Advanced search

Few actors in the world have had a career quite as diverse as Leonardo DiCaprio's. DiCaprio has gone from relatively humble beginnings, as a supporting cast member of the sitcom Quoi de neuf, docteur ? (1985) and low budget horror movies, such as Critters 3 (1991), to a major teenage heartthrob in the 1990s, as the hunky lead actor in movies such as Roméo + Juliette (1996) and Titanic (1997), to then become a leading man in Hollywood blockbusters, made by internationally renowned directors such as Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan.

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Irmelin DiCaprio (née Indenbirken) and former comic book artist George DiCaprio. His father is of Italian and German descent, and his mother, who is German-born, is of German, Ukrainian and Russian ancestry. His middle name, "Wilhelm", was his maternal grandfather's first name. Leonardo's father had achieved minor status as an artist and distributor of cult comic book titles, and was even depicted in several issues of American Splendor, the cult semi-autobiographical comic book series by the late 'Harvey Pekar', a friend of George's. Leonardo's performance skills became obvious to his parents early on, and after signing him up with a talent agent who wanted Leonardo to perform under the stage name "Lenny Williams", DiCaprio began appearing on a number of television commercials and educational programs.

DiCaprio began attracting the attention of producers, who cast him in small roles in a number of television series, such as Roseanne (1988) and Les nouvelles aventures de Lassie (1989), but it wasn't until 1991 that DiCaprio made his film debut in Critters 3 (1991), a low-budget horror movie. While Critters 3 (1991) did little to help showcase DiCaprio's acting abilities, it did help him develop his show-reel, and attract the attention of the people behind the hit sitcom Quoi de neuf, docteur ? (1985), in which Leonardo was cast in the "Cousin Oliver" role of a young homeless boy who moves in with the Seavers. While DiCaprio's stint on Quoi de neuf, docteur ? (1985) was very short, as the sitcom was axed the year after he joined, it helped bring DiCaprio into the public's attention and, after the sitcom ended, DiCaprio began auditioning for roles in which he would get the chance to prove his acting chops.

Leonardo took up a diverse range of roles in the early 1990s, including a mentally challenged youth in Gilbert Grape (1993), a young gunslinger in Mort ou vif (1995) and a drug addict in one of his most challenging roles to date, Jim Carroll in Basketball Diaries (1995), a role which the late River Phoenix originally expressed interest in. While these diverse roles helped establish Leonardo's reputation as an actor, it wasn't until his role as Romeo Montague in Baz Luhrmann's Roméo + Juliette (1996) that Leonardo became a household name, a true movie star. The following year, DiCaprio starred in another movie about doomed lovers, Titanic (1997), which went on to beat all box office records held before then, as, at the time, Titanic (1997) became the highest grossing movie of all time, and cemented DiCaprio's reputation as a teen heartthrob. Following his work on Titanic (1997), DiCaprio kept a low profile for a number of years, with roles in L'homme au masque de fer (1998) and the low-budget La Plage (2000) being some of his few notable roles during this period.

In 2002, he burst back into screens throughout the world with leading roles in Arrête-moi si tu peux (2002) and Gangs of New York (2002), his first of many collaborations with director Martin Scorsese. With a current salary of $20 million a movie, DiCaprio is now one of the biggest movie stars in the world. However, he has not limited his professional career to just acting in movies, as DiCaprio is a committed environmentalist, who is actively involved in many environmental causes, and his commitment to this issue led to his involvement in The 11th Hour, a documentary movie about the state of the natural environment. As someone who has gone from small roles in television commercials to one of the most respected actors in the world, DiCaprio has had one of the most diverse careers in cinema. DiCaprio continued to defy conventions about the types of roles he would accept, and with his career now seeing him leading all-star casts in action thrillers such as Les Infiltrés (2006), Shutter Island (2010) and Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010), DiCaprio continues to wow audiences by refusing to conform to any cliché about actors.

In 2012, he played a mustache twirling villain in Django Unchained (2012), and then tragic literary character Jay Gatsby in Gatsby le Magnifique (2013) and Jordan Belfort in Le Loup de Wall Street (2013).

DiCaprio is passionate about environmental and humanitarian causes, having donated $1,000,000 to earthquake relief efforts in 2010, the same year he contributed $1,000,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Matthew Rhys Evans is a Welsh actor. He is known for playing Kevin Walker in Brothers & Sisters (2006) and Philip Jennings in The Americans (2013), for which he received two Golden Globe Award nominations and a Primetime Emmy Award. In film, he appeared as Dylan Thomas in the film The Edge of Love (2008) and as Daniel Ellsberg in the film Pentagon Papers (2017) and starred in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019). In 2020, he starred in the lead role on the HBO period series Perry Mason (2020), for which he received his third Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor - Television Series Drama.

Michael Corbett Shannon was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, the son of Geraldine Hine, a lawyer, and Donald Sutherlin Shannon, an accounting professor at DePaul University. His grandfather was entomologist Raymond Corbett Shannon.

