Cool Peeps
List activity
169 views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
40 people
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
- Stunts
Acclaimed stunt film pilot, Fred North was born in Tunisia in 1961 to French expat parents and began his journey to becoming a pilot at eight years old, the very second he saw and set foot in a helicopter. From the jungles of Costa Rica and Madagascar to the Eurasian Steppe and the Swiss Alps, Fred has flown in some of the world's most perilous and demanding conditions, serving as Camera Helicopter Pilot and Chief Pilot for world renowned rally car races such as "Paris-Dakar" and "Paris-Moscow-Beijing" and as coordinator for the famous sport trek, "Raid Gauloises." At 41, determined to use his skills as a pilot and his natural eye for the camera to tell stories, Fred moved to Los Angeles, making the transition to from "pilot who films" to Film Pilot. Specializing in the film industry for more than 30 years, Fred is an expert in aerial cinematography, having accumulated more than 15,000 hours shooting feature films and commercials, and more than 20,000 total flying hours. He has over 200 film credits including Inception, James Bond: Spectre, Mission Impossible, Guardians of the Galaxy, and several movies in the Fast and Furious franchise, and has worked with such acclaimed directors as Roland Emmerich, Michael Bay, Tony Scott, Peter Berg, Damian Chazelle, Doug Liman, Joel Schumacher and more. in 2002, Fred achieved the World Record for "Altitude with a Helicopter", climbing to 42,500 feet in South Africa.- Actor
- Producer
- Sound Department
Jeremy Lee Renner was born in Modesto, California, the son of Valerie (Tague) and Lee Renner, who managed a bowling alley. After a tumultuous yet happy childhood with his four younger siblings, Renner graduated from Beyer High School and attended Modesto Junior College. He explored several areas of study, including computer science, criminology, and psychology, before the theater department, with its freedom of emotional expression, drew him in.
However, Renner recognized the potential in acting as much through the local police academy as through drama classes. During his second year at Modesto Junior College, Renner role-played a domestic disturbance perpetrator as part of a police-training exercise for an easy $50. Deciding to shift his focus away from schoolwork, Renner left college and moved to San Francisco to study at the American Conservatory Theater. From there he moved to Hawaii and, in 1993, to Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, Renner devoted himself to theater, most notably starring in and co-directing the critically acclaimed "Search and Destroy." He pursued other projects during this time as well, landing his first film role in 1995's National Lampoon's Senior Trip (1995). After several commercials and supporting roles in television movies and series, Renner captured the attention of critics with his gripping, complex portrayal of the infamous serial killer in the 2002 film Dahmer (2002). Renner's performance, which earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination, is especially remarkable for painting a humane and sympathetic, yet deeply disturbing, portrait of the title character.
In 2003, Renner took a break from small indie films to work on his first commercially successful movie, S.W.A.T. (2003), with Colin Farrell. In 2005, he played the leading role in Neo Ned (2005) as an institutionalized white supremacist in love with a black girl, winning the Palm Beach International Film Festival's best actor award. Renner's pivotal supporting roles in 2005's 12 and Holding (2005) and North Country (2005) earned him accolades from critics, and his 2007 turn in Take (2007) garnered him the best actor award at California's Independent Film Festival. Also in 2007, Renner played a leading role in the horror film 28 Weeks Later (2007) as well as a supporting role in the underrated Western epic The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), with Casey Affleck, Brad Pitt, and Sam Rockwell.
Renner's depiction of Jeffrey Dahmer in 2002 caught the attention of director Kathryn Bigelow, and, in 2008, she cast him in his most famous role as Sergeant First Class William James in The Hurt Locker (2008). Renner's performance as a single-minded bomb specialist scored him an Academy Award nomination for best actor. He also earned best actor nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards, the Screen Actors Guild, and the BAFTA Awards, as well as wins in this category from several film critics groups.
In 2009, Renner starred in the short-lived TV series, The Unusuals (2009), and in 2010 he played the chilling but loyal criminal Jem in Ben Affleck bank-heist thriller The Town (2010). In the fall of 2010, Renner began filming Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011). He has also since starred in The Avengers (2012), American Hustle (2013), and Kill the Messenger (2014).
Renner's strengths as an actor derive not only from his expressive eyes but also from his ability to thoroughly embody the characters he portrays. His visceral depiction of these individuals captivates audiences and empowers him to steal scenes in many of his films, even when playing a minor role. Renner gravitates toward flawed, complicated, three-dimensional characters that allow him to explore new territory within himself.
In addition to his work as an actor, Renner continues to cultivate his lifelong love of music. A singer, songwriter, and musician, he performed with the band Sons of Ben early in his career. Scenes in Love Comes to the Executioner (2006), North Country (2005), and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) briefly showcase Renner's singing talents.
Despite traveling the world for film roles and, recently, as a United Nations Goodwill Peace Ambassador to raise awareness for mine-clearing efforts in Afghanistan, Renner remains close to his roots. In 2010, Modesto Junior College presented him the Distinguished Alumnus award in recognition of his body of work as an actor. He also headlined at a benefit for Modesto's Gallo Center for the Arts in the fall of 2010.
Renner maintains a sense of humility and gratitude, even in the wake of his recent successes and recognition. He keeps himself grounded by renovating and restoring old and rundown iconic Hollywood homes, an enterprise he began back in his early days in Los Angeles. He values loyalty and a sense of both age and history, and enjoys the opportunity to help conserve these qualities in a town that favors the young and the new.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Isla Lang Fisher was born on February 3, 1976 in Muscat, Oman, to Scottish parents Elspeth Reid and Brian Fisher, who worked as a banker for the U.N. She spent her early childhood in Bathgate, Scotland, before moving to Perth, Australia with her family in the early 1980s. From a young age, Isla showed an interest in both acting and writing. At nine years old, she was appearing in Australian TV commercials. She landed some small parts in the Australian television series Bay City (1993). This led to a bigger part in the television series Paradise Beach (1993). When that show ended, she landed a role in the long-running Australian soap opera Home and Away (1988). While working on that show, she indulged in another of her passions, writing, and published two best-selling novels, "Seduced By Fame" and "Bewitched". In 1997, she was picked by the readers of FHM magazine as #35 on the list of the "100 Sexiest Women in the World", and in 2003, she placed 26th.
