Thursday, October 6, 2011

David Schwimmer


David Lawrence Schwimmer was born on November 2, 1966, in Queens, New York, to Jewish parents, attorneys Arthur and Arlene Colman Schwimmer. He was raised in Los Angeles where he attended the famed Beverly Hills High School. He considered on following the footsteps of his parents and enrolled in Chicago's Northwestern University to pursue law but was bitten by an acting bug and embraced it. At the age of 10, he had his first experiences of acting when he was cast in a Jewish version of “Cinderella”. In 1979, Schwimmer went to a Shakespeare workshop given by English actor Ian McKellen in Los Angeles. He also joined a contest in the Southern California Shakespeare Festival three years in a row, winning two first prizes. Following graduation from Northwestern, Schwimmer gained enough stage experience in Chicago theatre to co-found the Lookingglass Theatre Company with fellow actors. He remains passionate about his involvement with the troupe and has starred in or directed many of their productions.

Schwimmer made the first of several attempts to break into Hollywood, when he was cast as a killer in the made-for-TV thriller A Deadly Silence in 1989. He then appeared in a number of television roles, including L.A. Law, The Wonder Years, NYPD Blue, and Monty in the early 1990s. Schwimmer received his breakthrough role in 1994 when he was cast as Ross Geller in NBC's situation comedy Friends, a series that revolved around a group of friends who live together in Manhattan, New York City. He played a hopeless-romantic paleontologist who works at a museum and later becomes a professor at a university His first leading film role was in The Pallbearer (1996), which was followed by roles in Kissing a Fool (1998), Six Days Seven Nights (1998), Apt Pupil, and Picking Up the Pieces (2000). He was then cast in the miniseries Band of Brothers (2001) as Herbert Sobel.

Following the series finale of Friends in 2004, Schwimmer was cast as the titular character in the 2005 drama Duane Hopwood. Other film roles include the computer animated film Madagascar (2005), the dark comedy Big Nothing (2006), the thriller Nothing But the Truth(2008), and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008). Schwimmer made his London stage debut in the leading role in Some Girl(s) in 2005. In 2006, he made his Broadway debut in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Schwimmer made his feature film directorial debut with the 2007 comedyRun Fatboy Run. The following year he made his Off-Broadway directorial debut in the 2008 production Fault Lines.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Shane West


Shane West was born Shannon Bruce Snaith on June 10, 1978 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to both musician parents (Leah Catherine and Don Snaith). He has a younger sister Simone and a much younger half-sister Marli Ann. His parents got divorced when he was young and eventually decided to move to California with his mother and younger sister Simone. He is of Cajun French descent through his mother.
West began to pursue an acting career at the age of fifteen, gaining bit parts on various television shows like “ER” as Dr. Ray Barnett and “Once and Again” as Eli Sammler where he got his major breakthrough. He also had a small appearance in the television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” in the episode "Go Fish" before leading role as Landon Carter opposite Mandy Moore in the film “A Walk to Remember”. West won the “Young Hollywood Award” Male Superstar of Tomorrow in 2002. He also won a Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry with Mandy Moore for the film A Walk to Remember. West has made his mark on the screen within such films as “Liberty Heights” and “Whatever It Takes”. Aside from acting, West continues the musical traditions of his family with his punk rock band, Average Jo, for which he writes and plays guitar.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Jim Caviezel


He was born James Patrick Caviezel Jr. on September 26, 1968 in Mount Vernon, Washington to parents Margaret and James Caviezel, a homemaker and chiropractor, respectively. He grew up hoping to one day play basketball at the University of Washington. While working towards that goal with a spot on the basketball team at Bellevue Community College, Caviezel's professional sports dreams ended with a sidelining injury. His interests soon drifted elsewhere, including "discovering" the school's acting program. He auditioned for a small part as an Italian ticket agent in Gus Van Sant's “My Own Private Idaho” (1991). He landed the role by fooling casting agents into believing he was a recent Italian immigrant.
Caviezel was best known for his sensitive portrayal of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson's controversial "The Passion of the Christ" (2004), though the actor's resume included dozens of other memorable dramatic performances in blockbusters and indie films alike. From his earliest supporting roles in films like Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" (1998), Caviezel was often cast as brooding, deeply pained men like the mourning firefighter who communicates with his dead father in "Frequency" (2000) or the vengeful military reject in "Déjà vu" (2006). With his compelling screen presence and dashing, vintage Hollywood looks, he carried off a successful remake of "The Count of Monte Cristo" (2002); likewise making an excellent showing in the remake of the television series "The Prisoner" (AMC, 2009- ), which showcased the actor's forte for playing introspective but imperilled protagonists.

Ryan Reynolds


Ryan Rodney Reynolds was on born October 23, 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to a father who is a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police who later became a food wholesaler and a mother who is a retail salesperson. He is of Irish ancestry and the youngest of four brothers and were raised Roman Catholic. Hailed by his northern countrymen as "The Canadian Ham," actor Ryan Reynolds was even better known as the supreme idol to a mostly intoxicated, segment of the population, following his starring role in "National Lampoon's Van Wilder" (2002). The predictably bawdy flick helped him gain notice, but he suffered through a slow-moving portion of his career that nearly prompted him to quit.
In 2003, Reynolds went back and did notable remakes like "The In-Laws" (2003) and "The Amityville Horror" (2005) before donning a fat suit to play an obese high school student in the romantic comedy "Just Friends" (2005). It was followed with an appearance in the all-star ensemble crime thriller "Smokin' Aces" (2006) and starred in lower profile films like "The Nines" (2007), "Definitely, Maybe" (2008) and "Adventureland (2009). Stepping into the blockbuster arena, he was the mercenary Deadpool in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" (2009) before heading back to the comfortable confines of romantic comedies with "The Proposal" (2009). Reynolds finally earned respect with the performance of his life in the indie drama "Buried" (2010), playing an Iraq War contractor buried inside a coffin and held for ransom. From there, he followed up with a high-profile starring turn as "The Green Lantern" (2011), which allowed the affable Reynolds to demonstrate his mettle as a leading man in all types of genre films.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Mark Matkevich


Mark Matkevich is an American actor born on June 19, 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He appeared in 17 episodes of the television teen program “Dawson’s Creek” and perhaps best known for his role as Drue Valentine. Matkevich has also had recurring roles on “Ed and Joan of Arcadia”. He portrayed the role of Dan - a medical student in an episode of “True Calling” (episode entitled "Haunted") and had a guest star role in Season 5 (series five) of “NCIS”. He also was a guest star on “Drake & Josh” in an episode entitled "Guitar," where he plays a rock guitarist for whom Drake substitutes in a concert after Josh accidentally breaks the hand of Mark Matkevich's character. Despite of tight schedules, he still manages to get into music. He is a member of Los Angeles indie rock band “The Spies”.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar


Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar is an American actor born on March 1, 1974 in Panorama City, California to a Dutch father and Dutch-Indonesian mother. He is a former child model segued to acting with a 1987 guest appearance on “Highway to Heaven” and soon added roles in “Charles in Charge” and “Punky Brewster” to his resume. Gosselaar rose to fame among the “Tiger Beat” set during his four-year (1989-93) stint as the cute preppy blond Zack Morris in NBC’s “Saved by the Bell” which led to a primetime spin-off “Saved By the Bell: The College Years” and various TV-movies based on the series.
Gosselaar branched out to serve as creative consultant and host of the short-lived NBC game show "Brains and Brawn" (1993) prior moving to films. Unfortunately, most of his efforts were in low-budget genre fare that moved directly to video (i.e., "Twisted Love" 1995). The actor found a niche playing against type (and often with dark hair) in more dramatic TV-movies along the lines of his accused rapist in "She Cried No" (NBC, 1997) before heading to the big screen as a wealthy student with poor grades who seeks a loophole in the uneven comedy "Dead Man on Campus" (1998). The same year, he played the central character in the TV drama Hyperion Bay, which lasted 17 episodes. A follow-up series, the youth-minded political drama “D.C.” failed to score, however, his career fortunes soared and managed to evolve into a primetime leading man when he joined the cast of ABC’s long-running police drama “NYPD Blue” in 2001. He was also starred in the movie “The Princess and The Marine” with Marisol Nicholas.
After “NYPD Blue”, Gosselaar joined the cast of ABC's Commander in Chief, starring Geena Davis; however, that series lasted only one season. He also appeared as a guest on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” an on the HBO series “John from Cincinnati”. Soon after, he landed the role of defense attorney Jerry Kellerman in the Steven Bochoco-produced “Raising the Bar” but was cancelled after a year. He made his Off-Broadway stage debut in Theresa Rebeck’s play “The Understudy” with The Roundabout Theatre Company in October 2009 which was extended its limited New York run until January 17, 2010.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Kevin Costner


Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman born on January 18, 1955 in Lynwood, California . He is the youngest of the three sons (the middle of whom died at birth) of Sharon Rae, awelfare worker, and William Costner, an electrician and later utilities executive. He has German, English, Irish, and Cherokee ancestry (his Oklahoma-born paternal grandfather was half Cherokee). He attended Cabrillo Middle School andVilla Park High School. Costner was not academically inclined. Rather, he enjoyed sports, took piano lessons, wrote poetry and sang in the First Baptist Choir.
This handsome, amiable man with a stoic, deadpan style made his now-infamous major film debut in director Lawrence Kasdan’s “The Big Chill” in 1983. Though his scenes ended up being excised nearly completely, the cutting room disaster only delayed Costner's rise to superstardom. In recompense, Kasdan gave him the prominent, flashy role of the wild gunfighter, Jake, in the action-packed neo-modern western, "Silverado" (1985). Costner's frequent collaborations with Kasdan - as well as directors Ron Shelton and Kevin Reynolds - yielded an impressive string of hits through to the 1990s, cementing his status as one of Hollywood's top leading men. Equally comfortable in variety of genres, Costner's aura of straightforward common virtue earned him comparisons with Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart.
Costner has been nominated for three BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards, two-time Academy Award-winner and two Golden Globe Awards. Among of Costner’s renowned films include “Dances with Wolves” portraying the role of Lt. John J. Dunbar, “JFK” as Jim Garrison, “Field of Dreams” as Ray Kinsella, “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” playing Robin Hood, “Bull Durnham” as Crash Davis, in “A Perfect World” as Robert “Butch” Haynes, “The Bodyguard” as Frank Farmer and in “The Untouchables”. He also founded the band “Modern West” in 2007 and has performed with the band since then.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Patrick Dempsey



Patrick Galen Dempsey was born on Jan. 13, 1966 in Lewiston, Maine to Irish parents Amanda and William Dempsey. He grew up in Lewiston, attending St. Dominic Regional High School in the nearby town of Auburn. Diagnosed with dyslexia as a teenager, Dempsey struggled with the then misunderstood learning disability, but managed to shift focus from his weaker subjects to his talent for dance and acting. An avid juggler, he developed his own act and toured with the New England Vaudeville Circuit by age 15. Exhibiting a natural gift for performance, Dempsey won the Talent America Contest in 1981, catching the eye of an agent, who offered to audition the gangly youngster for the San Francisco production of "Torch Song Trilogy." Portraying the role of David, Dempsey toured with the company for several months.
Dempsey appeared on ABC family on a show “Overnight Success” by Teri DeSario, where he sings and juggles. He followed this with another tour, Brighton Beach Memoirs, in the lead role, which was directed by Gene Saks. He went on to perform with the Maine Acting Company in "On Golden Pond" and in a 1990 Off-Broadway revival “The Subject Was Roses” at the Roundabout Theatre in New York. Making his feature film debut at the age of 21 in the movie “In The Mood” which created a national uproar. The said on-screen role began to mirror his personal life. Shocking his fans in 1987 - at the tender age of 21, he married his 48-year-old manager Rocky Parker.
In 1988, Dempsey landed the lead role in the teen comedy “Can't Buy Me Love”, a role which earned him the 1988 Young Artist Award. Following that year, he had the lead roles in the films “Loverboy” and “Happy Together”. He was able to make a number of featured appearances in television in the 1990s; he was cast several times in pilots that were not picked up for a full season, including lead roles in the TV versions of the films “The Player” and “About A Boy”. Subsequetly, he received good reviews as he portrayed real-life mob boss, Meyer Lansky in 1991, when “Mobsters” was put on the screen. His first major television role was a recurring role as Will's closeted sportscaster boyfriend on “Will & Grace”. He went on to play the role of Aaron Brooks (a role that earned Dempsey an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series) on “Once & Again”. His career on a sudden upswing, he continued to effectively emanate sex appeal as Reese Witherspoon's fiancé in the big screen romantic comedy, "Sweet Home Alabama" (2002). In a less showy part, he appeared as Washington Post cartoonist Ben Weissman opposite Hilary Swank and Anjelica Houston in the HBO suffragette drama "Iron Jawed Angels" (2004). He also appeared as special guest star in “The Pratice” for 3 episodes finale season. He found the break he was looking for in 2005. Up for leads on two network medical dramas (he auditioned for the role of Dr. Gregory House on Fox's "House," which later went to Hugh Laurie), Dempsey landed the role of Dr. Derek Shepherd on the midseason hit "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC, 2005- ).
Dempsey had a high-profile role as the fiancée of Reese Witherspoon's character in “Sweet Home Alabama. He also had a role on “Scream 3”, in 2007 Disney film “Enchanted”, and the Paramount Pictures film “Freedom Writers” where he reunites with his Iron Jawed Angels co-star Hilary Swank. He also voiced the character Kenai in “Brother Bear 2”. In 2008, he starred in the film “Made of Honor” as Tom, and appeared in 2010’s comedy “Valentine’s Day”. Dempsey has acquired the rights to the prize-winning novel "The Art of Racing in the Rain”. He starred as antagonist Dylan Gould in the 2011 movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Chris O'Donnell


He was born Christopher Eugene O'Donnell on June 26, 1970 in Winnetka, Illinois to parents Julie Ann Rohs von Brecht and William Charles O’Donnell, Sr., a general manager of WBBM-AM, a CBS radio station. He is the youngest of seven children with four sisters and two brothers. His family is a devout Roman Catholic and attended Loyola Academy, a Roman Catholic School in Willmette, Illinois. He went on Boston College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.
Inspired by a female classmate who earned about $60 per session, O’Donnell started modeling at age of13 and continued to do so until he was 16, when he began appearing in local commercials including McDonald's and in print ads for Marshall Fields department stores. He was then discovered and soon landed him television roles; the first of which was in an episode of the drama series "Jack and Mike". At 17, he considered quitting modeling and acting, but was persuaded otherwise by his mother with a new car. He subsequently auditioned and appeared in what became his screen debut, "Men Don't Leave" (1990), playing the role of Jessica Lange's teenage son. In the early 1990’s, O’Donnell was featured in various movies such as “Fried Green Tomatoes”(1991), “School Ties”(1992), and “Scent of a Woman”(1992). He was named one of the 12 Promising New Actors of 1992 in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 44.
O’Donnell played Dick Grayson or Robin in “Batman Forever” following the success of “Blue Sky”(1994) and “Circle of Friends”(1995). He was also part in the film “The Chamber”(1996), based on the John Grisham novel. He subsequently reprised his role in the Batman sequel “Batma & Robin” in 1997. It was a mishmash of a movie that was said to have put O'Donnell's career in jeopardy, as it did everyone involved with the unfortunate project which tanked the franchise for over a decade. He reportedly was offered the role of J in "Men in Black" (1997) but turned it down; the role ultimately went to Will Smith, making him an A-list star.
For the succeeding two years, O'Donnell took time off from showbiz to spend more time with his wife, Caroline Fentress, an elementary schoolteacher and his long time sweetheart. His big screen return was in Robert Altman's comedy Cookie's Fortune, “The Bachelor” in 1999 followed “Vertical Limit” (2000). After a year, he reached new career heights when he took to the stage in the Arthur Miller production of "The Man Who Had All the Luck" (2001) at the Williamstown Theater Festival, as well as in a Broadway performance in 2002. He also made several notable television appearances, with a recurring role on the drama series "The Practice" (ABC, 1997-2004), and a guest-starring role on a 2004 episode of "Two and a Half Men" (CBS, 2003- ) titled "An Old Flame With A New Wick". In 2006, O'Donnell joined the cast of "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC, 2005- ) as Dr. Finn Dandridge. He also scored the lead role in "The Company" (TNT, 2007), a miniseries about the Cold War-era CIA.
O'Donnell had a supporting role in "Max Payne" (2008), a live-action adaptation of the popular video game starring Mark Wahlberg as a detective thrust into New York's criminal underworld. Later that year, O'Donnell appeared in the kids' book adaptation, "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" (2008). He also appeared in the sequel to the 2001 movie “Cats &Dogs”, “Cats & Dogs: the Revenge of Kitty Galore”. A starring role in a special two-part episode of the hit police drama "NCIS" (CBS, 2003-) as an undercover agent led to O'Donnell landing the lead role in the spin-off series, "NCIS: Los Angeles" (CBS, 2009- ), a moderately well received offering that paired O'Donnell with rapper-actor LL Cool J as a fellow undercover agent and former Navy SEAL.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Scott Speedman


