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Rani Mukerji is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Noted for her versatility, she is the recipient of multiple accolades, including seven Filmfare Awards. Mukerji has featured in listings of the highest-paid actresses of the 2000s.
Mukerji make her debut in her father directorial Bengali film Biyer Pool (1996). Her first Hindi film was the drama film Raja Ki Aayegi Bharat (1997). Mukerji first commercial success film was Ghulam (1998) which paired her with actor Aamir Khan, and followed by the worldwide blockbuster Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) make her first collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan.
Mukerjis is known for her versatility. Her performances often sited as the most iconic and remarkable role in Hindi cinema. She established her career in the early 2000s with successful films including Saathiya (2002), Chalte Chalte (2003), Hum Tum (2004), Veer Zaara (2004), Bunty Aur Babli (2005), and Black (2005) later to be her best performance of her life time career.
Following the birth of her child, Mukerji took a four-year hiatus to focus on her daughter and was persuaded by her husband, Aditya Chopra, to return to acting. Mukerji makes her comeback with the all-time blockbuster film Hichki in 2018, which emerged as her highest-grossing release film of all time. She is continued her acting career with successful thriller Mardaani 2 (2019) and the drama Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway (2023).- Actress
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Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski was born and raised in Australia. Her parents were Polish immigrants. She attended the Santa Sabina College for her high school education. She then went on to study Performance at the University of Western Sydney's School of Contemporary Arts, graduating in 2003. Shortly afterwards, she landed her first role on television in an episode of Fear Factory (2004). Her next role was also on Australian television, appearing in several episodes of Headland (2005). In 2007, she made her big screen debut in Gone (2006). This performance caught the attention of casting directors in Hollywood. She decided to move from Australia to Los Angeles and, on her third day of arrival, she landed her breakthrough role as "Sarah Walker" in Chuck (2007).- Vanessa Hessler was born on 21 January 1988 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. She is an actress, known for Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008), One Thousand and One Nights (2012) and La figlia del capitano (2012). She is married to Gianni Nunnari. They have one child.
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Camille Lou, is a French singer and actress. She is well known for her roles in musicals, including 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille in the role of Olympe, and La Légende du roi Arthur in the role of Reine Guenièvre.In January 2010, with the help of her guitar teacher at the time, Camille began her solo career under the pseudonym Jimmie. She began to sing and completed her first album La Grande Aventure, in pop-folk style. She made many appearances under her pseudonym, notably for her work on Coeur de Pirate's album in March 2010.- Actress
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Nora Arnezeder was born in Paris, France to an Austrian father and an Egyptian mother. While she was still in high school, she studied acting, dancing and singing at the renowned drama school Cours Florent in Paris. Nora's first major role was in 2008 in Paris 36 (French title: Faubourg 36) which was directed by Christophe Barratier and for which she won the Lumières Award as well as the Étoile d' Or award. In this film, Nora Arnezeder performed the song "Loin de Paname" which was nominated for Best Original Song at the 82nd Academy Awards. In 2012, Nora Arnezeder appeared in the film Safe House with Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington. In the same year, she appeared in the role of Celia in The Words, opposite Bradley Cooper and Ben Barnes. The film was presented at the Sundance Film Festival.
Nora Arnezeder also acted in the horror slasher film Maniac alongside Elijah Wood.
In 2013, Nora Arnezeder was the leading actress in the internationally praised costume drama Angélique by Ariel Zeitoun.
In November 2014, Nora Arnezeder was cast in the CBS series Zoo, based on the novel by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. Zoo premiered in June 2015.
Recently, Nora Arnezeder participated in the series Mozart in the Jungle playing Anna Maria, the wife of the main character, Rodrigo (Gael Garcia Bernal). The show won two Golden Globes.- Actress
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Amanda Leigh Moore was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, on April 10, 1984, to Stacy (Friedman), a former news reporter, and Don Moore, an airline pilot. During her childhood, her family moved to Orlando, Florida, where she was raised. She has Russian Jewish (from her maternal grandfather), English, Scottish, and Irish, ancestry.
After seeing the musical "Oklahoma!", she decided that she wanted to pursue a career in singing. As a child, she performed the National Anthem at several athletic events around her hometown of Orlando, Florida, and became known as the "National Anthem girl". At the ripe age of fourteen, while she was recording in a studio in Orlando, a Fed-Ex worker who happened to be passing through heard her and was interested in her talent. He happened to know someone at Sony as well. Moore worked on cutting a demo and shortly thereafter signed a record deal with Sony 550 Music. At 15, her first record "So Real" was released. Her first tour was with the Backstreet Boys.
As her touring and recording schedule demanded more of her time, Moore withdrew from Bishop Moore Catholic High School in Orlando and opted for a tutor/correspondence. She has stated that her education is important to her and says that the fact that she wants to go to college motivates her to continue with her schooling.
Though Moore's record sales were not up in the ranks of Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera, she has proved to be a formidable talent both in singing and in acting, and snagged an MTV Movie Award in June 2002 for her first feature film role in A Walk to Remember (2002). Her biggest dream, though, is to perform on Broadway someday.
Throughout the 2000s, Mandy headlined several films, ranging from the little-seen drama Try Seventeen (2002) to mid-level releases like How to Deal (2003), Chasing Liberty (2004), Racing Stripes (2005), and the more broadly comedic Because I Said So (2007) and License to Wed (2007). She also appeared in the odd-ball sci-fi film Southland Tales (2006), and voiced Rapunzel in the Disney blockbuster CGI animation Tangled (2010).
In the mid 2010s, she re-emerged as a star actress, headlining the show This Is Us (2016) and the hit thriller film 47 Meters Down (2017), with more film roles to come.- Actress
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Gal Gadot is an Israeli actress and model. She was born in Petah Tikva, Israel, to an Ashkenazi Jewish family (from Poland, Austria, Germany, and Czechoslovakia who Hebraized their name from 'Greenstein' to sound less European). She served in the IDF for two years, and won the Miss Israel title in 2004.
Gal began modeling in the late 2000s, and made her film debut in the fourth film of the Fast and Furious franchise, Fast & Furious (2009), where she appeared as Gisele Yashar; she repriced the role of Yashar in several subsequent installments of The Fast Saga. Gadot went on to achieve global stardom for her portrayal of Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe, including in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Wonder Woman (2017) and Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). She has since starred in the Netflix action-comedy film Red Notice (2021) and the mystery film Death on the Nile (2022).
Gal is a motorcycle enthusiast, and owns a black 2006 Ducati Monster-S2R. She has been married to Yaron Versano since September 28, 2008. They have three daughters.- Actress
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Margot Elise Robbie was born on July 2, 1990 in Dalby, Queensland, Australia to Scottish parents. Her mother, Sarie Kessler, is a physiotherapist, and her father, is Doug Robbie. She comes from a family of four children, having two brothers and one sister. She graduated from Somerset College in Mudgeeraba, Queensland, Australia, a suburb in the Gold Coast hinterland of South East Queensland, where she and her siblings were raised by their mother and spent much of her time at the farm belonging to her grandparents. In her late teens, she moved to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to pursue an acting career.
From 2008-2010, Robbie played the character of Donna Freedman in the long-running Australian soap opera, Neighbours (1985), for which she was nominated for two Logie Awards. She set off to pursue Hollywood opportunities, quickly landing the role of Laura Cameron on the short-lived ABC series, Pan Am (2011). She made her big screen debut in the film, About Time (2013).
Robbie rose to fame co-starring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, portraying the role of Naomi Lapaglia in Martin Scorsese's Oscar nominated film, The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). She was nominated for a Breakthrough Performance MTV Movie Award, and numerous other awards.
In 2014, Robbie founded her own production company, LuckyChap Entertainment. She also appeared in the World War II romantic-drama film, Suite Française (2014). She starred in Focus (2015) and Z for Zachariah (2015), and made a cameo in The Big Short (2015).
In 2016, she married Tom Ackerley in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.
She starred as Jane Porter in The Legend of Tarzan (2016), Tanya Vanderpoel in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) and as DC comics villain Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad (2016), for which she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award, and many other awards.
She portrayed figure skater Tonya Harding in the biographical film I, Tonya (2017), receiving critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress - Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.- Grace Park (born March 14, 1974) is an American-Canadian actress. She gained recognition as Lt. Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii and Lt. Sharon 'Athena' Agathon on Battlestar Galactica (2004), as well as Shannon Ng in the Canadian television series teen soap Edgemont (2000). From 2010 to 2017, Park starred as Officer Kono Kalakaua in the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0 (2010), which debuted on September 20, 2010. Born in Los Angeles, Park moved with her family to Canada when she was 22 months old. She was raised in the Vancouver neighborhood of Kerrisdale. Park is of Korean heritage. She graduated from Magee Secondary School in 1992 and holds a degree in psychology from the University of British Columbia.
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Gugu Mbatha-Raw was born Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England. Her father, Patrick Mbatha, is a Black South African doctor, and her mother, Anne Raw, is a Caucasian English nurse. Her parents separated when she was a year old, and she was brought up by her mother in the town of Witney, Oxfordshire (she is still close to her father). She joined the local acting group Dramascope and, from the age of eleven, appeared in the pantomime at Oxford Playhouse every year. A talented singer and dancer as well as playing the saxophone, she joined the Oxford Youth Music Theatre in her teens.
In 2001, she won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. Since graduation in 2004, she has appeared in all media, including as an acclaimed Juliet Capulet in "Romeo and Juliet" at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre in 2005, opposite Andrew Garfield as Romeo Montague. Mbatha-Raw was nominated for Best Actress in the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards for her portrayal of Juliet Capulet. She also appeared as Octavia in "Antony and Cleopatra" at the same theatre in 2005. In 2009, she was cast as Ophelia in "Hamlet" on London's West End and Broadway, opposite Jude Law as the title role.
Mbatha-Raw appeared on such varied television series as Bad Girls (1999), Doctor Who (2005), Marple (2004) and Touch (2012). She had a supporting role in the romantic comedy Larry Crowne (2011), written and directed by Tom Hanks, who also played the title role. She was acclaimed for her performance of Dido Elizabeth Belle in Amma Asante's Belle (2013), which earned her a British Independent Film Award for Best Actress, and a nomination as Most Promising Newcomer. She was also nominated for a Satellite Award for Best Actress.
She starred in the romantic drama Beyond the Lights (2014) and was nominated for a Gotham Award for Best Actress for her performance. In 2015, she was nominated for a BAFTA Rising Star Award. That same year, she had a supporting role in Jupiter Ascending (2015), played Prema Mutiso, the wife of Dr. Bennet Omalu (played by Will Smith) in the biopic Concussion (2015), and the title role in Jessica Swale's play "Nell Gwynn", playing the actress who became the mistress of King Charles II of England. She was nominated for an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in the play.
She played Rachel in Newton Knight's biopic Free State of Jones (2016), directed by Gary Ross, playing Knight's common-law wife, a freedwoman he had a family with after the Civil War. She also played Esme Manucharian in Miss Sloane (2016), Sophie on Netflix's series Easy (2016), and played Kelly, one of the leads in "San Junipero", the fourth episode of Season 3 of Black Mirror (2011). Her other films are the live-action remake Beauty and the Beast (2017), playing Plumette, A Wrinkle in Time (2018), directed by Ava DuVernay, and The Cloverfield Paradox (2018).
Gugu Mbatha-Raw was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2017 Birthday Honours for her services to drama.- Actress
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Angelina Jolie is an Academy Award-winning actress who rose to fame after her role in Girl, Interrupted (1999), playing the title role in the "Lara Croft" blockbuster movies, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008), Salt (2010) and Maleficent (2014). Off-screen, Jolie has become prominently involved in international charity projects, especially those involving refugees. She often appears on many "most beautiful women" lists, and she has a personal life that is avidly covered by the tabloid press.
Jolie was born Angelina Jolie Voight in Los Angeles, California. In her earliest years, Angelina began absorbing the acting craft from her actor parents, Jon Voight, an Oscar-winner, and Marcheline Bertrand, who had studied with Lee Strasberg. Her good looks may derive from her ancestry, which is German and Slovak on her father's side, and French-Canadian, Dutch, Polish, and remote Huron, on her mother's side. At age eleven, Angelina began studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she was seen in several stage productions. She undertook some film studies at New York University and later joined the renowned Met Theatre Group in Los Angeles. At age 16, she took up a career in modeling and appeared in some music videos.
In the mid-1990s, Jolie appeared in various small films where she got good notices, including Hackers (1995) and Foxfire (1996). Her critical acclaim increased when she played strong roles in the made-for-TV movies True Women (1997), and in George Wallace (1997) which won her a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination. Jolie's acclaim increased even further when she played the lead role in the HBO production Gia (1998). This was the true life story of supermodel Gia Carangi, a sensitive wild child who was both brazen and needy and who had a difficult time handling professional success and the deaths of people who were close to her. Carangi became involved with drugs and because of her needle-using habits she became, at the tender age of 26, one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS. Jolie's performance in Gia (1998) again garnered a Golden Globe Award and another Emmy nomination, and she additionally earned a SAG Award.
Angelina got a major break in 1999 when she won a leading role in the successful feature The Bone Collector (1999), starring alongside Denzel Washington. In that same year, Jolie gave a tour de force performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999) playing opposite Winona Ryder. The movie was a true story of women who spent time in a psychiatric hospital. Jolie's role was reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), the role which won Nicholson his first Oscar. Unlike "Cuckoo", "Girl" was a small film that received mixed reviews and barely made money at the box office. But when it came time to give out awards, Jolie won the triple crown -- "Girl" propelled her to win the Golden Globe Award, the SAG Award and the Academy Award for best leading actress in a supporting role.
With her newfound prominence, Jolie began to get in-depth attention from the press. Numerous aspects of her controversial personal life became news. At her wedding to her Hackers (1995) co-star Jonny Lee Miller, she had displayed her husband's name on the back of her shirt painted in her own blood. Jolie and Miller divorced, and in 2000, she married her Pushing Tin (1999) co-star Billy Bob Thornton. Jolie had become the fifth wife of a man twenty years her senior. During her marriage to Thornton, the spouses each wore a vial of the other's blood around their necks. That marriage came apart in 2002 and ended in divorce. In addition, Jolie was estranged from her famous father, Jon Voight.
In 2000, Jolie was asked to star in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). At first, she expressed disinterest, but then decided that the required training for the athletic role was intriguing. The eponymous character was drawn from a popular video game. Lara Croft was a female cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond. When the movie was released, critics were unimpressed with the final product, but critical acclaim wasn't the point of the movie. The public paid $275 million for theater tickets to see a buffed up Jolie portray the adventuresome Lara Croft. Jolie's father Jon Voight appeared in the movie, and during filming there was a brief rapprochement between father and daughter.
One of the Lara Croft movie's filming locations was Cambodia. While there, Jolie witnessed the natural beauty, culture and poverty of that country. She considered this an eye opening experience, and so began the humanitarian chapter of her life. Jolie began visiting refugee camps around the world and came to be formally appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Some of her experiences were written and published in her popular book "Notes from My Travels" whose profits go to UNHCR.
Jolie has stated that she now plans to spend most of her time in humanitarian efforts, to be financed by her actress salary. She devotes one third of her income to savings, one third to living expenses and one third to charity. In 2002, Angelina adopted a Cambodian refugee boy named Maddox, and in 2005, adopted an Ethiopian refugee girl named Zahara. Jolie's dramatic feature film Beyond Borders (2003) parallels some of her real life humanitarian experiences although, despite the inclusion of a romance between two westerners, many of the movie's images were too depressingly realistic -- the movie was not popular among critics or at the box office.
In 2004, Jolie began filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) with co-star Brad Pitt. The movie became a major box office success. There were rumors that Pitt and Jolie had an affair while filming Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Jolie insisted that because her mother had been hurt by adultery, she herself could never participate in an affair with a married man, therefore there had been no affair with Pitt at that time. Nonetheless, Pitt separated from his wife Jennifer Aniston in January 2005 and, in the months that followed, he was frequently seen in public with Jolie, apparently as a couple. Pitt's divorce was finalized later in 2005.
Jolie and Pitt announced in early 2006 that they would have a child together, and Jolie gave birth to daughter Shiloh that May. They also adopted a three-year-old Vietnamese boy named Pax. The couple, who married in 2014 and divorced in 2019, continue to pursue movie and humanitarian projects, and now have a total of six children. She was appointed Honorary Dame Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George at the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to United Kingdom foreign policy and the campaign to end warzone sexual violence.- Melika Foroutan was born in 1976 in Teheran, Iran. She is an actress, known for The Empress (2022), Tribes of Europa (2021) and Pari (2020).
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Sharon Stone was born and raised in Meadville, a small town in Pennsylvania. Her strict father was a factory worker, and her mother was a homemaker. She was the second of four children. At the age of 15, she studied in Saegertown High School, Pennsylvania, and at that same age, entered Edinboro State University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with a degree in creative writing and fine arts. She was a very smart girl (with an IQ of 154), became a bookworm, and once was told that a suitable job for her (and her brains) was to become a lawyer. However, her first love was still the black-and-white movies, especially those featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. So, the 17-year-old Sharon got herself into the Miss Crawford County and won the beauty contest.
From working part-time as a McDonald's counter girl, she worked her way up to become a successful Ford model, both in TV commercials and print ads. In 1980, she made her acting debut in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980) as "pretty girl in train". Her first speaking part, though, was in Wes Craven's horror movie, Deadly Blessing (1981). She struggled through many parts in B-movies, notably King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Action Jackson (1988). She was also married in 1984 to Michael Greenburg, the producer of MacGyver (1985), but they divorced two years later.
She finally got her big break with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall (1990) and also posed nude for Playboy, a daring move for a 32-year-old actress. But it worked; she landed the breakthrough role as a sociopath novelist, "Catherine Tramell", in Basic Instinct (1992). Her interrogation scene has become a classic in film history and her performance captivated everyone, from MTV viewers, who honored her with Most Desirable Female and Best Female Performance Awards, to a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. After she got famous, she didn't want to be typecast, so she played a victim in Sliver (1993), and, in Intersection (1994), she was the aloof, estranged wife of Richard Gere. These movies didn't "work," so she got herself again into more aggressive roles , such as The Specialist (1994) with Sylvester Stallone and The Quick and the Dead (1995) with Gene Hackman.
But it wasn't until she played a beautiful but drug-crazy wife of Robert De Niro in Casino (1995) that she got far more than just fame and fortune--she also received the acknowledgment of the movie industry for her acting ability. She received her first Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. She did a couple of films afterwards, teaming up with Isabelle Adjani in Diabolique (1996), and as a woman waiting for her death penalty in Last Dance (1996). In 1998, she married a newspaper editor,Phil Bronstein but they divorced later in 2004. She received her third Golden Globe nomination for The Mighty (1998), a film that her company, "Chaos", also co-executive produced. The next year, she played the title role in Gloria (1999) and entered her first comedic role in The Muse (1999), which gave her another Golden Globe nomination.