Isla has since appeared in the films Wedding Crashers (2005), The Lookout (2007), Hot Rod (2007) and Definitely, Maybe (2008), Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009), and Now You See Me (2013).- Music Department
- Composer
- Producer
David Foster was born on 1 November 1949 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He is a composer and producer, known for St. Elmo's Fire (1985), The Bodyguard (1992) and The Secret of My Success (1987). He has been married to Katharine McPhee since 28 June 2019. They have one child. He was previously married to Yolanda Hadid, Linda Thompson, Rebecca L. McCurdy and B.J. Cook.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Will Arnett is a Canadian-American actor, voice actor, and comedian. He is most famous for playing George Oscar "Gob" Bluth II in the Fox series Arrested Development (2003). He also appeared in films such as The Lego Movie (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017). Arnett also voices the title character of Netflix's original animated series BoJack Horseman (2014). He has been the voice heard in the GMC commercials since 1998.- Actress
- Soundtrack
New York City-born Erin Moriarty launched her acting career in a way many hopefuls dream of: with an awards-recognized project. Erin first appeared on screen in the Emmy-nominated soap opera One Life to Live (1968) in 2010, playing the character Whitney Bennett in six episodes. In 2011 she built on her TV work with a guest role in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).
The following year, Erin landed a small part in her first feature film. Acting alongside Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill, she appeared in the sci-fi comedy The Watch (2012). In 2013, she took another supporting gig in a movie. The coming-of-age drama The Kings of Summer (2013) follows three teenagers who hatch a plan to part ways with their parents and live off the land in a house built by themselves. Portraying Natalie Walraven, the daughter of Radha Mitchell's character, Erin also worked on the 2013 TV series Red Widow (2013).
She stayed in TV in 2014 and played the daughter of Woody Harrelson's hard character Marty Hart in the first season of the Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated True Detective (2014). It was a role that required her to appear in three episodes. Since the show wrapped, Erin has said playing a Goth was "fun... because it's the opposite of how I present myself, and is the opposite of any role I'd been considered for." In 2015, Erin landed a recurring guest role on hit Netflix crime action series Jessica Jones (2015). In 2016's Captain Fantastic (2016), starring Viggo Mortensen, she played the supporting role of Claire in the film festival favorite about the changing dynamics of a unique family. Erin followed that up with the action thriller Blood Father (2016), starring Mel Gibson and William H. Macy. She went on to play a starring role as Kelly in the biopic The Miracle Season (2018) (2018), alongside Helen Hunt. As of 2019, she is co-starring in Amazon Prime's 'The Boys'.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Saoirse Una Ronan was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States, to Irish parents, Monica Ronan (née Brennan) and Paul Ronan, an actor. When Saoirse was three, the family moved back to Dublin, Ireland. Saoirse grew up in Dublin and briefly in Co. Carlow before moving back to Dublin with her parents.
Saoirse made her first TV appearance with a small role in a few episodes of the TV series, The Clinic (2003). Her first film appearance was in the 2007 movie, I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007). Saoirse received international fame after appearing in the movie, Atonement (2007), which was directed by Joe Wright. The movie co-starred Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. The film was successful, both critically and commercially, and in 2008, Saoirse earned an Oscar nomination for her role. She became one of the youngest actresses to be nominated for an Oscar. She continued to earn success and fame. Between 2008 to 2011, she starred in a number of successful movies, including City of Ember (2008), which earned her a nomination for Irish Film & Television Award, The Lovely Bones (2009), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award, and The Way Back (2010), for which she won Irish Film & Television Award for Actress in a Supporting Role. In 2016, Ronan was nominated for her second Oscar for Brooklyn (2015). She became the second youngest actress to receive two Oscar nominations at the age of 21. The youngest actress is Angela Lansbury. In 2018, Ronan was nominated for her third Oscar for Lady Bird (2017). She's the second youngest actress (first being Jennifer Lawrence) to receive three Oscar nominations before the age of 24.
Saoirse Ronan resides in London, United Kingdom.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Gillian Jacobs was born on October 19, 1982 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US. Her father, William F. Jacobs Jr., was an investment banker and her mother, Martina Magenau Jacobs, was an alumni relations officer at Carnegie Mellon University.
Gillian is an alumnus of Mt. Lebanon High School, Pennsylvania, and Juilliard School, New York. She holds a bachelor's degree in fine arts and began acting at a young age by attending acting classes at the Pittsburgh Playhouse on weekends.
Jacobs made her acting debut portraying the role of Titania in Pittsburgh Public Theater's stage adaptation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the age of 16. Years later, she made her debut in a feature film with the Building Girl (2005) then, made her television debut with the role of Adele Congreve in three episodes of The Book of Daniel (2006).
In 2006, Gillian appeared in "Cagelove", an off-Broadway production. The play received negative reviews from all quarters yet, all reviews appreciated Gillian's acting talent.
Jacobs' performance as CJ in the Nonames (2010) remains the most memorable role in the pre-breakout of her career, which brought huge laurels for her acting as well as the Special Jury Award and Copper Wing Award in Phoenix Film Festival.
Her big break came in the form of Community (2009), wherein she played the role of Britta Perry for six seasons until curtains came down on the show. In 2015, she also appeared in the HBO series Girls (2012) with a recurring role as Mimi-Rose Howard.