He was born Robert Scott Speedman on Sept. 1, 1975 in London, England to Scottish parents Mary Campbell, an elementary school teacher and champion runner, and Roy Speedman, a department store buyer. The family moved to Toronto, Ontario when was four and attended Earl Haig Secondary School where he spent his spare time training as a competitive swimmer. He is a member of the Canadian Junior National Swim Team and placed ninth during Olympic Trials in 1992. His interest diverted into acting when he was forced to leave the sport due to neck injury. He went on to attend the University of Toronto and York University to study his craft.
He first auditioned for the role of Robin in the film “Batman”, which was being cast in Toronto then. Although he did not get the role and was given to Chris O’Donnell, the audition gave Speedman the exposure he needed and quickly landed an agent and began auditioning for Canadian television and film roles. His first television appearance was in 1995 on the Canadian series Net Worth. After burning out on smaller television roles, Speedman decided to go to New York to study his craft, studying for a short time at the Neighborhood Playhouse before dropping out and returning home to Toronto.
Speedman made his breakthrough when he got the role of Ben Covington in television series called “Felicity” opposite Keri Russell. He received much acclaim on the popular series especially from young female viewers. Soon after, he began to get offers for more prominent roles while working on the series. He landed the role of Billy Hannan opposite Gwyneth PAltrwo in the film “Duets”, the role had originally been offered to Brad Pitt who exited the film after splitting from Paltrow. After Felicity, Speedman made his debut on the big screen landed a role opposite Kurt Russell in the critically acclaimed cop-drama “Dark Blue”. He then got the role in the critically acclaimed independent drama “My Life Without Me” portraying the husband of a terminally ill woman opposite fellow Canadian and high-school alum Sarah Polley.
With his remarkable work on the film, Speedman was recognized and won a "Golden Wave Award". His first major lead role was in the supernatural thriller “Underworld” opposite Kate Beckinsale. Making an impression on audiences in the stylized vampire-werewolf pic, Speedman was honored with a Saturn Award in the category "Cinescape Face of the Future Award". Then, he went on to star alongside James Marsden in the thriller “The 24th Day” and opposite Ice Cube in “XXX: State of the Union”. Upon the success of the first Underwold film, Speedman reprised his role as Michael Corvin in the 2006 sequel “Underworld: Evolution”. He also appeared in the 2008 horror-thriller “The Strangers” with Liv Tyler, in the film “Adoration” alongside Rachel Blanchard and in the independent Western “The Last Rites of Ransom Pride” alongside Lizzy Caplan and Dwight Yoakum.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Josh Holloway


He was born Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway on July 20, 1969 in San Jose, California now known as Silicon Valley. He is the second of four boys and of Dutch and Scottish heritage. From California, the family moved in a rural northern Georgia trailer park 75 miles outside Atlanta when he was two. He completed his early education at Marie Tesley middle school and Cherokee High School in Canton, Georgia. Josh has since developed an interest in movies at a very young age. Josh attended University of Georgia, but only after a year, he dropped out due to financial reasons. He instead began a career in modeling, which gave him the opportunity to travel throughout North America and Europe. He had been successful in modeling until he got bitten by the acting bug which led him to Los Angeles.
In 1993, Josh appeared as a purse snatcher in the Aerosmith music video for "Cryin'" and in English songwriter/singer Billie Myers’s 1998 music video “Tell Me”. Year passed, he got a role in the comedy Doctor Benny followed up with lead roles in the movies Mi Amigo, Moving August, and Cold Heart. Following these roles, he gained recognition for his lead role in the Sci-Fi Channel movie Sabretooth with David Keith and John Rhys-Davies. He also made appearances in Good Girls Don't episode, "Addicted to love"; NCIS episode, "My other left foot"; The Lyon's Den episode, "Separation Anxiety"; Walker, Texas Ranger episode, "Medieval Crimes"; CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, episode "Assume Nothing"; and Angel episode, “City Of..”.
While finding his stride professionally, Josh kept a development company in Georgia and a French-Vietnamese restaurant in Los Angeles. At one point, Holloway almost gave up on his dream in exchange for a more financially viable career in real estate. But days after receiving his license as a real estate agent, he landed the part of James "Sawyer" Ford on the J.J. Abrams sci-fi drama “Lost” which propelled Holloway to celebrity status. He got a Saturn Award for “ Best Actor on Television” for his role on Lost and was then added to the cast of “Mission: Impossble-Ghost Protocol”.
It may have taken Josh nearly a decade before being recognized onscreen, but his hard work and perseverance has surely paid off. Being part of the popular ABC ensemble show raised Holloway's status from virtual anonymity to television stardom. When he stopped shooting the pilot of Lost in Hawaii, he proposed to his girlfriend, Yessica Kumala. They later married on October 1, 2004. On April 9, 2009, they had their first child, Java Kumala.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Matt Lanter



Matthew Mackendree "Matt" Lanter was born on April 1, 1983 in Northeastern Ohio to parents Joseph “Joe” Lanter and Jana Burson. He and family later moved to Atlanta, Georgia when he was eight years old and graduated from Collins Hill High School in 2001. He played baseball, football, basketball, gymnastics and golf and was a batboy for the Atlanta Braves. He attended University of Georgia, majoring in Sports Business but eventually moved to Los Angeles to follow his dreams of establishing a successful acting career.
The leap of faith turned out to be quite worthwhile for Matt. Shortly after his move, he landed a recurring role on Fox's "Point Pleasant" (2005). He has since appeared in various television shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy”, “CSI:Crime Scene Investigation”, "8 Simple Rules" , "Big Love" and Heroes. He also did few modeling jobs and a couple of national commercials. In 2005, he signed contract for ABC’s Political Drama series “Commander in Chief” portraying the role of Horace Calloway. His talent surpasses the ability to solely act for TV and film and on stage; Matt had the opportunity of starring in his theatrical debut opposite Laurence Fishburne in Alfred Uhry's "Without Walls" at The Mark Taper Forum.

Consistently booking role after role, he has starred in multiple other feature films merging him into a leading man. Lanter's films include: Warner Bros. animated feature film "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," in which he voices the popular character Anakin Skywalker, the lead in Liongate's comedy "Disaster Movie," and MGM's feature film, "War Games 2: The Dead Code." Prior to that, he established himself as a teen heartthrob, playing the lead in MGM/ABC Family's film "The Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream."

In 2008, Matt starred in Summit Entertainment's remake of the cult 1983 Slasher film “The House on Sorority Row”. After a year, he began a major recurring role on “The CW’s 90201” and was part of the remake '90s Teen Drama series Beverly Hills, 90210. He then signed on for another parody project with Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, 20th Century Fox's “Vampires Suck” 2010 and played Edward Sullen, a spoof of Edward Cullen from The Twilight Saga.
Aside from acting, Matt has participated in various events for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (one of which was a celebrity dodge ball team promoting the premiere of Ben Stiller's movie, "Dodgeball," in which the proceeds also went to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation) and the Nautica Malibu Triathlon where he was part of the "Commander in Chief" celebrity relay team.