Sharon Stone, a diva who thoroughly enjoys her hard-won stardom, is now a mother of three children: Roan, Laird and Quinn.- Actress
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Gemma Chan (born 29 November 1982) is a British film, television, and theatre actress and former fashion model. She played Charlotte in season four of the Showtime and ITV2 series Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007); Ruth in Channel 4's Fresh Meat (2011); Mia Bennett in The Waters of Mars (2009), and Soo Lin in The Blind Banker (2010). She also appeared in the feature films Exam (2009) and Paramount Pictures' action-thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014). Chan made a film for Amnesty International to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Chan was born at Guy's Hospital in London, England. Her father grew up in Hong Kong and was an engineer. Her mother, a pharmacist at Guy's Hospital, emigrated from pre-Cultural Revolution Communist China via Hong Kong with her parents (Chan's maternal grandparents) and younger sister, growing up in Greenock, Scotland. Chan was raised near Sevenoaks, Kent, and attended Newstead Wood School for Girls in Orpington, Bromley, London. She later went on to read law at Worcester College, Oxford.
Following graduation, Chan gained a training contract offer as a graduate at the law firm Slaughter and May, but instead pursued an acting career and studied at the Drama Centre London. Spotted at her showcase by British film producer Damian Jones, she signed to acting agent Nicki van Gelder. In 2006, Chan was one of the models in series one of Project Catwalk, the UK version of Project Runway. She has been photographed by Rankin for a campaign for Nivea Visage, having previously worked as a model in order to fund her studies and drama school training.
Chan played geologist Mia Bennett in The Waters of Mars (2009), starring David Tennant and Lindsay Duncan, which aired 15 November 2009 in the UK. She was cast as a series regular in Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007), the fourth and final series airing on ITV2 in the UK and Showtime in the US in 2011. She also appeared in Sherlock (2010), and the fourth series of The IT Crowd (2006) for Channel 4.
In 2012, Chan was a regular in series two of Sky Living's supernatural drama Bedlam (2011) and in True Love (2012), a five-part semi-improvised television series produced by Working Title for the BBC One. In 2013, she starred in new BBC One crime drama Shetland (2013), alongside Douglas Henshall and Steven Robertson, and guest starred in the BBC's Death in Paradise (2011). She was a cast-member of Channel 4 romantic drama, Dates (2013).
Chan played the synthetic Anita/Mia in the AMC/Channel 4 eight-part science-fiction drama Humans (2015). Filming commenced in autumn 2014 with a June 2015 premiere. The second series premiered on 30 October. For her portrayal, she was nominated for numerous awards. In July 2016, Chan provided the voice "Dewdrop" in BBC One's animated television series Watership Down (2018). She appeared in the World War II drama film Shanghai (2010) and the comedy-drama Submarine (2010). Chan starred in Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Families (2015).
She made her professional stage debut in the British Premiere of Bertolt Brecht's last play, Turandot, at the Hampstead Theatre, London, directed by Anthony Clark. In November 2012, she performed in The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie, a new play by Anders Lustgarten at the Finborough Theatre. In June 2013, she performed in the UK premiere of Yellow Face by American playwright David Henry Hwang at The Park Theatre, London, directed by Alex Sims. It was revived in 2014 at the Royal National Theatre with the original London cast returning. In November 2013, Chan performed in the world premiere of Our Ajax by Timberlake Wertenbaker at the Southwark Playhouse, London. Wertenbaker chose her to play the war goddess Athena after she saw her performance in Yellow Face.- Josephine Langford was born on 18 August 1997 in Perth, Australia. She is an actress, known for The Other Zoey (2023), After (2019) and Moxie (2021).
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Katherine Langford (born 29 April 1996) is an Australian actress. She is known for starring as Hannah Baker in the 2017 Netflix series 13 Reasons Why (2017), based on the novel of the same name, for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 2018, she appeared as Leah Burke in the romantic comedy-drama film Love, Simon (2018).
Langford was born in Perth and raised in Perth, Western Australia. She is the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Langford, a pediatrician, and Stephen Langford, a flying doctor and director of medical services at the Royal Flying Doctor Service Western Operations. She began voice lessons in 2005, and received classical, jazz, and contemporary vocal training. She was offered a place at Perth Modern School for her senior high years, where she studied music and drama, and was sports captain and a nationally ranked swimmer.
Initially during her time at high school, Langford was interested in medicine and politics, in addition to musical theatre. However, in 2012, when Langford was 16, she attended Lady Gaga's concert, the Born This Way Ball, which inspired her to learn how to play the piano. She shared video of herself singing three original songs she wrote: "I've Got a Crush on Zoe Bosch," "Young and Stupid," and "3 Words." "Young and Stupid" is an anti-suicide song she wrote in 2013 after three Perth teens took their lives. For her final year at Perth Modern, Langford stopped swimming and switched her focus to music and performance. She was successful in a number of musical eisteddfods and drama competitions. Langford appeared in the school's production of Hotel Sorrento in 2013 and graduated that same year.
After graduating high school, Langford was determined to become an actor. However, she was rejected from every acting school she applied to, on the grounds she was too young and did not have enough life experience. This led her to begin enrolling in acting classes and workshops in Perth, juggling three part-time jobs, and later finding herself an agent. From 2014 to 2015, Langford studied at the Principal Academy of Dance & Theatre Arts, majoring in Music Theatre, and appeared in a production of Godspell. She was then one of five selected to participate in the National Institute of Dramatic Arts Advanced Actors Residency in 2015. In the same year, she trained at Nicholson's Academy of Screen Acting and portrayed the role of Juan Perón's mistress in the 2015 production of Evita. Langford was offered a position in the Bachelor of Arts program in Acting at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and intended to begin studies in 2016. However, she never enrolled and instead pursued professional roles.
Langford appeared as the lead character in a small independent short film, Daughter (2016) which debuted at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. At the end of 2016, after declining the offer from Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Langford auditioned and was asked to test for Riverdale, and Will, a television series centered on the young life of William Shakespeare. She did not get either role, which were instead given to Lili Reinhart, and Olivia DeJonge.
Langford auditioned for the role in the mystery teen drama TV series 13 Reasons Why over Skype and had only 10 days to get an O-1 visa as she had not worked in the United States before. She has received critical acclaim for her portrayal of the American high school student Hannah Baker in 13 Reasons Why. Langford researched the role, speaking with a representative of the sexual assault awareness campaign "It's On Us" and a psychiatrist who specializes in adolescence. In December 2016, she signed with the William Morris Endeavor agency.
In 2018 Langford appeared in her first feature film, Love, Simon, an adaptation of the coming-of-age novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli.- Actress
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Zoey Deutch was born in Los Angeles, California. She is steadily and boldly building her body of work with dynamic roles as both actor and producer.
Most recently, Deutch can be seen in Not Okay (2022) for Searchlight/Hulu, as well as Something from Tiffany's (2022) for Amazon/Hello Sunshine. She starred in and produced both films. She can also be seen in Focus Feature's film The Outfit (2022) from director Graham Moore, starring opposite Mark Rylance and Dylan O'Brien. She earned a nomination for "Best Supporting Performance" at the 2022 BIFA for this role.
Next up, Deutch will re-team with writer Katie Silberman for their second romantic comedy, Most Dangerous Game. Deutch and Silberman previously worked together on the Netflix hit, Set It Up (2018).
Additional credits include Magnolia Pictures' dramedy, Buffaloed (2019), for which Deutch also executively produced, Sony Pictures' Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) alongside Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and Emma Stone, Max Winkler's Flower (2017), The Year of Spectacular Men (2017) alongside her sister Madelyn Deutch and directed by their mother, Lea Thompson. Deutch also served as producer. Other credits include Rebel in the Rye (2017) opposite Nicholas Hoult; Before I Fall (2017), the adaptation of the 2010 young adult novel of the same name; Why Him? (2016) alongside James Franco and Bryan Cranston and directed by John Hamburg; Dirty Grandpa (2016) opposite Robert De Niro and Zac Efron and directed by Dan Mazer; Vincent N Roxxy (2016) opposite Emile Hirsch and Zoe Kravitz; Good Kids (2016); Beautiful Creatures (2013) opposite Alden Ehrenreich; and The Weinstein Company's Vampire Academy (2014). She also starred in in Ryan Murphy's Netflix series The Politician (2019) alongside Ben Platt and Gwyneth Paltrow, with the first season receiving a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy".
In 2020, Deutch was named to Forbes 30 under 30 list.- Actress
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Emilia Schüle was born on 28 November 1992 in Blagoveshchensk, Russia. She is an actress, known for Freche Mädchen (2008), Tatort (1970) and Dreamfactory (2019).- Drayton graduated from the Arts Educational School in Chiswick (London, England).
In 2013 Drayton performed in the 2013 Downton Abbey Christmas special, as the character Madeleine Allsopp alongside Paul Giamatti.
The following year Drayton was cast as Amberle Elessedil, one of the lead roles in the MTV fantasy drama series The Shannara Chronicles; the series premiered on 5 January 2016.
Drayton has also done stage work, appearing in The Green Bay Tree at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London in 2014 and as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Stafford Shakespeare Festival in 2012. - Actress
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Rachel Anne McAdams was born on November 17, 1978 in London, Ontario, Canada, to Sandra Kay (Gale), a nurse, and Lance Frederick McAdams, a truck driver and furniture mover. She is of English, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish descent. Rachel became involved with acting as a teenager and by the age of 13 was performing in Shakespearean productions in summer theater camp; she went on to graduate with honors with a BFA degree in Theater from York University. After her debut in an episode of Disney's The Famous Jett Jackson (1998), she co-starred in the Canadian TV series Slings and Arrows (2003), a comedy-drama about the trials and travails of a Shakespearean theater group, and won a Gemini award for her performance in 2003.
Her breakout role as Regina George in the hit comedy Mean Girls (2004) instantly catapulted her onto the short list of Hollywood's hottest young actresses. She followed that film with a star turn opposite Ryan Gosling in the adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks bestseller The Notebook (2004), which was a surprise box office success and became the predominant romantic drama for a new, young generation of moviegoers. After filming, McAdams and Gosling became romantically involved and dated through mid-2007. McAdams next showcased her versatility onscreen with the manic comedy Wedding Crashers (2005), the thriller Red Eye (2005), and the holiday drama The Family Stone (2005).
McAdams then explored the independent film world with Married Life (2007), which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and also starred Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper and Patricia Clarkson. Starring roles in the military drama The Lucky Ones (2008), the newspaper thriller State of Play (2009), and the romance The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) followed before she starred opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in Guy Ritchie's international blockbuster Sherlock Holmes (2009). McAdams played the plucky producer of a failing morning TV show in Morning Glory (2010), the materialistic fiancée of Owen Wilson in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011), and returned to romantic drama territory with the hit film The Vow (2012) opposite Channing Tatum. The actress also stars with Ben Affleck in Terrence Malick's To the Wonder (2012) and alongside Noomi Rapace in Brian De Palma's thriller Passion (2012).
In 2005, McAdams received ShoWest's "Supporting Actress of the Year" Award as well as the "Breakthrough Actress of the Year" at the Hollywood Film Awards. In 2009, she was awarded with ShoWest's "Female Star of the Year." As of 2011, she has been romantically linked with her Midnight in Paris (2011) co-star Michael Sheen.- Actress
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Mylène Demongeot, one of the blond sex symbols of French cinema during the 1950s and 1960s, managed to overcome typecasting and survived a long hiatus before a stellar comeback in her 70s. She appeared in more than 70 films, including such classics as the Fantomas trilogy.
She was born Marie-Helene Demongeot on September 29, 1935, in Nice, France, into a family of actors. Her parents met in Shanghai, China, and moved to Nice, where she grew up. Her mother, Klaudia Trubnikova, was a Russian-Ukrainian émigré from Kharkiv, who escaped from the horrors of the Russian Civil War. Her father, Alfred Demongeot, was of French-Italian heritage. The family was bilingual and young Mylène was able to speak Russian and French, but eventually switched to French.
As a young girl she was an outcast: she suffered from ruthless kids making vicious comments about her eyes (she was cross-eyed until she had surgery in her teens). She was fond of music and movies, a perfect escape from the horrors of WWII that devastated Europe during her childhood. At the age of 13, she went to Paris and continued her education. She studied piano under the tutelage of Marguerite Long and Yves Nat. She then studied dramatic art with Maria Ventura at Le Cours Simon in Paris. At 15 she became a model in the atelier of Pierre Cardin.
At 17, Mylène made her film debut in the supporting role of Nicole in Children of Love (1953). Appearing in three or four feature films every year, she rose to international fame in the late 1950s. She was together with Gary Cooper for the opening of the first escalator to be installed in a cinema (at the Rex Theatre in Paris) on June 7, 1957. She had a memorable seduction scene opposite Yves Montand in The Crucible (1957). Her first notable leading role was in Be Beautiful But Shut Up (1958) (aka "Blonde for Danger") in which she played a 17-year-old jewel smuggler.
Mylène further developed her screen image of a manipulative blond mistress in her brilliant performance opposite David Niven in Bonjour Tristesse (1958), and became permanently locked in the cliché image of a humorous seductress after co-starring with Alain Delon in the 1959 comedy Three Murderesses (1959). Her chance to update her film image came in period films. She played manipulative and coquettish Andromeda opposite Steve Reeves in The Giant of Marathon (1959) and the leading role of Rea opposite Roger Moore in Romulus and the Sabines (1961). Among her best known roles are the manipulative Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers: Part I - The Queen's Diamonds (1961) and Helen in all three of the Fantomas films.
Mylène Demongeot became one of the blond sex symbols in 1950s, 60s and 70s French cinema. She co-starred with the major French actors of the time, including Jean Marais and Louis de Funès, in the Fantomas (1964) trilogy. Although she gradually phased out of the stereotypical image of a beautiful coquette, she still looked pretty convincing as a middle-aged Madame, which she developed in the 1980s and 1990s. At that time her acting career came to a pause, as she had been aging gracefully in the South of France. She was also a producer during that time and was the co-owner of Kangarou Films, a production company that she founded with her late husband Marc Simenon. After a lengthy hiatus, she made a comeback in 36th Precinct (2004). She has also appeared in Camping (2006) and La Californie (2006) by director/writer Jacques Fieschi, based on a short story by Georges Simenon.
In addition to her film work, Mylène has also written several books, the best-known of which would be "Tiroirs Secrets" and "Animalement vôtre". In the 2000s, she made a pilgrimage to the birthplace of her mother in Kharkiv, Ukraine. There she planted a commemorative tree and presented her autobiographical book, "Les Lilas de Kharkov" (The Lilacs of Kharkiv). In 2006, she was named Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters for her achievements in acting. She resides in her French hometown of Nice.- Jacinda Barrett was born in Australia. Her convincing accent has paved the way for numerous acting roles in the USA. Barrett was first introduced to American audiences via MTV's The Real World (1992), during its fourth season, which was set in London. Jacinda Barrett received her first break on the big screen in The Human Stain (2003), directed by Oscar winner Robert Benton, alongside Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, for which she received critical praise.
Soon after, she starred in Ladder 49 (2004), a movie that honored her firefighter father, where she worked with Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta. The movie spanned 10 years in the life of a Baltimore firefighting family. Soon after, she was in love with Renée Zellweger's Bridget in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004).
She also starred in the action disaster movie, Poseidon (2006), directed by Wolfgang Petersen, and the comedy, School for Scoundrels (2006), with Billy Bob Thornton. She again received critical praise for her challenging role in The Last Kiss (2006). A.O. Scott said of her performance, "Ms. Barrett is a glowing, lovely presence, giving full voice to the rage, humiliation and hurt". Shauna Lyon in the New Yorker writes, "Jacinda Barrett steals the show as Michael's beautiful, reasonable life partner, offering a volatile, realistic portrayal of a woman scorned".
Jacinda was directed by Mira Nair in the adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Namesake", and starred alongside her husband, Gabriel Macht, in Middle Men (2009), a tale of the founding of the Internet porn industry.
She has starred in multiple TV series, most recently alongside Anthony Edwards, in Zero Hour (2013), a show that is no longer on the air.
Even though Jacinda grew up in Brisbane, her first Australian role was headlining Matching Jack (2010), as she left home at 17 to work and travel the world. She is married to Gabriel Macht and they have one daughter and one son, together.
In 1997, she was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. - Doutzen Kroes is a supermodel best known for her work as a Victoria's Secrets lingerie model. She appeared in eight Victoria's Secret Fashion shows from 2005 through 2014 and served as a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2008 to 2014. Kroes has been a brand ambassador for Miu Miu since 2013, L'Oreal since 2011 and Victoria's Secret since 2008. Kroes has appeared on the cover of current affairs magazine, Time, as well as many international fashion magazines including Vogue, Seventeen, Marie Claire, Elle, Harper's Bazaar among others. She also hold the record for most Vogue covers in a single year with nine, including four prestigious international September covers in 2013, furthering her reputation as the face of her generation. Kroes was named Model of the year in 2005 in a Vogue reader's poll in 2005. She was born on January 23, 1985 in Eastermar, Netherlands. She has been married since 2010 to DJ Sunnery Gorré with whom she has two children, Phyllon and Myllena.
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Annabelle Wallis is an English actress best known for her roles as Jane Seymour in Showtime's period drama The Tudors, Grace Burgess in the BBC drama Peaky Blinders, and for the films Annabelle (2014), and The Mummy (2017). She was born in Oxford, but spent much of her childhood in Portugal, attending Saint Dominic's International School. She did several short films before she moved to London to pursue a career in movies. In London, she did some advertisements and went to drama school. Her maternal uncle is actor Richard Harris. Wallis speaks fluent English and Portuguese. She also speaks some French and Spanish. She lives in London.- Actress
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Zendaya (which means "to give thanks" in the language of Shona) is an American actress and singer born in Oakland, California. She began her career appearing as a child model working for Macy's, Mervyns and Old Navy. She was a backup dancer before gaining prominence for her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up (2010) which also includes Bella Thorne, Kenton Duty and Roshon Fegan. Zendaya was a contestant on the sixteenth season of the competition series Dancing with the Stars. She went on to produce and star as K.C. Cooper in the Disney Channel sitcom K.C. Undercover (2015) She made her film breakthrough in 2017, starring as Michelle "MJ" Jones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and as Anne Wheeler in the musical drama film The Greatest Showman (2017) alongside actors such as Tom Holland, Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron. Besides acting, singing and dancing she is an ambassador for Convoy of Hope. She has written a book, launched her own clothing line (Daya by Zendaya) and proved herself to be a great role model for young girls all around the world.- Actress
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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.- Melissa Campbell was born on 25 February 1991 in Newcastle, Australia. She is an actress, known for Anna and the King (1999), Kopitiam: Double Shot (2019) and First Wives.
