone Wars" "Avengers, Earths Mightiest Heroes","The Regular Show", and "Green Lantern", among many others. Top interactive credits include Alcazar in "Uncharted 4", Talbot in "Uncharted 3 Drakes Deception", Miller in " Metal Gear", Ballistic in Apex Legends, Joseph Capelli in "Resistance 3", Atoq Navarro in "Uncharted - Drakes Fortune", The Medic in " TF2", Sean Devlin in "Saboteur", Travis Touchdown in "No More Heroes", The Prince in "The Prince Of Persia Warrior Within", and Emperor Nefarious and Captain Slag in "Ratchet & Clank." His vocal creature skills were used for several of the locust creatures in the "Gears Of War" franchise as well as voicing the characters Kim Minh, Niles and Chaps. Robin was honored to have also worked with esteemed filmmaker Katsuhiro Otomo's on the feature film "Steam Boy" voicing the title role of David along side such award winning actors as Patrick Stewart, Alfred Molina and Anna Paquin. Some of Robin's most interesting stage credits include performances in London, Prague and the United States. Most notably, John Wilkes Booth in the U.S. premiere of "Assassins", "Cyranau De Bergerac" at the famed Walnut Street Theatre, Skinlad/Brink in the "Road" performed at The Wilma Theatre in Europe and the title role in Dracula at the Hermosa Playhouse.
Some of Robin's most interesting stage credits include performances in London, Prague and the United States. Most notably, John Wilkes Booth in the U.S. premiere of "Assassins", "Cyranau De Bergerac" at the famed Walnut Street Theatre, Skinlad/Brink in the "Road" performed at The Wilma Theatre in Europe and the title role in Dracula at the Hermosa Playhouse.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Ron Perlman is a classically-trained actor who has appeared in countless stage plays, feature films and television productions.
Ronald N. Perlman was born April 13, 1950 in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York. His mother, Dorothy (Rosen), is retired from the City Clerk's Office. His father, Bertram "Bert" Perlman, now deceased, was a repairman and a drummer. His parents were both from Jewish families (from Hungary, Germany and Poland).
With a career spanning over three decades, Perlman has worked alongside such diverse actors as Marlon Brando, Sean Connery, Dominique Pinon, Brad Dourif, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Jude Law, Christina Ricci, Federico Luppi, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Wincott and Elijah Wood to name a few.
While he has never been a bankable star, Perlman has always had a large fan-base. He started out strong as Amoukar, one of the tribesmen in Jean-Jacques Annaud's Academy Award-winning film Quest for Fire (1981), for which he earned a Genie Award nomination. Perlman teamed up with Annaud again, this time as a hunchback named Salvatore in The Name of the Rose (1986). His first real breakthrough came later when he landed the role of the noble lion-man Vincent, opposite Linda Hamilton on the fantasy series Beauty and the Beast (1987). His work in this role earned him not only a Golden Globe Award but an underground fan following. Sadly the series was canceled in its third season shortly after Hamilton's character's death.
After that, he spent time doing supporting work on television and independent films such as Guillermo del Toro's debut Cronos (1992) (where a lifelong friendship and collaboration between the director and Perlman would blossom) as Angel and his first lead role as One in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's surreal The City of Lost Children (1995). His first real big role in a mainstream film came when Jeunet wanted him for the brutish Johner in his first Hollywood outing Alien: Resurrection (1997). Perlman has also used his distinctive voice to his advantage, appearing in many animated films/series, commercials and he is a video game fan favorite because of his work on such games as the Fallout series.
It was not until much later he received worldwide fame when his good friend Guillermo del Toro helped him land the title role in the big-budget comic book movie Hellboy (2004). Del Toro fought the studio for four years because they wanted a more secure name, but he stood his ground and in 2004, after almost 25 years in and out of obscurity, Perlman became a household name and a sought out actor. Perlman has had one of the most offbeat careers in film, playing everything from a prehistoric ape-man to an aging transsexual and will always be a rarity in Hollywood.
Other notable roles include the cunning Norman Arbuthnot in The Last Supper (1995), sniper expert Koulikov in Enemy at the Gates (2001), vampire leader Reinhardt in Blade II (2002), his reprisal of Hellboy in Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) and biker chief Clarence Morrow on the popular series Sons of Anarchy (2008).
He currently resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife, Opal, and their two children, Blake and Brandon.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Hugo Wallace Weaving was born on April 4, 1960 in Nigeria, to English parents Anne (Lennard), a tour guide and teacher, and Wallace Weaving, a seismologist. Hugo has an older brother, Simon, and a younger sister, Anna, who both also live and work in Australia. During his early childhood, the Weaving family spent most of their time traveling between Nigeria, Great Britain, and Australia. This was due to the cross-country demands of his father's job in the computer industry. Later, during his teens, Hugo spent three years in England in the seventies attending Queen Elizabeth's Hospital School in Bristol. There, he showed early promise in theater productions and also excelled at history, achieving an A in his O-level examination. He arrived permanently in Australia in 1976 and finished his education at Knox Grammar School, Sydney. He graduated from NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art), a college well-known for other alumni such as Mel Gibson and Geoffrey Rush, in 1981. Since then, Hugo has had a steadily successful career in the film, television, and theater industries. However, he has illustrated that, as renowned as he is known for his film work, he feels most at home on stage and continually performs in Australian theater productions, usually with the Sydney Theater Company. With his success has also come extensive recognition. He has won numerous awards, including two Australian Film Institute Awards (AFI) for Best Actor in a Leading Role and three total nominations. The AFI is the Australian equivalent of an Academy Award, and Hugo won for his performances in Proof (1991) and The Interview (1998). He was also nominated for his performance in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). He garnered the Best Acting prize for The Interview (1998) at the Montreal Film Festival in 1998 in addition to his AFI Award and, that same year, won the Australian Star of the Year. More recently, roles in films such as The Matrix trilogy as Agent Smith and The Lord of the Rings trilogy as Lord Elrond have considerably raised his international profile. His famous and irreplaceable role in The Matrix movies have made him one of the greatest sci-fi villains of the Twenty-first Century. With each new film, television, or theatrical role, Hugo continues to surpass his audience's expectations and remains one of the most versatile performers working today. He resides in Australia and has two children with partner Katrina Greenwood. Though Hugo and Katrina have never married, they've been a committed couple for over 25 years; while Hugo was quoted as saying marriage "petrified" him in the 1990s, by middle of the following decade he said he no longer felt that way, and that he and Katrina have toyed with the idea of marrying "when we're really old".- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
With hundreds of V/O credits to his name, Veteran Voice Monkey Steve Blum is best known as the voice of "Spike Spiegel" from Cowboy Bebop, "Wolverine" from several incarnations of X-Men (animated movies, games, the Wolverine and the X-Men TV Series, The Super Hero Squad Show, X-Men Anime and more), "Zeb Orrelios" and dozens of other characters from Star Wars: Rebels, "Orochimaru," "Zabuza," and others from Naruto, "Green Goblin" from the Spectacular Spiderman series, "Heatblast," "Vilgax" and "Ghostfreak" from Ben 10, "Grayson Hunt" (Bulletstorm) "Grunt" (Mass Effect 2 and 3),"Zoltan Kulle" from Diablo 3, "Abathur" from Starcraft 2:Heart of the Swarm, "Tank Dempsey" (Call of Duty), "Killer Croc" from Arkham Asylum, "Oghren" (DragonAge),"Vincent Valentine" (Final Fantasy VII), "Leeron" (Guren Lagann), "Jamie" from Megas XLR, "Storm Troopers" and many others in most of the Star Wars games, The voice of 7-11, dozens of Digimon and a gigantic list of other characters from Anime, Video Games, TV and Film. In 2012, Steve was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records as Most Prolific Voice Actor in Video Games - appearing in almost 300 games (now over 400!)