Brandon Routh



Brandon James Routh is an American actor and former fashion model born on October 9, 1979 to mother Catherine, a teacher and father Ronald Ray Routh, a carpenter. Brandon is of German, French, English, and Native American ancestry. He grew up in Norwalk, approximately 100 miles (160 km) south of Woolstock, the hometown of George Reeves, the first actor to play Superman on television. He attended Norwalk High School, where he played sports and participated in music and theatre. During his younger years, he has noted a huge Superman fan, he collected the comics, owned the films, and even wore Superman pajamas.
After High School, Routh attended the University of Iowa for a year, aspiring to be a writer. During this time, he modelled and acted in order to earn his tuition fee. In 1999, Routh left the University and moved to New York City and then Los Angeles, where he pursued a full-time acting career. His first appearance was in a music video for “What A Girl Wants” by Christina Aguilera. Consequently, he got his first major role in 1999, in an episode of the short-lived ABC television series, “Odd Man Out”. Following that year, he had a four-episode role on the third season of MTV's nighttime soap opera, “Undressed”. Routh subsequently appeared on the WB's “Gilmore Girls” (in a February 2001 episode, "Concert Interupptus", playing an attendee of a Bangles concert), and earned steady work on the soap opera “One Life to Live”, playing Seth Anderson from May 23, 2001 until April 17, 2002.
In 2006, he earned fame for his role as the titular hero of the 2006 film “Superman Returns”. His former manager signed him on because of the resemblance of Christopher Reeve who previously portrayed Superman, telling him that he thought of Routh as the next Superman should there be another film in the series and so it happened. Following this, he has had several supporting roles in television and film. More recently, he portrays the eponymous protagonist of another comic book film, “Dylan Dog: Dead of Night”.

Ryan Gosling


He was born Ryan Thomas Gosling on November 12, 1980 in London, Ontario to Thomas and Donna Gosling. The family moved to Cornwall, Ontario, where Ryan grew up and was home-schooled by his mother. He attended Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational High School in Cornwall, where he excelled in Drama and Fine Arts. The family then relocated to Burlington, Ontario, where Ryan attended Lester B. Pearson High School in Burlington, Ontario.

He attended an open audition in Montreal for the TV series "The Mickey Mouse Club" ("The All New Mickey Mouse Club" (1989) at the age of 12 and beat out 17,000 other aspiring actors for a spot on the show. While appearing on "MMC" for two years, he lived with co-star Justin Timberlake's family. After the “MMC” he moved into acting, appearing on the TV series "Young Hercules" (1998) and "Breaker High" (1997), as well as the films The Slaughter Rule (2002), Murder by Numbers (2002), and Remember the Titans (2000).

Gosling has built a reputation for playing misfits in independent films: a fanatic Neo-Nazi in 2001 the The Believer (which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival), a drug-addicted junior high school teacher in Half Nelson (2006), a socially inept loner in Lars and the Real Girl (2007) and a frazzled husband in Blue Valentine (2010). He starred the 2004's romantic drama The Notebook , after which, he won the dubious honour of being named one of the 50 Hottest Bachelors by People Magazine. More significantly, he was named the Male Star of Tomorrow at the 2004 Show West convention of movie exhibitors.

Gosling reached the peak of his profession with his performance in Half Nelson (2006) which garnered him an Academy Award nomination as Best Leading Actor and two Golden Globe Awards (for Lars and the Real Girl and Blue Valentine). He continued to expand his horizons in 2011 as he appeared in his first comedic role in Crazy, Stupid, Love and his first action role in Drive. His next film, political drama The Ides of March, is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 31, 2011. In a short time, he has established himself as one of the finest actors of his generation.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Barry Watson


Michael Barrett "Barry" Watson is an American television and film actor born on April 23, 1974 in Traverse City, Michigan. His father worked as an attorney and his mother as a paralegal. At the age of eight, he began his modelling career in Dallas, Texas and studied acting at the Dallas Young Actors Studio with director Linda Seto. Watson was fourteen when his parents divorced. After a year, he took off for Burbank, California and almost immediately got a six month contract on the NBC soap opera Days of our Lives. After his contract ended, Watson moved back to Texas, and finished his secondary studies at Richardson High School in 1992.
Watson then moved back to Los Angeles determined to pursue acting. He made guest appearances on The Nanny, Baywatch, Nash Bridges and Sister, Sister. Eventually he was chosen for a minor role on the Aaron Spelling series Malibu Shores. Though his role was brief, it led him to Aaron Spelling's next project 7th Heaven. It was on the WB's 7th Heaven that Watson finally gained recognition as Matt Camden. During his ten-year stint on the series, Watson also had notable appearances in the films Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), Sorority Boys (2002), and Boogeyman (2005).
In 2002, Watson was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, a form of lymphatic cancer. While undergoing chemotherapy, he stopped work as an actor but was instead involved as a writer for 7th Heaven. With his cancer going into remission in 2003, Barry continued on with his character on the show until it ended in 2006. He was never out of work after that as he portrayed the title role of Brian O'Hara on the ABC sitcom What About Brian (2006-2007) and played Todd, the ex-boyfriend and roommate of Samantha (Christina Applegate) on another ABC sitcom Samantha Who? (2007-2009). In 2011 he played Pax in My Future Boyfriend, an ABC Family original movie.

John Huetter


John Huetter an athlete-turned-model was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, USA in 1985. He grew up more in a suburb with a very traditional and grounded family. He went to a small liberal college in Rochester, New York’s St. John Fisher College where he was a recruited to be part of basketball team in school. He finished college with 3.5 GPA with the degree in marketing.
After college, Huetter got a job in Rochester doing internet sales. However, he eventually hated the job and decided to quit. Acting and modelling have always in the back of his mind as something he’s been interested in. After he quit the job and moved to New York City, Huetter found an agency in two weeks.
After signing with ADAM Modeling Agency, Huetter quickly landed several modeling jobs including a photo shoot for "Lacoste’s website", and a Mad Men themed shoot for "New York Pulse". In addition, he's been photographed by established photographers Joseph Bleu, John Paul Tran and Jeremy Kost.
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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Josh Duhamel


Josh Duhamel an American actor and former fashion model was born on November 14, 1972 in Minot, North Dakota, the son of Bonnie L. Kemper, a physical education teacher, and Larry David Duhamel, an advertising salesman. He has French-Canadian ancestry from his great-great-grandfather. After his parents divorced during his youth, Josh and his three younger sisters live with their mother although they remain close to both. He studied at Minot State University and played as the back-up quarterback for the school’s football team. He went to study biology with the intention of going to dental school, but lower grades forced him to choose a different career path.
After college, Duhamel went on to California to follow his ex-girlfriend and did some odd jobs. He then landed in an International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) competition where he won the title of Male Model of the Year 1997. While in modelling, he also took part time job at a talent agency and was noticed by a talent agent. And so then began his acting career.
He landed first as an extra in the music videos for Donna Summer’s Song “I Will Go With You” (1998) and “Genie in A Bottle” (1999) by Christina Aguilera. He later won the role of Leo du Pres on the ABC soap opera “All My Children” where his pairing with Greenlee Smythe portrayed by Rebecca Budig garnered critical acclaim. He earned a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for the Special Fan Award for America’s Favorite Couple in 2002, shared with Budig, and a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Leo du Pres. That same year, Duhamel opted to leave “All My Children” to pursue other acting opportunities.
In 2003, Duhamel lande a prime time role on the NBC show “Las Vegas”, playing the head of security as Danny McCoy for the Montecito Casino. He has made his big screen acting debut in 2004’s “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton”, then starred in “ The Picture of Dorian Grey” in 2005. He continued on to star in the thriller “Turistas” (2006). In 2007, he was chosen by Steven Spielberg himself for the role of Captain William Lennox in summer blockbuster film “Transformers” (a film for which Spielberg was the executive producer). Duhamel reprised the role for the sequel,” Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, released in June 2009, and again in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”, released in June 2011.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Kevin Zegers