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Actress and singer Selena Gomez was born on July 22, 1992 in Grand Prairie, Texas. She is the daughter of Mandy Teefey and Ricardo Gomez. Her mother is of part Italian ancestry, and her father is of Mexican descent. She was named after Tejano singer Selena, who died in 1995.
Her first acting role was as "Gianna" in the popular '90s children's television show Barney & Friends (1992), alongside Demi Lovato from 2002-2004. Gomez also had roles in Spy Kids 3: Game Over (2003), Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire (2005), and House Broken (2006).
Gomez moved to Los Angeles, California when she booked the lead role of "Alex Russo" and rose to fame in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place (2007). She then starred in Another Cinderella Story (2008) on ABC Family, had her first voice-role in the animated film Horton Hears a Who! (2008), and co-starred with childhood friend, Demi Lovato, in Princess Protection Program (2009).
In 2009, Gomez released her first album with her band called "Selena Gomez & the Scene," which ranked #9 on the Billboard 200 album charts. Gomez later released two other albums with her band and starred in Monte Carlo (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), and Hotel Transylvania (2012).
In 2013, she released her first solo album "Stars Dance" and the lead single "Come & Get It" from the album, became Gomez's first top ten entry on the Billboard Hot 100 list. She starred in Getaway (2013), Rudderless (2014), and Behaving Badly (2014).
In 2015, she released her second solo album "Revival," which debuted #1 on the Billboard 200 list, and starred in Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015), The Fundamentals of Caring (2016), In Dubious Battle (2016), and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016). She made her third solo album "Rare" in 2020.- Actress
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Laura Berlin was born in 1990 in Berlin, Germany. She is an actress, known for Sapphire Blue (2014), Ruby Red (2013) and UFO: It Is Here (2016).- Actress
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Polish actress Alicja Bachleda-Curus was born in Mexico, where her father was working at the time. She started performing on stage at a tender age of 6. She studied at the National Ballet Academy in Kraków from 1989-1998 and at the National Academy of Music's vocal department in Kraków. Her silver screen debut was in Pan Tadeusz (1999), the biggest box office success in Polish history. Other notable roles include Ondine in Neil Jordan's film Ondine (2009) (2009), Veronica in Trade (2007) opposite Kevin Kline, Zosia in Pan Tadeusz (1999), Anke in Summer Storm (2004) or Signe in the Spike Lee production The Girl Is in Trouble (2015) (2012).- Actress
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Constance Wu was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. Her mother is a computer programmer and her father is a college professor. Both are immigrants from Taiwan. Constance grew up in Richmond performing in the local community theater scene. At 16, she moved to New York City to study at the famed Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and she's been busy ever since. While in New York, she worked in classical theater and quickly transitioned to film work. She soon appeared in several Sundance Feature Films including Stephanie Daley (2006) and Year of the Fish (2007). In 2010, she moved to Los Angeles where her theater and film background helped land her a role in another Sundance Feature, Sound of My Voice (2011). In 2014, she was cast as Jessica Huang in the ABC comedy series Fresh Off the Boat (2015), which premiered in 2015. Based on Eddie Huang's memoir, it is set in the 1990s and revolves around a Taiwanese family that moves to suburban Orlando. Wu enjoys long-distance running, camping, piano, and reading. She lives in Silverlake, Los Angeles, with her pet rabbit, Lida Rose.
In 2018, she starred as Rachel Chu, an American college professor who dates a Singaporean multimillionaire (Henry Golding), in the smash romantic comedy hit Crazy Rich Asians (2018).- Actress
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Katherine McNamara, named one of Vanity Fair's "Breakout Bunch," is a sought after accomplished actor, dancer, singer/songwriter. She is most recently known as the titular lead role of "Abby Walker" in Walker: Independence (2022), the prequel to CW's Walker (2021). In 2023, Katherine was nominated for the Critics Choice Association's Super Award for Best Actress in an Action Series. Before she went West, she was cast as "MIa Smoak Queen" as the beloved badass daughter of "Felicity Smoak" and "Oliver Queen" (a true amalgamation of her parents - tough, smart, and takes no shit) and was to follow in her father's footsteps to become the next "Green Arrow" in "Green Arrow and the Canaries." Kat masterfully created the daughter, Mia, a tough street fighter, in the CW series Arrow (2012) with Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards.
Katherine has amassed a large audience from her leading roles of Abby, Mia, and "Clary Fray" in the Freeform series, Shadowhunters (2016) ; a book-to-screen adaptation of the bestselling "The Mortal Instruments." Katherine received many nominations and awards for her portrayal of Clary including winning the The E! People's Choice Awards (2018) for Top Female Television Actress as well as two Teen Choice Award wins for Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/ Sci-fi and Choice Ship with Dominic Sherwood Kat was nominated twice for other Teen Choice Awards and won the The E! People's Choice Awards (2018) with Shadowhunters (2016) for Favorite Sci-fi/Fantasy Show. The series premiered to stellar ratings, being the #1 series debut in more than two years, and helped launch the re-brand of the channel alongside fan favorite Pretty Little Liars (2010). In 2015, McNamara closed out a lightning year, portraying another fierce female role as 'Sonya' in the second installment of Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) trilogy, Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) alongside Dylan O'Brien and Kaya Scodelario.
McNamara began her professional career on Broadway, at the age of 13, as the principle character "Fredrika Armfeldt" in Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music", starring opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury. She was fortunate to continue on as "Fredrika" with the second ALNM Broadway cast of Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch. Her other theater roles include "Esther Jane" in the per-Broadway world premiere of "A Christmas Story, the Musical!", as well as "To Kill a Mockingbird", "The Crucible", "Inherit the Wind", "Annie", "The Secret Garden" and "Galileo". She has also been cast in a number of Equity workshops/readings, including "Little Dancer" and "Pan" (aka "Fly") with Laura Osnes, which was created by the "In the Heights" creative team - Jeffrey Seller, Alex Lacamoire, and Andy Blankenbuehler.
McNamara's love for acting stretches beyond the stage, with credits in television and film productions. Television credits include Katherine's portrayal of Julie Lawry, the erratic Tinkerbell of the apocalypse in Stephen King 's newest adaptation of The Stand (2020) directed by Josh Boone starring Whoopi Goldberg, Alexander Skarsgård, and James Marsden. Additional television credits include 30 Rock (2006), Glee (2009), Happy Together (2018), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Drop Dead Diva (2009), Love, Classified (2022) , Late Show with David Letterman (1993), Good Morning America (1975) and PBS's Sondheim! The Birthday Concert (2010) . McNamara starred in Disney Channel's Girl Vs. Monster (2012) with Olivia Holt which attracted more than 5 million viewers and had recurring roles on Jessie (2011) as "Bryn Breitbart" and on Kickin' It (2011) as the mean girl from Swathmore Academy, "Claire". She filmed the much anticipated Disney pilot, Madison High (2012), where she portrayed "Cherri O'Keefe", resident fashionista and creator of Madison High's popular gossip blog. She can also be seen in the highly acclaimed Freeform series, The Fosters (2013).
McNamara made her big screen debut film in Warner Brothers picture New Year's Eve (2011), where she portrays "Lily Bowman". Besides the Maze Runner series, Kat also starred in Universal's R.L.Stein's film R.L. Stine's Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls (2015) opposite Dove Cameron as well as the independent bullying film, Contest (2013) with Kenton Duty . The film dives into the dark world of high school bullying and found a home on Cartoon Network as part of their anti-bullying initiative. Other film projects include Katherine starring as "Becky Thatcher" in the re-make of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn (2014), alongside Joel Courtney and Jake T. Austin, which was released in 2013, Disney's family-friendly Little Savages (2016), A Sort of Homecoming (2015) opposite Laura Marano, Is That a Gun in Your Pocket? (2016) with Cloris Leachman, Natural Selection (2016) with Anthony Michael Hall, A Wife's Nightmare (2014) with Jennifer Beals and Indiscretion (2016) with Mira Sorvino, Christopher Backus and Cary Elwes. She recently finished filming a cameo in the new Charlie Day comedy, Fool's Paradise (2023).
Besides working on music, McNamara wants to expand her creative repertoire to include producing and directing. Katherine is also an advocate for education. At the age of 14, McNamara graduated with top honors from high school and then quickly graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Business (emphasis in Finance) from Drexel University's Le Bow School of Business at the age of 17. She is now pursuing a Master of Science in Literature at Johns Hopkins University as part of their Advanced Academics Graduate Degree program.
McNamara is an award winning dancer and has a passion for all forms including ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, waltz and even hula. She was a member of the Actors Equity Young Performers Committee and is a reader for the Blank Theater's New Play Development Reading Committee and recurring performer in their Living Room Series. Katherine is committed to giving back to the community as well. She is an ambassador for Girl Up, the United Nation's girl empowerment organization, a spokesperson for Stomp Out Bullying, an avid supporter of the MS Society, a member of the Lollipop Theater Network, a lifetime Girl Scout and a volunteer for the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. She also supports Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Rob Riggle, Eric Stonestreet, David Koechner and Heidi Gardner 's Big Slick charity benefiting Kansas City Children's Hospital, and Michelle Obama 's Global Girls' Alliance, an organization that helps young women around the world achieved their potential. She currently resides in Los Angeles and her hometown is Kansas City, Missouri.- Actress
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Tonkin was born in Sydney. When she was four, she attended dance courses in classical ballet, hip hop, contemporary dance, and tap dance. At the age of 12, Tonkin began courses at the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) at the Wharf Theatre. Tonkin attended Loreto Kirribilli and later graduated from the Queenwood School for Girls.
In December 2005, Tonkin was cast as the role of Cleo Sertori on the Australian children television series H2O: Just Add Water which follows the lives of three teenage girls who turn into mermaids. Tonkin improved on her swimming abilities during the pre-production of the series. The series premiered on 7 July 2006 on Network Ten and has since gone on to be aired to a worldwide audience of more than 250 million. To promote the series she and her co-stars presented the best band award at the Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards in October 2007. In 2008, Tonkin was nominated for "Best Lead Actress in a Television Series" at the prestigious Australian Film Institute Awards. The series ran for three seasons with the series finale airing on 16 April 2010.
Tonkin has also appeared on fellow Australian television shows Packed to the Rafters and Home and Away. In September 2010, Tonkin made her film debut starring in the Australian action ensemble film Tomorrow, When the War Began. In the film, which revolves around a group of teenagers waging a guerrilla war against an invading foreign power in their fictional hometown of Wirrawee, she played the role of the rich and uptight Fiona Maxwell. In December 2010, a sequel was announced with Tonkin expected to return, though production of a sequel never came to fruition.
In January 2011, Tonkin moved to Los Angeles to pursue an international acting career. She was cast in March 2011 as Faye Chamberlain on The CW supernatural drama series The Secret Circle which premiered on 15 September 2011 to over 3.5 million viewers. The series follows a group of young witches who are a part of a secret coven. For her performance, Tonkin has received critical acclaim, with critics referring to her as the breakout star of the series; she was featured on Variety's list of "new faces to watch" and named one of 2011's breakout TV stars by E! Online. The Secret Circle, however, had only one full season as it was canceled on 11 May 2012.
In August 2010, Tonkin was cast in the 3D horror film Bait 3D. Filming took place on Australia's Gold Coast and follows a group of strangers who are trapped in a supermarket after a freak tsunami with a pack of great white sharks. The film was expected to be released in Australia in September 2012. In August 2012, Tonkin joined the cast of The CW television series, The Vampire Diaries, in the recurring role of Hayley, a friend of Tyler. She joined her co-star from H2O: Just Add Water, Claire Holt, who portrays Rebekah Mikaelson on the show.
On 11 January 2013, The CW confirmed that a spin-off series to The Vampire Diaries was in the works, titled The Originals. The series revolves around the Original Vampire family members, and Tonkin would "be heavily featured in the prospective pilot" of the series. The CW confirmed on 13 February that Claire Holt would also join the cast of The Originals, marking the third time Tonkin and Holt have starred together on a show. Tonkin has had a main role in all the seasons.
Tonkin has appeared in a number of advertisements which include Vauxhall Motors and was previously signed to Chic Management. Her modeling career includes shoots for Girlfriend, Teen Vogue, ELLE Australia, Miss Vogue Australia, Vogue Australia, Dolly and Free People. Tonkin has also appeared in Miles Fisher's music video "Don't Let Go". In 2012 Tonkin opened a website about health with friend Teresa Palmer called YourZenLife.- Actress
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Sherry Stringfield was born in Colorado Springs as the oldest of three children, but mainly raised in Spring, Texas. In high school, she did both athletics and acting. Later, she attended the Acting Conservatory of the State New York at Purchase, from which she graduated in 1989 with a B.F.A. While attending the State University of New York at Purchase, she roomed with Parker Posey. During this time, she appeared in numerous off-Broadway productions. After working a short time in a theater box office, she accepted a 3 years contract as "Blake" in the daytime drama Guiding Light (1952). After a short break, spent with traveling, she returned to L.A. to co-star as "Laura Kelly" on NYPD Blue (1993).
Stringfield is best known to television audiences around the world as "Dr. Susan Lewis" on NBC's hit medical drama, ER (1994), a role which has garnered her three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress on a Drama Series as well as a Golden Globe nomination and a People's Choice Award nomination for Favorite Female Performer. With 112 Emmy nominations over the course of the show's run, it remains a critical and audience favorite.
Her additional credits include the feature films, Autumn in New York (2000) with Richard Gere and Winona Ryder and 54 (1998) with Mike Myers, Salma Hayek and Ryan Phillippe.
Stringfield currently resides in Los Angeles with her two children.- Actress
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Kristin Lee Davis was born on February 23, 1965 in Boulder, Colorado. An only child, her parents divorced when she was a baby. She was adopted by her stepfather, psychology professor Keith Davis, after he married her mother, Dorothy, a university data analyst, in 1968. Early in her childhood, Kristin and her parents moved to Columbia, South Carolina, where her stepfather was transferred to a university. She lived in South Carolina until she graduated high school in 1983. She then moved to New Jersey, where she attended Rutgers University. After graduation, she moved to New York and waited tables before opening a yoga studio with a friend. In 1995, she got her big break when she landed the role of Brooke Armstrong Campbell on Melrose Place (1992). She left the show after one year when producers found that audience members hated her bitchy character. In 1998, Kristin was cast as Charlotte York in Sex and the City (1998), of which she remained an integral cast member until the series ended in 2004. Kristin Davis resides in Los Angeles.- Actress Jacqueline Byers grew up outside of Toronto in Mississauga and received her B.A. in Acting from Queen's University in Ontario, Canada.
On stage, she has performed in "Here" at Toronto Fringe Festival, "Spelling Bee" for Collective Productions, "Chess" at Theater Aquarius, and both "Annie" and "Peter Pan" at Oakville Centre for Performing Arts. Her first starring role was on Syfy's Ascension as Nora Bryce. - Actress
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Dianna Elise Agron was born in Savannah, Georgia to Mary and Ronald Agron and grew up in a middle-class family in Savannah before moving to Texas and, later, San Francisco, California, because her father was a general manager for Hyatt. Dianna and her brother Jason were raised Jewish and she graduated from Burlingame High School with honors.
While Dianna was growing up, she spent much of her time performing. She began dancing at age three, focusing mainly on jazz and ballet; she later began hip-hop dancing. She also appeared in many local musical-theater productions.
After graduating from high school, Dianna decided to pursue acting as a career and began appearing in commercials and television shows including CSI: NY (2004), Numb3rs (2005), Veronica Mars (2004), and Heroes (2006). In 2009, she won the role of high-school cheerleader Quinn Fabray on the FOX television series Glee (2009). Since the hit television show's premiere on May 19th, 2009, she and her castmates have received critical praise for well as her fellow cast mates, have received critical praise for their incredible work. In addition to her work on, Glee (2009), Dianna has ventured into films, such as Burlesque (2010), where she had the opportunity to star alongside Christina Aguilera, Cher, and Stanley Tucci, and the action thriller I Am Number Four (2011). There is no doubt that her beautiful talent will shine for years to come.- Actress
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Britt Ekland was born in Sweden and grew up to be the poster girl for beautiful, big-eyed Scandinavian blondes. She attended a drama school and then joined a traveling theater group. With her looks as her passport, Britt entered films and became a star in Italy. When Peter Sellers met her in a hotel, he fell hard for her and they soon married. The combination of Sellers' stardom and her stunning beauty contributed to her fame (the fact that Sellers suffered a heart attack in bed on their wedding night did not hurt, either). She appeared in two films with her husband: After the Fox (1966), written by Neil Simon, and the forgettable The Bobo (1967). Her claim to fame would come as the young girl who invented the striptease in The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968). After that, she appeared in a string of movies that were built around her looks and not much else. She did appear in some first-rate productions over the years, though, two of them being Get Carter (1971) and the cult classic The Wicker Man (1973). The high point in her career would be her role as Bond girl Mary Goodnight in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). After her much publicized breakup with rocker Rod Stewart in 1977, Britt continued to make movies--both features and made-for-TV films--and tried the stage. By that time, the quality of her film projects had decreased markedly, and she was reduced to appearing in things like Fraternity Vacation (1985) and Beverly Hills Vamp (1989).- Actress
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Susan Ward was born in Monroe, LA. An animal lover as a child, she grew up wanting to become a veterinarian. At age 13, however, a local modeling agent changed her mind. Susan and her mother traveled to New York City to see about getting her a modeling job. She thought that modeling would make her enough money to pay her way through veterinary school, and before a week was out she had signed with the prestigious Ford Modeling Agency. Through Ford she did a lot of print work, and that gave her the idea of trying out a career in acting. She landed a recurring role on All My Children (1970) and later starred alongside Keri Russell and Charisma Carpenter on the night-time soap Malibu Shores (1996), produced by Aaron Spelling. Although the series only lasted eight episodes, Susan got roles in such films as Poison Ivy: The New Seduction (1997) and she even worked with Spelling again in the daytime soap Sunset Beach (1997). Susan subsequently starred in the thriller The in Crowd (2000) and Would I Lie to You? (2002).- Katherine Elizabeth Upton was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, to Shelley Fawn (Davis), a state tennis champion from Texas, and Jefferson Matthew Upton, a high school athletics director. Her uncle is Michigan congressman Fred Upton. Upton always knew she wanted to be a model. Since signing with IMG Models in 2010, Kate has taken the world by storm. For the past two years, Kate has graced the cover of the legendary Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, which has led to an onslaught of media buzz about the 21-year-old. Kate's stardom was elevated to an even higher level with her June 2013 American Vogue cover shot by Mario Testino, whose byline proclaims "American Dream Girl: How Kate Upton Became the Hottest Supermodel on Earth." She has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Ellen Show, The Late Show, Saturday Night Live, The Dan Patrick Show, and Le Grand Journal, and continues to be one of the most searched-for names on Google.