Lately you can catch him as Yumyan Hammerpaw in Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, the terrible Jindiao in Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda: Paws of Destiny, more Star Wars stuff like The Mandalorian, Star Wars Resistance, Jedi: Fallen Order and as Admiral Karius in Vader Immortal, Wheeljack in the BumbleBee Feature film, Returning as Tank Dempsey in COD Black Ops 4, Grimstroke in Dota 2, Roy Evans in Angel of Vine - the true crime podcast, as "Shoe" and "Sparky" in Laika's The Boxtrolls, and as astronaut Quentin Thomas on Hip Hop superstar Logic's amazing albums "The Incredible True Story," "Everybody," and "Young Sinatra 4" and on camera in Logic's music videos for the songs "Everyday," "Take it Back," and "Icy."
Also appearing as "Nar Est" and "Rasper" in Amazon's Niko and the Sword of Light, "Frank" the flying monkey and others in Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz on Boomerang, as "Makucha" the Leopard on Disney's The Lion Guard and as Lovable Pub Thug "Attila Buckethead" and more in Disney's Tangled television series! And see if you can find his characters in Star Wars Star Wars Rogue One, Solo, and Rise of Skywalker, Incredibles 2, Goosebumps 2, Shazam and Critters Attack feature films!
And... in the Emmy award-winning Transformers: Prime, he played "Starscream." "Green Lantern" in Injustice 2, "Sub-Zero," "Reptile and "Bo'Rai Cho" in Mortal Combat X, "Baraka" and "Sub-Zero" in MK 11. Several characters in Wabbit, Ultimate Spider Man, Ben 10: Omniverse, The Regular Show, We Bare Bears, Doc McStuffins, Uncle Grandpa, Wander over Yonder, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Scooby Doo, Guild Wars 2, Peabody and Sherman, Pickle and Peanut, Transformers Rescue Bots, Young Justice, and as the terrifying anti-bender "Amon" on the hit series Avatar: The Legend of Korra! And every Saturday night, Steve continues to take the helm as "TOM," the robotic host of Cartoon Network's Toonami on Adult Swim.
If you're interested in learning the art of Voiceover from a guy who does a LOT of it, check out Steve's VO Webinar Teaching Series, newsletter and more at https://www.blumvoxstudios.com/ !
For more info, please visit www.steveblumvoices.com On Twitter and Instagram! @blumspew- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born and raised in London, England. His parents, Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton (born Timothy Carlton Congdon Cumberbatch), are both actors. He is a grandson of submarine commander Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, and a great-grandson of diplomat Henry Arnold Cumberbatch CMG. Cumberbatch attended Brambletye School and Harrow School. Whilst at Harrow, he had an arts scholarship and painted large oil canvases. It's also where he began acting. After he finished school, he took a year off to volunteer as an English teacher in a Tibetan monastery in Darjeeling, India. On his return, he studied drama at Manchester University. He continued his training as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art graduating with an M.A. in Classical Acting. By the time he had completed his studies, he already had an agent.
Cumberbatch has worked in theatre, television, film and radio. His breakthrough on the big screen came in 2004 when he portrayed Stephen Hawking in the television movie Hawking (2004). In 2010, he became a household name as Sherlock Holmes on the British television series Sherlock (2010). In 2011, he appeared in two Oscar-nominated films - War Horse (2011) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). He followed this with acclaimed roles in the science fiction film Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), the Oscar-winning drama 12 Years a Slave (2013), The Fifth Estate (2013) and August: Osage County (2013). In 2014, he portrayed Alan Turing in The Imitation Game (2014) which earned him a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, British Academy of Film and Television Arts and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Cumberbatch was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2015 Birthday Honours for his services to the performing arts and to charity.
Cumberbatch's engagement to theatre and opera director Sophie Hunter, whom he has known for 17 years, was announced in the "Forthcoming Marriages" section of The Times newspaper on November 5, 2014. On February 14, 2015, the couple married at the 12th century Church of St. Peter and St. Paul on the Isle of Wight followed by a reception at Mottistone Manor. They have three sons, Christopher Carlton (born 2015), Hal Auden (born 2017), and Finn (born 2019).- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
Michael Fassbender is an Irish actor who was born in Heidelberg, Germany, to a German father, Josef, and an Irish mother, Adele (originally from Larne, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland). Michael was raised in the town of Killarney, Co. Kerry, in south-west Ireland, where his family moved to when he was two years old. His parents ran a restaurant (his father is a chef).