Shannon began his professional stage career in Chicago. His first acting role was in "Winterset" at the Illinois Theatre Center. Over the next several years, he continued working on the stage with such companies as Steppenwolf, The Next Lab and the Red Orchid Theatre. He subsequently relocated to London for a year, and performed on stage in London's West End in such productions as "Woyzeck", "Killer Joe" and "Bug".

While in Chicago, Shannon also kept busy in front of movie and television cameras, most notably in the big screen project Chicago Cab (1997), based on the long-running stage play "Hellcab". Kangourou Jack (2003) marked the third Jerry Bruckheimer production in which Shannon has appeared. He also appeared in Bad Boys II (2003), directed by Michael Bay and starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, and in Grand Theft Parsons (2003), with Johnny Knoxville and Christina Applegate.

In addition, Shannon appeared in Pearl Harbor (2001), also directed by Bay. His other film credits also include Curtis Hanson's 8 Mile (2002); Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001) with Tom Cruise; Carl Franklin's Crimes et pouvoir (2002) with Morgan Freeman; John Waters' Cecil B. Demented (2000), and Joel Schumacher's war drama Tigerland (2000).

Christian Charles Philip Bale was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK on January 30, 1974, to English parents Jennifer "Jenny" (James) and David Bale. His mother was a circus performer and his father, who was born in South Africa, was a commercial pilot. The family lived in different countries throughout Bale's childhood, including England, Portugal, and the United States. Bale acknowledges the constant change was one of the influences on his career choice.

His first acting job was a cereal commercial in 1983; amazingly, the next year, he debuted on the West End stage in "The Nerd". A role in the 1986 NBC mini-series Anastasia (1986) caught Steven Spielberg's eye, leading to Bale's well-documented role in Empire du soleil (1987). For the range of emotions he displayed as the star of the war epic, he earned a special award by the National Board of Review for Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor.

Adjusting to fame and his difficulties with attention (he thought about quitting acting early on), Bale appeared in Kenneth Branagh's 1989 adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry V (1989) and starred as Jim Hawkins in a TV movie version of L'île au trésor (1990). Bale worked consistently through the 1990s, acting and singing in Les news boys (1992), Swing Kids (1993), Les quatre filles du Docteur March (1994), Portrait de femme (1996), L'agent secret (1996), Metroland (1997), Velvet Goldmine (1998), All the Little Animals (1998), and Le Songe d'une nuit d'été (1999). Toward the end of the decade, with the rise of the Internet, Bale found himself becoming one of the most popular online celebrities around, though he, with a couple notable exceptions, maintained a private, tabloid-free mystique.

Bale roared into the next decade with a lead role in American Psycho (2000), director Mary Harron's adaptation of the controversial Bret Easton Ellis novel. In the film, Bale played a murderous Wall Street executive obsessed with his own physicality - a trait for which Bale would become a specialist. Subsequently, the 10th Anniversary issue for "Entertainment Weekly" crowned Bale one of the "Top 8 Most Powerful Cult Figures" of the past decade, citing his cult status on the Internet. EW also called Bale one of the "Most Creative People in Entertainment", and "Premiere" lauded him as one of the "Hottest Leading Men Under 30".

Bale was truly on the Hollywood radar at this time, and he turned in a range of performances in the remake Shaft (2000), Capitaine Corelli (2001), the balmy Laurel Canyon (2002), and Le Règne du feu (2002), a dragons-and-magic commercial misfire that has its share of defenders.

Two more cult films followed: Equilibrium (2002) and The Machinist (2004), the latter of which gained attention mainly due to Bale's physical transformation - he dropped a reported 60+ pounds for the role of a lathe operator with a secret that causes him to suffer from insomnia for over a year.

Bale's abilities to transform his body and to disappear into a character influenced the decision to cast him in Batman Begins (2005), the first chapter in Christopher Nolan's definitive trilogy that proved a dark-themed narrative could resonate with audiences worldwide. The film also resurrected a character that had been shelved by Warner Bros. after a series of demising returns, capped off by the commercial and critical failure of Batman & Robin (1997). A quiet, personal victory for Bale: he accepted the role after the passing of his father in late 2003, an event that caused him to question whether he would continue performing.

Bale segued into two indie features in the wake of Batman's phenomenal success: Le nouveau monde (2005) and Bad Times (2005). He continued working with respected independent directors in 2006's Rescue Dawn (2006), Werner Herzog's feature version of his earlier, Emmy-nominated documentary, Petit Dieter doit voler (1997). Leading up to the second Batman film, Bale starred in Le Prestige (2006), the remake of 3h10 pour Yuma (2007), and a reunion with director Todd Haynes in the experimental Bob Dylan biography, I'm Not There (2007).

Anticipation for The Dark Knight : Le Chevalier noir (2008) was spun into unexpected heights with the tragic passing of Heath Ledger, whose performance as The Joker became the highlight of the sequel. Bale's graceful statements to the press reminded us of the days of the refined Hollywood star as the second installment exceeded the box-office performance of its predecessor.