Beyond Sports Illustrated, Kate has been featured on the covers of Vogue Italia, British Vogue, CR Fashion Book, Cosmopolitan, French ELLE, GQ, Italian GQ, German GQ, Jalouse, Sunday Times Style, Esquire, The Daily, and Muse Magazine. She has appeared in fashion editorials for American Vogue, Vogue Spain, V Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, and Russian Interview, and has worked with photographers such as Mario Testino, Steven Meisel, Terry Richardson, Alasdair McLellan, Bruce Weber, Sebastian Kim, Guy Aroch, Matt Jones, Miguel Reveriego, Norman Jean Roy, Josh Olins, Gilles Bensimon, Yu Tsai, Sebastian Faena, Walter Iooss, Ellen von Unwerth, and Stewart Shining. A favorite of high-fashion notables such as Stephen Gan, Tonne Goodman, Carlyne Cerf, Carine Roitfeld, and Katie Grand, Kate was also shot for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" Exhibition Catalogue in 2012. Models.com exclaims, "The sexy market just got a little more competitive thanks to the meteoric rise of Kate Upton. The Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition was a major coup, but the momentum keeps building with cover after cover. We can't remember the last time a newbie made such a splash!"
Kate's YouTube video of her dancing to Cali Swag District's "Teach Me How to Dougie" last year was the number one watched video on Twitter and Google for multiple weeks. She has an enterprising reputation for creating viral hits, and the clip has over 8 million views.
Known for her vivacious personality and incredible physique, Kate has been the face for Sam Edelman, Accessorize, Guess Lingerie, Guess Jeans, Guess Accessories, Liverpool, Dylan George, and Dooney & Burke. She has also worked with Gillette, Skullcandy Headphones and Beach Bunny Swimwear, even designing a Beach Bunny Swimwear collection herself. She has starred in commercials for Mercedes-Benz, Carl's Junior and Sobe, and starred in The Other Woman (2014), by director Nick Cassavetes.
Kate resides in New York City. Kate is a five-time world champion equestrian, and she enjoys hanging out at the barn, horseback riding, and is an avid sportsfan. - Actress
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Jenna Marie Ortega was born on September 27, 2002 in Coachella Valley, California. She began acting at age 9 and has portrayed Harley, a creative-engineering prodigy navigating life as the middle child in a family of 7 children in "Stuck in the Middle," a Disney Channel series told from Harley's perspective.
Ortega is known not only for her stellar performance in multiple Disney productions but also for her roles in many award-winning movies and television series, such as her portrayal of Young Jane in The CW Television Network's iconic comedy-drama "Jane the Virgin," and Darcy in the 2015 Netflix sitcom "Richie Rich." In 2020 she co-starred as Phoebe in the horror sequel The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020). Restless in her profession, Jenna is accountable for more than 15 television staples and blockbuster films to date, commonly accepting lead roles.
The daughter of mixed Mexican and Puerto Rican parents, Ortega makes it very clear to her audience that she is proud of her heritage and grateful for having the opportunity to share her culture with the world. In a 2016 Pop Sugar interview, Jenna conveys that succeeding in the American film industry as a Latina was an uphill battle, throttled by subjective casting and strict ethnic guidelines followed in the early 2000s. Despite this difficulty, Ortega did not let cultural barriers and prejudice hinder her progress as a rising star.
Working with the most prestigious studios in the film industry, Jenna Ortega has achieved a high status in her profession and gilded her family name for generations to come.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Kathy Ireland was born on 20 March 1963 in Glendale, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Loaded Weapon 1 (1993), Alien from L.A. (1988) and Necessary Roughness (1991). She has been married to Dr. Gregory P. Olsen since 20 August 1988. They have three children.- Actress
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Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Bellamy is a graduate of Yale University. She also studied at Oxford University in England. In New York, she starred on Broadway as Mary in Cy Coleman's "The Life" and also as Meg in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along". Other notable theater credits include Margaret in the world premiere of Randy Newman's "Faust" and LouAnn in the world premiere of Lanford Wilson's "Book of Days".- Actress
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Christie Brinkley was born on 2 February 1954 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. She is an actress, known for Vacation (1983), Jack and Jill (2011) and Vegas Vacation (1997). She was previously married to Peter Cook, Richard Taubman, Billy Joel and Jean-François Allaux.- Anna Maria Chlumsky is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, best known playing the lead role of Vada Sultenfuss in My Girl (1991) and its 1994 sequel. Between 1999 and 2005, Chlumsky's career entered a hiatus while she attended college. She returned to acting with roles in several independent films, including Blood Car (2007) and In the Loop (2009). From 2012 to 2019 Chlumsky portrayed Amy Brookheimer on the HBO television series Veep, for which she has received six nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Chlumsky was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Nancy (née Zuncic), a singer, actress, and former flight attendant, and Frank Chlumsky Jr., a chef and saxophone player. She was raised in a Roman Catholic family. Chlumsky is of Czech and Croatian descent.
Chlumsky entered show business at an early age, modeling with her mother in an advertising campaign, though her roles in My Girl (1991) and My Girl 2 (1994) brought her fame. She also starred in Trading Mom (1994) alongside Sissy Spacek, as well as in Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995) with Christina Ricci. In the mid to late 1990s, she appeared or starred in several television films and series.
Chlumsky appeared as Mary Calvin in a season 17 episode of Law & Order, first airing on January 12, 2007; and as Lisa Klein in a season 20 episode, first airing March 15, 2010. In March 2007, she appeared in the 30 Rock episode "The Fighting Irish" as Liz Lemler, a romantic rival of protagonist Liz Lemon, who receives flowers meant for Lemler. Chlumsky was in four episodes of the ABC dramedy Cupid in 2009. Later that year, she starred in the Lifetime Television movie 12 Men of Christmas as Jan Lucas.
She starred in the Off Broadway production of Unconditional by Brett C. Leonard at The Public Theater, which opened on February 2008; it was produced by the LAByrinth Theater Company, She also starred in Lanford Wilson's Balm in Gilead in November 2005 at the American Theatre of Actors in New York City.
In 2009, she appeared in Armando Iannucci's BBC Films political satire In The Loop, co-starring with Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Chris Addison, James Gandolfini, and Mimi Kennedy, a quasi-spin-off of Iannucci's BBC TV series The Thick of It. She plays Liza, a State Department assistant in the movie. From 2012, Chlumsky has played Amy Brookheimer, aide to Julia Louis-Dreyfus's character in HBO's Veep, also produced by Iannucci. In June 2012, she starred in the world premiere of David Adjmi's 3C at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York.
Dan Aykroyd, who played her father in the two My Girl films, has said that a script for a third film has been in development since 2003. In April 2012, Chlumsky "put to rest" any rumors that such a film was in development. In addition to her role on Veep, Chlumsky has appeared in multiple television series between 2011 and 2013, including White Collar, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and NBC's adaptation of Hannibal.
Chlumsky has appeared on Broadway in You Can't Take It with You, and beginning in April 2015 as editor Iris Peabody in the comedy Living on Love, with Renee Fleming, Jerry O'Connell and Douglas Sills.
In 2017, Chlumsky appeared in the fourth season of AMC Networks' Halt and Catch Fire as Dr. Katie Herman, the love interest of Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy).
In October 2019, Chlumsky was cast in a main role, alongside Julia Garner in the Shonda Rhimes' upcoming Netflix limited drama series, Inventing Anna. - Actress
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Laverne Cox is a three time Emmy-nominated actress, Emmy winning documentary film producer and a prominent equal rights advocate. Laverne's role of Sophia Burset in the critically acclaimed Netflix original series "Orange is The New Black" brought her to the attention of diverse audiences all over the world. This role lead to Laverne becoming the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for a Primetime acting Emmy.
An artist and an advocate with an empowering message of moving beyond gender expectations to live more authentically, Laverne is the first openly transgender person to appear on the covers of TIME Magazine, Cosmopolitan magazine and Essence magazines among others. She was named one of Glamour magazine's 2014 Women of the Year. Laverne also proudly holds two SAG Awards winning them with her Orange Is The New Black cast mates.
Laverne has been one of the faces of Beyonce's athleisure line, Ivy Park. She also collaborated with Orly to create "Celebrate Yourself" a Limited Edition collection of nail colors and teamed up with Ted Danson for Smirnoff's "Welcome To The Fun" campaign.
Laverne's Emmy winning documentary "Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word" helped lead her to Executive Producing two powerful documentaries. The upcoming "Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen" is an unprecedented, groundbreaking look at the depiction of transgender characters throughout the history of film and TV and "Free CeCe" which tells the story of CeCe McDonald, a transgender woman who was controversially sentenced to 41 months in a men's prison for second degree manslaughter after defending herself against a racist and transphobic attack. The documentary focuses on McDonald's case, her experiences while incarcerated and the larger implications of her case for the transgender community and for communities of color at large.- Cosma Shiva Hagen (born May 17, 1981 in Los Angeles, California) is a German-American actress and the daughter of new wave/punk singer Nina Hagen and musician Ferdinand Karmelk. Her grandmother is actress Eva-Maria Hagen, and her step-grandfather is the East German dissident writer Wolf Biermann. Eva-Maria Hagen was allowed to emigrate to West Germany during the 1970s. Shiva's unusual name was picked by her mother, who claimed she saw a UFO while pregnant. "Cosma" is a reference to Cosmos, and "Shiva" is a reference to the Hindu God Shiva.
Shiva is largely unknown outside of German-speaking countries. Although she speaks English, her acting roles have been largely confined to German language films and television productions. She also starred in an Irish film called Short Order (2005).
Born in Los Angeles, California, Shiva speaks German, English, French and Spanish. As a child, Cosma Shiva lived in London, Berlin, Paris, Ibiza, a boarding school in Lüneburg and her current home, Hamburg. - Actress
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Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley is an English actress. She is best known for her breakthrough role as "Rey" in the 2015 film, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). Daisy was born in Westminster, London, on April 10, 1992. She is the daughter of Louise Fawkner-Corbett and Chris Ridley. Her great-uncle was Arnold Ridley, an English actor, playwright, and appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), who was best known for his authorship of the play, "The Ghost Train", and his role as "Private Godfrey" in the British sitcom, Dad's Army (1968). Daisy attended the Tring Park School for Performing Arts, located in Hertfordshire, England, where she trained in musical theater and graduated in 2010, at the age of 18. Aside from acting, her talent repertoire includes ballet, jazz dancing, Latin American, and tap. Her vocal range is mezzo-soprano, where she is notably skilled in jazz and cabaret singing. Upon graduation, Daisy was hired in a number of roles in television, film, and music. She was cast to play "Jessie" in the British comedy-drama, Youngers (2013). In 2013, she played "Fran Bedingfield" in the BBC series, Casualty (1986), and as "Charlotte" in the British comedy, Toast of London (2012). In 2014, she played opposite to Jeremy Piven as "Roxy Starlet" in the second season of the ITV series, Mr Selfridge (2013), and as "Hannah Kennedy" in two episodes of the BBC crime drama, Silent Witness (1996). She further had roles in short films, including Scrawl, 100% Beef, and Crossed Wires. She was featured in Blue Season, which was entered into the Sci-Fi-London 48-Hour Film Challenge, and Lifesaver, which was nominated for a BAFTA Award. She also appeared in Wiley's British rap music video, Lights On. In April 2014, it was announced that Daisy was cast to play the heroine main protagonist, Rey, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first film in the new trilogy of the Star Wars franchise. Since its release in December 2015, the J.J. Abrams directed movie has received critical acclaim and became the fastest movie, ever, to reach $1 billion at the box office, worldwide. In August 2015, it was announced that she would play the lead role of Taeko in the English dub of the 1991 animated film, Only Yesterday, which was released in 2016. In December 2017, Daisy reprised her role as Rey in the eighth Star Wars film, The Last Jedi, as well as the Star Wars TV show, Forces of Destiny. Ridley then played Mary Debenham in the Murder on the Orient Express. She also starred in the titular role in Ophelia, alongside Naomi Watts and Clive Owen, which was filmed in 2017 and debuted at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In February 2018, Daisy voiced Cottontail in the film adaptation of Beatrix Potter's children story. In 2019, Ridley co-stars with Tom Holland in the movie, Chaos Walking, playing Viola Eade in the film adaptation of the novel done by Patrick Ness, which is currently in post-production and set for release in 2020. Daisy further reprised her role as Rey in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, which started filming in 2018 and wrapped up in early 2019. The movie was released in December 2019 and is Ridley's final cinematic role as Rey in the franchise. Daisy is currently connected to future projects, including Christy Hall's Daddio. She will star in The Lost Wife, which is based on the novel by Alyson Richman. She is reportedly also teaming up J.J. Abrams in a couple projects, including the remake of 2003's Israeli TV movie, Kolma, and the film adaptation of Sonia Purnell's, A Woman of No Importance.- Actress
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Alison Sudol is an actress, musician and author based in Los Angeles. Alongside a successful music career, Alison starred in the two-time Golden Globe-winning Amazon hit 'Transparent', USA network's 'DIG' from the creators of 'Homeland' and 'Heroes' and Rafael Palacio's show 'The Force'. Alison plays Queenie in the new Harry Potter spin-off 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'.- Actress
- Producer
Ana Caterina Morariu was born on 20 November 1980 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She is an actress and producer, known for Ocean's Twelve (2004), Il mio miglior nemico (2006) and Les rois maudits (2005).- Actress
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Stana Katic recently starred in the TV series, Absentia, streaming on Amazon. It's a thriller-drama produced by Sony Pictures Television. Upon debut it was one of Amazon's top-ten most popular programs.
Stana's feature film work includes, CBGB, Big Sur, The Spirit, Feast of Love, The Double and Bond franchise installment Quantum of Solace.
For 8 seasons, Stana starred as Kate Beckett on Castle. The ABC hit series brought in over 10 million viewers weekly and is in the top five syndicated series in Spain, France, the UK, Italy, and Germany.
Stana has ten award nominations and seven wins - including three People's Choice Awards, a PRISM Award, and three TV Guide Awards
Stana is also dedicated to philanthropic projects with a focus on the Environment and on Children's Education and Healthcare. This work has kept her involved with organizations from around the globe.
Stana currently resides in Los Angeles.- Actress
- Producer
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Courtney Thorne-Smith is an American actress. She is best known for her starring roles as Alison Parker on Melrose Place, Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal, Cheryl Mabel in According to Jim and her recurring role on Two and a Half Men as Lyndsey McElroy. Thorne-Smith was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in Menlo Park, a suburb south of San Francisco. Her father, Walter Smith, was a computer market researcher, and her mother, Lora Thorne, was a therapist. They divorced when Courtney was seven years old and she lived with both parents at different stages. She has an older sister, Jennifer, who is an advertising executive. She attended Menlo-Atherton High School, in Atherton, California, and graduated from Tamalpais High School, in Mill Valley, California, in 1985. She also performed with the Ensemble Theater Company in Mill Valley while attending high school.- Actress
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Rose Byrne was born in Balmain, Sydney, Australia. She is the daughter of Jane, a primary school administrator, and Robin Byrne, a semi-retired statistician and market researcher.
She landed her first role in a movie, Dallas Doll (1994), when she was 15 years old.
Since then, Rose has appeared in a variety of Australian televisions shows including Heartbreak High (1994), Echo Point (1995), and the film Two Hands (1999) alongside Heath Ledger. After this, she appeared in various movies like The Date (1999), My Mother Frank (2000), and Clara Law's The Goddess of 1967 (2000) for which she obtained the Female Volpi Cup at the Venice Festival in 2000.
Her first experience on a big-budget movie came when she played handmaiden, Dormé, to Natalie Portman, Padmé Amidala, in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). In 2003, she starred, coincidentally, as Rose Mortmain in the adaptation of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle (2003). In 2004, she acted in Wicker Park (2004) with Diane Kruger and Josh Hartnett. Here, she heard Wolfgang Petersen was looking for an actress for Briseis in his next movie Troy (2004) with Brad Pitt, she got the part and was recognised as one of the most promising actresses in Hollywood.
After Troy (2004), she played Edith in a TV adaptation of Casanova (2005). In September 2005, she started to act in Sunshine (2007), a Danny Boyle movie, where she plays the pilot in a space mission.- Actress
- Music Department
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Olivia Holt was born in Germantown, Tennessee to parents, Mark and Kim Holt. When she was only 3 years old, she started singing and acting on the stage. Besides acting and singing, she has been a competitive gymnast for the past 5 years, and a competitive cheerleader for the past few years. At Christmas time, Holt moved with her family from DeSoto County to Los Angeles.
She had starring roles in numerous community productions, including Annie in "Annie" and Alice in "Through the Looking Glass", before landing a role in the indie film, Black and Blue (2009). She also appeared in multiple national TV commercials, including Hasbro, Mattel and Bratz dolls.
In 2011, Olivia got her break out role as "Kim Crawford", a confident martial artist and the only girl in the dojo who can go toe-to-toe with the boys, in the Disney XD comedy series, Kickin' It (2011).- Actress
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Jacqueline Bisset has been an international film star since the late '60s. She received her first roles mainly because of her stunning beauty, but over time she has become a fine actress respected by fans and critics alike. Bisset has worked with directors John Huston, François Truffaut, George Cukor and Roman Polanski. Her co-stars have included Anthony Quinn, Paul Newman, Nick Nolte, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Kenneth Branagh and Marcello Mastroianni.
Her somewhat French-sounding name has led many to assume that she is from France, but she was brought up in England and had to study to learn French. Her mother was French and was an attorney before being married. As a child Jacqueline studied ballet. During her teenage years her father left the family when her mother was diagnosed with disseminating sclerosis; Jacqueline worked as a model to support her ailing mother and eventually her parents divorced, an experience she has said she considered character-strengthening. She took an early interest in film, and her modeling career helped pay for acting lessons.
In 1967 Bisset gained her first critical attention in Two for the Road (1967), and that same year appeared in the popular James Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967), playing Miss Goodthighs. In 1968 her career got a boost when Mia Farrow unexpectedly dropped out of the shooting of The Detective (1968); Farrow's marriage to co-star Frank Sinatra was on the rocks, and her role was eventually given to Bisset, who received special billing in the film's credits. In the following year she earned a Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcomer for The Sweet Ride (1968) and gained even more attention playing opposite Steve McQueen in the popular action film Bullitt (1968). In 1970 she was featured in the star-studded disaster film Airport (1970) and had the main role in The Grasshopper (1970). Then she co-starred with Alan Alda in the well-reviewed but commercially underperforming horror movie, The Mephisto Waltz (1971). In 1973 she became recognized in Europe as a serious actress when she played the lead in Truffaut's Day for Night (1973). However, it would be several years before her talents would be taken seriously in the US. Though she scored another domestic hit with Murder on the Orient Express (1974), her part in it, as had often been the case, was decorative. She did appear to good effect in Believe in Me (1971), Le Magnifique (1973), The Sunday Woman (1975) and St. Ives (1976).