Fassbender is based in London, England, and became known in the U.S. after his role in the Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009). In 2011, Fassbender debuted as the Marvel antihero Magneto in the prequel X-Men: First Class (2011); he would go on to share the role with Ian McKellen in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). Also in 2011, Fassbender's performance as a sex addict in Shame (2011) received critical acclaim. He won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards. In 2013, his role as slave owner Edwin Epps in slavery epic 12 Years a Slave (2013) was similarly praised, earning him his first Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. 12 Years a Slave marked Fassbender's third collaboration with Steve McQueen, who also directed Hunger and Shame. In 2013, Fassbender appeared in another Ridley Scott film, The Counselor (2013). In 2015, he portrayed Steve Jobs (2015) in the Danny Boyle-directed biopic of the same name, and played Macbeth (2015) in Justin Kurzel's adaptation of William Shakespeare's play. For the former, he has received Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Actor. As well as acting, Fassbender produced the 2015 western Slow West (2015), which he also starred in.- Actor
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- Writer
Richard E. Grant is an actor and presenter. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy Withnail and I (1987). Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack Hock in Marielle Heller's drama film Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), winning various awards including the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. He also received Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor.- Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Born in Cheltenham, England, Richard Smith's family moved to Tauranga, New Zealand, in 1951 when his father, an accountant, decided to become a sheep farmer. Watching horror and science-fiction double features in nearby Hamilton, Smith added an interest in acting to his love of rock and roll. He moved back to England in 1964, tried singing, then became a movie stuntman and fringe theater actor. He changed his name to O'Brien (his beloved maternal grandmother's name) one day while on the phone to British Actors Equity, to avoid confusion with another Richard Smith. He met director Jim Sharman in 1972, when Sharman cast him in the dual roles of Apostle and Leper for the London stage production (transferred from Sharman's native Australia) of "Jesus Christ Superstar". Working again with Sharman on a production of Sam Shepard's "The Unseen Hand", O'Brien mentioned a new rock musical he'd been writing called "Rock Horror." The play went into rehearsals as "They Came from Denton High," and at Sharman's suggestion, was retitled "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" before opening in June 1973.- Actor
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Timothy James Curry was born on April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, Cheshire, England. His mother, Maura Patricia (Langmead), was a school secretary, and his father, James Curry, was a Methodist Royal Navy chaplain. Curry studied Drama and English at Birmingham University, from which he graduated with Combined Honors. His first professional success was in the London production of "Hair", followed by more work in the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Glasgow Citizens Repertory Company, and the Royal Court Theatre where he created the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in "The Rocky Horror Show". He recreated the role in the Los Angeles and Broadway productions and starred in the screen version entitled The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). Curry continued his career on the New York and London stages with starring roles in "Travesties", "Amadeus", "The Pirates of Penzance", "The Rivals", "Love for Love", "Dalliance", "The Threepenny Opera", "The Art of Success" and "My Favorite Year". He also starred in the United States tour of "Me and My Girl". He has received two Tony Award nominations for best actor and won the Royal Variety Club Award as "Stage Actor of the Year".
A composer and a singer, Tim Curry toured the United States and Europe with his own band and released four albums on A&M Records. In addition to an active movie and television career, he is a sought-after actor for CD-ROM productions. His distinctive voice can be heard on more than a dozen audio books, and in countless animated television series and videos. He lives in Los Angeles, California.- Actor
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Scott McNeil is an Australian-Canadian voice actor from Brisbane who is known for voicing the Evil Masked Figure from Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed and Piccolo from the Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z. He is also known for voicing Ace the Bat-Hound in Krypto the Superdog, Hack from ReBoot, and Wolverine from X-Men: Evolution.- Actor
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Michael Emerson was born on 7 September 1954 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA. He is an actor, known for Saw (2004), Lost (2004) and Person of Interest (2011). He has been married to Carrie Preston since 5 September 1998.- Actor
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Mark Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy - Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) - a role he reprised in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) and Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He also starred and co-starred in the films Corvette Summer (1978), The Big Red One (1980), and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014). Hamill's extensive voice acting work includes a long-standing role as the Joker, commencing with Batman: The Animated Series (1992).
Hamill was born in Oakland, California, to Virginia Suzanne (Johnson) and William Thomas Hamill, a captain in the United States Navy. He majored in drama at Los Angeles City College and made his acting debut on The Bill Cosby Show (1969). He then played a recurring role (Kent Murray) on the soap opera General Hospital (1963) and co-starred on the comedy series The Texas Wheelers (1974).
Released on May 25, 1977, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) was an enormous unexpected success and made a huge impact on the film industry. Hamill also appeared in The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) and later starred in the successful sequels Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). For both of the sequels, Hamill was honored with the Saturn Award for Best Actor given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. He reprised the role of Luke Skywalker for the radio dramatizations of both "Star Wars" (1981) and "The Empire Strikes Back" (1983), and then in a starring role in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017). For the radio dramatization of "Return of the Jedi" (1996), the role was played by a different actor.
He voiced the new Chucky in Child's Play (2019), taking over from Brad Dourif.- Actor
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Popular British character actor Tom Wilkinson was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and came from a long line of urban farmers. He was the son of Marjorie (Percival) and Thomas Wilkinson. Economic hardships forced his family to move to Canada for a few years when Wilkinson was a child; then, after he had returned to England, he attended and graduated from the University of Kent at Canterbury with a degree in English and American Literature.
Wilkinson first became active in film and television in the mid-1970s, but did not become familiar to an international audience until 1997. That was when he starred as one of six unemployed workers who strip for cash in Best Picture nominee The Full Monty (1997), and went on to win a BAFTA for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. That same year, he was featured in Oscar and Lucinda (1997) and Wilde (1997). Wilkinson was also shown to memorable effect as a theatre financier with acting aspirations in Best Picture winner Shakespeare in Love (1998).
Over the next few years, Wilkinson would become more popular, especially with American audiences, with such roles as General Cornwallis alongside Mel Gibson in the blockbuster The Patriot (2000) and as the grief-stricken father, Matt Fowler, in the critically acclaimed Best Picture nominee In the Bedroom (2001). For his role in that movie, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Since then, Wilkinson has made memorable appearances in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Batman Begins (2005), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), Valkyrie (2008), Duplicity (2009), The Ghost Writer (2010), The Debt (2010) and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), among others. Wilkinson also received his second Academy Award nomination for his acclaimed role in Michael Clayton (2007).
Wilkinson won an Emmy Award for his work as Benjamin Franklin in HBO's John Adams (2008) mini-series. The same year, he received an Emmy nomination for his role in HBO movie Recount (2008), and has also received Emmy nominations for Normal (2003) and The Kennedys (2011).
Wilkinson had two children, Alice and Molly, with his wife Diana Hardcastle.- Actor
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Bill Nighy is an award-winning British character actor. He was born William Francis Nighy on December 12, 1949 in Caterham, Surrey, England, to Catherine Josephine (Whittaker), a psychiatric nurse from Glasgow, and Alfred Martin Nighy, who was English-born and managed a garage in Croydon.
At school, he gained 'O'-levels in English Language and English Literature and enjoyed reading, particularly Ernest Hemingway. On leaving school he wanted to become a journalist but didn't have the required qualifications. He eventually went on to work as a messenger boy for the Field magazine. He stayed in Paris for a while because he wanted to write "the great novel", but he only managed to write the title. When he ran out of money, the British consul shipped him home.
Nighy wound up training at Guildford School of Dance and Drama in London, and has since then worked consistently in film, television, and on stage.
Nighy is perhaps best-known to international audiences for his memorable performance as washed-up pop singer Billy Mack in Love Actually (2003), which won him a BAFTA for best supporting actor. He has also made appearances in major franchises: he played vampire leader Viktor in Underworld (2003), Underworld: Evolution (2006) and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), did the performance capture and voice for Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), and made a brief appearance as Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010).
Nighy's recent film credits include roles in I Capture the Castle (2003), Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), The Constant Gardener (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Hot Fuzz (2007), Valkyrie (2008) and The Boat That Rocked (2009). He has also provided voice work for many animated movies in the past few years including Flushed Away (2006), Astro Boy (2009), Rango (2011) and Arthur Christmas (2011).
With supporting turns in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012) and Total Recall (2012), 2012 was a busy year for Nighy. There are no signs of slowing down either, as he next appeared in Jack the Giant Slayer (2013), About Time (2013), and I, Frankenstein (2014).