Bale's next role was the eyebrow-raising decision to take over the role of John Connor in the Schwarzenegger-less Terminator Renaissance (2009), followed by a turn as federal agent Melvin Purvis in Michael Mann's Public Enemies (2009). Both films were hits but not the blockbusters they were expected to be.

For all his acclaim and box-office triumphs, Bale would earn his first Oscar in 2011 in the wake of Fighter (2010)'s critical and commercial success. Bale earned the Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal of Dicky Eklund, brother to and trainer of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward, played by Mark Wahlberg. Bale again showed his ability to reshape his body with another gaunt, skeletal transformation.

Bale then turned to another auteur, Yimou Zhang, for the epic Sacrifices of War (2011), in which Bale portrayed a priest trapped in the midst of the Rape of Nanking. Bale earned headlines for his attempt to visit with Chinese civil-rights activist Chen Guangcheng, which was blocked by the Chinese government.

Bale capped his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012); in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado tragedy, Bale made a quiet pilgrimage to the state to visit with survivors of the attack that left theatergoers dead and injured. He also starred in the thriller Les brasiers de la colère (2013) with Crazy Heart (2009) writer/director Scott Cooper, and the drama-comedy American Bluff (2013), reuniting with David O. Russell.

Bale will re-team with Le nouveau monde (2005) director Terrence Malick for two upcoming projects: Knight of Cups (2015) and an as-yet-untitled drama.

In his personal life, he devotes time to charities including Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Foundation. He lives with his wife, Sibi Blazic, and their two children.

Olivia Colman was born on 30 January 1974 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for La Favorite (2018), Tyrannosaur (2011) and The Lost Daughter (2021). She has been married to Ed Sinclair since August 2001. They have three children.

Tobias was born in London. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1998 and began his acting career in popular UK series such as Les enquêtes de Foyle (2002), Inspecteur Barnaby (1997), and Casualty (1986). He also appeared in the controversial drama A Very Social Secretary (2005). He is best known to international audiences as Marcus Junius Brutus in the television series Rome (2005).

He had a major film role in The Low Down (2000) with Aidan Gillen and featured in the 2006 reboot of the James Bond franchise, Casino Royale (2006). 2007 sees him appearing as William Elliot in ITV's production of Jane Austin's classic book, Persuasion (2007) and as Derrick Sington in the Channel 4 drama The Relief of Belsen (2007).

On TV, he guest starred on seasons 3 and 6 of HBO's Game of Thrones (2011) as Edmure Tully, and starred as Jack Randall and Frank Randall on Starz's Outlander (2014). He has played Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on the Netflix historical drama series The Crown (2016) since its third season.

On stage, his credits include the young teacher Irwin in Alan Bennett's The History Boys and Michael Blakemore's West End production of Three Sisters for which he was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award. He was a critically acclaimed Hamlet in Rupert Goold's Hamlet at the Royal Theatre.

Joel Edgerton was born on June 23, 1974 in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia, to Marianne (van Dort) and Michael Edgerton, who is a solicitor and property developer. His brother is filmmaker Nash Edgerton. His mother is a Dutch immigrant. Joel went to Hills Grammar School in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, and after leaving, he attended Nepean Drama School in 1994. Joel has done many projects on stage and off, but most people will recognize him from his work on the Australian television series The Secret Life of Us (2001), in which he played William McGill. This gave him his first big break through in the television industry. For this role, he was nominated in 2001 for an AFI Award. As well as "The Secret Life of Us", he has also appeared in other television projects such as The Three Stooges (2000), Dossa and Joe (2002), Secret Men's Business (1999), Never Tell Me Never (1998) and Saturn's Return (2001). Joel has done a lot of work on the theatrical stage having played King Henry in "Henry V", Prince Hal in "Henry III", and others including "Road", "Third World Blues" and "Dead White Males". As well as acting, he has also starred, co-written and produced the short movie Bloodlock (1998).

His first international break came from when he played Uncle Owen Lars in Star Wars, épisode II : L'Attaque des clones (2002). Since then, he has also starred in Ned Kelly (2003), Le Roi Arthur (2004), Star Wars, épisode III : La Revanche des Sith (2005) and Kinky Boots (2005).

Hannah Waddingham was born in 1974, in Wandsworth, London. Her family was involved in performing arts as her mother, Melodie Kelly, and both her maternal grandparents were opera singers.

She is best known for her contribution to West End musical theatre, particularly her performances in the original London production of "Spamalot" as the Lady of the Lake and as Desiree Armfelt in Trevor Nunn's acclaimed revival of "A Little Night Music", roles that earned her two Olivier Award nomination.

In October 2000, she released the single "Our Kind of Love", billed simply as Hannah, in the UK Singles Chart where it peaked at No. 41.

In 2008, she made her film debut as Elizabeth Maddox in Un Anglais à New York (2008). Her other film credits include Into the Woods (2011), Les Misérables (2012), Winter Ridge (2018) and Le coup du siècle (2019).

In 2015, Waddingham joined the cast of the fifth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011) as Septa Unella. Hannah appeared in Sex Education (2019) as Sofia Marchetti. In 2020, she gained international recognition for her acclaimed portrayal of Rebecca Welton in the Apple+ comedy series Ted Lasso (2020), for which she won Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2021 Critics Choice Awards.