In 2016, she joined the Love (2016) to play the role of Mickey Dobbs for three consecutive seasons on Netflix. Her other streaming platform collaboration for a TV series came in 2021 with Invincible (2021) on Amazon Prime where she plays the role of Atom Eve. She will feature as Chris Riley, wife of legendary basketball coach Pat Riley, in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (2022) and Maggie in Minx (2022) for a recurring role. Both shows will debut on HBO and HBO Max respectively in 2022.
Gillian's other prominent film appearances include Choke (2008), Gardens of the Night (2008), The Box (2009), Life Partners (2014), Walk of Shame (2014), Don't Think Twice (2016), Life of the Party (2018) and I Used to Go Here (2020) while her future projects are The Contractor (2022) and Any Other Night.
She also appeared on the back of the camera as well. In 2015, Gillian directed a short documentary titled The Queen of Code (2015) about Grace Hopper, a rear admiral in the US Navy and a computer scientist, who ushered in the digital era.
Later, she directed a short film Curated (2018) in the form of Shatterbox, a film series from TNT and Refinery29. Her latest as a director came with Higher, Further, Faster (2020) for Marvel 616 (2020).
In 2022, she will have her directing and acting credit together on a feature film with The Seven Faces of Jane (2022) for the first time.
In-person Jacobs is a teetotaler. She says she made a choice while young to never have an alcoholic beverage or do drugs. She says her father is an addict, and together with reading the cautionary tale in the young adult novel "Go Ask Alice", about a 15-year-old drug addict, made an impact on her life in this regard.
Another book that shaped Gillian's perspective of life is "No Turn Unstoned" by Diana Rigg, a collection of terrible reviews that undeniably great actors received over the years. It was given to her by an acting teacher after she received a very bad review in a local paper for her initial performance in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Thanks to this experience, she started to see these performances as an opportunity, a chance to improve instead of a burden.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Initially an indie film favorite, actor Jon Favreau has progressed to strong mainstream visibility into the millennium and, after nearly two decades in the business, is still enjoying character stardom as well as earning notice as a writer/producer/director.
The amiable, husky-framed actor with the tight, crinkly hair was born in Queens, New York on October 19, 1966, the only child of Madeleine (Balkoff), an elementary school teacher, and Charles Favreau, a special education teacher. His father has French-Canadian, German, and Italian ancestry, and his mother was from a Russian Jewish family. He attended the Bronx High School of Science before furthering his studies at Queens College in 1984. Dropping out just credits away from receiving his degree, Jon moved to Chicago where he focused on comedy and performed at several Chicago improvisational theaters, including the ImprovOlympic and the Improv Institute. He also found a couple of bit parts in films.
While there, he earned another bit role in the film, Rudy (1993), and met fellow cast mate Vince Vaughn. Their enduring personal friendship would play an instrumental role in furthering both their professional careers within just a few years. Jon broke into TV with a role on the classic series, Seinfeld (1989) (as "Eric the Clown"). After filming rudimentary roles in the movies Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), Notes from Underground (1995) and Batman Forever (1995), he decided to do some risk taking by writing himself and friend Vaughn into what would become their breakthrough film. Swingers (1996), which he also co-produced, centers on Jon as a luckless, struggling actor type who is emotionally shattered after losing his girlfriend, but is pushed back into the L.A. social scene via the help of cool, worldly, outgoing actor/buddy Vaughn. These two blueprint roles went on to define the character types of both actors on film.
In 1997, Jon appeared favorably on several episodes of the popular TV sitcom, Friends (1994), as "Pete Becker", the humdrum but extremely wealthy suitor for Courteney Cox's "Monica" character, and also appeared to fine advantage on the Tracey Takes On... (1996) comedy series. He later took on the biopic mini-movie, Rocky Marciano (1999), portraying the prizefighter himself in a highly challenging dramatic role and received excellent reviews. Other engagingly offbeat "everyman" films roles came Jon's way -- the ex-athlete in the working class film, Dogtown (1997); a soon-to-be groom whose bachelor party goes horribly awry in the comedy thriller Very Bad Things (1998); a newlywed opposite Famke Janssen in Love & Sex (2000); a wild and crazy linebacker in The Replacements (2000); as Ben Affleck's legal partner in Daredevil (2003); and another down-and-out actor in The Big Empty (2003). He wrote and directed himself and Vaughn as two fellow boxers who involve themselves in criminal activity in Made (2001). Both he and Vaughn produced. He also directed the highly popular Will Ferrell comedy Elf (2003), in which he had a small part.
Jon went on to re-team favorably with his friend, Vince Vaughn, who enjoyed a meteoric rise into the comedy star ranks, in such light-weight features as The Break-Up (2006), Four Christmases (2008) and Couples Retreat (2009), the last of which he co-wrote with Vaughn.
Jon has made even greater strides as a writer, producer and/or director in recent years with the exciting mega-box office action-packed Iron Man (2008), starring Robert Downey Jr., and its sequels, Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013). Jon's character of "Happy Hogan" would be featured in a number of Marvel Comic adventures. Other offerings behind the scenes have included the adventure dramedy Chef (2014), in which he also starred in the title role; the revamped film version of The Avengers (2012) also starring Downey Jr., and it's sequels Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019); and the animated Disney features The Jungle Book (2016) and The Lion King (2019) and the TV series The Chef Show (2019).