Nighy has also had an active career on the small screen, beginning with Agony (1979), and his first widely-recognized role was in 1991 mini-series The Men's Room (1991). He has also made a habit of working on television with Harry Potter director David Yates: projects together include State of Play (2003), The Young Visiters (2003), The Girl in the Café (2005) and Page Eight (2011). Nighy won a Golden Globe for his performance in Gideon's Daughter (2005).
Nighy actually began his career on the stage, and has earned acclaim for his work in numerous plays including "The Vertical Hour," "Pravda". "A Map of the World", Tom Stoppard's Arcadia in 1993, and David Hare's Skylight. He received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance in 2001 play "Blue/Orange."
Bill's partner was actress Diana Quick (he asked her to marry him but she said: "don't ask me again"; he called her his wife because anything else would have been too difficult). They have a daughter, Mary Nighy, who is studying at university and contemplating an acting career. She has already begun to appear on TV dramas and radio programs.- Actor
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Burn Gorman was born on 1 September 1974 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018). He has been married to Sarah Beard since July 2004. They have three children.- Actor
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Mads Mikkelsen's great successes parallel those achieved by the Danish film industry since the mid-1990s. He was born in Østerbro, Copenhagen, to Bente Christiansen, a nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a banker.
Starting out as a low-life pusher/junkie in the 1996 success Pusher (1996), he slowly grew to become one of Denmark's biggest movie actors. The success in his home country includes Flickering Lights (2000), En kort en lang (2001) and the Emmy-winning police series Unit One (2000).
His success has taken him abroad where he has played alongside Gérard Depardieu in I Am Dina (2002) as well as in the Spanish comedy Torremolinos 73 (2003) and the American blockbuster King Arthur (2004).
He played the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the critically acclaimed NBC series Hannibal (2013), from 2013 to 2015, with great success.- Thomas Kretschmann was born in East Germany. Before becoming an actor, he was a swimmer. He has acted in several popular American movies, such as Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), The Pianist (2002), U-571 (2000), In Enemy Hands (2004), etc. He has three children, Nicolas, Stella and Sascha with his ex-girlfriend Lena.
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Götz Otto was born on 15 October 1967 in Dietzenbach, Hesse, Germany. He is an actor and writer, known for Iron Sky (2012), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and Cloud Atlas (2012). He is married to Sabine. They have four children.- Actor
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Christoph Waltz is an Austrian-German actor. He is known for his work with American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, receiving acclaim for portraying SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) and bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained (2012). For each performance, he won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Additionally, he received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Landa.
Christoph Waltz was born in Vienna, Austria, into a theatrical family, his mother Elisabeth Urbancic, an Austrian-born costume designer, and Johannes Waltz, a German-born stage builder. He has three siblings. His maternal grandmother was Viennese Burgtheater actress Maria Mayen, and his step-grandfather was fellow Burgtheater actor Emmerich Reimers. His maternal grandfather, Rudolf von Urban, was a psychologist and psychiatrist who wrote the 1949 book "Sex Perfection and Marital Happiness".
Waltz attended the Theresianium and Billrothstrasse in Vienna. Upon graduation, he attended the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar before going to New York to the Lee Strasberg Institute. While in New York, Christoph met his first wife, and moved back to Vienna, then to London.
During the 80s, Christoph worked primarily in theatre, commuting from his home in London to Germany. Slowly Waltz began to work in TV, taking one-off roles in series, and TV movies. Film roles soon followed. Attempts to break into English-speaking film and TV were, however, unsuccessful. Waltz has expressed his gratitude to have been able to make a living and support his family through acting. For thirty years he worked steadily, tirelessly, in this manner.
It was not until he met Quentin Tarantino that his career in Hollywood took off. The role of Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) catapulted Waltz from a lifetime working in German TV/film to the new life of an international superstar and Academy Award-winning actor. He won 27 awards for his performance as Hans Landa, including the Cannes prix d'interpretation Masculin for 2009, the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, the BAFTA Best Supporting Actor award, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (which he won again for 2012's Django Unchained (2012)).
He also has portrayed computer genius Qohen Leth in the film The Zero Theorem (2013), American plagiarist Walter Keane in the biographical film _Big Eyes (2014), and 007's nemesis and head of SPECTRE Ernst Stavro Blofeld in _Spectre (2015)_. In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Waltz portrayed SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa, aka "The Jew Hunter". Clever, courteous, and multilingual - but also self-serving, cunning, implacable, and murderous. Waltz played gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet (2011). That same year, he starred in Water for Elephants (2011), Roman Polanski's Carnage (2011), and a remake of The Three Musketeers (2011). He played German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), a role Tarantino wrote specifically for Waltz.
Waltz resides in Berlin and Los Angeles. His wife is costume builder Judith Holste.- Actor
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Beginning his life with the same flair for the dramatic that would come to define his career, Udo Kier was born in Köln, Germany near the end of the 2nd world war. The hospital was bombed and buried Kier and his mother in the rubble. Both survived, and Kier would later move to London as a young adult to study English. Kier was discovered in London by Michael Sarne, who cast him in his first role as a gigolo in "Road To Saint Tropez". Kier then starred in Michael Armstrong's extremely controversial "Mark Of The Devil". He would go on to work with Paul Morrissey in Andy Warhol's "Flesh For Frankenstein" and "Blood For Dracula", Dario Argento in "Suspiria", and Rainer Werner Fassbinder in "The Third Generation", "Lili Marllen", and "Lola".
Kier entered the American independent cinema scene many years later after meeting Gus Van Sant at the Berlin Film Festival. Van Sant offered Kier the role of Hans, the lamp-singing john in "My Own Private Idaho" with Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix. He would later have roles in Gus Van Sant's "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" and "Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot" as well as such 90s Hollywood hits as "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective", "Johnny Mnemonic", "Barb Wire", "End Of Violence", "For Love Or Money", "Armagedden", "Blade", and "End Of Days". Kier is probably best known for his collaboration with Lars von Trier, appearing in most of his films including "Medea", "Europa", "Breaking The Waves", "Dancer In TheE Dark", "Dogville", "Manderlay", "Melancholia", "Nymphomaniac (Vol. II)" and "The Kingdom" (Danish TV). Kier's recent renaissance has seen him play memorable roles in the Activision game "Call Of Duty", numerous television roles in North America and Europe, and in the films "Iron Sky", "Brawl In Cell Block 99", "Downsizing", "American Animals", "Bacurau", "The Painted Bird", "The Blazing World" and "Swan Song", among many others.- Actor
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Actor Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on December 22, 1962 in Suffolk, England, to Jennifer Anne Mary Alleyne (Lash), a novelist, and Mark Fiennes, a photographer. He is the eldest of six children. Four of his siblings are also in the arts: Martha Fiennes, a director; Magnus Fiennes, a musician; Sophie Fiennes, a producer; and Joseph Fiennes, an actor. He is of English, Irish, and Scottish origin.