Jacqueline's stunning looks and figure made quite a splash in The Deep (1977). Her underwater swimming scenes in that movie inspired the worldwide wet T-shirt craze, and Newsweek magazine declared her "the most beautiful film actress of all time." The film's producer, Peter Guber, said "That T-shirt made me a rich man." However, she hated the wet T-shirt scenes because she felt exploited. At the time of filming she was not told that the filmmakers would shoot the scenes in such a provocative way, and she felt tricked. On the plus side, the huge success of the picture made Bisset officially bankable. She was next seen in high-profile roles in The Greek Tycoon (1978), a thinly disguised fictionalization of the marriage of Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis, and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress in a Comedy.
In the early '80s, Bisset starred in the box office disasters When Time Ran Out... (1980) and Inchon (1981), but her well-received turn opposite Candice Bergen in Rich and Famous (1981) between those two films helped gain her recognition as a serious actress from American audiences. She rebounded neatly with Class (1983) and Under the Volcano (1984), getting a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actress for the latter. She also earned praise for her work in the excellent made-for-cable WWII drama Forbidden (1984), then appeared on network TV in adaptations of Anna Karenina (1985) with Christopher Reeve and Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987) with Armand Assante. In 1989 she co-starred in the raunchy yet witty comedy Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989) and the erotic thriller Wild Orchid (1989), neither of which fared too well, but her output remained consistent. As she transitioned seamlessly out of her ingenue years, smaller-scale productions such as CrimeBroker (1993) and Leave of Absence (1994) would provide Bisset with plum roles, even if they went largely unseen.
In 1996 she was nominated for a César Award, the French equivalent of the Oscar, for her performance in Claude Chabrol's La Cérémonie (1995). She held roles in period pieces like Dangerous Beauty (1998), as well as the Biblical epics Jesus (1999) and In the Beginning (2000). Other notable credits included the miniseries Joan of Arc (1999) alongside Leelee Sobieski, which gained her an Emmy nomination, and The Sleepy Time Gal (2001), which premiered at Sundance but unfortunately was not picked up for theatrical distribution. In 2005 Jacqueline was back on the big screen, playing Keira Knightley's mother in the Domino Harvey biopic Domino (2005) for Tony Scott. In 2006 she appeared in the fourth season of Nip/Tuck (2003) as the ruthless extortionist "James." Bisset then turned in strong performances in Boaz Yakin's disturbing independent drama Death in Love (2008) and the telepic An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving (2008), garnering accolades for both. In 2013 she appeared in BBC's program Dancing on the Edge (2013), for which she finally won her first Golden Globe. She followed that up with the movies Welcome to New York (2014) with Gérard Depardieu and Miss You Already (2015) with Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette.
2016 saw the long-awaited release of Linda Yellen's comedy The Last Film Festival (2016), where Jacqueline was a riot as a washed-up Italian diva alongside Dennis Hopper in his final role. Since then she's kept busy on the indie circuit, appearing in Backstabbing for Beginners (2018) with Ben Kingsley, Here and Now (2018) with Sarah Jessica Parker, and Asher (2018) with Ron Perlman and Famke Janssen, as well as the Amazon original movie Birds of Paradise (2021) and a title role in Loren & Rose (2022).
Bisset has never married, but has been involved in long-term romantic relationships with Canadian actor Michael Sarrazin, Moroccan entrepreneur Victor Drai, Russian ballet dancer Alexander Godunov, Swiss actor Vincent Perez and Turkish martial arts instructor Emin Boztepe. She continues to make numerous films, and frequently participates in film festivals and award ceremonies around the world.- Actress
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Born in Mumbai, India and raised in Nigeria until the age of seven, Contractor was well-versed in world travels and a variety of cultures at a very young age. She attended boarding school in London from seven to nine years old, then her family moved to Toronto, Canada, where she spent the majority of her childhood and young adulthood. In Toronto, Contractor excelled in academics and trained as a classical ballerina. She attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts, a specialized public arts high school where she not only danced but studied theater as well. At the age of 16, after nearly 10 years of dance Contractor realized she wanted to pursue acting seriously. Upon graduating from high school she accepted a full scholarship to the University of Toronto, where she pursued a masters in theatre and a double major in psychology and sociology. After one year at University, Contractor went to an open call audition for the play Pericles at the prestigious, world-renowned Stratford Shakespeare Festival [Ontario, Canada], and landed the lead role. She received rave reviews for her work in the 92 shows performed, the play was voted the #1 production of the year by Canadian critics, in 2002. Contractor was offered the opportunity to enroll in Stratford's conservatory program, where a select eight men and four women are accepted for a 20-week crash course on classical theater, which she eagerly took. Contractor was guaranteed a spot in the next season of plays, and landed the role of Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream. By the third season with the company, Contractor wanted to pursue film and television. In 2005 she booked a role in a FOX pilot by Anthony Hines [Borat, Bruno, The Dictator]. The role was intense, leaving the actors in character for eight to nine hours a day in front of an audience, and was a precursor to the style of film that Borat would be, just one year later. When the pilot did not get picked up, Contractor decided to go back to school and finish her education. While securing her degrees, she booked "The Border," a Canadian drama for CBC. She starred as Layla Hourani for 26 episodes, and the series aired worldwide. The role also garnered her a Golden Nymph Award at The Montecarlo Television Festival, in 2008. Once the show wrapped, Contractor made the move to Los Angeles.
In 2009, Contractor booked the role of Kayla Hassan, in 21 episodes of the hit FOX series "24." As President Omar Hassan [Anil Kapoor] and Dalia Hassan's [Necar Zadegan] daughter, she was a scene stealer, portraying a seemingly sheltered young woman, whose secret life ends up putting her in horrible conditions. While in production on "24" Contractor also booked a recurring role on CBS' "Rules of Engagement" opposite David Spade and Adhir Kalyan. Other television credits for Contractor include "Lone Star" [FOX] and "Last Resort" [ABC]. On the film front, Contractor has been seen in Seance: The Summoning [Lionsgate] in which she won Best Supporting Actress at WorldFest Houston, in 2012.
In May 2013, Contractor appeared as a devoted wife and mother facing extreme challenges in her family in the highly anticipated, Paramount feature film Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).
When not working, Contractor is an avid runner and yogi. She loves to travel the world, and her preferred method of transportation while in other countries is by motorcycle. She was also born into the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism, and is one of the 150,000 Parsis in the world. Philanthropy is a huge priority for Contractor, she is a strong supporter of the organization Second Harvest to feed the homeless, and Look Good Feel Better, supporting women with cancer. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, son, and border terrier.- Asel Sagatova was born on 16 October 1984 in Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, USSR [now Semey, Kazakhstan]. She is an actress, known for Hunting the Phantom (2014), Dolphin Jump (2009) and Reketir (2007).
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Julie Gonzalo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and moved to Miami, Florida when she was 8 years old.
She won her first acting role when she was 20 and she made a few TV appearances during the early 2000s. She also appeared in some high-profile movies during that time, including Freaky Friday (2003)) but her breakthrough role came in 2006 when she won the role of Parker Lee in Veronica Mars (2004).
More TV and movie work followed (including several as producer) until she was cast as Rebecca Sutter in the revival of the hit 1980s soap Dallas (2012).- Actress
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Ask Kate Winslet what she likes about any of her characters, and the word "ballsy" is bound to pop up at least once. The British actress has made a point of eschewing straightforward pretty-girl parts in favor of more devilish damsels; as a result, she's built an eclectic resume that runs the gamut from Shakespearean tragedy to modern-day mysticism and erotica.
Kate Elizabeth Winslet was born in Reading, Berkshire, into a family of thespians -- parents Roger Winslet and Sally Anne Bridges-Winslet were both stage actors, maternal grandparents Oliver and Linda Bridges ran the Reading Repertory Theatre, and uncle Robert Bridges was a fixture in London's West End theatre district. Kate came into her talent at an early age. She scored her first professional gig at eleven, dancing opposite the Honey Monster in a commercial for a kids' cereal. She started acting lessons around the same time, which led to formal training at a performing arts high school. Over the next few years, she appeared on stage regularly and landed a few bit parts in sitcoms. Her first big break came at age 17, when she was cast as an obsessive adolescent in Heavenly Creatures (1994). The film, based on the true story of two fantasy-gripped girls who commit a brutal murder, received modest distribution but was roundly praised by critics.
Still a relative unknown, Winslet attended a cattle call audition the next year for Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility (1995). She made an immediate impression on the film's star, Emma Thompson, and beat out more than a hundred other hopefuls for the part of plucky Marianne Dashwood. Her efforts were rewarded with both a British Academy Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Winslet followed up with two more period pieces, playing the rebellious heroine in Jude (1996) and Ophelia in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996).
The role that transformed Winslet from art house attraction to international star was Rose DeWitt Bukater, the passionate, rosy-cheeked aristocrat in James Cameron's Titanic (1997). Young girls the world over both idolized and identified with Winslet, swooning over all that face time opposite heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio and noting her refreshingly healthy, unemaciated physique. Winslet's performance also garnered a Best Actress nomination, making her the youngest actress to ever receive two Academy Award nominations.
After the swell of unexpected attention surrounding Titanic (1997), Winslet was eager to retreat into independent projects. Rumor has it that she turned down the lead roles in both Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Anna and the King (1999) in order to play adventurous soul searchers in Hideous Kinky (1998) and Holy Smoke (1999). The former cast her as a young single mother traveling through 1970s Morocco with her daughters in tow; the latter, as a zealous follower of a guru tricked into a "deprogramming" session in the Australian outback. The next year found her back in period dress as the Marquis de Sade's chambermaid and accomplice in Quills (2000). Kate holds the distinction of being the youngest actor ever honored with four Academy Award nominations (she received her fourth at age 29). As of 2016, she has been nominated for an Oscar seven times, winning one of them: she received the Best Actress Oscar for the drama The Reader (2008), playing a former concentration camp guard.
For her performance of Joanna Hoffman in Steve Jobs (2015), she received her seventh Academy Award nomination.
Off camera, Winslet is known for her mischievous pranks and familial devotion. She has two sisters, Anna Winslet and Beth Winslet (both actresses), and a brother, Joss.
In 1998, she married assistant director Jim Threapleton. They had a daughter, Mia Honey Threapleton, in October 2000. They divorced in 2001. She later married director Sam Mendes in 2003 and gave birth to their son, Joe Alfie Winslet-Mendes, later that year. After seven years of marriage, in February 2010 they announced that they had amicably separated, and divorced in October 2010. In 2012, Kate married Ned Rocknroll, with whom she has a son. She was awarded Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to Drama.- Actress
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Lena Headey is a Bermudian-British actress. Headey is best known for her role as "Cersei Lannister" in Game of Thrones (2011) (2011-2019) and The Brothers Grimm (2005), Possession (2002), and The Remains of the Day (1993). Headey stars as "Queen Gorgo", a heroic Spartan woman in the period film, 300 (2006), by director Zack Snyder.
Headey was born in Hamilton, Bermuda, to British parents Sue and John Headey. Her father, a Yorkshire police cadet, was stationed in the Bermuda Police Service. She was raised there until age five, when her family returned to England. She was brought up in Yorkshire before moving to London in her teens. Headey had not gone to drama school before she became an actress. At the age of seventeen, Headey's performance in a one-off show in the company of six school friends caught the attention of a casting agent, who took a photo and asked her to audition. Eventually, Headey was cast in Waterland (1992), which became her big-screen debut. She honed her natural acting talent while filming and also took archery classes and horse training. She also took boxing classes in clubs in south London, where a former boxer had been teaching her to spar. During her film career, spanning over 15 years, Headey has shown her range in a variety of roles, playing characters from Amazon-type warriors and action-minded women in The Cave (2005) and The Brothers Grimm (2005), to a lesbian florist in Imagine Me & You (2005).
Headey's film career has taken her all over the world. She was in India for the filming of The Jungle Book (1994), then in St. Petersburg, Russia, for filming Onegin (1999), and in Norway for filming of Aberdeen (2000). In 2005 Headey was filming in Romania and in Mexico, then spent four months in Prague, Czech Republic, where a forest was designed and built for filming The Brothers Grimm (2005), with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. During 2006 Headey was in Canada for the filming of 300 (2006), then went to locations in Bulgaria for shooting The Contractor (2007), and Germany and in Czech Republic for the filming of The Red Baron (2008).
She also played Gina McVey in the horror thriller The Broken (2008), and Elizabeth in Tell Tale (2009). In addition to her film-work, Heady appeared as Sarah Connor in a TV spin-off of the popular "Terminator" film franchise, the FOX's television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008).
Outside of her acting profession, Headey continued taking boxing lessons in London. She is a vegetarian and also remains loyal to yoga, which she discovered during her work in India. She has never been back to her birthplace in Bermuda; she shares her time between her homes in London, England, and Los Angeles, California.- Actress
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Actress and activist Olivia Wilde is a modern day renaissance woman, starring in many acclaimed film productions, while simultaneously giving back to the community.
She was born on March 10, 1984 in New York City. Her parents are Leslie Cockburn (née Leslie Corkill Redlich) and Andrew Cockburn. Her mother is American-born and her father was born in London, England to an upper-class British family; he also later became a citizen of Ireland. Wilde is the middle child, having an older sister, Chloe Cockburn, and, a younger brother, Charlie Cockburn. She is of English, Irish, Scottish, German, and Manx descent.
She was raised in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and spent her summers in Ardmore, County Waterford, Ireland. She attended the private Georgetown Day School, as well as, Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, graduating in 2002. She was accepted to Bard College, another highly selective private school in Duchess County, New York but deferred her enrollment three times in order to pursue an acting career. She later studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland.
Wilde is known for her television roles as Alex Kelly in The O.C. (2003) from 2004-2005 and Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley in the medical-drama television series, House (2004) when she joined the cast in 2007 and appeared on the show until the series end in 2012.
Wilde is a board member of the organization "Artists for Peace and Justice," which supports communities in Haiti through programs in education, health care, and dignity through the performing arts. She has served as executive producer on several documentary short films, including, Sun City Picture House (2010), which is about a community in Haiti that rallies to build a movie theater after the disastrous 2010 earthquake and Baseball in the Time of Cholera (2012), which explored the cholera epidemic in Haiti.
Wilde is known for her roles in Year One (2009), Tron: Legacy (2010), Cowboys & Aliens (2011), In Time (2011), People Like Us (2012), Her (2013), Rush (2013), Drinking Buddies (2013), The Longest Week (2014), Love the Coopers (2015), and Meadowland (2015).
Since 2011, Wilde had been in a relationship with Jason Sudeikis. They have two children together, Otis Alexander Sudeikis (born April 20, 2014) and Daisy Josephine Sudeikis (born October 11, 2016). In November 2020, they announced that they had ended their relationship.
Wilde made her Broadway debut in the play "1984" at the Hudson Theatre in New York City in 2017. She has recently starred in Life Itself (2018) and A Vigilante (2018).- Actress
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Liya Kebede was born on 1 March 1978 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She is an actress and producer, known for The Good Shepherd (2006), The Best Offer (2013) and Lord of War (2005). She was previously married to Kassy Kebede.- Actress
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Often considered hip-hop's first lady, the woman behind the moniker Queen Latifah was born Dana Elaine Owens on March 18, 1970, in East Orange, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Rita (Bray), a teacher, and Lancelot Owens Sr. She came from a police family-both her father and her older brother were cops-which would later influence her rhyming style and life philosophy. Her brother died in a motorcycle accident in 1992. Owens witnessed both sides of black urban life in the USA while growing up. After a brief stint as a Burger King employee, she soon found herself making waves in the hip-hop music scene.
After working as the human beatbox alongside Ladies Fresh, she was just 18 years old when she broke through in the late 1980s with a style that picked selectively from jazz, reggae, and soul traditions, from beats produced by D.J. Mark the 45 King. Her debut single, "Wrath of My Madness," was released in 1988. A year later, her debut long-player, "All Hail the Queen," enjoyed favored reviews: an old, wise head was evident on the top of her young shoulders. The former Burger King employee maintained her early commitment to answering the misogynist armory of some of her male counterparts and, at the same time, imparted musical good times to all genders. Her name means "delicate and sensitive" in Arabic, but she has often been anything but in her rhymes and the messages she sends out through them. One of the most prominent female hip-hop artists on the scene for over a decade, Queen Latifah has also made tremendous inroads in movies, television, and artist management, with her management company, Flavor Unit, alongside her business partner Shakim Compere. A role model who takes the responsibility to heart, Latifah has carefully constructed a fine career for herself-one that is constantly moving upward.- Actress
Olivia Bonamy was born on 21 September 1972 in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, France. She is an actress, known for Them (2006), Sen de Gitme (1995) and Read My Lips (2001).- Actress
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Rachel Bilson was born in Los Angeles, to Janice (Stango), a sex therapist, and Danny Bilson. Her father is Ashkenazi Jewish and her mother is of Italian descent. She began acting while still at Notre Dame High School. She graduated high school in 1999 and went to Grossmont College but dropped out after a year and was encouraged to pursue a career in acting by her father, himself a writer, director and producer.
She worked in commercials and landed a few one-off roles in high profile TV shows before landing the part of Summer Roberts in the hit TV series The O.C. (2003), establishing herself as a household name.- Actress
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Lynda Jean Cordova Carter is an American actress, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss World USA 1972 and finished in the top 15 at the Miss World 1972 pageant. Carter is best known as the star of the live-action television series Wonder Woman, in the role of Diana Prince / Wonder Woman. The role was based on the DC comic book fictional superhero character of the same name, and aired on ABC and later on CBS from 1975 to 1979.- Actress
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Sophie Marceau was born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu in Paris, France, to Simone (Morisset), a shop assistant, and Benoît Maupu, a truck driver. She grew up far from the studio spotlights. When she was 14 she was living in the Paris suburb of Gentilly with her father. She learned from friends that director Claude Pinoteau was looking for new faces for a movie about teenagers called The Party (1980). She auditioned for the role, got it, and the film was a success. She played in The Party 2 (1982), then bought back her contract with Gaumont when she was 16 years old for one million French francs. She is a critically acclaimed actress, having received the Cesar for Best Feminine Hope for "La Boum 2" in 1983. She was elected Romantic actress for Chouans! (1988) at the Festival International du Film Romantique (International Festival of Romantic Movie) of Cabourg in 1988, and was awarded the Moliere of the Best Theatrical Revelation for "Eurydice et Pygmalion" in 1994.- Actress
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Shirley Anne Field was one of Britain's most highly respected actresses. She starred opposite Laurence Olivier, Albert Finney, Steve McQueen, Michael Caine, Daniel Day-Lewis and Ned Beatty in such classic films as The Entertainer, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The War Lover, Alfie, My Beautiful Laundrette and Hear My Song.