Kevin Joseph Zegers a Canadian actor and model was born on September 19, 1984 in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada to parents Mary Ellen a hairdresser and Jim Zegers a long-time quarry worker. He attended Holy Family French immersion school in his hometown and received an invitation at eight years old to participate in a London fashion show as a child model. Kevin did a few of these events before he went to audition for a Toronto-based talent agent.
Kevin started his performing career at the age of 6 appearing in over 30 commercials. After a year, he landed a small role in the Michel J. Fox comedy “Life With Mikey” (1993) playing little Mikey. Immediately afterwards, he appeared in various supporting roles, including a guest appearance on the television series “The X-Files”, playing a stigmatic child. He is best known for his leading role as Josh Framm in the “Air Bud” series, a film about a sports-playing dog which did well in the box office.
Kevin appeared in many low-budget Canadian and horror films for the following years, including "Nico the Unicorn" (1998), "Komodo" (1999), and "Wrong Turn" (2003). In 2002, he was part in the short-lived American television series "Titans", for which he was personally chosen by producer Aaron Spelling and also appeared in three sequels, as well as a similar genre film, "MVP: Most Valuable Primate", which featured a hockey-playing chimp. Zegers had previously worked with co-star Yasmine Bleeth in the 1999 film "It Came From the Sky".
After appearing in the remake of "Dawn of the Dead", he had a major role in the Academy Award-nominated independent film "Transamerica" (2005) and won the 2006 Cannes Film Festival Chopard Award, which is given to promising young actors. He starred alongside Samaire Armstrong in the 2006 romantic comedy "It's a Boy Girl Thing". In 2009, Zegers signed to play the role of Clyde Barrow in the remake of "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde", alongside Hilary Duff. He also guest-starred in "Gossip Girl" from 2009 until 2010 and returning again in late 2010 for multiple episodes throughout season 4. He also appears alongside Miley Cyrus on Rock Mafia's new music video "The Big Bang".

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Nick Carter


Nickolas Gene "Nick" Carter was born on January 28, 1980 in Jamestown, New York to parents Jane Elizabeth and Robert Carter. Several years later, the family moved to Ruskin, Florida and managed a retirement home, Garden Villa Retirement Home. He grew up with four younger siblings Bobbie Jean, Leslie Barbara and twins Aaron and Angel Charisma Carter. Carter also has an older half-sister, Virginia Marie Carter from his father’s first marriage, a half-brother Kaden Brent Carter, and a stepsister, Taelyn Carter from his father’s third marriage. After parents’ dissolved marriage in 2003, his father remarried a year after.
Carter is best known as one of the lead vocalist of the pop group, Backstreet Boys. During the group’s hiatus, he went on to pursue a solo career and subsequently released a pop-rock solo album called “Now Or Never” which was a certified Gold. He has also made occasional television appearances and starred in his own reality show, House of Carters. As a solo artist he sold over 570,000 records worldwide. He gained fame in the late 90s and early 2000s as a Teen Idol.

Brendan Fraser


He was born Brendan James Fraser on December 3, 1968 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA to Canadian parents Carol and Peter Fraser. He is of Irish, Scottish, German, Czech, and French-Canadian ancestry and is a dual Canadian-American citizen. His father’s job as a journalist and then worked for the Canadian Government's office of tourism took them all over the world. His family moved often during his childhood, living in cities around Canada, the United States, and Europe. Some stops included Amsterdam, London, Ottawa, Cincinnati, and Detroit.
Fraser attended the private boys' boarding school, Upper Canada College, in Toronto. It was while in London that the elementary school boy saw his first live play - a West End production of "Oliver" - and became captivated by the theatre. He jumped right into the school drama department and went on to earn a bachelor of fine arts in acting from the Cornish School of the Arts in Seattle, WA. His first film role was a brief cameo in an America's Most Wanted re-enactment (1988). He has since appeared various films. He landed a one-line role in the River Phoenix film "Dogfight" (1991), which was shooting in Seattle, then decided to forego his graduate school plans and head to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. The 6'3" newcomer made an immediate impression, landing a series pilot and winning raves for his co-starring turn as Martin Sheen's son in the telefilm "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" (NBC, 1991).
Brendan Fraser has enjoyed an unpredictable career that has taken him to the heights of art film greatness, as well as down to the depths of lowest common denominator comedy. It was from those depths that he began his career with Encino Man (1992) then School Ties that same year. Few years after, he co-starred alongside Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler in the comedy Airheads along with playing Steve Nebraska in the movie The Scout. He went on to play supporting roles such as The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995) and The Twilight of the Golds (1997). He got his breakthrough role with the hit comedy film George of the Jungle (1997) and went on to appear in several comedy films such as Blast from the Past (1999), Bedazzled (2000) and Monkeybone (2001). He has starred in two films based on Jay Ward creations, George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right although he did not reprise his role in the former's sequel. He also played dramatic roles in Gods and Monsters (1998) and The Quiet American (2002). His biggest commercial success came with the action adventure film The Mummy (1999) and its sequel The Mummy Returns (2001), both of which were hugely successful at the box office. In 2004, he appeared in the Academy Award-winning film Crash.
In March 2006, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, the first American-born actor to receive the honor. However, as of 2008, he does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After a six year hiatus in the franchise, Fraser returned for the second sequel to The Mummy released in August 2008 and titled The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. His other releases in 2008 were the 3D film adaptation of Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth and the fantasy film Inkheart. In 2010 he starred in the drama Extraordinary Measures alongside Harrison Ford. He also starred as "Brick" in the West End production of Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in September, 2001, directed by Anthony Page. The show closed on January 12, 2002, with Fraser garnering many excellent reviews.
After appearing in the critically panned Furry Vengeance in 2010, Fraser moved from being represented by William Morris Endeavor to the Creative Artists Agency. He then starred in Whole Lotta Sole directed by Terry George being filmed in Northern Ireland. He recently voiced the Zombie Hunter in the fictional Zombocalypse 3D movie, as seen on Cartoon Network’s Regular Show.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Wentworth Miller


Wentworth Miller was born on June 2, 1972 in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England UK. He was raised in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York, Miller however retains dual citizenship despite his family's decision to transfer residence when he was just one year old. He is the son of American parents Joy Marie (née Palm), a special education teacher, and Wentworth Earl Miller II, a lawyer and teacher. Miller is of multiracial origin: his father is of African-American, Jamaican, English, German, Jewish and Cherokee descent, and his mother is of Russian, French, Dutch, Syrian and Lebanese ancestry.
Miller attended Midwood High School in Brooklyn, New York. His family moved to Aleppo Township outside of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Quaker Valley High School, in Leetsdale, Pennsylvania in 1990. He attended Princeton University completing his bachelor's degree in English Literature. While at Princeton, he performed with the a cappella group the Princeton Tigertones and was first a member of the Quadrangle Club, and later the Colonial Club
Miller is a compelling and critically acclaimed young actor whose credits span both television and feature film. He began his career in the industry after graduating from college and headed to Los Angeles. Within the next few years, he landed guest spots on a variety of shows including “ER” (1994), “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997), and “Popular” (1999). He also starred in the Hallmark mega-series “Dinotopia” (2002/). After appearing in a few minor television roles, he moved on to co-star in the 2003 film The Human Stain, playing the younger version of the Anthony Hopkins character, Coleman Silk.
Miller subsequently appeared in the movie Underworld (2003) and guest-starred on "Joan of Arcadia" (2003) and "Ghost Whisperer" (2005) before joining the cast of "Prison Break" (2005), a groundbreaking television series that's quickly become an international phenomenon. His performance in the show earned him a 2005 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Dominic Purcell



Dominic Haakon Myrtvedt Purcell was born on February 17, 1970 in England. Two years later, Dominic ad his family moved from England to Sydney’s Bondi and later moved to the Western Suburbs. His mother is Irish and his father is Norwegian. He attended Blaxland East Public School in his elementary school years and went to St. Dominic’s College, Penrith and McCarthy Catholic College for high school. He grew up in a blue-collar neighbourhood, loved surfing and worked as a landscape gardener as a teen, but soon tired of the profession. He was inspired to explore acting as a profession after watching Oliver Stone's Platoon . Due to his working class background, acting seemed a very unlikely choice of career so he decided to enrol in acting course. He studied at the Australian Theatre for Young People and then later enrolled at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts where he met his future wife Rebecca and studied alongside Hugh Jackman. Eventually, Dominic landed a role on the Australian TV Series Raw FM in 1997 and then a small stints in Mission:Impossible II and Equilibrium in 2002.
With his barrel chest and oversized frame, Purcell seemed almost tailor-made for a career as a character player. He remained in that sphere temporarily, but traveled a step beyond it in terms of complexity, playing not just one type time and again, but a broad array -- ranging from everyman heroes and monsters to occasional toughs. Consequently, Purcell shot rather quickly to top billing. After a scant few supporting turns, Purcell's first major starring role arrived with his lead portrayal in the series John_Doe (2002). The series lasted only a season but Purcell soon popped up on the big screen in Blade: Trinity and again on TV in a memorable stint on the short-lived prime-time soap North Shore before landing his career-making role as wrongly accused death-row inmate Lincoln Burrows on Prison Break in 2005 following his major cinematic role in the natural horror picture Primeval (2007).