A noted Shakespeare interpreter, he first achieved success onstage at the Royal National Theatre. Fiennes first worked on screen in 1990 and then made his film debut in 1992 as Heathcliff in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992), opposite Juliette Binoche. 1993 was his "breakout year". He had a major role in the controversial Peter Greenaway film The Baby of Mâcon (1993), with Julia Ormond, which was poorly received. Later that year he became known internationally for portraying the amoral Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993). For this he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. He did not win, but did win the Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for the role, as well as Best Supporting Actor honors from numerous critics groups, including the National Society of Film Critics, and the New York, Chicago, Boston, and London Film Critics associations. His portrayal as Göth also earned him a spot on the American Film Institute's list of Top 50 Film Villains. To look suitable to represent Goeth, Fiennes gained weight, but he managed to shed it afterwards. In 1994, he portrayed American academic Charles Van Doren in Quiz Show (1994). In 1996, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Count Almásy the World War II epic romance, and another Best Picture winner, Anthony Minghella's The English Patient (1996), in which he starred with Kristin Scott Thomas. He also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations, as well as two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award nominations, one for Best Actor and another shared with the film's ensemble cast.
Since then, Fiennes has been in a number of notable films, including Strange Days (1995), Oscar and Lucinda (1997), the animated The Prince of Egypt (1998), István Szabó's Sunshine (1999), Neil Jordan-directed films The End of the Affair (1999) and The Good Thief (2002), Red Dragon (2002), Maid in Manhattan (2002), The Constant Gardener (2005), In Bruges (2008), The Reader (2008), co-starring Kate Winslet, Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar®-winning The Hurt Locker (2008), Clash of the Titans (2010), Mike Newell's screen adaptation of Charles Dickens'Great Expectations (2012), with Helena Bonham Carter and Jeremy Irvine, and Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).
He is also known for his roles in major film franchises such as the Harry Potter film series (2005-2011), in which he played the evil Lord Voldemort. His nephew, Hero Fiennes Tiffin played Tom Riddle, the young Lord Voldemort, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). Ralph also appears in the James Bond series, in which he has played M, starting with the 2012 film Skyfall (2012).
In 2011, Fiennes made his directorial debut with his film adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy political thriller Coriolanus (2011), in which he also played the title character, opposite Gerard Butler and Vanessa Redgrave. Fiennes has won a Tony Award for playing Prince Hamlet on Broadway.
In 2015, Fiennes played a music producer in Luca Guadagnino's A Bigger Splash (2015), starring opposite Tilda Swinton and Matthias Schoenaerts, and in 2016, Fiennes starred in Joel and Ethan Coen's Hail, Caesar! (2016).
Since 1999, Fiennes has served as an ambassador for UNICEF UK.- Actor
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Ian Hart, born in England, began acting while a student in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. He stumbled into acting almost accidentally, but was cast in the play "The Government Inspector". He continued to work in British theatre and television, and first gained recognition for portraying John Lennon in the British film Backbeat (1994). He made many films in his native Britain, occasionally appearing in American films and TV series as well.
He has now played John Lennon three times, most recently in the television play Snodgrass, where he played a 50 year old Lennon who had left The Beatles before they became successful.- Actor
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Arnold Vosloo was born in Pretoria, South Africa, to stage actor parents, Johanna Petronella Vorster and Johannes J. Daniel Vosloo. He is an Afrikaaner (of mostly Dutch, as well as German, Swiss-German, Danish, and French, descent).
Vosloo quickly established a fine reputation as an actor in his native South Africa, winning several awards there for his theater work, including "More Is 'n Lang Dag", "Don Juan" and "Torch Song Trilogy". A regular performer with South Africa's State Theatre, he also played leading roles in "Savages", "Twelfth Night" and "Hamlet". His film career in the RSA brought him The Dalro Award as Best Actor for both Maneuvers (1984) and Circles in a Forest (1989), and the Dalro Best Actor Nomination for the film version of More Is 'n Lang Dag.
After moving to the United States, he appeared in "Born In The R.S.A." at Chicago's Northlight Theatre and starred with Al Pacino and Sheryl Lee in a Circle In The Square Uptown production of "Salome" (his character's name was "Jokanaan"). The latter running for a total of 18 performances only between June 28, 1992 and July 2, 1992. Vosloo's film credits include Ridley Scott's 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), John Woo's Hard Target (1993) (produced by James Jacks and Sean Daniel), Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995) and Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996), both directed by Bradford May, and George Miller's Zeus and Roxanne (1997). Equally at home on the television screen, Vosloo appeared in American Gothic (1995) for Fox and Nash Bridges (1996) for CBS.- Sylvester Groth was born in Jerichow, German Democratic Republic on March 31st, 1958. He is an actor with an extensive television and theater career, well known for portraying Goebbels in Inglourious Basterds (2009), Clausen in Dark (2019) and starring in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Stalingrad (1993) and Deutschland 83 (2015).
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Anthony Hopkins was born on December 31, 1937, in Margam, Wales, to Muriel Anne (Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker. His parents were both of half Welsh and half English descent. Influenced by Richard Burton, he decided to study at College of Music and Drama and graduated in 1957. In 1965, he moved to London and joined the National Theatre, invited by Laurence Olivier, who could see the talent in Hopkins. In 1967, he made his first film for television, A Flea in Her Ear (1967).
From this moment on, he enjoyed a successful career in cinema and television. In 1968, he worked on The Lion in Winter (1968) with Timothy Dalton. Many successes came later, and Hopkins' remarkable acting style reached the four corners of the world. In 1977, he appeared in two major films: A Bridge Too Far (1977) with James Caan, Gene Hackman, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Elliott Gould and Laurence Olivier, and Maximilian Schell. In 1980, he worked on The Elephant Man (1980). Two good television literature adaptations followed: Othello (1981) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982). In 1987 he was awarded with the Commander of the order of the British Empire. This year was also important in his cinematic life, with 84 Charing Cross Road (1987), acclaimed by specialists. In 1993, he was knighted.
In the 1990s, Hopkins acted in movies like Desperate Hours (1990) and Howards End (1992), The Remains of the Day (1993) (nominee for the Oscar), Legends of the Fall (1994), Nixon (1995) (nominee for the Oscar), Surviving Picasso (1996), Amistad (1997) (nominee for the Oscar), The Mask of Zorro (1998), Meet Joe Black (1998) and Instinct (1999). His most remarkable film, however, was The Silence of the Lambs (1991), for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor. He also got a B.A.F.T.A. for this role.- Actor
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Brent Spiner, whose primary claim to fame is his portrayal of the beloved android Data on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), was born and raised in Houston, Texas. His parents, Sylvia (Schwartz) and Jack Spiner, owned and operated a furniture store, and were both from Jewish immigrant families (from Austria, Hungary, and Russia). Jack died of kidney failure at age 29, when Brent was 10 months old. When he was 6 years old, his mother married Sol Mintz, who adopted Brent and his older brother Ron. Although his mother divorced Mintz after 7 years of marriage, Brent retained his adopted father's last name until 1975, when he took back his birth name.