In 2014, Hannah welcomed her first child, a daughter. Hannah has since split up with the father.

David Matthew Macfadyen was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, to Meinir (Owen), a drama teacher and actress, and Martin Macfadyen, an oil executive. He is of Scottish and Welsh descent. Because of his father's career, he spent at least part of his childhood in Indonesia, before finishing his education back in England and winning a place at RADA in 1992. He won critical acclaim in the UK with his work with the stage company Cheek By Jowl in the 1990s and was well established as a stage actor when he made his first TV appearance in Les Hauts de Hurlevent (1998). A couple more TV roles followed but it was his role as Tom Quinn, head of Section D, in the hit BBC series MI-5 (2002) that really made his name at home. And, indeed, established his home - he met his wife, Keeley Hawes, while working on the show. A steady stream of TV and film work followed, with his performance as Mr Darcy in Orgueil et préjugés (2005) firmly establishing his name worldwide.

Amy Lou Adams was born in Vicenza, Veneto, Italy, to American parents, Kathryn (Hicken) and Richard Kent Adams, a U.S. serviceman who was stationed at Caserma Ederle in Italy at the time. She was raised in a Mormon family of seven children in Castle Rock, Colorado, and has English, as well as smaller amounts of Danish, Swiss-German, and Norwegian, ancestry.

Adams sang in the school choir at Douglas County High School and was an apprentice dancer at a local dance company, with the ambition of becoming a ballerina. However, she worked as a greeter at The Gap and as a Hooters hostess to support herself before finding work as a dancer at Boulder's Dinner Theatre and Country Dinner Playhouse in such productions as "Brigadoon" and "A Chorus Line". It was there that she was spotted by a Minneapolis dinner-theater director who asked her to move to Chanhassen, Minnesota for more regional dinner theatre work.

Nursing a pulled muscle that kept her from dancing, she was free to audition for a part in Belles à mourir (1999), which was filming nearby in Minnesota. During the filming, Kirstie Alley encouraged her to move to Los Angeles, where she soon won a part in the Fox television version of the film, Sexe intentions (1999), in the part played in the film by Sarah Michelle Gellar, "Kathryn Merteuil". Although three episodes were filmed, the troubled series never aired. Instead, parts of the episodes were cobbled together and released as the direct-to-video Sexe intentions 2 (2000). After more failed television spots, she landed a major role in Arrête-moi si tu peux (2002), playing opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. But this did not provide the break-through she might have hoped for, with no work being offered for about a year. She eventually returned to television, and joined the short-lived series, Dr. Vegas (2004).

Her role in the low-budget independent film Junebug (2005) (which was shot in 21 days) got her real attention, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress as well as other awards. The following year, her ability to look like a wide-eyed Disney animated heroine helped her to be chosen from about 300 actresses auditioning for the role of "Giselle" in the animated/live-action feature film, Il était une fois... (2007), which would prove to be her major break-through role. Her vivacious yet innocent portrayal allowed her to use her singing and dancing talents. Her performance garnered a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Adams next appeared in the major production, La Guerre selon Charlie Wilson (2007), and went on to act in the independent film, Sunshine Cleaning (2008), which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Her role as "Sister James" in Doute (2008) brought her a second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild award, and a British Academy Film award. She appeared as Amelia Earhart in La Nuit au musée 2 (2009) and as a post-9/11 hot line counselor, aspiring writer, amateur cook and blogger in Julie & Julia (2009). In the early 2010s, she starred with Jason Segel in Les Muppets, le retour (2011), with Philip Seymour Hoffman in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master (2012), and alongside Clint Eastwood and Justin Timberlake in Une nouvelle chance (2012). She played reporter Lois Lane in Man of Steel (2013) and con artist Sydney Prosser in American Bluff (2013), before portraying real-life artist Margaret Keane in Tim Burton's biopic Big Eyes (2014).

In 2016, she reprised her role as Lane in Batman v Superman: L'aube de la justice (2016), and headlined Denis Villeneuve's science fiction drama Premier contact (2016) and Tom Ford's dark thriller Nocturnal Animals (2016). In 2018, she received another Oscar nomination, her sixth, for starring as Lynne Cheney in the biographical drama Vice (2018), opposite Christian Bale as Dick Cheney.

Joachim Trier is a Norwegian writer and director. He is known for Reprise (2006), Oslo, August 31st (2011), Louder Than Bombs (2015) and Thelma (2017).

Trier also directed three short films, Pietà (2000), Still (2001) and Procter (2002).

His father, Jacob Trier, was the sound technician of The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, a notable film produced in Norway in 1975.

Louder Than Bombs was his first English-language film.

Thelma was selected as the Norwegian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.

Elizabeth Banks was born Elizabeth Mitchell in Pittsfield, a small city in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts near the New York border, on February 10, 1974. She is the daughter of Anne Marie (Wallace), who worked in a bank, and Mark Phineas Mitchell, a factory worker. Elizabeth describes herself as having been seen as a "goody two-shoes" in her youth who was nominated for the local Harvest Queen.

