Tag Archives: career

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The Many Faces of… Rachel Weisz

Overview of the roles of actress Rachel Weisz

Rachel Weisz was born on March 7, 1970 in London. As she was growing up, she started modelling at the age of 14. She was offered to star in King David, together with Richard Gere, but she turned it down. She graduated from Trinity Hall, Cambridge with Bachelor of Arts degree in English. At university she played in various production and co founded a student drama group, which won a Student Drama Award in 1991. She has remained active on the stage throughout her career. Her first appearance on TV was in 1992 on Advocates II and a role in an episode of Inspector Morse. Her first big role was together with Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman in Chain Reaction. Her breakthrough came when she starred in The Mummy, opposite of Brendan Frasier, she also appeared in the sequel. Other movies in her career were Beautiful Creatures, The Runaway Jury, About a Boy, Constantine, The Constant Gardener, The Fountain, The Brothers Bloom and Dream House. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on October 28, 1974. His parents were part of the religious cult the Children of God, which they left in 1978 and they returned to the U.S. Growing up the kids performed on the streets and in L.A. he was discovered, together with his siblings, after which he started appearing on TV shows (his first in 1982), initially under the name Leaf Phoenix. He has since starred in To Die For, U Turn and Inventing the Abbotts. It was his role in The Gladiator as Roman emperor Commodus which made him famous and he has since appeared in many other movies, including Hotel Rwanda, Sings, The Village, Walk the Line. He surprised everyone when he retired and stated he was focussing on a rap career. It eventually lead to the “documentary” I’m Still Here. He returned to acting in The Master. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Hilary Swank

Hilary Swank was born on July 30th, 1974 in Lincoln, Nebraska. As she was growing up she did a lot of sports and went to the Junior Olympics as part of the swimming team. She also did gymnastics. Her first acting was in a school play version of The Jungle Book and liked it so much she kept active in theater. At age 15 she moved to Los Angeles with her mother to pursue an acting career. She appeared in several TV shows, including Harry and the Hendersons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Growing Pains, Bevely Hills 90210 and Van Wilder. Her first leading role in a movie was in The Next Karate Kid. She has since appeared in many movies, including 11:14, The Core, The Black Dahlia, Freedom Writer, P.S. I Love You and Million Dollar Baby, which earned her an Oscar. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Bradley Cooper

Overview in pictures of all the roles of actor Bradley Cooper

Cooper was born on January 5, 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When he finished his studies with a BA in English. His first role was in Sex and the City, after which he also presented Globetrekker and appeared in the TV show Alias. His first movie role was in Wet Hot American Summer. He since has starred in both romantic comedies as well as other type of movies. Movies he was part of include The Hangover, Silver Linings Playbook, He’s Not That Into You, Limitless and The A-Team. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Matthew McConaughey

Overview in pictures of the roles of actor Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey was born on November 4, 1969 in Texas. His good looks were already noted at a young age when he was voted as teh most handsome in the yearbook of his high school. He attended the University of Texas where he graduated with a degree in Radio-Television-Film. He appeared in some small roles and had his first big movie when he was casted in Dazed and Confused. He also had leading roles in movies like Contact, EDtv and Amistad. Because of he looks he is also a popular choice for romantic roles. Lately he has been playing more dramatic roles as he appeared in The Lincoln Lawyer, Bernie and Killer Joe. He had lost a lot of weight of upcoming roles. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Anthony Mackie

Overview of the roles of actor Anthony Mackie movies

Anthony Mackie was born on born September 23, 1978 in New Orleans, Louisiana. When growing up he initially wanted to become an engineer, but soon became interested in the performance arts and attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), the North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) where he graduated after following the high school drama program. At the Juilliard School he was part of the drama division, he graduated in 2001. He first was Don Cheadle’s understudy in a play, but quickly made the move to movies. His first movie was immediately a big role as the rapper Papa Doc in 8 Mile. He has since been in a number of big movies, including The Manchurian Candidate, Million Dollar Baby, We Are Marshall, Half Nelson, The Hurt Locker and The Adjustment Bureau. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of…Giovanni Ribisi

roles of actor Giovanni Ribisi

Giovanni Ribisi was born on December 17, 1974 in Los Angeles. As his mother was a manager for actors and writers, he already started acting at a young age. He studied acting at The Beverly Hills Playhouse. He appeared in small roles on a lot of well-known TV shows like Married With Children, My Two Dads, Blossom, The Wonder Years, Ellen, NYPD Blue, Walker, Texas Ranger and the X-Files. His big breakthrough came when he appeared in Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. He has since appeared in many movies and TV shows including Lost in Translation, Friends, Cold Mountain, Public Enemies, Avatar, Ted and Gangster Squad. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Anna Kendrick

Overview of the roles of actress Anna Kendrick in her career

Anna Kendrick was born in Portland, Maine on August 9, 1985. She appeared on stage at the age of 12 in the Broadway musical High Society in August 1998. Her performance was impressive and it earned her a Tony award nomination and she won the Theatre World Award. She performed in several musicals and in 2003 she appeared in the TV show The Mayor. In the same year she also made her movie debut in the film Camp. A big audience saw her for the first time in the Twilight movies, but she was also in movies like Up in the Air, 50/50, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, End of Watch and Paranorman. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Ryan Gosling

Overview of the career and roles of actor Ryan Gosling

With the weekend about to start it’s time to take a look again at the career of an actor or actress, with this week’s choice for Ryan Gosling. He was born November 12, 1980 in London, Ontario. He didn’t like being a child and really didn’t have any friends until he was in his teens. He got in some trouble after watching First Blood and decided he would take stake knives to school and throw them at other kids. Luckily no one got hurt, but he was suspended. He had trouble reading and eventually was placed in a class for special-needs students. His mother also gave him home schooling.

As for acting, he started out as a mouseketeer and became close friends with Justin Timberlake. After his contract with Disney ended he appeared in several TV shows, including the adventure series Young Hercules. In 2000 he made the move to movies, appearing in Remember the Titans. It wasn’t until 2004 that people started really noticing him when he starred in The Notebook. Other notable performances are those in Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl, Blue Valentine, The Ides of March and Drive. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Denzel Washington

Welcome to a new installment of the Friday Faces, but before we get into it let me state that I will have a small break the coming two weeks. Don’t worry though as I have scheduled some posts for you to enjoy while I am away. Now back to the regular program:

Denzel Washington was born on December 28, 1954 in Mount Vernon. When he was 14 he was sent to a military academy after his parents divorced. He got a bachelors degree in drama and journalism from University in 1977. He tried his hand at acting when someone at a summer camp suggested it to him. He decided he would and after acting in several plays and made his movie debut in a very small role in Death Wish. He appeared in several other movies and played Dr. Philip Chandler in St. Elsewhere. He became a large name in Hollywood after he teamed up with Spike Lee. He has played the inconic role of Malcolm X and has since had a steady career. He won 2 Oscars, one for Best Actor in Training Day and Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Glory and has been nominated 3 other times. Continue reading →