Friday, July 29, 2011

Adam Sandler


He was born Adam Richard Sandler on the 9th of September, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York, the third of four kids. His dad, Stanley, was an engineer, while his mother, Judy, was a homemaker, looking after Scott (now a lawyer), Elizabeth (a dentist), Adam and Valerie (a restauranteur). While Adam was still young, they moved north, to Manchester, New Hampshire.
Sandler did not excel as a student. His interests lay elsewhere. He loved wrestling, and basketball - he played on Manchester Central High School's junior varsity team. At age 11, he got up to sing at Elizabeth's wedding, performing Ringo Starr's You're Sixteen to huge applause. The music would continue into his teens, when he formed a covers band. Rock was their thing. And, of course, there was another interest - comedy. Mel Brooks was an early influence.
As the child of a Jewish family, though, education was deemed vitally important, and Adam enrolled at New York University, to study Fine Arts, and Drama in particular. He took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took the stage at Boston comedy club. During his final year in college, he snagged a recurring role as the Huxtable family's friend Smitty on the hugely successful "The Cosby Show" (1984). He was a performer for the MTV game show Remote Control, on which he made appearances as the characters “Trivia Delinquent” or “Stud Boy”. While working at a comedy club in L.A., he was "discovered" by Dennis Miller, who recommended him to "Saturday Night Live" (1975) producer Lorne Michaels. Sandler was hired as a writer for SNL in 1990 and became a featured player the following year, making a name for himself by performing amusing original songs on the show, including "The Chanukah Song". He left the show in 1995 to focus on his film career.
Sandler went on to the movies; his first starring role was in 1989, in the film Going Overboard. He also starred other financially successful comedies such as Airheads(1994), Billy Madison (1995), Bulletproof (1996), Happy Gilmore (1996), The Wedding Singer (1998) and The Big Daddy (1999) where he met his then wife Jacqueline Samantha Titone. He was initially cast in the bachelor-party-themed comedy/thriller Very Bad Things (1998), but had to back out due to his involvement in The Waterboy (1998), one of his first hits. Among other of his films are Mr. Deeds (2002), Eight Crazy Nights (2002), Punch-Drunk Love (2002) for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe, 50 First Dates (2004), Spanglish (2004), The Longest Yard (2005), Click (2006), Reign Over Me (2007), I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), Bedtime Stories (2008), Funny People (2009), Grown Ups (2010,and the recent Just Go With It (2011). He also writes and produces many of his own films and has composed songs for several of them, including The Wedding Singer (1998). Most notably, there was the actor Allen Covert, the director Frank Coraci and Adam's roomie, Tim Herlihy, with whom he'd co-write all his biggest hits. Sandler’s name was certainly getting around and become a guarantee and, as such, he was being paid more even than the likes of Harrison Ford.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Shia LaBeouf


Shia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens. He was born on June 11, 1986 in Los Angeles, Californi¬¬a and the only child of Shayna and Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf. LaBeouf's mother a Jewish was a former ballet dancer from New York who once studied with Martha Graham and his French-Cajun father was a clown from San Francisco who spent time in France studying commedia dell’arte. As a child, he and his parents would dress up like clowns and sell hot dogs in the park across the street from their apartment. LaBeouf was raised by his mother after parents got divorced.
In 2003, LaBeouf won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series for his work on the show Eve Stevens. That same year, he made his first appearance in the big screen with the film adaptation of Louis Sachar novel Holes. Around the same time, LaBeouf had the lead role in the coming-of-age drama, The Battle of Shaker Heights. He also appeared in some scenes in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Continuing his career in film, LaBeouf landed several supporting roles. He appeared in the sci-fi action drama I, Robot with Will Smith in 2004. The next year, he played Chas, a sidekick to Keanu Reeves’s demon hunter in Constantine and had a leading role in the historic sports drama The Greatest Game Ever Played. Following that year, LaBeouf played a younger version of Dito in film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.
In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers. He was also named “Star of Tomorrow” at the ShoWest convention, an annual event for the National Association of Theatre Owners the same year. His other films include Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). In 2004, he made his directorial debut with "Let's Love Hate" and later shot a music video for "I Never Knew You" by rapper Cage.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Adrian Grenier



Adrian Grenier is an American actor, musician and director best known for his lead role on the HBO original series “Entourage”. He was born on July 10, 1976 in Santa Fe, New Mexico and raised in Manhattan, New York by his mother. Grenier is of Apache and European descent. He attended Bard College where he studied molecular biology but opted to pursue acting instead. He was once a stone-cold hippie bongo drum player and it was during his college days that he was cast as the titular lead in the independent film The Adventures of Sebastian Cole. Aside from acting, Grenier also loves music, he plays piano, guitar and drums. He was a former lead singer of the band 'Kid Friendly and drummer for the band The Honey Brothers.
Bearing the dark, sensuous, pretty-boy looks of a Calvin Klein poster boy, Grenier managed to make a distinct impression on audiences and critics with only a handful of films to his name. His natural, unaffected portrayal of a young man growing up with his pre-op transsexual stepfather in 1980s upstate New York was a hit among critics, and Grenier was soon being touted as one to watch. He had his film debut in the 1997 independent film Arresting_Gena -- also gained a significant amount of exposure playing a member of Leonardo DiCaprio's entourage in Woody_Allen's Celebrity. Following the critical and arthouse success of Sebastian_Cole, Grenier was cast in his first mainstream film, Drive_Me_Crazy (1999). A teen film centered around the high drama of who to take to the prom, it placed the actor in a starring role opposite Sabrina, the Teenage Witch idol Melissa_Joan_Hart.

After a decidedly Manson-esque turn as a cinematic terrorist in director John_Waters' Cecil_B._Demented, Grenier could be seen in a small but notably less-psychotic role in Steven_Spielberg's 2001 sci-fi drama A.I. Over the next three years, Grenier showed up in supporting roles in a handful of films such as Hart's_War and Anything_Else, the latter of which again saw him teamed with Woody_Allen. But it was the move to the small screen in 2004 with the lead on HBO's critically acclaimed Entourage that landed Grenier his most substantial notice and success to date. From Hollywood night life to New York high fashion, Grenier could next be seen alongside Anne_Hathaway in the incisive fashion-industry comedy The_Devil_Wears_Prada.

James Marsden



James Paul Marsden an American actor, singer and former Versace model was born on September 18, 1973 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. His father, James L. Marsden, Ph.D. is a professor of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University while his mother is a nutritionist. Marsden grew up with two younger sisters, Jennifer and Elizabeth, and two brothers, Jeff and Robert. His parents’ marriage did not last and parted ways when he was nine.
After graduating Putnam City North High School, Marsden studied broadcast journalism at Oklahoma State University and became a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, but quit after only a year and a half. He opted instead to move out to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Marsden's move led to work as a Versace model and to a brief role as the original Griffin on Fox's “Party of Five” as well as brief stints on a variety of other TV series such as “The Nanny”, “Boogies Diner” and “Saved by the Bell”. Marsden got his first big break with his lead on the short-lived ABC series “Second Noah”. He auditioned for a role in “Primal Fear” but lost out to Edward Norton and turned down the lead role in “54” which later went to Ryan Phillippe.
James Marsden used both his talent and photogenic features to become one of the more talked-about young actors of the late '90s. His growing fan base got another boost when he was cast in Disturbing Behavior opposite Katie Holmes and Gossip alongside Kate Hudson. He also appeared in the television series Ally McBeal, as one of the main cast members during the first half of season 5, where he also showcased his singing abilities.
Marsden was able to nab the plum role of Cyclops in big-budget “X-Men” sequel. One of the most highly anticipated films of 2000. He continued to work steadily in such films as “The Notebook” and “Heights” before returning for the third instalment of the X-Men franchise. Although he appeared again as Cyclops, he in fact scored more screen time in Bryan_Singer's “Superman Returns” playing Lois Lane's husband. He also played Corny Collins in the film “Hairspray” and played Prince Edward in the Disney movie “Enchanted”. Being part of such movies catapulted James to a different level of stardom as audiences got to see him acting and singing. Following his huge success in the years 2006 and 2007, James played the male lead role in the romantic comedy, “27 Dresses” which did pretty well in the box office.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Channing Tatum