Banks left home to attend college at the University of Pennsylvania--from which she graduated Magna cum Laude--and went on to attend the Advanced Training Program at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, graduating in 1996. She then moved to New York and worked in the theater, and began getting small roles in films and on television. Seeking more screen work, she moved to Los Angeles and was soon cast in supporting roles. She also had to change her last name, to Banks, in order to avoid confusion with actress Elizabeth Mitchell.

Her breakthrough role was as Betty Brant, the secretary of the cantankerous newspaper tycoon in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002). She followed up this performance with small roles in other movies: À la dérive (2002), Steven Spielberg's Arrête-moi si tu peux (2002), Pur sang: la légende de Seabiscuit (2003) and 40 ans, toujours puceau (2005). In 2003 she won the Exciting New Face Award at the Young Hollywood Awards. The winsome, beautiful Banks projected an exceptionally charming screen presence that drew comparisons to Audrey Hepburn, and Hollywood eventually began to take notice, Banks being cast in the lead in such films as Kevin Smith's Zack et Miri font un porno (2008) and in Oliver Stone's biopic of George W. Bush, W., l'improbable président (2008), as Laura Bush.

In television, Banks was a recurring guest star on Scrubs (2001) as Dr. Kim Briggs, the love interest of Zach Braff's J.D. In 2010 she was cast as Alec Baldwin's love interest in season four of 30 Rock (2006). Originally scheduled to appear in only four episodes, she was brought back as a recurring character for two more seasons, and earned Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for two consecutive years. Elizabeth has also appeared in such films as Our Idiot Brother (2011), Dos au mur (2012), Ce qui vous attend si vous attendez un enfant (2012), Des gens comme nous (2012), and The Hit Girls (2012). She also won the coveted role as Effie Trinket in Hunger Games (2012) and Hunger Games : L'Embrasement (2013).

After an eleven-year courtship, Banks married Max Handelman, a sports writer and producer, in 2003. They have two sons, Felix, who was born in March 2011, and Magnus, born in Nov. 2012, both by gestational surrogacy.

Ivana Milicevic (pronounced Ee-vah-nah Mee-lee-cheh-veech) was born on April 26, 1974, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (part of Yugoslavia at the time), into a Croat family. She is the daughter of Tonka and Damir Milicevic, and has a younger brother, Tomo. The family emigrated to the United States, and young Ivana was raised in Michigan. She attended Athens High school in Troy, Michigan, and worked as a model during her school years. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

In 1992, Milicevic graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of an acting career. She was a struggling stand-up comedienne, trying to win over crowds with her stories of the modeling business. In 1996, she made her film debut under the name Ivana Marina with a one-line role as a former girlfriend of Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire (1996). In 1997, she followed up with a guest role on NBC's Seinfeld (1989) and made guest appearances on several other television shows, including Royal Pains (2009) and playing the love interest of John Casey on Chuck (2007). She played bit parts in Vanilla Sky (2001) and Love Actually (2003), among her many other cameo appearances. Milicevic capitalized on her experience as a comedienne in a supporting role as Russian model Roxana Milla Slasnikova in the romantic comedy Folles de lui (2001). She appeared as a lookalike of Uma Thurman's character opposite Ben Affleck, trying to fool him into thinking she is Uma's character, in Paycheck (2003). In a departure from her one-dimensional roles, Milicevic showed her dramatic talent in a supporting role as Milla Yugorsky in a dark and gritty drama La Peur au ventre (2006). In 2006, she started a recurring role on the CBS TV series Love Monkey (2006).

In 2006, Milicevic made a big step forward in her career appearing as Valenka, one of three Bond girls in Casino Royale (2006), for which she did most of her scenes on locations in Prague and in London. She resides in Los Angeles, California.

Ian Petrella started his acting career at the age of three, a suggestion by an Aunt who worked at the Herb Tannen Talent Agency. Ian was presented a contract and a S.A.G. card after his very first audition. Through the years he appeared in numerous television commercials and T.V. shows. In 1983 Ian landed the part of Randy Parker in the now classic holiday film "A Christmas Story". It wouldn't be till later in his career when Ian would receive any kind of recognition for the role, but it was this film that put him into the hearts of millions.

Through his teen years Ian continued acting, and later began to study comedy improv. He trained at L.A's famous Groundlings Comedy Theater. At age 17 he was the youngest person ever to audition, and be accepted to attend classes. Performing for small audiences around L.A. Ian earned his comedy chops. Acting wasn't enough for Ian's creative juices; he wanted to explore more avenues of the entertainment business. He got a small gig as a P.A. on a new puppet show. Ian discovered that he was pretty good with puppets and that begin his career as a puppeteer. This landed him a few gigs on Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, and a great opportunity to work on a Jim Henson project.

After the millennium the work seemed to slow down and Ian quit acting and show business altogether. He turned in his S.A.G. card for a passport and left for Europe. During his six-month escape, Ian got a chance to study and learn the art of marionette puppetry in the Czech Republic.