Spiner first began pursuing his interest in acting while in high school. There his inspirational drama teacher, Cecil Pickett, gave a great start to the careers of a remarkable group of aspiring young actors (and directors), including Spiner, Cindy Pickett (Cecil's daughter), Randy Quaid, Dennis Quaid, Trey Wilson, Robert Wuhl and Thomas Schlamme, all of whom later attained success in Hollywood. After graduation, Spiner followed his mentor to the University of Houston and other local colleges, while also launching his professional acting career in theater (The Houston Music Theater and other regional theater) and in film (My Sweet Charlie (1970), which was shot on location in Texas). After a couple of false starts in New York and Hollywood, Spiner eventually established himself as a stage actor in New York, appearing in a number of off-Broadway and Broadway plays, such as "A History of the American Film" (1978), "Leave It to Beaver is Dead" (1979), "Sunday in the Park with George" (1984), and "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1985). While in New York, he had a bit part in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980) and starred in an independent film called Rent Control (1981). The play "Little Shop of Horrors "brought Spiner to Los Angeles in 1984, where he eventually took up permanent residence.
In 1986, after a number of character parts in television series and movies, such as Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985), Crime of Innocence (1985), Manhunt for Claude Dallas (1986), and Family Sins (1987), Spiner snagged the role that would bring him international fame: Data, the endearing android, whom Spiner played "by tapping into his inner child." Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), the sequel to the original television series Star Trek (1966), became hugely popular, moving to the big screen for four films (so far) after its 7-year run on television. Aside from these films, Spiner has made cameo appearances in a number of films directed by his friend and old schoolmate Thomas Schlamme, such as Miss Firecracker (1989), Crazy from the Heart (1991), and Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995), and has appeared in small roles in more recent films, such as Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) and The Master of Disguise (2002). Arguably his most popular film portrayal was Dr. Brakish Okun in Independence Day (1996), a role that elicited his unique eccentricity and sense of humor. He reprised the character in the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence (2016).- Actor
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Jeffrey Combs was born on September 9th, 1954 in Oxnard, California. He grew up in Lompoc, California with a plethora of siblings both older and younger. He attended the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria, and the Professional Actor's Training Program at the University of Washington in Seattle. He spent about four years in regional theater performing at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, the Arizona Theatre Company in Tucson, the California Shakespearean Festival, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and the South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa among others. In 1980 he moved to Los Angeles, where he lives with his family. As a horror film leading actor, Combs is probably best known for portraying Herbert West in the cult horror film Re-Animator (1985). Re-Animator was based on H.P. Lovecraft's famous novel brought together by Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna, the producer and financier of the film. Combs stayed in the realm of cult films with both Gordon and Yuzna to return when making From Beyond (1986), and Bride of Re-Animator (1990) also from Lovecraft novels. He has also been in some supporting roles in _Pit and the Pendulum, The (1990) (V)_, the strange FBI Agent with Michael J. Fox in The Frighteners (1996), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and the remake of the William Castle thriller, House on Haunted Hill (1999).- Actor
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Gary Oldman is a talented English movie star and character actor, renowned for his expressive acting style. One of the most celebrated thespians of his generation, with a diverse career encompassing theatre, film and television, he is known for his roles as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986), Drexl in True Romance (1993), George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), and Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017), among many others. For much of his career, he was best-known for playing over-the-top antagonists, such as terrorist Egor Korshunov in the 1997 blockbuster Air Force One (1997), though he has reached a new audience with heroic roles in the Harry Potter and Dark Knight franchises. He is also a filmmaker, musician, and author.
Gary Leonard Oldman was born on March 21, 1958 in New Cross, London, England, to Kathleen (Cheriton), a homemaker, and Leonard Bertram Oldman, a welder. He won a scholarship to Britain's Rose Bruford Drama College, in Sidcup, Kent, where he received a B.A. in theatre arts in 1979. He subsequently studied with the Greenwich Young People's Theatre and went on to appear in a number of plays throughout the early '80s, including "The Pope's Wedding," for which he received Time Out's Fringe Award for Best Newcomer of 1985-1986 and the British Theatre Association's Drama Magazine Award as Best Actor for 1985. Before fame, he was employed as a worker in assembly lines and as a porter in an operating theater. He also had jobs selling shoes and beheading pigs while supporting his early acting career.
His film debut was Remembrance (1982), though his most-memorable early role came when he played Sex Pistol Sid Vicious in the biopic Sid and Nancy (1986) picking up the Evening Standard Film Award as Best Newcomer. He then received a Best Actor nomination from BAFTA for his portrayal of '60s playwright Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears (1987).
In the 1990s, Oldman brought to life a series of iconic real-world and fictional villains including Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991), the title character in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Drexl Spivey in True Romance (1993), Stansfield in Léon: The Professional (1994), Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element (1997) and Ivan Korshunov in Air Force One (1997). That decade also saw Oldman portraying Ludwig van Beethoven in biopic Immortal Beloved (1994).
Oldman played the coveted role of Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), giving him a key part in one of the highest-grossing franchises ever. He reprised that role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Oldman also took on the iconic role of Detective James Gordon in writer-director Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005), a role he played again in The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Prominent film critic Mark Kermode, in reviewing The Dark Knight, wrote, "the best performance in the film, by a mile, is Gary Oldman's ... it would be lovely to see him get a[n Academy Award] nomination because actually, he's the guy who gets kind of overlooked in all of this."
Oldman co-starred with Jim Carrey in the 2009 version of A Christmas Carol in which Oldman played three roles. He had a starring role in David Goyer's supernatural thriller The Unborn, released in 2009. In 2010, Oldman co-starred with Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli. He also played a lead role in Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood. Oldman voiced the role of villain Lord Shen and was nominated for an Annie Award for his performance in Kung Fu Panda 2.
In 2011, Oldman portrayed master spy George Smiley in the adaptation of John le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), and the role scored Oldman his first Academy Award nomination. In 2014, he played one of the lead humans in the science fiction action film Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) alongside Jason Clarke and Keri Russell. Also in 2014, Oldman starred alongside Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson in the remake of RoboCop (2014), as Norton, the scientist who creates RoboCop.
Aside from acting, Oldman tried his hand at writing and directing for Nil by Mouth (1997). The movie opened the Cannes Film Festival in 1997, and won Kathy Burke a Best Actress prize at the festival.
Oldman has three children, Alfie, with first wife, actress Lesley Manville, and Gulliver and Charlie with his third wife, Donya Fiorentino. In 2017, he married writer and art curator Gisele Schmidt.