As a teenager, she returned to London, her birthplace. She worked as a photographic model to pay her way through acting school, and had small parts in films. Her break came when she was cast as Tina the Beauty Queen opposite Sir Laurence Oliver in The Entertainer. She credited Tony Richardson, the director, with starting her (proper) career.
Her role as "Doreen" in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning soon followed. Only 22 years old, Shirley Anne was a major film star. Her next movie, Man in the Moon, was featured in a Royal Command Performance. This resulted in her name being above the title in all the major cinemas around Leicester Square. Apparently this is a record to this day.
A friend of Richardson told Shirley how Tony and he had gone to Leicester Square to see her name in lights. She worked with Albert Finney at the Royal Court in Lindsay Anderson production of The Lily White Boys. They later worked together again, on Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, written by Alan Sillitoe.
Hollywood was paying attention. Shirley Anne was cast as the female lead in The War Lover opposite Steve McQueen and Robert Wagner. Then she starred in a Hollywood blockbuster, Kings of the Sun, with Yul Brynner and George Chakiris, filmed in Mexico.
She interspersed her film career with theatre and TV performances in Britain and around the world. She played the lead in Wait until Dark in South Africa. She played the part of "Pamela" in the U.S. television drama Santa Barbara.
In the 1980s, she met up again with Stephen Frears, with whom she had worked when they were both beginners at the Royal Court. He cast her in My Beautiful Laundrette which was a big success and a breakthrough movie Her next big film was Hear My Song, as Cathleen Doyle, was made in the 1990s.
In recent years, she toured in theatre productions such as The Cemetery Club and Five Blue Hair Ladies Sitting on a Green Park Bench. Late in her career, she appeared alongside Flora Spencer Longhurst in Beautiful Relics, a short film directed by Adrian Hedgecock.- Actress
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Mini Anden was born on 7 June 1978 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. She is an actress and producer, known for The Mechanic (2011), My Best Friend's Girl (2008) and Tropic Thunder (2008). She has been married to Taber Schroeder since 25 August 2001. They have one child.- A former leading fashion model, almost 5'10'' tall, Carey was a favorite with top American designers such as Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. Her father is a distinguished geologist who was voted Scientist of the Year in 1979 at the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists. As a result of his career Carey grew up all around the world. She started modeling part time while she was at the University of Colorado and caught the attention of a representative of the Ford model Agency in New York. She moved to France in 1980 and lived briefly in Paris and Bordeaux before deciding to return to New York to continue with her college education and modeling career and was soon appearing on the covers of Vogue, Glamour, etc. In between her modeling assignments she was a full time student obtaining a major in literature at New York University. Gradually she became interested in acting and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. She made her acting debut with a small role in 'Club Paradise' in 1986 with Robin Williams. Her leisure time is spent skiing, wind surfing, rock climbing and white water rafting.
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Ming-Na ("enlightenment") was born on the island of Macau, forty miles from Hong Kong. Her mother, Lin Chan Wen, divorced her father when Ming-Na was only a toddler. She has an older brother named Jonathan. After the divorce, they moved to Hong Kong where her mother became a nurse. There her mother met Soo Lim Yee, a U.S. businessman. They soon married, and at four years, Ming-Na moved with her family to Queens, New York. Five years later, they transferred to Yee's hometown of Pittsburgh where his family runs the Chinatown Inn restaurant. Jonathan and half-brother, Leong, now manage this restaurant. Struggling to fit in at school, she changed her name to Maggie & Doris. She found a love for acting while appearing in a third grade Easter play, where she played a klutzy bunny. Her mother was not excited about her desire to pursue acting, She preferred that she go into medicine. Nonetheless, Ming-Na graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in theatre. She got her first acting job in 1988 on the soap As the World Turns (1956). Her big break came when she was cast in The Joy Luck Club (1993). When she needed a ride to the premiere of the film, her acting instructor sent one of his students, Eric Michael Zee. The two started dating in 1994 after Ming-Na moved permanently to Los Angeles and married in 1995, dropping her last name, Wen, at that time. She says she is now like Ann-Margret. Zee is a screenwriter and, with Ming-Na, manages At Last, a boy band.- Actress
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Mariska (Ma-rish-ka) Magdolna Hargitay was born on January 23, 1964, in Santa Monica, California. Her parents are Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield. She is the youngest of their three children. In June 1967, Mariska and her brothers Zoltan and Mickey Jr. were in the back seat of a car when it was involved in the fatal accident which killed her mother. The children escaped with minor injuries. Her father remarried a stewardess named Ellen, and they raised the three children and gave them a normal childhood. They also financially supported the children, since Jayne Mansfield's debt-ridden estate left no money for them.
Mariska majored in theater at UCLA. Her first motion picture feature was the cult favorite, Ghoulies (1984), where she gave a memorable performance as Donna. Unlike her mother Jayne, who had changed her name, her hair color, and did nude pictorials to become a star, Mariska took a very different approach on her journey to become a star. She rejected advice to change her name and appearance. And she refused to copy her mother's sexy image by turning down nude scenes in her next film Jocks (1986). She told casting directors that she was her own person when she held onto her dark locks and athletic figure, when they were expecting another blond, buxom Jayne Mansfield. Mariska continued with her acting classes and waited on tables, while she landed forgettable roles in short-lived television shows. She appeared a few times on the nighttime soap Falcon Crest (1981). She also appeared in the hit film Leaving Las Vegas (1995), credited as 'Hooker at the bar', and in the flop film Lake Placid (1999) as Myra Okubo. Her recurring role on the top-rated show ER (1994) in 1998 gave her career enough of a jolt to land her the starring role of Det. Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), the first spin off from the excellent franchise of Law & Order (1990). The hour-long show deals with sex crimes and the detectives who solve these cases. Mariska played Olivia as a tough, compassionate detective, who did action scenes and her own stunt work. She reaped the rewards from the hit TV show, after struggling and studying her craft for fifteen years. She became the highest paid actress on television, and she won Emmy and Golden Globe awards for her performance. The show also changed her personal life, since she met her husband actor Peter Hermann on the set and married him on August 28, 2004. That same year, she appeared in the television movie Plain Truth (2004), in which she played attorney Ellie Harrison. Mariska became an activist, when fans of her show who were abused, would write to her, and she founded a non-profit organization called "Joyful Heart Foundation" to help "survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse."
Mariska gave birth to her son August in 2006. But that tremendous joy was soon followed by tremendous sadness when her beloved father Mickey died just two months later at the age of 80. Mariska and her husband Peter adopted two children, a girl named Amaya, and a boy named Andrew, within a span of few months in 2011.
Mariska speaks English, Hungarian, French, Spanish, and Italian, and her husband also speaks several languages, including his native language German. They divide their time between New York and Los Angeles.- Actress
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Emma Heming Willis was born on 18 June 1978 in Malta. She is an actress and producer, known for RED 2 (2013), Perfect Stranger (2007) and The Comebacks (2007). She has been married to Bruce Willis since 27 March 2009. They have two children.- Actress
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Lily Jane Collins was born in Guildford, Surrey, England. Her father is English musician Phil Collins, while her mother, Jill Tavelman, who is from Los Angeles, California, was president of the Beverly Hills Women's Club for three terms. Lily moved with her mother to LA at the age of five, after her parents split up. She is of Russian Jewish (from her maternal grandfather), English, and German descent.
Her first screen role was at the age of two in the BBC series Growing Pains, in 1992. Collins performed at the Youth Academy for Dramatic Arts as a child, but her main interest was journalism. She graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School, and attended the USC, where she majored in broadcast journalism. She began writing a column ("NY Confidential") for the British magazine Elle Girl in her teens as well as contributing to Seventeen, Teen Vogue, and the Los Angeles Times magazines.
After some early television appearances as a presenter/reporter (for instance, covering the 2008 US Presidential campaign as a host on the Nickelodeon show, Kids Pick the President (2000)), she made a couple of appearances on 90210 (2008) in 2009. She co-starred as the daughter of Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock's characters in the massive box office hit The Blind Side (2009). More dramatic roles followed, and she came to worldwide attention when she played the starring role in Mirror Mirror (2012), following it up by headlining The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) and Love, Rosie (2014).- Actress
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Katie Cassidy was born Katherine Evelyn Anita Cassidy on November 25, 1986, in Los Angeles, California. Her father, David Cassidy, was a pop star in the 1970s. Her famous relatives include uncles Shaun Cassidy, Patrick Cassidy and Ryan Cassidy, the sons by her grandfather Jack Cassidy's marriage to Shirley Jones; Katie's grandmother was Evelyn Ward. As a child, Katie took gymnastics, studied piano, guitar and singing, then took dancing and acting lessons and eventually became a cheerleader for the California Flyers. She attended Calabasas High School in her neighborhood. For years prior to graduation in 2005, Katie was modeling and studying acting in community theater. Katie had just been accepted to 'Tisch' at NYU when she was offered her first role as "Dee Dee", which was one month before graduating. Katie has not stopped working since. Katie's early exposure to show business, the cosmopolitan culture of Los Angeles, her family upbringing, and her comprehensive education altogether produced a remarkable result. She grew up as a multifaceted person showing her many talents in a variety of professions such as recording her father's 1970s hit "I Think I Love You" and singing in VH1's TV special Bubblegum Babylon (2002), writing her own songs, modeling for Abercrombie and Fitch and Guess?'s Rock and Republic clothing lines in 2004, and acting. She met her ex-boyfriend, Jesse McCartney, there and later appeared as his love interest in his video hit "She's No You". A story on Jesse and Katie appeared in the January 2006 issue of Teen People magazine. Jesse wrote the song "Bleeding Love" performed by Leona Lewis, about Cassidy and their relationship. At that time she was busy working on five feature film productions going on almost simultaneously. Katie made several appearances in TV series, such as 7th Heaven (1996) and Sex, Love & Secrets (2005), among others. She appeared as Samantha, the grown-up daughter of Adam Sandler and Kate Beckinsale in the comedy Click (2006). After the release of a teen horror film, When a Stranger Calls (2006),in which she co-starred as Tiffany, Cassidy went to Vancouver to work on her second horror film, Black Christmas (2006), in which she stars as a sorority girl. Katie recently beat out the likes of Jessica Simpson and Kristin Cavallari for the leading role opposite John Travolta as his daughter and the heir to the most powerful energy company in the world in Dallas, the big-screen remake of the cult TV series.- Priscilla Garita was born in Yonkers, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for Good Trouble (2019), Bosch (2014) and Ray Donovan (2013).
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Spanish actress Elena Anaya impressed the critics with her performance in Sex and Lucía (2001).
Elena was born in Palencia, Spain, on July 17th, 1975. An active child, she excelled in karate and mountain climbing. By the time she was 17 Elena knew that she wanted to channel her energy into being an actress and enrolled in a drama course being given in her local town by actor Manuel Moron. More determined than ever, she then opted out of school, choosing instead to audition for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in Madrid.
Moron mentioned Elena's exceptional talent to his agent, Katrina Bayonas, who was looking for a young girl to star in the film, "Africa". Elena auditioned and the role was hers.
Elena was obliged to leave the Royal Academy when Fernando Leon de Aranoa called her to work in his comedy, "Familia". But, aware of the importance of studying, Elena her formation at the Juan Carlos Corazza school of acting.
Following her feature debut in the 1996 drama "África"(Alfonso Ungría) Anaya continued to impress with supporting roles in such features as "Lagrimas negras" (Fernando Bauluz y Ricardo Franco, 1998) "Finisterre" (Xavier Villaverde, 1998), "Las Huellas borradas" (Enrique Gabriel, 1999) and the romantic drama "El Invierno de las Anjanas"(Pedro Telechea). In 2000, director Julio Medem cast her as the seductive baby sitter, Belen, in the erotic drama "Lucia y el sexo" (2001). The explosive mixture of innocence and provocation earned her a Goya (Spanish Academy Award) nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She also received the Spanish Actors Union Award for Best Supporting Actress. That same year she was featured in the comedy "Sin noticias de Dios" (Agustín Díaz Yanes 2001) with Penelope Cruz and Victoria Abril.
As her star continued to rise thanks to roles in "Dos Tipos duros" (Juan Martínez Moreno 2003) and Pedro Almodóvar's "Talk to Her", it was only a matter of time before she caught the attention of international directors and she was offered the role of Dracula's most possessive bride in 2004's "Van Helsing" (Stephen Sommers). Then, in 2004, came the action comedy "Dead Fish" (Charley Stadler) with Gary Oldman, in 2005 the thriller "Fragile" (Jaume Balagueró), and the period adventure "Capitán Alatriste "(Agustín Díaz Yanes). In 2007 she starred in "Miguel & William" (Inés París) and "Savage Grace" (Tom Kalin) with Julianne Moore.
In 2008 she was introduced to French audiences in "L'instinct de Mort" (Jean-François Richet) with Vincent Cassel and Gerard Depardieu. She then travelled to Cairo to work in the romantic drama "Cairo Time" (Ruba Nadda). Agustín Díaz Yanes called her again for his film "I only want to walk" and she then starred in Gaby Ibanez's thriller "Hierro".
2009 brought Elena and Julio Medem together again to make "Room in Rome". The role of Alba earned her Best Actress nominations for both the Spanish Actors Guild and the Goya Awards. She then returned to France to shoot Fred Cavaye's "A Bout Portant".
In 2010 Pedro Almodovar offered her the leading role of Vera in his new film "The Skin I live in" with Antonio Banderas. This role won her the 2011 Best Actress Goya (Spanish Academy Award).
In 2012 she received the honorary Málaga Sur Award at the yearly Film festival in Málaga.
This same year took Elena to Argentina to make "Pensé que iba haber fiesta". In 2013 she starred as Lupe in "Todos están muertos", directed by Beatriz Sanchis. This role won her six Best Actress nominations, the only actress to be nominated for all the awards in the 2015 Spanish Award season. She received the Spanish SAG Best Actress Award.
In 2013 Elena also starred in the Scottish film "Swung". In 2014 she shot Chilean director Matias Bize's "La memoria del Agua" and has recently finished filming Imanol Uribe's "Lejos del mar".
2015 started for Elena with a cameo role in Brad Furman's "The Infiltrator" working alongside Bryan Cranston and John Leguizamo.- Actress
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Françoise Hardy was born on 17 January 1944 in Paris, France. She is an actress and composer, known for The Dreamers (2003), The Boat That Rocked (2009) and 8 Women (2002). She has been married to Jacques Dutronc since 30 March 1981. They have one child.- Actress
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Ana de Armas was born in Cuba on April 30, 1988. At the age of 14 (2002) she began her studies at the National Theatre School of Havana, where she graduated after 4 years. At the age of 16 (2004) she made her first film, Virgin Rose (2006), directed by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón. A few titles came after until she moved to Spain, where she continued her film career, and started on TV. In 2014 she moved to Los Angeles. She has appeared in films such as War Dogs (2016), Hands of Stone (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017).- Actress
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Heather Joan Graham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Joan (Bransfield), a schoolteacher and children's book author, and James Graham, an FBI agent. She and her sister, actress Aimee Graham, were raised by their strictly Catholic parents. They relocated often, as a result of their father's occupation, and Heather became increasingly shy. Surprisingly, she had a passion for acting from an early age and despite being labeled a 'theater geek' by her peers, she was voted Most Talented by her high school senior class. Unfortunately, her love of acting created a tension between Heather and her family although her mother obligingly drove her to auditions in Hollywood throughout her adolescence.
After high school Heather moved to Los Angeles and received small roles in a variety of films including Drugstore Cowboy (1989). When her career did not take off as quickly as was hoped, Heather enrolled in the University of California at Los Angeles to get her degree in drama. It was at UCLA that she was noticed by actor James Woods and received a subsequent part in a film Woods starred in, Diggstown (1992). Heather dropped out of UCLA after two years to pursue her acting career on a full time basis. Aside from gaining a modeling contract with Emanuel Ungaro Liberte, Heather has risen to star in such films as Swingers (1996), a role she received after being taken out swing dancing by Jon Favreau, to blockbusters like Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), and Boogie Nights (1997).- Actress
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It would seem that 2004, the year of her 18th birthday, will be remembered as pivotal for Emmy Rossum due to her appearance in two very different films, The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and The Phantom of the Opera (2004). Emmy's performance in the latter film gained her a Golden Globe nomination.
Emmanuelle Grey Rossum was born in New York City, where she was raised by her single mother, Cheryl Rossum, a corporate photographer (she has only met her father a few times). Her mother is of Russian Jewish descent and her father has English and Dutch ancestry. After passing an audition at the Metropolitan Opera when she was 7 years old, Rossum performed in more than 20 operas in six different languages at Lincoln Center, alongside such figures as Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. She was directed by Franco Zeffirelli in "Carmen." She left the opera when she entered her teenage years, as she had grown too tall to perform as a child. Emmy also appeared in a Carnegie Hall presentation of "The Damnation of Faust." She graduated from the Spence School, a private institution in Manhattan, in 1996 and then earned a high school diploma when 15 years old by taking online extension courses offered by Stanford University (Education Program for Gifted Youth). She later enrolled at Columbia University and studied art history and French.
In a change of venue, Emmy created the role of Abigail Williams in the daytime soap opera As the World Turns (1956) in 1997 and branched out in performances in the made-for-television movies Genius (1999) and The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000), in which she played the title character as a young teenager. Other television work included Snoops (1999), Law & Order (1990), and The Practice (1997).
Emmy made her theatrical feature debut in the indie film Songcatcher (2000), with her good friend Rhoda Griffis, which won the Special Jury Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2000. Rossum received an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the category of Best Debut Performance for her performance as an Appalachian orphan. She played an aspiring songwriter (the title character) in the romantic comedy Nola (2003). Cast as the ill-fated daughter of a small-business owner in Clint Eastwood's Mystic River (2003), she projected an aura of innocence that made her character's tragic death memorable and heartbreaking. This was her first major studio film.
After six months of filming her role as the fresh-faced but highly intelligent teenage damsel in distress The Day After Tomorrow (2004) in Montreal, she returned to New York and screen-tested for the role of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera (2004) in full costume and makeup, and was finally selected for the part by Andrew Lloyd Webber after singing for him at his home. Although she was surprised to be chosen ahead of many better-known and older actresses considered for the part, the combination of her vulnerable, fragile beauty and fine, classically trained singing voice ultimately proved that she was perfectly cast. In preparation for the role, she took ballet classes for two months and started polishing her singing. Emmy has commented that, in her approach to acting, she draws heavily upon her own experiences, so she visited locations in Paris and conjured up what she terms "past memories" to draw upon in making her performance emotionally realistic. She stood on the roof of the Opéra Garnier, where Christine sings "All I Ask of You," and went underneath the opera house, where there is actually a gloomy, dark lake. She studied Degas's paintings of ballerinas in the Musée d'Orsay to learn how to stand like one.