Ian decided it was time to come home, not to L.A., but to San Francisco, where he studied film and performed puppetry independently for film and stage. While in school Ian discovered animation. This was good discovery since Ian was running out of money to perform and make puppets. Ian still continues his passion with cartooning to this day.

As destiny would have it, Ian received a call from a gentleman inviting him to the 20th anniversary of "A Christmas Story". Rekindling with cast member and friends from his past, prompted Ian to give Hollywood another shot. With a new spark of inspiration to get his name back in the spot light, Ian could once again re-light a fire that he thought died out a long time ago.

Settling back in Los Angeles CA., Ian co-founded a production company creating web content and producing various animated shorts. Today Ian continues to tour and make appearances during the holiday season along with the rest of the cast of "A Christmas Story", bringing back fond memories to thousands of fans old and new.

Antonino Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor who was born in Los Angeles, California. His parents both have careers in the entertainment industry. His mother, Gay Ribisi (née Landrum), is a talent manager for actors and writers, and his father, Albert Anthony Ribisi, is a musician. He has a twin sister, actress Marissa Ribisi, and another sister, Gina. Giovanni is of Italian (from his paternal grandfather), English and German ancestry.

His mother helped to launch his acting career, which began with an appearance on two episodes of the television series Les routes du paradis (1984). This followed with numerous roles on television. In 1996, he gained the role of Phoebe Buffay's half-brother on the high profile sitcom Friends (1994), which boosted his career. He became involved in films, which included roles in Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do! (1996) and Steven Spielberg's Il faut sauver le soldat Ryan (1998). He appeared in James Cameron's Avatar (2009), Contrebande (2012), Gangster Squad (2013), Ted (2012) and Ted 2 (2015).

Jerry O'Connell was born in New York City, to Linda (Witkowski), an art teacher, and Michael O'Connell, a British-born advertising agency art director. He spent his early years in Manhattan, with his parents and younger brother, Charlie O'Connell, who is also an actor. He is of one half Irish, one quarter Italian, and one quarter Polish, descent. Jerry began his acting career at a very young age. He did commercial work and TV work before getting the role of "Vern Tessio" in the popular film Stand by Me (1986) opposite River Phoenix and Corey Feldman. After that, he worked on several TV-Movies and TV-series and had a starring role in Superkid (1988). From 1991 to 1994, Jerry attended New York University where he majored in film, but he didn't graduate.

In 1993, he starred in the film Calendar Girl (1993) opposite Jason Priestley. In 1995, he starred in the TV-movie western The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky (1995) and, in 1996, he landed the role of "Frank Cushman" in the successful film Jerry Maguire (1996) opposite Tom Cruise. Over the next few years, he starred in Scream 2 (1997), had a small uncredited role in Big Party (1998), as well as appearing in several TV-movies and having starring roles in the TV-series Sliders, les mondes parallèles (1995) and the film Sexe attitudes (1999) opposite Sean Patrick Flanery and Tara Reid.

In 2000, he appeared in the Brian De Palma film Mission to Mars (2000) with Gary Sinise, among others. He has also appeared in movies such as Tomcats (2001), Buying the Cow (2002), Kangourou Jack (2003), Une famille 2 en 1 (2005), Agent de stars (2006) and Room 6 (2006). In 2007, he married actress/model Rebecca Romijn, and they have twin girls.

Jemaine Clement was born and raised in Masterton, New Zealand, the oldest of three brothers. His mother is Maori. Clement was educated at Makoura College in Masterton, NZ. He went on to study drama and film at Victoria University of Wellington. Whilst there he met Taika Waititi, and they formed comedy troupes So You're a Man and The Humourbeasts. The Humourbeasts proved popular in New Zealand, touring extensively.

Clement also met Bret McKenzie at Victoria University, and they formed musical-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. Flight of the Conchords went on to have considerable international success including tours, radio shows and TV spots, culminating in the well-received series Flight of the Conchords (2007). Clement was nominated for an Emmy for his performance in the show.

Film roles followed, including playing Jarrod in Taika Waititi's À chacun sa chacune (2007), Chevalier in Gentlemen Broncos (2009), Kieran in The Dinner (2010) and Boris The Animal in the hit sequel Men in Black 3 (2012).

Joaquin Phoenix was born Joaquin Rafael Bottom in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Arlyn (Dunetz) and John Bottom, and is the middle child in a brood of five. His parents, from the continental United States, were then serving as Children of God missionaries. His mother is from a Jewish family from New York, while his father, from California, is of mostly British Isles descent. As a youngster, Joaquin took his cues from older siblings River Phoenix and Rain Phoenix, changing his name to Leaf to match their earthier monikers. When the children were encouraged to develop their creative instincts, he followed their lead into acting. Younger sisters Liberty Phoenix and Summer Phoenix rounded out the talented troupe.