Favreau's marriage to Joya Tillem on November 24, 2000, produced son Max and two daughters, Madeleine and Brighton Rose. Joya is the niece of KGO (AM) lawyer and talk show host, Len Tillem. On the sly, the actor/writer/producer/director enjoys playing on the World Poker Tour.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Annalise Nicole Basso is an American film and television actress, writer, and producer. Her older siblings, Alexandria Basso and Gabriel Basso, are also actors. She has starred in the films The Life of Chuck (2024), Oculus (2013), Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), and Bedtime Stories (2008). In 2016, her film Captain Fantastic (2016) debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. From 2019 until 2022, she starred in the television series Snowpiercer (2020). She produced her first film Blind River in 2022.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stevie Lynn Jones was born in Hollywood, California, USA. Stevie Lynn is an actor and assistant director, known for Animal Kingdom (2016), Shameless (2011) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).- Producer
- Writer
- Director
A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect vehicles (Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and Back to the Future (1985)). His later films have become more serious, with the hugely successful Tom Hanks vehicle Forrest Gump (1994) and the Jodie Foster film Contact (1997), both critically acclaimed movies. Again, these films incorporate stunning effects. Robert has proved he can work a serious story around great effects.- Producer
- Actor
- Composer
American actor Mark Wahlberg is one of a handful of respected entertainers who successfully made the transition from teen pop idol to acclaimed actor. A Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee for The Departed (2006) who went on to receive positive critical reviews for his performance in The Fighter (2010), Wahlberg also is a solid comedy actor, proven by his starring role in Ted (2012).
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg was born June 5, 1971 in a poor working class district, Dorchester, of Boston, Massachusetts. He is the son of Alma Elaine (Donnelly), a nurse's aide and clerk, and Donald Edward Wahlberg, a delivery driver. Wahlberg is the youngest of nine children. He is of Swedish (from his paternal grandfather), French-Canadian, English, Irish and Scottish, descent. The large Wahlberg brood didn't have a lot growing up, especially after his parents divorced when he was eleven. The kids crammed into a three-bedroom apartment, none of them having very much privacy. Mark's mother has said that after the divorce, she became very self-absorbed with her own life. She has blamed herself for her son's subsequent problems and delinquency. Wahlberg dropped out of high school at age fourteen (but later got his GED) to pursue a life of petty crime and drugs. He'd spend his days scamming and stealing, working on the odd drug deal before treating himself to the substances.
The young man also had a violent streak - one which was often aimed at minorities. At age sixteen, he was convicted of assault against two Vietnamese men after he had tried to rob them. As a result of his assault conviction, he was sentenced to serve 50 days in prison at Deer Island penitentiary. Whilst there, he began working out to pass time and, when he emerged at the end of his sentence, he had gone from being a scrawny young kid to a buff young man. Wahlberg also credits jail time as being his motivation to improve his lifestyle and leave crime behind him.
Around this time, his older brother Donnie Wahlberg had become an overnight teen idol as a member of the 1980s boy band New Kids on the Block. A precursor to the boy-band craze, the group was dominating the charts and were on top of their game. Mark himself had been an original member of the band but had backed out early on - uncomfortable with the squeaky clean image of the group. Donnie used his connections in the music business to help his little brother secure a recording contract, and soon the world was introduced to Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, with Wahlberg as a bad-boy rapper who danced in his boxers. Despite a lack of singing ability, promoters took to his dance moves and a physique they knew teenage girls would love.
Donnie scripted some easy songs for Mark, who collected a troupe of dancers and a DJ to become his "Funky Bunch" and "Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch" was born. His debut album, "Music for the People", was a smash hit, which was propelled along by the rapper's willingness to disrobe down to boxer-briefs on stage, not to mention several catchy tunes. Teenage girls thrilled to the rapping "bad boy". Record producer David Geffen saw in Wahlberg a cash-cow of marketing ability. After speaking to designer Calvin Klein, Marky Mark was set up as the designer's chief underwear model.
His scantily clad figure soon adorned billboards across the nation. Ironically, while the New Kids on the Block's fame was dwindling as audiences tired of their syrupy lyrics, "Marky Mark's" bad boy image was becoming even more of a commodity. He was constantly in the headlines (often of the tabloids) after multiple scandals. In 1992, he released a book dedicated to his penis. Wahlberg was constantly getting into rumored fights, most memorably with Madonna and her entourage at a Los Angeles party. While things were always intense, they were relatively harmless and made for enjoyable reading for the public. However, when the story of his arrest for assault (and the allegations of racism) broke in the press, things took on a decidedly darker note. People were not amused. Soon after, while on a British talk show along with rapper Shabba Ranks, he got into even more trouble. After Ranks made the statement that gays should be crucified, Wahlberg was accused of condoning the comments by his silence. Marky Mark was suddenly surrounded by charges of brutality, homophobia and racial hatred. His second album, "You Gotta Believe", had not been faring well and, after the charges surfaced, it plummeted from the charts.
Adding to the hoopla, Wahlberg was brought to court for allegedly assaulting a security guard. He was ordered to make amends by appearing in a series of anti-bias advertisements. Humbled and humiliated by his fall from grace in the music world, Wahlberg decided to pursue another angle, acting. He dropped the "Marky Mark" moniker and became known simply as Mark Wahlberg. His first big screen role came in Penny Marshall's Renaissance Man (1994). Despite the name change, many people snickered at the idea of the has-been rapper thinking he could make it as an actor. From the get-go, he was proving them wrong. In Renaissance Man (1994), he gave an utterly charming performance as a simple but sincere army recruit. What naysayers remained found it increasingly difficult to write Mark Wahlberg off as he delivered one fine performance after another. He blew them away in the controversial The Basketball Diaries (1995) and chilled them in Fear (1996) as every father's worst nightmare.
The major turning point in Wahlberg's career came with the role of troubled porn star Dirk Diggler in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997). Since then, Wahlberg has chosen roles that demonstrate a wide range of dramatic ability, starring in critically acclaimed dramas such as Three Kings (1999) and The Perfect Storm (2000), popcorn flicks like Planet of the Apes (2001) and Contraband (2012), and even indies such as I Heart Huckabees (2004).
Wahlberg was the executive producer of such television series as Boardwalk Empire (2010), In Treatment (2008) and the highly successful comedy Entourage (2004), which was partly based on his experiences in Hollywood.