Her next project Poseidon (2006) was a mainstream effort, but since its release, she has been more true to advice she obtained from Sean Penn when making Mystic River (2003), that she should be picky and only accept roles that are fun to do, such as Dragonball Evolution (2009).- Actress
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Jennifer Eve Garth was born on April 3rd, 1972 in Urbana, Illinois, USA to John and Carolyn Garth, who both had 3 children each from different marriages, before they had Jennie. She grew up on a 25-acre horse ranch outside Urbana, Illinois with her 6 older siblings: Johnny, Chuck, Lisa, Cammie, Wendy and Lynn. When Jennie was 13, she and her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. She took dancing lessons and did a little modeling while living in Arizona, and she dreamed of going to college and later start her own dance studio. At age 15, Jennie was discovered and encouraged to pursue an acting career by a talent scout, who had seen her win a talent competition. Therefore, she dropped out of high school during her junior year, and she and her mom moved to Los Angeles, California so she could become an actress. She later obtained her diploma in California. There, she started taking acting classes and went to auditions almost every day. After living in LA for about four months, she landed the role of 'Ericka McCray' on the NBC series A Brand New Life (1989). Within a year, she was cast as 'Kelly Taylor' on the long-running hit teen drama-series Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) on FOX television. Ever since, she has starred in several movies made for TV, a number of which she has produced and directed herself. On January 20th, 2001, she married actor Peter Facinelli, the father of her first daughter, Luca Bella (born June 29th, 1997), on her ranch in Santa Barbara, California. On December 6th, 2002, Jennie and Peter welcomed their second daughter, Lola Ray and their third daughter Fiona Facinelli on September 30th, 2006. Jennie most recently starred in the WB network sitcom What I Like About You (2002) as 'Valerie Tyler' until its cancellation in 2006.- Actress
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Diane Lane was born on January 22, 1965, in New York. She is the daughter of acting coach Burton Eugene "Burt" Lane and nightclub singer/centerfold Colleen Farrington. Her parents' families were both from the state of Georgia. Diane was acting from a very young age and made her stage debut at the age of six. Her work in such acclaimed theater productions as "The Cherry Orchard" and "Medea" led to her being called to Hollywood. She was 13 when she was cast by director George Roy Hill in his wonderful 1979 film A Little Romance (1979), opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. The film only did so-so commercially, but Olivier praised his young co-star, calling her the new Grace Kelly. After her well-received debut, Diane found herself on magazine covers all over the world, including "Time", which declared her the "new young acting sensation". However, things quietened down a bit when she found herself in such critical and financial flops as Touched by Love (1980), Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1980), Movie Madness (1982), Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) and, most unmemorably, Six Pack (1982), all of which failed to set her career on fire.
She also made several TV movies during this period, but it was in 1983 that she finally began to fulfill the promise of stardom that had earlier been predicted for her. Acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola took note of Diane's appeal and cast her in two "youth"-oriented films based on S.E. Hinton novels. Indeed, Rumble Fish (1983) and The Outsiders (1983) have become cult classics and resulted in her getting a loyal fan base. The industry was now taking notice of Diane Lane, and she soon secured lead roles in three big-budget studio epics. She turned down the first, Splash (1983) (which was a surprise hit for Daryl Hannah). Unfortunately, the other two were critical and box-office bombs: Walter Hill's glossy rock 'n' roll fable Streets of Fire (1984) was not the huge summer success that many had thought it would be, and the massively troubled Coppola epic The Cotton Club (1984) co-starring Richard Gere was also a high-profile flop. The back-to-back failure of both of these films could have ended her career there and then -- but thankfully it didn't. Possibly "burned out" by the lambasting these films received and unhappy with the direction her career was taking, she "retired" from the film business at age 19, saying that she had forgotten what she had started acting for. She stayed away from the screen for the next three years. Ironically, the two films that were the main causes of her "retirement" have since grown in popularity, and "Streets of Fire" especially seems to have found the kind of audience it couldn't get when it was first released.
The process of rebuilding her career was a slow and gradual one. First came the obscure and very sexy straight-to-video thriller Lady Beware (1987), followed by the critically acclaimed but little seen The Big Town (1987) with Matt Dillon and Tommy Lee Jones. In the former, Diane plays a very mysterious and sexy stripper and her memorable strip sequence is a highlight of the film. Despite her sexy new on-screen image, it wasn't until 1989's smash hit TV mini-series Lonesome Dove (1989) that Diane made another big impression on a sizable audience. Her performance in the hugely popular and critically acclaimed western epic as a vulnerable "whore with a heart" won her an Emmy nomination and much praise. Film producers were interested in her again. Another well-received TV production, Descending Angel (1990), was followed by smaller roles in major films like Richard Attenborough's Chaplin (1992) and Mike Binder's Indian Summer (1993), and larger parts in small independent films like My New Gun (1992), Vital Signs (1990) and Knight Moves (1992). Indeed, the latter two films co-starred her then-husband, Christopher Lambert, with whom she had a daughter named Eleanor.
Diane was now re-established in Hollywood and started to appear in higher-profile co-starring roles in some big-budget, major movies like Walter Hill's Wild Bill (1995), the Sylvester Stallone actioner Judge Dredd (1995), the Robin Williams's comedy Jack (1996) and Murder at 1600 (1997) co-starring Wesley Snipes. However, all of these still did not quite make Diane a "big-name star" and, by 1997, she found herself, possibly by choice, back in smaller, personal projects.
Her next role as a frustrated 1960s housewife in the independent hit A Walk on the Moon (1999) deservedly won her rave notices and, at last, gave her career the big lift it needed. The cute but tear-jerking comedy My Dog Skip (2000) also proved to be a small-scale success. However, it was the £330-million worldwide grossing blockbuster hit The Perfect Storm (2000) that finally made Diane Lane the household name that she always should have been.
After the worldwide success of "The Perfect Storm", she was more in demand than ever. She played Leelee Sobieski's sinister junkie guardian in the slick thriller The Glass House (2001), and co-starred with Keanu Reeves in the #1 smash hit Hardball (2001). However, her greatest career moment was still to come with her lead role in the enormous critical and commercial hit Unfaithful (2002), in which she superbly portrayed Richard Gere's adulterous wife. Her performance won the respect of critics and audiences alike, as well as many awards and nominations including Best Actress Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.
Her follow-up films including Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), Must Love Dogs (2005), Hollywoodland (2006), Secretariat (2010), and the blockbuster, Man of Steel (2013), were all received and her performances were highly praised. She won further Best Actress Golden Globe nominations for her roles in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) and Cinema Verite (2011).
She is very well regarded within the industry, adored by film fans, and has a credibility and quality that is all too rare today. Her immense talent at playing human and real characters, her "drop dead gorgeous" beauty and down-to-earth grittiness guarantees that she will stay on top, and she guarantee has already shown the kind of resilience that will keep her working for a long, long time.- Actress
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Jennifer Connelly was born in the Catskill Mountains, New York, to Ilene (Schuman), a dealer of antiques, and Gerard Connelly, a clothing manufacturer. Her father had Irish and Norwegian ancestry, and her mother was from a Jewish immigrant family. Jennifer grew up in Brooklyn Heights, just across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, except for the four years her parents spent in Woodstock, New York. Back in Brooklyn Heights, she attended St. Ann's school. A close friend of the family was an advertising executive. When Jennifer was ten, he suggested that her parents take her to a modeling audition. She began appearing in newspaper and magazine ads (among them "Seventeen" magazine), and soon moved on to television commercials. A casting director saw her and introduced her to Sergio Leone, who was seeking a young girl to dance in his gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America (1984). Although having little screen time, the few minutes she was on-screen were enough to reveal her talent. Her next role after that was an episode of the British horror anthology TV series Tales of the Unexpected (1979) in 1984.
After Leone's movie, horror master Dario Argento signed her to play her first starring role in his thriller Phenomena (1985). The film made a lot of money in Europe but, unfortunately, was heavily cut for American distribution. Around the same time, she appeared in the rock video "I Drove All Night," a Roy Orbison song, co-starring Jason Priestley. She released a single called "Monologue of Love" in Japan in the mid-1980s, in which she sings in Japanese a charming little song with semi-classical instruments arrangement. On the B-side is "Message Of Love," which is an interview with music in background. She also appeared in television commercials in Japan.
She enrolled at Yale, and then transferred two years later to Stanford. She trained in classical theater and improvisation, studying with the late drama coach Roy London, Howard Fine, and Harold Guskin.
The late 1980s saw her starring in a hit and three lesser seen films. Amongst the latter was her roles in Ballet (1989), as a ballerina and in Some Girls (1988), where she played a self-absorbed college freshman. The hit was Labyrinth (1986), released in 1986. Jennifer got the job after a nationwide talent search for the lead in this fantasy directed by Jim Henson and produced by George Lucas. Her career entered in a calm phase after those films, until Dennis Hopper, who was impressed after having seen her in "Some Girls", cast Jennifer as an ingénue small-town girl in The Hot Spot (1990), based upon the 1950s crime novel "Hell Hath No Fury". It received mixed critical reviews, but it was not a box office success.
The Rocketeer (1991), an ambitious Touchstone super-production, came to the rescue. The film was an old-fashioned adventure flick about a man capable of flying with rockets on his back. Critics saw in "Rocketeer" a top-quality movie, a homage to those old films of the 1930s in which the likes of Errol Flynn starred. After "Rocketeer," Jennifer made Career Opportunities (1991), The Heart of Justice (1992), Mulholland Falls (1996), her first collaboration with Nick Nolte and Inventing the Abbotts (1997). In 1998, she was invited by director Alex Proyas to make Dark City (1998), a strange, visually stunning science-fiction extravaganza. In this movie, Jennifer played the main character's wife, and she delivered an acclaimed performance. The film itself didn't break any box-office record but received positive reviews. This led Jennifer to a contract with Fox for the television series The $treet (2000), a main part in the memorable and dramatic love-story Waking the Dead (2000) and, more important, a breakthrough part in the polemic and applauded independent Requiem for a Dream (2000), a tale about the haunting lives of drug addicts and the subsequent process of decadence and destruction. In "Requiem for a Dream," Jennifer had her career's most courageous, difficult part, a performance that earned her a Spirit Award Nomination. She followed this role with Pollock (2000), in which she played Pollock's mistress, Ruth Klingman. In 2001, Ron Howard chose her to co-star with Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind (2001), the film that tells the true story of John Nash, a man who suffered from mental illness but eventually beats this and wins the Nobel Prize in 1994. Jennifer played Nash's wife and won a Golden Globe, BAFTA, AFI and Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. Connelly continued her career with films including Hulk (2003), her second collaboration with Nick Nolte, Dark Water (2005), Blood Diamond (2006), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), He's Just Not That Into You (2009) and Noah (2014), where she did her second collaboration with both Darren Aronofsky and Russell Crowe and made her third collaboration with Nick Nolte in that same film.
Jennifer lives in New York. She is 5'7", and speaks fluent Italian and French. She enjoys physical activities such as swimming, gymnastics, and bike riding. She is also an outdoors person -- camping, hiking and walking, and is interested in quantum physics and philosophy. She likes horses, Pearl Jam, SoundGarden, Jesus Jones, and occasionally wears a small picture of the The Dalai Lama on a necklace. Her favorite colors are cobalt blue, forest green, and "very pale green/gray -- sort of like the color of the sea". She likes to draw.- Emily DiDonato is known for Love Advent (2011), The Viall Files (2019) and Late Show with David Letterman (1993). She has been married to Kyle Peterson since 23 June 2018. They have one child.
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Born in New York City to legendary screen star Henry Fonda and Ontario-born New York socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw, Jane Seymour Fonda was destined early to an uncommon and influential life in the limelight. Although she initially showed little inclination to follow her father's trade, she was prompted by Joshua Logan to appear with her father in the 1954 Omaha Community Theatre production of "The Country Girl". Her interest in acting grew after meeting Lee Strasberg in 1958 and joining the Actors Studio. Her screen debut in Tall Story (1960) (directed by Logan) marked the beginning of a highly successful and respected acting career highlighted by two Academy Awards for her performances in Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978), and five Oscar nominations for Best Actress in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Julia (1977), The China Syndrome (1979), The Morning After (1986) and On Golden Pond (1981), which was the only film she made with her father. Her professional success contrasted with her personal life, which was often laden with scandal and controversy. Her appearance in several risqué movies (including Barbarella (1968)) by then-husband Roger Vadim was followed by what was to become her most debated and controversial period: her espousal of anti-establishment causes and especially her anti-war activities during the Vietnam War. Her political involvement continued with fellow activist and husband Tom Hayden in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the 1980s she started the aerobic exercise craze with the publication of the "Jane Fonda's Workout Book". She and Hayden divorced, and she married broadcasting mogul Ted Turner in 1991.- Actress
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Jane Levy was born in California, USA. Jane attended Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo, California. While in school, she was on the hip hop dancing team and was captain of the soccer team. During that time, she also appeared in Community Theater productions of Annie and The Wizard of Oz. She attended Goucher College for a semester. After that, she attended the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City.
Levy's parents and siblings supported her in her career. She moved back to Los Angeles after two years of living in New York City. Levy was cast as "Mandy Milkovich" in a five-episode role on the Showtime series Shameless (2011) within a few weeks of returning to the West Coast. In March 2011, she landed the first lead role of her career on the sitcom Suburgatory (2011), with Jeremy Sisto and Cheryl Hines. On May 9, 2014, Suburgatory (2011) was canceled by ABC after three seasons.
Levy was named by both TV Guide and TheInsider.com as one of the breakout stars of 2011, and was included on the top eleven list of funniest women compiled by AOL. Forbes named her as one of the handful of entertainment stars on their list of 30 under 30 who are "reinventing the world" (a list of the brightest stars of the future). She appeared in two films in 2012, Fun Size (2012) and Nobody Walks (2012). Released before Halloween, Fun Size (2012) co-starred Victoria Justice and comedian Chelsea Handler. While filming it, Levy was disappointed that she failed to meet co-star Johnny Knoxville, as he was on set for the one week of shooting that she was not.
Levy later starred in the 2013 remake of the horror classic Evil Dead (2013), as the drug-dependent Mia, replacing Lily Collins, who had originally been cast. The following year, she starred in two independent films, About Alex (2014) and Bang Bang Baby (2014). In 2015, Levy co-starred opposite Rene Russo in Frank and Cindy (2015). In 2016, she starred in her Evil Dead director Fede Alvarez's horror film Don't Breathe (2016), the story of friends who break into the house of a wealthy blind man. That same year, she co-starred with Lucas Till in Monster Trucks (2016), Paramount Animation's first live-action/CGI film, directed by Chris Wedge.
In 2017, Levy appeared in I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017) directed by Macon Blair, and will star in zombie comedy Office Uprising (2018). She played the female lead in the The Pretenders (2018), a romantic drama directed by James Franco. Also in 2017, Levy appeared in the Showtime series Twin Peaks (2017).- Actress
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Kim Yoo-Jung is a South Korean actress. She debuted as a model for a confectionery brand at the age of four. After her acting debut in 2003, she became one of the most in-demand child actresses in Korea. She gained public attention for starring in the television series Dong Yi (2010), Moon Embracing the Sun (2012), May Queen (2012), Golden Rainbow (2013), Secret Door (2014), and Angry Mom (2015). She also starred in the films Commitment (2013), Thread of Lies (2014), and Circle of Atonement (2015). She hosted the music show Inkigayo from November 2014 to April 2016.
She took on her first leading role in the historical romance drama Love in the Moonlight (2016) and starred in the romantic comedy film Because I Love You (2017), television drama Clean with Passion for Now (2018), Backstreet Rookie (2020), mystery thriller film The 8th Night (2021), historical fantasy romance drama Lovers of the Red Sky (2021), and teen romance film 20th Century Girl (2022).
Kim has been nicknamed "Nation's Little Sister" after playing various child roles and "Sageuk fairy" after taking roles in several acclaimed historical dramas in her career. She also gained the nicknames "Nation's First Love" and "Global First Love" following her well-loved performance in 20th Century Girl. In 2017, she ranked 8th on the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list, the youngest to be included in the Top 10 at the age of 17.- Actress
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Jamie Chung was born and raised in California, the daughter of Korean parents. She studied Economics at the University of California, Riverside. Chung's break came in 2004, when she was working in a sports bar. MTV held auditions for The Real World (1992) there, she tried out, and was successful, appearing in the San Diego based fourteenth season.
Chung went on to successfully launched an acting career, making her debut with a small part in Veronica Mars (2004). Roles in other TV series followed, including Days of Our Lives (1965) and Greek (2007). She also transitioned into feature films with such projects as Sorority Row (2009), Sucker Punch (2011) and The Hangover Part II (2011).- Actress
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January Jones was born on January 5, 1978 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She is the daughter of Karen Sue (née Cox), a sporting goods store manager, and Marvin Roger Jones, a gym teacher and fitness director. She is of Czech, Danish, English, Welsh, and German ancestry. She was named after the character January Wayne in Jacqueline Susann's potboiler novel turned film, Once Is Not Enough (1975). She has two sisters, Jacey Jones and Jina Jones].
Her family moved to the small town of Hecla, South Dakota, with a population of just some 400 souls in 1979, when she was one year old; they moved back to Sioux Falls in 1986. After graduating from Roosevelt High School, she moved to New York City to become a model. Despite her stature (5'6", which is short for a fashion model), she got modeling gigs, including Abercrombie & Fitch ads. However, modeling was just a means to an end, to get out of South Dakota and avoid going to college.
She got her first taste of acting from TV commercials and found that she had flair for it, even though she did not act in high school and had no training. January appeared in a couple of television pilots and a cable television series before making her big screen debut in All the Rage (1999), an indie that never got a real release. She followed it up with a small role in the teen thriller The Glass House (2001). Her actual debut in the sense of attracting attention was in the near silent role of the beauty who entices Jane Fonda's son, Troy Garity, in the Bruce Willis-Cate Blanchett-Billy Bob Thornton comedy Bandits (2001). It was not a career-making part. At the time the movie was released, she was ending a three-year relationship with Ashton Kutcher.
Small roles followed, including a "don't blink or you won't see me" part in the Adam Sandler-Jack Nicholson comedy Anger Management (2003). She gained some career traction with a good role in another comedy, American Wedding (2003), a sequel to American Pie (1999). Until she landed the part on Mad Men (2007), which made its debut on AMC in 2007, her career was steady but undistinguished. "I choose roles that are not me", January has said. The role of Betty Draper has garnered her two Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy nomination as Best Actress. Her cool, Grace Kelly-ish blonde ice queen looks -- counterpointed by her soul burning in her bright blue eyes -- have established her as a retro icon of the 21st Century.- Actress
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Nazanin Boniadi film and television credits are a testament to her versatility, spanning a breadth of genres including drama, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy and action. She recently starred as Bronwyn in the first season of Amazon's global hit series adaptation The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), she also starred alongside J.K. Simmons in the critically acclaimed Starz series Counterpart (2017), created and produced by Justin Marks. She was the female lead of the Thunder Road / Bleecker Street feature Hotel Mumbai (2018) from director Anthony Maras, in which she starred opposite Dev Patel and was nominated for an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Award (AACTA), as well as had a supporting role in the Jay Roach and Charles Randolph's Roger Ailes film BOMBSHELL for Lionsgate and BRON opposite Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie. She also portrayed Ester in the 2016 major motion picture Ben-Hur (2016), and had a supporting role in Jon Favreau's Iron Man (2008).