In 2018 he won an Oscar for best actor for his work on Darkest Hour (2017).- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Ken Watanabe was born on October 21, 1959 in Uonuma, Japan. Both of his parents were teachers: his mother taught general education and his dad taught calligraphy. He became interested in acting at the age of 24, when a director of England's National Theater Company, where he was studying, told him that acting was his special gift. In 1978, he moved to Tokyo to pursue acting. He drew the attention of the critics when Yukio Ninagawa, a famous Japanese director, chose him for the lead role in one of his plays, even though Ken was still an acting student. He made his first TV appearance in 1982. His big career breakthrough came when he was chosen to play the lead in the Japanese national TV drama series called "Dokugan ryu Masamune". He played a samurai leader hero, making him a household name in Japan. In 1989, he collapsed while filming a movie in Canada due to leukemia. He made a miraculous comeback & co-starred with Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai (2003), which pushed him to the center stage of Hollywood.
Ken has a daughter, model, actress, & singer Anne Watanabe, & a son. He's an avid fan of Hanshin Tigers (Japanese professional baseball team) & Kobe Steel rugby team. He loves noodles.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Alon Aboutboul was born on 28 May 1965 in Israel. He is an actor and director, known for The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Body of Lies (2008) and London Has Fallen (2016).- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
Corey Burton is an American voice actor with Asperger's. He is known for voicing Mole in Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Atlantis: Milo's Return, Captain Hook in Return to Neverland and Kingdom Hearts, Count Dooku in various Star Wars media whenever Christopher Lee is unavailable, Hugo Strange in Batman: Arkham City, Judge Claude Frollo in Kingdom Hearts 3D, Nicolai in Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Doctor Nefarious Tropy and N.Gin in Crash Bandicoot, Volteer in The Legend of Spyro and Zeus in the God of War video game series. He is one of the most prolific autistic voice actors alongside Billy West.- Actor
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Well-known, king-sized actor and voice artist Kevin Michael Richardson was born in Bronx, New York. He is, perhaps, mostly recognizable for his deep voice, which he uses in many of his works.
Richardson is a classically trained actor. He first gained recognition as one of only eight U.S. high school students selected for the National Foundation for the Arts' "Arts '82" program, later he earned a scholarship to Syracuse University.
Kevin is well-known by various voice works, mostly villainous. He lent his voice to based-upon video game film Mortal Kombat (1995) as Goro, he was also in Matrix Revolutions (2003) as Deus Ex Machina, and made a brief appearance in Clerks II (2006) as a police officer. To mention that he did a brief additional voices for mega hit Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009).
He did voice in many animated films and TV series, such as "The Mask - The Animated Series" (1995), "The New Batman Adventures" (1997), "Pokemon" (1998), "Powerpuff Girls" (1998), "Voltron: The Third Dimension" (1998), "Family Guy", Lilo & Stitch (2002), as well as "Lilo & Stitch" TV series, "Codename Kids Next Door" (2002), Batman VS Dracula (2005) (V), where he voiced Joker, "Mummy The Animated Series" (2003), TMNT (2007) as General Aguila, "Transformers Animated" (2007) as Omega Supreme and Batman: Gotham Knight (2008), as Lucius Fox.
He also did voices in such video games as Halo 2 (Tartarus), Kingdom Hearts (Sebastian) and others. He lives in Los Angeles and likes to work in Manhattan.- Actor
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Jeff Bennett is an American voice actor who is well-known for voicing Johnny Bravo (based on Elvis Presley's voice), Dr. Hamsterviel from Lilo & Stitch, Kowalski from The Penguins of Madagascar, Petrie in The Land Before Time, Ted Shackleford (The Man in the Yellow Hat) from Curious George, Yosemite Sam in Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Smee in Return to Never Land and Kingdom Hearts, Dexter's Dad in Dexter's Laboratory, Cyril in The Legend of Spyro, Extor in Samurai Jack, JB, Pins, Needles and Caged Juju in Tak and the Power of Juju, Ace, Big Billy, Pickloids, Broccoloids and Grubber in The Powerpuff Girls and Raj in Camp Lazlo.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Rufus Sewell was born on the 29th of October 1967 in Twickenham, England. His mother, Jo, was Welsh, and was an artist and painter. His father, Bill Sewell, was an English-Australian animator who was born in Australia to English parents and died when Rufus was 10. He has one brother, Caspar. He attended London's Central School of Speech and Drama and left in June of 1989 after completing three years of training.
He made his London Stage debut in "Making It Better" for which he won the "Best Newcomer Award"; he also originated the role of Septimus Hodge in Tom Stoppards "Arcadia" and was nominated for an Olivier Award. On the Broadway stage, he debuted in "Translations" and received the Broadway Theater World Award. His film work has been equally varied and acclaimed from the junkie in Twenty-One (1991), the sweet bus driver in A Man of No Importance (1994), and the volatile artist in Carrington (1995). The lustful son in Cold Comfort Farm (1995), the protagonist hounded Dostoevsky-like in Dark City (1998), the star-crossed suitor in Dangerous Beauty (1998), to the the bitter, acidic, alcoholic coke-head of The Very Thought of You (1998), he has appeared in some of the most acclaimed theatre, film and television productions.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Soundtrack
Tall, gaunt, and particularly effective in horror and drama films, British actor Julian Sands was born in Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, to Brenda and William Sands. He came to the attention of NBC when the network cast him in the TV miniseries The Sun Also Rises (1984) and then with Anthony Hopkins in the television film A Married Man (1983). Sands also got noticed for his very small roles in Privates on Parade (1983) and The Killing Fields (1984). It wasn't until his funny and romantic role opposite Denholm Elliott in A Room with a View (1985) and then his unusual role in Gothic (1986) that he garnered audience acclaim.
He continued work on screen in Vibes (1988), Impromptu (1991) and Steven Spielberg's Arachnophobia (1990), until his most remembered role as Warlock (1989), directed by Steve Miner. The film was a major success and he returned for the sequel, Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). Other credits include Naked Lunch (1991), Tale of a Vampire (1992) and the title role in Dario Argento's The Phantom of the Opera (1998). Sands has more recently been in Stephen King's Rose Red (2002) and was occasionally seen on the English stage.
Sands disappeared on January 13, 2023 after going for a hike near the Mount Baldy area of California's San Bernardino Mountains. Local authorities and search and rescue teams conducted over six weeks of multiple ground and aerial searches, which were unsuccessful. On June 24, 2023, hikers near Mount Baldy discovered human remains. On June 27, 2023, local authorities confirmed the remains to be those of Sands. He was 65 years old.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Mark Ryan has been combining his acting, singing, writing, action direction and producer talents in an eclectic and successful international career ranging over 45 years.
He did several major musicals in London's West End, spending 4 years in Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash hit "Evita" playing "Magaldi" and "Che" under the direction of Broadway legend: Hal Prince.
He originated "Nasir" for the cult British TV series: "Robin Of Sherwood" and has appeared in dozens of films and television series both in the US and UK. Mark is also an accomplished author and has written for DC Comics and created "The Greenwood Tarot" for Harper Collins.