Wahlberg and his wife Rhea Durham have four children.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Dakota Mayi Johnson is an American actress and fashion model. She was born in Austin, Texas, and is the daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. Her maternal grandmother is actress Tippi Hedren.
In 1999, she made her film debut in Crazy in Alabama (1999), where she and her half-sister, Stella Banderas, played the daughters to their real-life mother, Melanie Griffith. The film was directed by her stepfather, Antonio Banderas, but it wasn't a hit. Dakota resumed her schooling and waited several years before she decided to become a professional actress and model. In 2006, she was voted Miss Golden Globe, a launching pad bestowed on off-spring of famous parents. She served as the first second-generation Miss Golden Globe in the Globes' history, since her mother was Miss Golden Globe in 1975. She also signed with IMG Models. In 2009, she modeled for MANGO brand's jeans line. Dakota traveled to Sydney, Australia, where she shot the "Rising Star" campaign for fashion label, "Wish". Once she graduated from high school, she signed with the William Morris Agency and started her acting career. She had her first box office hit in 2010 with David Fincher's film, The Social Network (2010), in which she had a scene with Justin Timberlake. The film received eight Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. She also appeared in three additional films: Beastly (2011), alongside Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Kate Olsen; Ezna Sands' film, Chloe and Theo (2015); and So Yong Kim's film, For Ellen (2012); She had roles in several 2012 films: Christopher Neil's film, Goats (2012), with David Duchovny; Nicholas Stoller's film, The Five-Year Engagement (2012), for producer Judd Apatow, and the hit feature film version of the 1987 television show, 21 Jump Street (1987) that made Johnny Depp a star. She also won the female lead in Chris Nelson's, film Date and Switch (2014), written by Alan Yang. Her first television show, Ben and Kate (2012), where she played "Kate", aired on Fox during the Fall 2012 season. It was canceled in 2013, and she quickly resumed her feature film career with three high-profile films: Need for Speed (2014), Cymbeline (2014), the modern-day adaptation of the William Shakespeare play, "Cymbeline", and the starring role of "Anastasia Steele" in Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), the adaptation of the best-selling erotic novel, "Fifty Shades of Grey". She beat out many young actresses for the coveted role of Anastasia, and the film became a worldwide hit, making her a star. She won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Movie Actress for "Fifty Shades of Grey". She also starred in the two sequels to the hit film. She has continued to seek challenging roles, such as of a young mother who loses her son in Black Mass (2015) opposite her "21 Jump Street" castmate Johnny Depp, and of a temptress in A Bigger Splash (2015). She has balanced her dramatic career by doing comedies as well, such as How to Be Single (2016). She acted in the hit independent film The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019). She co-produced some of the films that she acted in: Am I OK? (2022) (where she played a lesbian); Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022) (where she played mother to an autistic daughter); and Daddio (2023) (where she and Sean Penn are the only two principal actors in the entire film). She won good notices for playing a mother looking for her lost daughter in The Lost Daughter (2021), a film that received several Oscar nominations. She played the title role in the Marvel-adventure Madame Web (2024) and in the period film adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Persuasion (2022), both films directed by first time women film directors. She also became the first female member of her family when she turned director by co-directing the music video to the song "Cry Cry Cry" by the band Coldplay- Producer
- Actor
- Director
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York City, New York, to legendary comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. His father was of Austrian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent, and his mother was of Irish Catholic descent (she converted to Judaism).
His parents made no real effort to keep their son away from the Hollywood lifestyle and he grew up among the stars, wondering just why his parents were so popular. At a young age, he and his sister Amy Stiller would perform plays at home, wearing Amy's tights to perform Shakespeare. Ben also picked up an interest in being on the other side of the camera and, at age 10, began shooting films on his Super 8 camera. The plots were always simple: someone would pick on the shy, awkward Stiller ... and then he would always get his revenge. This desire for revenge on the popular, good-looking people may have motivated his teen-angst opus Reality Bites (1994) later in his career. He both directed and performed in the film, which co-starred Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke.
Before he got to Hollywood, he put in several consistently solid years in the theater. After dropping out of UCLA, he performed in the Tony Award winner, "The House of Blue Leaves". While working on the play, Stiller shot a short spoof of The Color of Money (1986) starring him (in the Tom Cruise role) and his The House of Blue Leaves (1987) costar John Mahoney (in the Paul Newman role). The short film was so funny that Lorne Michaels purchased it and aired it on Saturday Night Live (1975). This led to his spending a year on the show in 1989.
Stiller made his big screen debut in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987) in 1987. Demonstrating early on the multifaceted tone his career would take, he soon stepped behind the camera to direct Back to Brooklyn for MTV. The network was impressed and gave Stiller his own show, The Ben Stiller Show (1992). He recruited fellow offbeat comedians Janeane Garofalo and Andy Dick and created a bitingly satirical show. MTV ended up passing on it, but it was picked up by Fox. Unfortunately, the show was a ratings miss. Stiller was soon out of work, although he did have the satisfaction of picking up an Emmy for the show after its cancellation.
For a while, Stiller had to settle for guest appearance work. While doing this, he saved up his cash and in the end was able to scrape enough together to make Reality Bites (1994), now a cult classic which is looked upon favorably by the generation it depicted. Ben continued to work steadily for a time, particularly in independent productions where he was more at ease. However, he never quite managed to catch a big break. His first big budget directing job was Jim Carrey's The Cable Guy (1996). Although many critics were impressed, Jim Carrey's fans were not. In 1998, There's Something About Mary (1998) had propelled Stiller into the mainstream spotlight. He also starred in such hit movies as Keeping the Faith (2000) and Meet the Parents (2000).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Benicio Del Toro emerged in the mid-1990s as one of the most watchable and charismatic character actors to come along in years. A favorite of film buffs, Del Toro gained mainstream public attention as the conflicted but basically honest Mexican policeman in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000).