Among her many television credits, Boniadi earned an outstanding drama ensemble SAG nomination for her work on Showtime's hit series Homeland (2011) in which she played CIA analyst Fara Sherazi. She portrayed Nora, a relatively longstanding love interest to Neil Patrick Harris's Barney Stinson, in seasons six and seven of How I Met Your Mother (2005). She also appeared as the notorious Adnan Salif in season three of Shonda Rhimes' hit political drama Scandal (2012).
Born in Tehran in the direct aftermath of the Iranian Revolution, Boniadi's parents relocated to London, England, shortly thereafter, where she was raised with an emphasis on education. While she was involved in theatre early in life, Boniadi later decided she wanted to become a physician. She moved to the United States at the age of 19 to attend the University of California, Irvine, where she received her Bachelor's Degree, with Honors (Dean's Academic Achievement and Service Award) in Biological Sciences, and won the "Chang Pin Chun" Undergraduate Research Award for her work in heart-transplant rejection and cancer research.
Switching gears to pursue her first love, Boniadi then decided to study acting, which included training in Contemporary Drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London under the supervision of dramaturge Lloyd Trott.
Boniadi is fluent in both English and Persian. She is also a longtime, renowned human rights activist, with a focus on her homeland Iran. Among her numerous recognitions she is the 2023 Sydney Peace Prize laureate. She has served as an ambassador for Amnesty International UK since 2020, and has been a member of the board of directors of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran since 2023. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.- Actress
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Michelle Lynn Monaghan was born on March 23, 1976, in Winthrop, Iowa. She is the youngest of three children and the only daughter of Sharon (Hamel), who ran a day care center, and Robert L. Monaghan, a factory worker and farmer. She is of mostly Irish and German descent. After graduating from high school in Iowa, she studied journalism for three years at Chicago's Columbia College. In order to pay for college, she took a job as a model. In 1999, she quit college and moved to New York to work full-time as a fashion model. She traveled the world doing stints on the runways in Milan, Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, and also appeared in a number of magazines and catalogs.
In 2000, she made her TV debut in two episodes of Young Americans (2000), then appeared in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). She made her big screen debut with a small role of Henrietta in Perfume (2001). Monaghan shot to fame in 2002 when she co-starred as Kimberly Woods for one season on the TV series Boston Public (2000). After appearances in several supporting roles, she starred opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer in the black comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). Later in 2005, Monaghan was filming in China, Italy, and the United States on Mission: Impossible III (2006), as the female lead opposite Tom Cruise.
In August of 2005, in Sydney, Australia, she married her long-time sweetheart, Peter White, a New York based graphic designer, whom she met at a Manhattan party five years earlier.- Actress
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Audrey Justine Tautou was born on August 9, 1976 in Beaumont, France, to Evelyne Marie Laure (Nuret), a teacher, and Bernard Tautou, a dental surgeon. Audrey showed an interest for comedy at an early age and started her acting lessons at 'Cours Florent'. In 1998 she won the best young actress award in the ninth 'Jeune Comedien de Cinema Festival' in Bezier. Then, she came to the attention of Tonie Marshall who gave her a role in her film Venus Beauty Institute (1999) for which she won a Best New Actress Cesar. It came as a surprise to even Audrey: "I was so certain I could not be chosen that I told her that she probably dialled a wrong number." The director chose her for her natural nature: "She came, she gaffed, she turned reddish, her ears were in a funny position and her hair was relaxed. In five minutes, she gave me the heart of the character, a petite young girl who would like to be a lady and will become a woman." In 2000, Audrey was again nominated for a Cesar and her movie Amélie (2001) has been a phenomenal success worldwide.- Actress
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With prominent cheekbones, luminous skin and the most crystalline green eyes of her day, Gene Tierney's striking good looks helped propel her to stardom. Her best known role is the enigmatic murder victim in Laura (1944). She was also Oscar-nominated for Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Her acting performances were few in the 1950s as she battled a troubled emotional life that included hospitalization and shock treatment for depression.
Gene Eliza Tierney was born on November 19, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, to well-to-do parents, Belle Lavinia (Taylor) and Howard Sherwood Tierney. Her father was a successful insurance broker and her mother was a former teacher. Her childhood was lavish indeed. She also lived, at times, with her equally successful grandparents in Connecticut and New York. She was educated in the finest schools on the East Coast and at a finishing school in Switzerland.
After two years in Europe, Gene returned to the US where she completed her education. By 1938 she was performing on Broadway in What a Life! and understudied for the Primrose Path (1938) at the same time. Her wealthy father set up a corporation that was only to promote her theatrical pursuits. Her first role consisted of carrying a bucket of water across the stage, prompting one critic to announce that "Miss Tierney is, without a doubt, the most beautiful water carrier I have ever seen!" Her subsequent roles Mrs O'Brian Entertains (1939) and RingTwo (1939) were meatier and received praise from the tough New York critics. Critic Richard Watts wrote "I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have a long and interesting theatrical career, that is if the cinema does not kidnap her away."
After being spotted by the legendary Darryl F. Zanuck during a stage performance of the hit show The Male Animal (1940), Gene was signed to a contract with 20th Century-Fox. Her first role as Barbara Hall in Hudson's Bay (1940) would be the send-off vehicle for her career. Later that year she appeared in The Return of Frank James (1940). The next year would prove to be a very busy one for Gene, as she appeared in The Shanghai Gesture (1941), Sundown (1941), Tobacco Road (1941) and Belle Starr (1941). She tried her hand at screwball comedy in Rings on Her Fingers (1942), which was a great success. Her performances in each of these productions were masterful. In 1945 she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Ellen Brent in Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Though she didn't win, it solidified her position in Hollywood society. She followed up with another great performance as Isabel Bradley in the hit The Razor's Edge (1946).
In 1944, she played what is probably her best-known role (and, most critics agree, her most outstanding performance) in Otto Preminger's Laura (1944), in which she played murder victim named Laura Hunt. In 1947 Gene played Lucy Muir in the acclaimed The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). By this time Gene was the hottest player around, and the 1950s saw no letup as she appeared in a number of good films, among them Night and the City (1950), The Mating Season (1951), Close to My Heart (1951), Plymouth Adventure (1952), Personal Affair (1953) and The Left Hand of God (1955). The latter was to be her last performance for seven years. The pressures of a failed marriage to Oleg Cassini, the birth of a daughter with learning disabilities in 1943, and several unhappy love affairs resulted in Gene being hospitalized for depression. When she returned to the the screen in Advise & Consent (1962), her acting was as good as ever but there was no longer a big demand for her services.
Her last feature film was The Pleasure Seekers (1964), and her final appearance in the film industry was in a TV miniseries, Scruples (1980). Gene died of emphysema in Houston, Texas, on November 6, 1991, just two weeks shy of her 71st birthday.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Denise Richards was born in Downers Grove, Illinois, the older of two daughters of Joni Lee, who owned a coffee shop, and Irv Richards, a telephone engineer. She has German, French-Canadian, Irish, English, and Welsh ancestry. She grew up in the Chicago area, until the family relocated to Oceanside, CA when Denise was 15. She began working as a model, and moved to L.A. after she graduated from high school. She landed parts in both TV and movies, and gave breakthrough performances in Starship Troopers (1997) with Casper Van Dien, Wild Things (1998) and The World Is Not Enough (1999), in which she plays a Bond Girl. She also was in Undercover Brother (2002) with Eddie Griffin and appeared in Scary Movie 3 (2003) with her now ex-husband, Charlie Sheen.- Actress
- Composer
- Additional Crew
Victoria Justice is an American actress and singer. She was born on February 19, 1993 in Hollywood, Florida, USA. She is the daughter of Serene Reed and Zack Justice. Her mother has Puerto Rican ancestry, while her father is of English, German, and Irish descent. She has a younger half-sister, Madison Reed.
She rose to fame on Nickelodeon, starring as Lola Martinez in the television series, Zoey 101 (2005), and Tori Vega in the sitcom, Victorious (2010).
She starred in the films, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010), The First Time (2012) and Fun Size (2012).
She released her debut single "Gold" on June 18, 2013.
She starred in the film, Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (2015) in the MTV television series, Eye Candy (2015).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Kelly Preston was born on October 13, 1962 in Honolulu, Hawaii. A talented and captivating performer, she first garnered international attention with her role as "Marnie Mason" in Ivan Reitman's Twins (1988), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. With her diverse character portrayals in films, such as director Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire (1996); Citizen Ruth (1996) for Alexander Payne; and For Love of the Game (1999), directed by Sam Raimi, she continued to capture audience attention.
In the early part of her career, Kelly worked with notable director John Frankenheimer in the Elmore Leonard film, 52 Pick-Up (1986), alongside Roy Scheider and Ann-Margret. Her career saw her cast her beside some of Hollywood's most notable names, including Kevin Spacey in Casino Jack (2010); Quentin Tarantino, George Clooney, and Harvey Keitel in Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn (1996); Kevin Bacon in Death Sentence (2007); Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick in Addicted to Love (1997); Debra Winger, Zooey Deschanel, and Hank Azaria in Eulogy (2004); Mike Myers in The Cat in the Hat (2003); and Rod Steiger and Julie Harris in the Academy Award-nominated short, Little Surprises (1996).
Kelly was actively involved in education, drug reform and many charitable organizations. She was acknowledged with numerous awards as a result of her work. She married John Travolta on September 12, 1991, and they had three children.
Kelly died on July 12, 2020, in Ocala, Florida, after a two-year battle with breast cancer. She was 57.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
On January 30, 1937, renowned theatre actor Michael Redgrave was performing in a production of Hamlet in London. During the curtain call, the show's lead, Laurence Olivier, announced to the audience: "tonight a great actress was born". This was in reference to his co-star's newborn daughter, Vanessa Redgrave.
Vanessa was born in Greenwich, London, to Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, both thespians. Three quarters of a century after her birth (despite numerous ups and down) this rather forward expectation has definitely been lived up to with an acclaimed actress that has won (among many others) an Academy Award, two Emmys, two Golden Globes, two Cannes Best Actress awards, a Tony, a Screen Actors Guild award, a Laurence Olivier theatre award and a BAFTA fellowship.
Growing up with such celebrated theatrical parents, great expectations were put on both herself, her brother Corin Redgrave and sister Lynn Redgrave at an early age. Shooting up early and finally reaching a height just short of 6 foot, Redgrave initially had plans to dance and perform ballet as a profession. However she settled on acting and entered the Central School of Speech and Drama in 1954 and four years later made her West End debut. In the decade of the 1960s she developed and progressed to become one of the most noted young stars of the English stage and then film. Performances on the London stage included the classics: 'A Touch of Sun', 'Coriolanus', 'A Midsummer's Night Dream', 'All's Well that Ends Well', 'As You Like It', 'The Lady from the Sea', 'The Seagull' and many others. By the mid 1960s, she had booked various film roles and matured into a striking beauty with a slim, tall frame and attractive face. In 1966 she made her big screen debut as the beautiful ex-wife of a madman in an Oscar nominated performance in the oddball comedy Morgan! (1966), as well as the enigmatic woman in a public park in desperate need of a photographer's negatives in the iconic Blow-Up (1966) and briefly appeared in an unspoken part of Anne Boleyn in the Best Picture winner of the year A Man for All Seasons (1966).
She managed to originate the title role in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" the same year on the London stage (which was then adapted for the big screen a few years later, but Maggie Smith was cast instead and managed to win an Oscar for her performance). Her follow up work saw her play the lead in the box office hit adaptation Camelot (1967), a film popular with audiences but dismissed by critics, and her second Academy Award nominated performance as Isadora Duncan in the critically praised Isadora (1968).
Her rise in popularity on film also coincided with her public political involvement, she was one of the lead faces in protesting against the Vietnam war and lead a famous march on the US embassy, was arrested during a Ban-the-Bomb demonstration, publicly supported Yasar Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and fought for various other human rights and particularly left wing causes. Despite her admirably independent qualities, most of her political beliefs weren't largely supported by the public. In 1971 after 3 films back to back, Redgrave suffered a miscarriage (it would have been her fourth, after Natasha Richardson, Joely Richardson and Carlo Gabriel Nero) and a break up with her then partner and father of her son, Franco Nero. This was around the same time her equally political brother Corin introduced her to the Workers Revolutionary Party, a group who aimed to destroy capitalism and abolish the monarchy. Her film career began to suffer and take the back seat as she became more involved with the party, twice unsuccessfully attempting to run as a party member for parliament, only obtaining a very small percentage of votes.
In terms of her film career at the time, she was given probably the smallest part in the huge ensemble who-dunnit hit, Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and given another thankless small part as Lola Deveraux in the Sherlock Holmes adventure The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976).
After a celebrated Broadway debut, she created further controversy in 1977 with her involvement in two films, firstly in Julia (1977) where she acted opposite Jane Fonda as a woman fighting Nazi oppression and narrated and featured in the documentary The Palestinian (1977) where she famously danced holding a Kalashnikov rifle. She publicly stated her condemnation of what she termed "Zionist hudlums", which outraged Jewish groups and as a result a screening of her documentary was bombed and Redgrave was personally threatened by the Jewish Defense League (JDL). Julia (1977) happened to be a huge critical success and Redgrave herself was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, but Jewish support groups demanded her nomination to be dropped and at the event of the Academy Awards burned effigies of Redgrave and protested and picketed. Redgrave was forced to enter the event via a rear entrance to avoid harm and when she won the award she famously remarked on the frenzy causes as "Zionist hoodlums" which caused the audience to audibly gasp and boo. The speech reached newspapers the next morning and her reputation was further damaged.
It came as a surprise when CBS hired her for the part of real life Nazi camp survivor Fania Fenelon in Playing for Time (1980), despite more controversy and protesting (Fenelon herself didn't even want Redgrave to portray her) she won an Emmy for the part and the film was one of the highest rating programs of the year. Her follow up film work to her Oscar had been mostly low key but successful, performances in films such as Yanks (1979), Agatha (1979), The Bostonians (1984), Wetherby (1985) and Prick Up Your Ears (1987) further cemented her reputation as a fine actress and she received various accolades and nominations.
However mainly in the 1980s, she focused on TV films and high budget mini-series as well as theatre in both London and New York. She made headlines in 1984 when she sued the Boston Symphony Orchestra for $5 million for wrongful cancellation of her contract because of her politics (she also stated her salary was significantly reduced in Agatha (1979) for the same reason). She became more mainstream in the 1990s where she appeared in a string of high profile films but the parts often underused Redgrave's abilities or they were small cameos/5-minute parts. Highlights included Howards End (1992), Little Odessa (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996) and Cradle Will Rock (1999), as well as her leading lady parts in A Month by the Lake (1995) and Mrs Dalloway (1997).
In 2003 she finally won the coveted Tony award for her performance in 'The Long Day's Journey Into Night' and followed up with another two Tony nominated performances on Broadway, her one woman show 'The Year of Magical Thinking' in 2007 and 'Driving Miss Daisy' in 2010 which not only was extended due to high demand, but was also transferred to the West End for an additional three months in 2011.
Vanessa continues to lend her name to causes and has been notable for donating huge amounts of her own money for her various beliefs. She has publicly opposed the war in Iraq, campaigned for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, supported the rights of gays and lesbians as well as AIDs research and many other issues. She released her autobiography in 1993 and a few years later she was elected to serve as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. She also famously declined the invitation to be made a Dame for her services as an actress. Many have wondered the possible heights her career could have reached if it wasn't for her outspoken views, but being a celebrity and the artificial lifestyle usually attached doesn't seem to interest Redgrave in the slightest.
Vanessa has worked with all three of her children professionally on numerous occasions (her eldest daughter, Natasha Richardson tragically died at the age of 45 due to a skiing accident) and in her mid 70s she still works regularly on television, film and theatre, delivering time and time again great performances.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Emmanuelle Béart was born August 14, 1963, in Gassin, France. She lived with her mother, brothers, and sister on a farm not far from Saint-Tropez in Provence (southern France), because her father, singer and poet Guy Béart, did not want his children to be affected by the glamour world of Paris. When Emmanuelle was thirteen, she saw Romy Schneider in the movie Mado (1976). From that time on, she wanted to be an actress. In Emmanuelle's teens, her parents sent her to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, for four years, so she could learn English. There, she was engaged for a Robert Altman movie that was never made. After returning to France, she took drama classes and got her first TV role, in Raison perdue (1984). David Hamilton, the photographer/director, was impressed by her beauty and gave her a role in First Desires (1983). She met her spouse-to-be, Daniel Auteuil, while making Love on the Quiet (1985). The film that made her famous in France was Manon of the Spring (1986), in which she played the role of a blonde shepherd dancing nude in the fields. Director Tom McLoughlin chose her out of 5,000 candidates for her first Hollywood picture, Date with an Angel (1987). Emmanuelle is a very sensitive and a perfectionist. For the part of Camille in the film A Heart in Winter (1992), she took violin lessons for a whole year. Her biggest success was as a nude model in the art film La Belle Noiseuse (1991), which starred Michel Piccoli and was directed by Jacques Rivette.- Actress
- Producer
- Talent Agent
Catherine Fabienne Deneuve was born October 22, 1943 in Paris, France, to actor parents Renée Simonot and Maurice Dorléac. She made her movie debut in 1957, when she was barely a teenager and continued with small parts in minor films, until Roger Vadim gave her a meatier role in Vice and Virtue (1963). Her breakthrough came with the excellent musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), in which she gave an unforgettable performance as a romantic middle-class girl who falls in love with a young soldier but gets imprisoned in a loveless marriage with another man; the director was the gifted Jacques Demy, who also cast Deneuve in the less successful The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). She then played a schizophrenic killer in Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965) and a married woman who works as a part-time prostitute every afternoon in Luis Buñuel's masterpiece Belle de Jour (1967). She also worked with Buñuel in Tristana (1970) and gave a great performance for François Truffaut in Mississippi Mermaid (1969), a kind of apotheosis of her "frigid femme fatale" persona. In the seventies she didn't find parts of that caliber, but her magnificent work in Truffaut's The Last Metro (1980) as a stage actress in Nazi-occupied Paris revived her career. She was also very good in the epic drama Indochine (1992), for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination (Best Actress). Although the elegant and always radiant Deneuve has never appeared on stage, she is universally hailed as one of the "grandes dames" of French cinema, joining a list that includes such illustrious talents as Simone Signoret, Jeanne Moreau, Isabelle Huppert, Isabelle Adjani and the younger Juliette Binoche.