Channing Matthew Tatum is an American actor, a former model, and film producer, was born on April 26, 1980 in a small town called Cullman, outside of Birmingham, Alabama. He is the the son of Kay, an airline worker, and Glenn Tatum, who worked in construction. His is of Irish, French, and Native American ancestry.
Tatum was athletic while growing up, playing various sports such as track and field, baseball, soccer, and football which were his parents ways to keep him out of trouble. In the 9th grade, Tatum was sent to catholic school where he discovered his passion for football. With his athletic skills, he was recruited and earned a full athletic college scholarship to a school in West Virginia but he eventually turned down and started working odd jobs way back home. He is also skilled in Kung Fu and in Gor-Chor Kung Fu, a form of martial arts, in which he has earned belts in both.
After being discovered by a model talent scout on the streets of Miami, the southern stunner posed provocatively for Nautica and Abercrombie & Fitch, has modelled Gap, Aeropostale, Emporio Armani, and has been featured in television commercials for American Eagle, Pepsi, and some very popular mountain dew commercials. He danced his way to stardom in 2006’s “Step Up”, where he proved he’s got the looks and the moves. The film earned a total of $21 million in its opening weekend and $114 million worldwide. Tatum, who dominated the box office with 2009's G.I. Joe and broke hearts in 2010 with Dear John, married Step Up costar Jenna Dewan in Malibu in July 2009.,

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Ed Westwick


Ed Westwick or Edward Jack P. Westwick is an English actor and musician born on June 27, 1987 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England to parents Carole and Peter Westwick. He is an emerging young British actor trained at The National Youth Theatre in London. His first on-screen credits include guest stints in various British TV dramas. He established his footing on the small screen with roles in “Doctors & Casualty” before making an impressive leap to the big screen with a small role in director Alfonso Cuarn’s critically acclaimed sci-fi feature “Children of Men” in 2006, and the acclaimed coming-of-age drama “Son of Rambow” a low-budget indie that sparked a heated bidding war in 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. Immediately thereafter, the rising star worked with Oscar-nominated director Anthony Minghella on the romantic drama “Breaking and Entering”, followed by a part in the television series “Afterlife”.
Westwick's biggest breakthrough role, however, came from the United States. In 2007, he joined the cast of the CW teen drama series “Gossip Girl”, based on the book series of the same name. His portrayal of the ambitious, playing filthy-rich bad boy Chuck Bass earned him some acclaim, not to mention a loyal following. Despite of tight schedules, he also found time to front the British indie rock bond “The Filthy Youth" along with Benjamin Lewis Allingham, Jimmy Wright, Mitch Cox and John Vooght. He is also the latest face of the 2011-2012 campaign for the Philippine clothing brand Penshoppe.

Zac Efron


Zac Efron or Zachary David Alexander Efron is an American television actor and singer best known for his roles in Disney Channel Original Movie “High School Musical” and the television series “Summerland”. Efron was born on October 18, 1987 in San Luis Obispo, California to father David Efron an electrical engineer at a power station and mother Starla Baskett a former secretary at the same power plant as his father.
With Zac’s singing ability, his parents motivated him by enrolling him for singing lessons when he was 11. Singing lessons soon led to an appearance in the production of “Gypsy” which ran 90 performances, and Zac Efron was hooked. He eventually went on to work in theatre productions of “Peter Pan”, “Mame”, “Little Shop of Horrors”, and “The Music Man”. After appearing on stage, Efron quickly landed guest parts on television series including “CSI:Miami”, “Firefly”, “ER” and “The Guardian”. After guest-starring in several episodes of "Summerland," Zac Efron joined the regular cast as Cameron Bale. Zac Efron also starred in several pilots such as "The Big, Wide World of Carl Laemke" and "Triple Play." Following Summerland, Efron also appeared in “NCSI:Naval Criminal Investigative Service” and “The Suite Life of Zack and Coby”.
In 2006, Zac Efron first garnered attention as the star of the original "High School Musical," for which he won the Teen Choice Award for Breakout Star. Zac Efron returned to the role of Troy Bolton in "High School Musical 2," which succeeded million of followers. He’s first nominated in 2003 for a Young Artist Award for Best Supporting Performance for his role as an autistic child in the television movie “Miracle Run”.

Keanu Reeves


Keanu Reeves is a Canadian actor, born on September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is the son of Patricia Bond (née Taylor), a costume designer/performer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr., a geologist. Reeves’ mother is English while his father is a Hawaiian-born American of English, Irish, Portuguese, Hawaiian and Chinese descent. After parents’ marriage dissolved, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister Kim to New York City, then Toronto. Since then, he never reconnected with his biological father, who served time in prison. He was paroled after serving two years of a ten-year sentence for selling heroin at Hilo Airport in 1992.
Reeves named after his uncle Henry Keanu Reeves. "Keanu" is a derivation of Reeves' great-great-uncle Keaweaheulu, whose name means "the soft breeze raising" in Hawaiian. In high school, Reeves was lukewarm toward academics but took a keen interest in ice hockey (as team goalie, he earned the nickname "The Wall" by high school hockey team De La Salle College "Oaklands”) and drama. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue an acting career.
Reeves began his acting career at the age of nine, appearing in various theatre productions and commercials. After a few stage gigs and a handful of made-for-TV movies, he scored a supporting role in the Rob Lowe hockey flick Youngblood (1986), which was filmed in Canada. Shortly after the production wrapped, Reeves packed his bags and headed for Hollywood. Reeves then got the lead role in the dark adolescent drama River's Edge (1986), but his first popular success was the role of totally rad dude Ted Logan in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989). The wacky time-travel movie became something of a cultural phenomenon, and audiences would forever confuse Reeves's real-life persona with that of his doofy on-screen counterpart. Not long enough Reeves played a slumming rich boy opposite River Phoenix's narcoleptic male hustler in My Own Private Idaho (1991), an unlucky lawyer who stumbles into the vampire's lair in Dracula (1992), and Shakespearean party-pooper Don Jon in Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
Reeves became a big-budget action star with the release of Speed I in 1994. Its success heralded an era of five years in which Reeves would alternate between largely unwatched small films, like Feeling Minnesota (1996) and The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997), and unwatched big films like Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Chain Reaction (1996). After all this Reeves did the unthinkable and passed on the Speed sequel, but he struck box-office gold again a few years later with the Wachowski brothers' cyberadventure The Matrix (1999) playing the role of Neo.
Despite this fame and career successes, from 'stoner'-type roles in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," to serious dramatic roles in "Sweet November," "The Devil's Advocate," and "The Matrix" trilogy, as far as Reeves is concerned, he's just a regular guy who rides a motorcycle, plays in a band (Dogstar), and shows up every now and then for a movie shoot.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Evandro Soldati