Benicio was born on February 19, 1967 in San Germán, Puerto Rico, the son of lawyer parents Fausta Genoveva Sanchez Rivera and Gustavo Adolfo Del Toro Bermudez. His mother died when he was young, and his father moved the family to a farm in Pennsylvania. A basketball player with an interest in acting, he decided to follow the family way and study business at the University of California in San Diego. A class in acting resulted in his being bitten by the acting bug, and he subsequently dropped out and began studying with legendary acting teacher Stella Adler in Los Angeles and at the Circle in the Square Acting School in New York City. Telling his parents that he was taking courses in business, Del Toro hid his new studies from his family for a little while.
During the late 1980s, he made several television appearances, most notably in an episode of Miami Vice (1984) and in the NBC miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (1990). Del Toro's big-screen career got off to a slower start, however--his first role was Duke the Dog-Faced Boy in Big Top Pee-wee (1988). However, things looked better when he landed the role of Dario, the vicious henchman in the James Bond film Licence to Kill (1989). Surprising his co-stars at age 21, Del Toro was the youngest actor ever to portray a Bond villain. However, the potential break was spoiled as the picture turned out to be one of the most disappointing Bond films ever; this was lost amid bigger summer competition.
Benicio gave creditable performances in many overlooked films for the next several years, such as The Indian Runner (1991), Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) and Money for Nothing (1993). His roles in Fearless (1993) and China Moon (1994) gained him more critical notices, and 1995 proved to be the first "Year of Benicio" as he gave a memorable performance in Swimming with Sharks (1994) before taking critics and film buffs by storm as the mumbling, mysterious gangster in The Usual Suspects (1995), directed by Bryan Singer. Del Toro won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role in the Oscar-winning film.
Staying true to his independent roots, he next gave a charismatic turn as cold-blooded gangster Gaspare Spoglia in The Funeral (1996) directed by Abel Ferrara. He also appeared as Benny Dalmau in Basquiat (1996), directed by artist friend Julian Schnabel. That year also marked his first truly commercial film, as he played cocky Spanish baseball star Juan Primo in The Fan (1996), which starred Robert De Niro. Del Toro took his first leading man role in Excess Baggage (1997), starring and produced by Alicia Silverstone. Hand-picked by Silverstone, Del Toro's performance was pretty much the only thing critics praised about the film, and showed the level of consciousness he was beginning to have in the minds of film fans.
He took a leading role with his good friend Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), co-written and directed by the legendary Terry Gilliam. Gaining 40 pounds for the role of Dr. Gonzo, the drug-addicted lawyer to sportswriter Raoul Duke, Benicio immersed himself totally in the role. Using his method acting training so far as to burn himself with cigarettes for a scene, this was a trying time for Del Toro. The harsh critical reviews proved tough on him, as he felt he had given his all for the role and been dismissed. Many saw the crazed, psychotic performance as a confirmation of the rumors and overall weirdness that people seemed to place on Del Toro.
Taking a short break after the ordeal, 2000 proved to be the second "Year of Benicio". He first appeared in The Way of the Gun (2000), directed by friend and writer Christopher McQuarrie. Then he went to work for actor's director Steven Soderbergh in Traffic (2000). A complex and graphic film, this nonetheless became a widespread success and Oscar winner. His role as conflicted Mexican policeman Javier Rodriguez functions as the movie's real heart amid an all-star ensemble cast, and many praised this as the year's best performance, a sentiment validated by a Screen Actor's Guild Award for "Best Actor". He also gave a notable performance in Snatch (2000) directed by Guy Ritchie, which was released several weeks later, and The Pledge (2001) directed by Sean Penn. Possessing sleepy good looks reminiscent of James Dean or Marlon Brando, Del Toro has often jokingly been referred to as the "Spanish Brad Pitt".
With his newfound celebrity, Del Toro has become a sort of heartthrob, being voted one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" as well as "Most Eligible Bachelors." A favorite of film fans for years for his diverse and "cool guy" gangster roles, he has become a mainstream favorite, respected for his acting skills and choices. So far very careful in his projects and who he works with, Del Toro can boast an impressive resume of films alongside some of the most influential and talented people in the film business.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jerry Trainor was born on January 21, 1977, and is an American television and movie actor. Jerry graduated from the University of San Diego High School, which is now known as Cathedral Catholic High School, and Jerry's mother teaches both pre-calculus and calculus there. It has been said that Jerry used to be Drake Bell's assistant. Jerry is best-known for his roles in two Nickelodeon shows: Drake & Josh (2004) as Crazy Steve and iCarly (2007) as Spencer Shay.- Leilani Sarelle was born on 28 September 1966 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Days of Thunder (1990), Basic Instinct (1992) and Neon Maniacs (1986). She was previously married to Miguel Ferrer.
- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Having been named one of Variety's 10 Actors to Watch, Kaitlyn Dever has become one of Hollywood's top emerging young actresses.
Dever has showcased her versatility, appearing in movies such as Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar (2011), James Ponsoldt's The Spectacular Now (2013), Destin Daniel Cretton's Short Term 12 (2008), and Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children (2014), and was one of the female leads in Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit (2017).
She truly shone in the dark drama Short Term 12 (2013) alongside Brie Larson, LaKeith Stanfield, John Gallagher Jr., and Rami Malek. The film premiered at SXSW 2013, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative as well as the Audience Award. Kaitlyn was named Summer 2013's indie "It" girl and was highlighted as a SXSW breakout.