Mark also toured the US with original "Monty Python" member: Eric Idle, performing at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.
He was Swordmaster and Fight Director on "King Arthur" for Antoine Fuqua and trained Keira Knightley, Stellan Skarsgard and Clive Owen. He has appeared in such productions as "The Prestige" and "The Thirst" and has continued to work in theater and TV in the US, recently completing "SpecialOps: Delta" playing Col. Anderson Savage.
He began working on the 2007 film Transformers during filming as the on-set voice of several different robots. This work continued throughout filming and into editing, prior to the actual casting of voice-over talent. He was then cast as the voice of the character Bumblebee. Ryan also voices Ironhide and Hoist for the Activision video game based on the film.
During 2008 he wrote and produced a musical adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" starring Jenn Korbee, directing the video "Women" for the project. In the fall of 2008 the online publisher, ComicMix, began running "The Pilgrim" written by Ryan and drawn by legendary graphic artist Mike Grell.
He continued voice-work on "Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen" into 2009, performing several characters and standing in for the robots during principal photography.
In May 2010, Ryan returned to work on Transformers: Dark of the Moon, once again as the onset voice of the Autobots. Work on this third Michael Bay Blockbuster continued at locations across the US and also at Kennedy Space Center - Cape Canaveral. The film was shot in 3D with post production voice-work carrying on into the spring of 2011 at Bay Films and Ryan contributed uncredited military lines and voices to the final cut of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. in 2014 he also voiced the alien bounty-hunter "Lockdown" for the 4th Transformers movie: "Age of Extinction".
His biography; "Hold Fast" was written with John Matthews and published in 2015. "Hold Fast" includes chapters on "Black Sails" in which he played Quartermaster "Hal Gates" and the 5th movie in the franchise: "Transformers: The Last Knight" in which he voiced "Bulldog", "Hot Rod" and appeared as a British Army SAS Officer.
In 2022 Mark began work on co-writing: "The Sherwood Oracle" with John Mathews using imagery from the acclaimed artist; Anne Yvonne Gilbert to be released in the spring of 2024 and published internationally by major New York publishing house: Stirling Ethos.
In 2023 he began co-producing with films such as the multi-international award winning: "Penitent" and "Grail" and his first movie as co-producer and actor: "23 Letters From Vincent van Gogh" shot entirely on location in The Netherlands, will be released in 2024.- Actor
- Producer
- Animation Department
Jason Isaacs was born in Liverpool. He studied law at Bristol University but fell in love with the theatre and directed, produced and appeared in dozens of productions there, at the National Student Theatre Festival and at the Edinburgh Festival. He graduated in 1985 but then attended the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and began working in 1988.
Jason's notable roles include Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, Mr. Darling/Captain Hook in Peter Pan (2003), and many soldiers: Col. William Tavington in Roland Emmerich's The Patriot (2000), Captain Steele in Ridley Scott's Blackhawk Down, Major Briggs in Paul Greengrass's Green Zone, Captain Waggoner in Fury, Captain Lorca in Star Trek: Discovery, Field Marshall Zhukov in Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin and Rear-Admiral Godfrey in John Madden's Operation Mincemeat. He was Hap in the cult series The OA, Maurice in the WW2 film Good (2008) and Jay in the multi-award winning MASS. He has made many TV series in Britain and the US and has won or been nominated for a Golden Globe, International Emmy, BAFTA, Critics Choice, Peabody, Satellite and many other awards.
On stage he was Louis Ironson in the original productions of Angels in America parts 1 and 2 for the Royal National Theatre and has performed at the Royal Court, Almeida and West End Theatres.
Jason is married to documentary filmmaker Emma Hewitt, who he met at drama school and with whom he has two children.- 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
- Writer
- Producer
Mickey Rourke was born Phillip Andre Rourke, Jr. on September 16, 1952, in Schenectady, New York, the son of Annette Elizabeth (Cameron) and Philip Andre Rourke. His father was of Irish and German descent, and his mother was of mostly English and French-Canadian ancestry. When he was six years old, his parents divorced. A year later, his mother married Eugene Addis, a Miami Beach police officer, and moved to Miami Shores, Florida. After graduating from Horace Mann Junior High School, Rourke's family moved to a house located on 47th Street and Prairie Avenue in Miami Beach. In 1969 Rourke attended Miami Beach Senior High School, where he played second-string first baseman under coach Skip Bertman. He also acted in a school play, "The Serpent," directed by legendary "Teacher To The Stars" Jay W. Jensen.
In 1971 he graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School, and after working for a short time as a bus boy at the famed Forge Restaurant on Miami Beach, Rourke moved back to New York to seek out a career in acting.
Rourke's teenage years were more aimed toward sports more than acting. He took up self-defense training at the Boys Club of Miami. It was there he learned boxing skills and decided on an amateur career. At the age of 12, Rourke won his first boxing match as an 118-pound bantamweight, defeating Javier Villanueva. Some of his early matches were fought as Andre Rourke. He continued his boxing training at the famed 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach, soon joining the Police Athletic League boxing program. In 1969 Rourke, now weighing 140 pounds, sparred with former World Welterweight champion Luis Rodriguez. Rodriguez was the number one-rated middleweight boxer in the world and was training for his match with world champion Nino Benvenuti. Rourke claims to have received a concussion in this sparring match.
In 1971, at the Florida Golden Gloves, Rourke received another concussion from a boxing match. Doctors told him to take a year off and rest. In 1972 Rourke knocked out Ron Robinson in 18 seconds and John Carver in 39 seconds. On Aug. 20, 1973, Rourke knocked out 'Sherman "Big Train"' Bergman' in 31 seconds. Shortly after, Rourke decided to retire from amateur boxing.
From 1964 to 1973, Rourke compiled an amateur boxing record of 27 wins (17 by knockout) and 3 defeats. At one point, he reportedly scored 12 consecutive first-round knockouts. As an amateur, Rourke had been friendly with pro-boxer Tommy Torino. When Rourke decided to return to boxing as a professional in 1991, Torino promoted some of Rourke's fights. Rourke was trained by former pro-boxer Freddie Roach at Miami Beach's 5th Street Gym and the Outlaw Boxing Club Gym in Los Angeles. He made $250 for his pro debut, but by the end of his second year of boxing, he had earned a million dollars. In June 1994, Rourke appeared on the cover of World Boxing Magazine. He sparred with world champions James Toney, John David Jackson, and Tommy Morrison.
Rourke wished to have 16 professional fights and then fight for a world title. However, he retired in 1994 after eight bouts and never got his desired title fight. His boxing career resulted in severe facial injuries that required a number of operations to repair his damaged face. Rourke went back to acting but worked in relative obscurity until he won a Golden Globe Award for his role as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler (2008). He was nominated for Best Actor, as well, but lost.