The family moved often, traveling through Central and South America (and adopting the surname "Phoenix" to celebrate their new beginnings) but, by the time Joaquin was age 6, they had more or less settled in the Los Angeles area. Arlyn found work as a secretary at NBC, and John turned his talents to landscaping. They eventually found an agent who was willing to represent all five children, and the younger generation dove into television work. Commercials for meat, milk, and junk food were off-limits (the kids were all raised as strict vegans), but they managed to find plenty of work pushing other products. Joaquin's first real acting gig was a guest appearance on River's sitcom, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982).

He worked with his brother again on the afterschool special Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia (1984), then struck out on his own in other made-for-TV productions. He made his big-screen debut as the youngest crew member in the interstellar romp Cap sur les étoiles (1986), then won his first starring turn in the Cold War-era drama Russkies (1987). In the late '80s, the Phoenix clan decided to pull up stakes and relocate again--this time to Florida. River's film career had enough momentum to sustain the move, but Joaquin wasn't sure what lay in store for him in the Sunshine State. As it happened, Universal Pictures had just opened a new studio in the area and he was cast almost immediately as an angst-ridden adolescent in Portrait craché d'une famille modèle (1989). His performance was very well-received, but Joaquin decided to withdraw from acting for a while--he was frustrated with the dearth of interesting roles for actors his age, and he wanted to see more of the world.

His parents were in the process of separating, so he struck out for Mexico with his father. Joaquin returned to the public eye three years later under tragic circumstances. On October 31, 1993, he was at The Viper Room (a Los Angeles nightclub partly-owned by Johnny Depp) when his brother River collapsed from a drug overdose and later died. Joaquin made the call to 911, which was rebroadcast on radio and television the world over. Months later, at the insistence of friends and colleagues, Joaquin began reading through scripts again, but he was reluctant to re-enter the acting life until he found just the right part. He finally signed up to work with Gus Van Sant (who had directed River in My Own Private Idaho (1991) and Cowgirl (1993)) to star as Nicole Kidman's obsessive devotee in Prête à tout (1995). The performance made Joaquin (who had dropped Leaf and reverted to his birth name) a critics' darling in his own right.

His follow-up turn in Les années rebelles (1997) scored more critical kudos and, perhaps more importantly, introduced him to his one-time fiancée Liv Tyler. (The pair dated for almost three years.) He returned to the big screen later that year with a supporting role in Oliver Stone's U Turn - Ici commence l'enfer (1997), then played a locked-up drug scapegoat in Loin du paradis (1998). He and "Paradise" co-star Vince Vaughn re-teamed almost immediately for the small-town murder caper Clay Pigeons (1998), which Joaquin followed with a turn as a porn store clerk in 8 mm (1999). The film that confirmed Phoenix as a star was the historical epic Gladiator (2000). The Roman epic cast him as the selfish, paranoid young emperor Commodus opposite Russell Crowe's swarthy hero. Determined to make his character as real as possible, Phoenix gained weight and cultivated a pasty complexion during the shoot. He received international attention and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for that role.

Later that year, he appeared in two indies, playing a dock worker in The Yards (2000) (which he counts among his favorite experiences--and one of the only films of his that he can sit through) and the priest in charge of the Marquis de Sade's asylum in Quills, la plume et le sang (2000). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor as the legendary musician Johnny Cash in the biography Walk the Line (2005). He also recorded an album, the film's soundtrack, for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.

Stephen James Merchant is an English actor, comedian, director, presenter and writer.

Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series The Office (2001-2003), and co-writer, co-director, and co-star of both Extras (2005-2007) and Life's Too Short (2011-2013). With Gervais and Karl Pilkington, he hosted The Ricky Gervais Show in its radio, podcast, audio-book, and television formats; the radio version won a bronze Sony Award. He also provided the voice of the robotic "Intelligence Dampening Core" Wheatley in the 2011 video game Portal 2. Merchant co-developed the Sky1 travel series An Idiot Abroad (2010-2012) and co-created Lip Sync Battle (2015-present). In 2021 he starred in, co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed the 12-part comedy crime series The Outlaws.

Merchant has also performed as a stand-up comedian, which led to him writing and starring in the HBO series Hello Ladies (2013-2014), which was based on his stand-up material. He starred in his first play, Richard Bean's The Mentalists, at London's Wyndham's Theatre in 2015. He also appeared as the mutant Caliban in the superhero film Logan (2017), and as serial killer Stephen Port in the 2022 television drama Four Lives. He has received numerous accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, three BAFTA Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four British Comedy Awards.

Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his comedic Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy consisting of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013), made with recurrent collaborators Simon Pegg, Nira Park and Nick Frost. He also collaborated with them as the director of the television series Spaced.

Sarah Paulson was born on December 17, 1974 in Tampa, Florida, to Catharine Gordon (Dolcater) and Douglas Lyle Paulson II. She spent most of her early years in New York and Maine, before settling in Manhattan to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the High School for Performing Arts. Although she made her Broadway debut in "The Sisters Rosensweig" and performed in the off-Broadway "Talking Pictures", she debuted on the small screen in late 1994 in a guest shot on NBC's New York - Police judiciaire (1990), then, in the following spring, landed her first TV-movie role in CBS' Friends at Last (1995) and finally became a TV series regular by fall 1995.