In addition to her film career, she recently wrapped her memorable four-season-long arc playing Loretta McCready on the FX drama Justified (2010), for which she received critical acclaim. She also played a role in the award-winning video game Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016), voicing Cassie Drake, daughter of the game's lead, Nathan Drake.- Actress
- Music Department
- Composer
Dove Olivia Cameron was born Chloe Celeste Hosterman on January 15, 1996 in Bainbridge Island, Washington to Bonnie J. Wallace, an acting coach & Philip Alan Hosterman, a chief executive officer/founder of Kandahar Trading Company. She's known for playing a dual role as the eponymous characters in the Disney Channel teen sitcom, Liv and Maddie (2013) and playing Mal, daughter of Maleficent in Descendants (2015) and the sequel Descendants 2 (2017). Subsequently, she had a recurring role as Ruby in the ABC television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2018). She is set to voice Spider-Woman in Marvel's upcoming animated superhero feature film Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors (2018).
When she was a child, she attended Sakai Intermediate School. At the age of 8, she began acting in community theater at Bainbridge Performing Arts.
When she was 14, her family moved to Los Angeles, California, where she sang in Burbank High School's National Championship Show Choir. Cameron is of French descent, and is a fluent speaker of French, having spent many years of her life growing up in France. She has stated she was bullied through her entire school experience, starting in fifth grade, through the end of high school. Regardless of the pressure at school and fitting in, she stayed focused on her dreams of becoming successful in entertainment: "I became very passionate about [becoming an actress and singer]. I fully immersed myself". Her father died in 2011 when she was 15 years old.
In 2007, Cameron played the role of a young Cosette in the Bainbridge Performings Arts stage production of Les Miserables, and in 2008, she had the lead role of Mary in The Secret Garden, again with BPA.
In 2012, Cameron was cast in a new Disney Channel Original Series entitled Bits and Pieces as Alanna. Shortly after filming the pilot, Bits and Pieces was retooled into Liv and Maddie and saw Cameron starring in the dual lead role of Liv and Maddie Rooney. The preview of the series debuted on July 19, 2013, and the show premiered on September 15, 2013. The pilot episode gained 5.8 million viewers, which was the most-watched in total viewers in 2.5 years since the series Shake It Up! Disney Channel renewed Liv and Maddie for a 13-episode second season slated to premiere in Fall 2014, which was later expanded to 24 episodes.
On August 27, 2013, Cameron released a cover of "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons as a promotional single. Her cover peaked on the Billboard Kid Digital Songs chart at seventeen and spent three weeks on the chart. On October 15, 2013, "Better In Stereo" was released as a single under Walt Disney Records. "Better In Stereo" made its debut on the Billboard Kid Digital Songs chart at No. 21 before peaking at No. 1, becoming Cameron's first No. 1 hit. In February 2014, Cameron confirmed reports that recording had begun for her debut studio album. Her next single, "Count Me In", was released on June 3, 2014. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Kids Digital Songs chart. Cameron played Liz Larson in her first non-Disney film, Barely Lethal, which was theatrically released by A24 Films in 2015.
Cameron starred in the television film Descendants which premiered on July 31, 2015. The film was viewed by 6.6 million people and spawned Cameron's two first Billboard Hot 100 songs, "Rotten to the Core" at No. 38 and a solo song, "If Only", at No. 94. Other songs from the film featuring Cameron such as "Set It Off" and "Evil Like Me" charted at No. 6 and 12 respectively on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. The soundtrack for the movie peaked atop the Billboard 200 chart becoming the first soundtrack from a Disney Channel Original Movie since High School Musical 2 to do so. As part of the Descendants franchise, Cameron released a cover of Christina Aguilera's hit song, "Genie in a Bottle". The music video premiered on Disney Channel on March 18, 2016. The single received 22 million views in less than a month.
On December 22, 2015, Liv and Maddie was officially renewed for a fourth season, becoming the 9th live-action Disney Channel show in history to achieve this. Cameron began filming the season of Liv and Maddie in early 2016. It was later announced that this would be the final season of the show. The series finale of Liv and Maddie later aired on March 24, 2017.
Cameron played the role of Amber Von Tussle in the NBC live television presentation of Hairspray Live!, which aired on December 7, 2016. Reception was generally positive, and Cameron's performance was praised.
Cameron reprized her role as Mal in Descendants 2, the sequel to Descendants, in 2017. The film premiered on July 21, 2017. The Descendants 2 soundtrack debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200, with "It's Goin' Down" from the soundtrack debuting at #81. This became Cameron's third Hot 100 entry, following "Rotten to the Core" and "If Only".
Cameron played the role of Sophie in the Hollywood Bowl live production of Mamma Mia!. The show took place from July 28, 2017 to July 30, 2017. On August 21, 2017, Cameron was cast in the film Dumplin, starring Jennifer Aniston. Cameron is set to play Bekah Cotter in the comedy. In late 2017 Cameron signed on to appear in a recurring role in Season 5 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. This role was later revealed to be Ruby, the daughter of General Hale (Catherine Dent).- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Minnesota-born Brianna Brown began acting in elementary school and local community productions. After high school and a brief stint at St. Olaf College, Brianna moved to Los Angeles when she was 19 to pursue an acting career full-time. She snagged a part in the pilot show for Judd Apatow's quirky, fondly remembered series Freaks and Geeks (1999). From there she got parts in several theatrical features, mostly comedies, and in 2004 secured a part in Spider-Man 2 (2004). She worked steadily over the next few years, playing everything from a farmer's wife to a killer of zombies (Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006)), and worked again for Apatow in two more of his comedies, The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) and Knocked Up (2007).
She also kept busy with guest-starring roles on some of the top series on TV, such as CSI: Miami (2002), Without a Trace (2002), Smallville (2001) and had a memorable turn as a serial-killing call girl in Criminal Minds (2005). She had a long-running part on the soap General Hospital (1963) as Dr. Lisa Miles.
Outside the film industry, she has been involved in giving women the opportunity to empower themselves financially, co-founding the "Green Goddess Investment Club" and starting a women's group called "The New Hollywood Women's Goal Group".- Actress
- Producer
Rachel Emily Nichols was born in Augusta, Maine, the daughter of Alison and James Nichols, a schoolteacher. She has English, French Canadian, German, Irish, Italian and Scottish ancestry. She attended and graduated from Cony High School in Augusta, where she competed in the high jump. She attended Columbia University in New York City, where she eventually graduated with a double major in mathematics and economics. She began modeling, launching a successful career with work for such high-profile companies as Guess?, Abercrombie & Fitch and L'Oréal.