Evandro Soldati is a Brazilian male model who appears in the music video for Lady Gaga’s single “Alejandro”. He is of Italian ancestry and was born on April 17, 1985 in Ubá, Minas Gerais, Brazil. In 2008, Soldati was the 7th most successful male model in the world by Forbes Magazine.
This shy and somehow isolated Brazilian male model is hailed as the next big thing in fashion world. Soldati is actually considered now as the third male model in the world in terms of popularity and also one of the models with a very promising future ahead. His work so far has been varied and complex, having done catwalk shows for all the big names out there in the fashion industry and photo shoots for some of the most popular brands and products there are.
Soldati was discovered in 2002 when his mother dragged him to an audition for Ford Models in Brazil and was chosen as one of the finalists. From the day Ford picked him out, Evandro's career has been nothing but flourishing: assaulted by offers from prestigious agencies from all over the world, from Paris to Milan and Berlin, and doing things he could only dream of doing until then. According to him in one of his interviews, what he enjoys about modelling job is that he can travel a lot in various places of the world and is done for free. Plus, all these trips were also a brilliant opportunity to get a firmer grip on English and to learn a bit of Italian as well.
He has since shot onto the current fashion scene and at such a young age, he can brag about belting not only recurrent major contracts with Emporio Armani, Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana but also about doing more promotional campaigns than any other young male model out there. Among these, probably the one he will remember for the rest of his life is the one in which he was teamed with famed football star David Beckham for the two Armani fragrances INSPI(RED), a charitable action meant to fight HIV/AIDS.
Among other list of his campaigns are Calvin Klein Jeans, Valentino, Benetton and Iceberg. With piercing eyes and a signature pout, Evandro worked the runways of DSquared2, Versace, Bottega Venetta and Givenchy, to name a few. This Brazilian hunk is well on his way to becoming an iconic model.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Danny Schwarz



Danny Schwarz, a British catwalk fashion top model, was born in London, England in 1987. His unique looks have worked for him to make him one of the top male models currently working. Prior to his modelling career, Danny worked as a disc jockey. At the age of 20, this young Englishman’s career started to emerge; he burst onto the scene in a way that has already changed the face of the fashion industry. In fact, he is ranked 4th on the list of top successful male models as listed by Forbes Magazine.

Danny has appeared in numerous ad campaigns and catwalk shows, he was featured prominently in "D&G", "Armani Jeans", "Barney's", "Calvin Klein" and "Pepe Jeans "campaigns. But he is perhaps most known for fronting campaigns for "CK Jeans", a 50ft. billboard in Times Square. He also shot a campaign with Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen and has worked with photographers such as Mario Testino . He has also appeared in publications such as 10, Vogue, GQ and OUT.

Danny has also been featured in editorials for VMAN, Surface, 10 Men and Out. Also successful in a commercial sense, Danny has appeared advertisements for American Eagle with their Spring/Summer 2010 campaign as well as Abercrombie & Fitch’s relaunched catalog for the Fall/Winter 2010 season.
The frenzy for Schwarz in the modeling world is still going strong with no signs of slowing down. He has since managed to waltz down just about every run ways in the world, such as elite runways of Paris, London, Milan and New York for big designers such as "Versace" and "Roberto Cavalli".

Nick Lachey


Nicholas Scott Lachey is an American pop music singer and actor born on the 9th of November 1973 in the border of Kentucky and Virginia in Harlan, Kentucky to Cate Fopma-Leimbach and John Lachey. Along with his brother Drew Lachey, he has a step sister, Josie, a half brother, Issac, and two adopted siblings, Zac and Kaitlin. Nick and his brother Drew attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He then pursued acting at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. After a year, Nick transferred to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where he studied Sports Medicine and become a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. It was during summer break when he got an invitation from a fellow Ohioan Jeff Timmons to audition in Hollywood and form a boy band that eventually becomes 98 degrees. Completing the group is Nick’s high school pal Justin Jeffre and younger brother Drew.
As one-fourth of the vocal group sensation 98º, Nick has enjoyed multi-platinum sales and sold-out world tours. The group bags a Top 20 hit with "Invisible Man" off their self-titled debut album. By the end of 1998, boy band mania is in full swing! Their album 98 Degrees and Rising spawns the Top 10 hit "Because of You."
Nick Lachey became even more popular when he starred in the reality TV show Newlyweds with his then-wife and a fellow pop star Jessica Simpson. It was premiered on MTV in August of 2003 to a huge amount of viewers and recognition. The outrageous quotes, hilarious lifestyle, and mega-spending of the young couple made Newlyweds a phenomenon. Aside from Newlyweds, Nick has appeared in films: Bewitched and The Hard Easy, both in 2005.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

James William Van Der Beek Jr.


James William Van Der Beek Jr. best known as Dawson Leery in Dawson’s Creek in 1998, is an American television, film and stage actor. He was born on March 8, 1977, in Cheshire, Connecticut, USA to father Jim Van Der Beek, a cellular-phone company executive and mother Melinda Van Der Beek, a gymnastics studio owner and former Broadway dancer. James was a football player during his childhood, but due to injury, he had to stop from playing for a year. During this period, James’ interest landed into acting and was cast in the role of Danny Zuko in his school production of “Grease”. He was then engaged in local theatre before he made his professional acting debut in the off-Broadway production of “Finding the Sun”.
In 1995 James made his feature film debut in the teen film "Angus" portraying the role of Rick Sanford. After a year, he was given a very small supporting role in a romance drama “I Love You, I Love You Not”. His big break came in 1998 when he auditioned and won the lead role in the teen TV series “Dawson’s Creek”. The TV series was a smash hit worldwide and his on and off air chemistry with Katie Holmes was part of the reason of its success. James’ popularity quickly soared high and continues to do more projects and TV appearances even after the series. To name a few of his films: “Varsity Blues”(1999), “Texas Rangers”(2001), “The Rules of Attraction”(2002),” Sex, Power, Love & Politics”(2006), “Eye of the Beast”(2007), “Football Wives”(2007), and “Taken In Broad Dayligth”(2009).

Friday, July 15, 2011

Taylor Daniel Lautner


Another young man added to the list of famous martial arts movie actors in Hollywood is Taylor Daniel Lautner. Taylor was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on February 11, 1992 to parents, Deborah who works for a software development company and Daniel an airline pilot. He and his younger sister Makena, were then raised in Hudsonville, Michigan and are of Dutch, French, and German descent, but also claim some Native American ancestry, which offers a connection to the character he plays on the Twilight series.
Taylor started studying martial arts at the age of six. Skills acquired have gotten him into top and ranked as number one in the world for NASKA’s Black Belt Open Forms, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons and Traditional Forms. Hence, at the age of 12, he won the Junior World Championship. Lautner once showed off his martial art skills on an episode of “America's Most Talented Kids”.
Taylor Lautner undoubtedly become one of the most famous, talented, and successful young Hollywood actors. His first TV appearance was on 2001 in the film “Shadow Fury”. Thereafter, he appeared in television series like “The Bernie Mac Show”, “My Wife & the Kids”, “Summerland” before landing his breakthrough role in 2005 at the age of 13 as shark boy in the film “The Adventure of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D” which he utilized martial arts skills. The same year, Taylor also appeared in the film “Cheaper by the Dozen 2” portraying the role of Eliot Murtaugh.
Not long enough, Taylor finds himself playing an iconic and challenging role of a werewolf hunk Jacob Black in the record breaking blockbuster hit series “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer . He continued to branch out into other roles and films such as the star studded romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day” and the action-packed thriller “Abduction”.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Robert Pattinson


Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson was born on May 13, 1986, in London, England. Among the brood of three, Robert is the youngest and the only son of Richard and Clare Pattinson. His father was a vintage car importer while his mother worked for a modelling agency. Aside from being an actor, model and producer, Pattison is an excellent musician who plays both the guitar and piano. He performs two songs on the Twilight soundtrack, “Never Think,” which he co-wrote with Sam Bradley, and “Let Me Sign.”
When Robert was 15, he started acting in amateur plays with the Barnes Theatre Company. Afterward, he took supporting roles in the made for television film Ring of the Nibelungs (2004), and in director Mira Nair’s 2004 Vanity Fair, although his scenes in the latter were deleted, and only appear on the DVD version. He got his first big break when he was cast as Cedric Diggory in both “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and “Harry Potter and the "Order of the Phoenix”. Following his stint as Cedric Diggory, Pattinson was named 2005's "British Star of Tomorrow" by Times Online and has been dubbed "the next Jude Law" by Teen People.
The British actor is arguably the hottest new star in Hollywood as he portrayed the leading role of Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of the bestselling novels “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer. Since then, he's gone on to be an international superstar, reprising his role in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)”. In fact, he works nonstop—in between Twilight movies, he's also played starring roles in "Bel Ami" with Christina Ricci, "Remember Me" with Emilie de Ravin and "Water for Elephants" opposite Reese Witherspoon.