Best known for her amazing performance in CBS' supernatural drama American Gothic (1995) as the benevolent spiritual guide to her young brother, she was also a regular on the WB series Jack & Jill (1999) as "Elisa Cronkite", the former girlfriend of David "Jill" Jillefsky (Ivan Sergei) as well as the main character in the TV series Leap of Faith (2002), "Faith Wardwell", and as "Audrey" in the TV movie Metropolis (2000). She was also part of the cast of Shaughnessy (1996), Sur la route du souvenir (1998) (as "Leanne Bossert") and Sur le chemin de la guerre (2002) as Luci Baines Johnson, as well as making notable appearances in Les anges du bonheur (1994) playing "Zoe" in Manhunt (2001), 20 October 2001, and Cracker (1997) playing "Nina" in True Romance: Part 1 (1997), 18 September 1997.

Sarah has now played in movies with such stars as Mel Gibson in the romantic comedy Ce que veulent les femmes (2000) (as "Annie", Gibson's secretary), Diane Keaton in the romantic drama L'autre soeur (1999) (as "Heather Tate", Keaton's lesbian eldest daughter), Jamie Foxx in Held Up (1999) (as "Mary", a developmentally disabled young woman with an unfaithful boyfriend) and David Hyde Pierce in the romantic comedy Bye Bye Love (2003) (as "Vicky Hiller", Pierce's crush). She also had two major roles in the comedy Bug (2002) and the drama, Levitation (1997), where she starred as a pregnant teenager who searches for her biological mother, with the help of a guardian angel.

Joseph Kosinski is a director whose uncompromising style has quickly made a mark in the filmmaking zeitgeist. His five theatrical releases earned $2.8 billion worldwide and have been nominated for 7 Academy Awards and 5 Grammys.

His film debut, "Tron: Legacy" for Walt Disney Studios, grossed $400 million and was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Editing and a Grammy for the groundbreaking score by Daft Punk.

For his sophomore feature, Kosinski directed and produced the original science-fiction thriller "Oblivion" for Universal Pictures, starring Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. With a score by M83, it grossed $288 million.

Kosinski's third feature was the critically-acclaimed drama "Only The Brave", based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, for Columbia Pictures. The film stars Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly and Jeff Bridges.

Joseph reunited with Cruise, Teller, and Connelly for "Top Gun: Maverick". The Paramount Pictures film grossed $1.5 billion worldwide, won the National Board of Review for Best Film, was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and won the Oscar for Sound. It is the highest grossing film of Tom Cruise's career. In addition, Joseph was nominated for Best Director by the Directors Guild of America.

Kosinski's "Spiderhead", a Netflix release, was based on the short story by acclaimed author George Saunders. The film starring Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, and Jurnee Smollet was #1 on the streaming service and crossed 100 million total view hours in its first 100 days.

Most recently, Joseph directed and produced "F1: The Movie" for Apple Studios. The film stars Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem and earned over $631 million. It is both a career high for Pitt and the highest grossing sports film of all time. It was named one of the Top Films of 2025 by the National Board of Review and nominated for 7 Critics Choice Awards and 2 Golden Globes.

Joseph received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University and a Masters in Architecture at Columbia University.

Mahershala Ali is fast becoming one of the freshest and most in-demand faces in Hollywood with his extraordinarily diverse skill set and wide-ranging background in film, television, and theater.

He can be seen in the independent feature film, Moonlight, as well as reprising his role in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, Gary Ross's civil war era drama The Free State of Jones, and Netflix's award-winning series House of Cards as well as Marvel's Luke Cage.

Ali's previous feature film credits include Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines, Wayne Kramer's Crossing Over, John Sayles' Go For Sisters, and David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Again on television, he appeared opposite Julia Ormond in Lifetime's The Wronged Man for which he subsequently received an NAACP Nomination for Best Actor. Ali also had a recurring role on Syfy's Alphas, as well as the role of Richard Tyler, a Korean War pilot, on the critically acclaimed drama The 4400 for three seasons.

On the stage, Ali appeared in productions of Blues for an Alabama Sky, The School for Scandal, A Lie of the Mind, A Doll's House, Monkey in the Middle, The Merchant of Venice, The New Place and Secret Injury, Secret Revenge. His additional stage credits include appearing in Washington, D.C. at the Arena Stage in the title role of The Great White Hope, and in The Long Walk and Jack and Jill. In February 2016, Ali made his New York Broadway debut in Kenny Leon's Smart People.

Born in Oakland, California and raised in Hayward, Ali received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications at St. Mary's College. He made his professional debut performing with the California Shakespeare Festival in Orinda, California. Soon after, he earned his Master's degree in acting from New York University's prestigious graduate program.

Jeff Cohen was born on 25 June 1974 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a legal representative and actor.

Edi grew up in Texas and lives in Los Angeles. She is a Groundlings Main Company member, and regularly performs there in improv and sketch comedy shows. She is also a member of improvisational theatre company Impro Theatre, which performs full-length, completely improvised plays. Edi likes fun and she also likes you.