Rachel moved into acting, snagging a role on the HBO situation comedy Sex and the City (1998) with her very first audition. She made her film debut as Jessica Matthews in the prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003). Success continued with roles in such projects as The Amityville Horror (2005), The Inside (2005), Alias (2001), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Criminal Minds (2005) (a recurring role as FBI Agent Ashley Seaver) and Conan the Barbarian (2011). She played the lead role of police officer Kiera Cameron on the science fiction series Continuum (2012).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Rachel Keller was born on 25 December 1992 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress, known for Fargo (2014), Legion (2017) and Tokyo Vice (2022).- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Born in 1979 in London, England, actress Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike is the only child of a classical violinist mother, Caroline (Friend), and an opera singer father, Julian Pike. Due to her parents' work, she spent her early childhood traveling around Europe. Pike attended Badminton School in Bristol, England and began acting at the National Youth Theatre. While appearing in a National Youth Theatre production of "Romeo and Juliet", she was first spotted and signed by an agent, although she continued her education at Wadham College, Oxford, where she read English Literature, eventually graduating with an upper second class honors degree.
Pike appeared in a number of UK television series, including Wives and Daughters (1999), before scoring an auspicious feature film debut as the glacial beauty "Miranda Frost" in the James Bond film, Die Another Day (2002); when the film was released, she was only 23. Though her debut was a big-budget action film, the film work that followed was primarily in smaller, independent films, including Promised Land (2004), The Libertine (2004), (for which she won the Best Supporting Actress award at The British Independent Film Awards), and Pride & Prejudice (2005), as one of the Bennet daughters. A brief foray into Hollywood film followed with the action flick, Doom (2005), and the thriller, Fracture (2007), but she returned to smaller films with exceptional performances in three films: An Education (2009), Made in Dagenham (2010), and the lead opposite Paul Giamatti in Barney's Version (2010).
As she continued her stage work in England, Pike appeared in the spy spoof, Johnny English Reborn (2011), and inhabited the role of "Andromeda" in the sci-fi epic, Wrath of the Titans (2012). She returned to action films with the female lead opposite Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher (2012).
Pike entered into a relationship with a mathematical researcher named Robie Uniacke in 2009. She gave birth to their first son, named Solo, in May 2012. She returned to acting and landed the coveted title role in Gone Girl (2014). The film became a critical and box-office hit, with Pike earning the film's sole Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. She also earned nominations as Best Actress from Screen Actor's Guild, Golden Globes, and BAFTA. She gave birth to her second son with Uniacke in December 2014.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Michael Caine was born as Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in London, to Ellen (née Burchell), a cook, and Maurice Micklewhite Sr., a fish-market porter. He had a younger brother, Stanley Caine, and an older maternal half-brother named David Burchell. He left school at age 15 and took a series of working-class jobs before joining the British army and serving in Korea during the Korean War, where he saw combat. Upon his return to England, he gravitated toward the theater and got a job as an assistant stage manager. He adopted the name of Caine on the advice of his agent, taking it from a marquee that advertised The Caine Mutiny (1954). In the years that followed, he worked in more than 100 television dramas, with repertory companies throughout England and eventually in the stage hit "The Long and the Short and the Tall".
Zulu (1964), the epic retelling of a historic 19th-century battle in South Africa between British soldiers and Zulu warriors, brought Caine to international attention. Instead of being typecast as a low-ranking Cockney soldier, he played a snobbish, aristocratic officer. Although "Zulu" was a major success, it was the role of Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File (1965) and the title role in Alfie (1966) that made Caine a star of the first magnitude. He epitomized the new breed of actor in mid-1960s England, the working-class bloke with glasses and a down-home accent. However, after initially starring in some excellent films, particularly in the 1960s, including Gambit (1966), Funeral in Berlin (1966), Play Dirty (1969), Battle of Britain (1969), Too Late the Hero (1970), The Last Valley (1971) and especially Get Carter (1971), he seemed to take on roles in below-average films, simply for the money he could by then command.
However, there were some gems amongst the dross. He gave a magnificent performance opposite Sean Connery in The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and turned in a solid one as a German colonel in The Eagle Has Landed (1976). Educating Rita (1983), Blame It on Rio (1984) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) (for which he won his first Oscar) were highlights of the 1980s, while more recently Little Voice (1998), The Cider House Rules (1999) (his second Oscar) and Last Orders (2001) have been widely acclaimed. Caine played Nigel Powers in the parody sequel Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), and Alfred Pennyworth in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. He appeared in several other of Nolan's films including The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014). He also appeared as a supporting character in Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men (2006) and Pixar's sequel Cars 2 (2011).
As of 2015, films in which Caine has starred have grossed over $7.4 billion worldwide. He is ranked the ninth highest grossing box office star. Caine is one of several actors nominated for an Academy Award for acting every decade from five consecutive decades (the other being Laurence Olivier and Meryl Streep). He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1992 Birthday Honours, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2000 Birthday Honours in recognition for his contributions to the cinema.
Caine has been married twice. First to actress Patricia Haines from 1954 to 1958. They had a daughter, Dominique, in 1957. A bachelor for some dozen-plus years after the divorce, he was romantically linked to Edina Ronay (for three years), Elizabeth Ercy, Nancy Sinatra, Natalie Wood, Candice Bergen, Bianca Jagger, Françoise Pascal and Jill St. John. In 1971 he met his second wife, fashion model Shakira Caine (née Baksh), and they married in 1973, six months before their daughter Natasha was born. The couple has three grandchildren, and in 2023, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.