Biography: Felicity Jones

Felicity Jones is one of the brightest actresses of her generation.

She has recently been seen in Julie Taymor’s film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in BAFTA-nominated director Niall MacCormick’s Albatross and in the romantic drama Like Crazy. For her performance as ‘Anna’ in like Crazy, Jones was awarded for Best Breakthrough Performer by the National Board of Review and the Gotham Awards, among others. Jones has also starred in the romantic comedy The Chalet Girl, and in Soulboy, a coming-of-age drama set in the 1970s Northern Soul underground musical scene, which premiered to great acclaim at the Edinburgh Film Festival. In addition to her role as Emily in Hysteria, she will next be seen in Davis Hare’s Page Eight (TV movie) with Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz and Bill Nighy; and in the comedy Cheerful Weather for the Wedding.

Other recent films include Cemetary Junction, a comedy written and directed by the award-winning partnership of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant; and the short movie The Hangup, based on Anthony Minghella’s 1980 radio play.

Jones starred as ‘Edmée’ in Cheri, directed by Stephen Frears, co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates and Rupert Friend. Her extensive film credits also include the role of Lady Cordelia Flyte in the remake of Brideshead Revisited, directed by Julian Jarrold, opposite Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw and Hayley Atwell; and Flashbacks of a Fool with Daniel Craig, Harry Eden, rapper Eve, Keeley Hawes and Olivia Williams. Read more

Biography: Hugh Dancy

Hugh Dancy most recently appeared in Our Idiot Brother directed by Jesse Peretz and Martha Marcy May Marlene, with both films receiving critical acclaim at 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to his leading man role in Hysteria, in 2012 Dancy will voice the character of Marshall Mallow in the animated Dorothy of Oz.

Dancy’s other film credits include: Adam, Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Jane Austen Book Club, Evening, Beyond The Gates, King Arthur, Ella Enchanted, The Sleeping Dictionary, Black Hawk Down and Young Blades.

On television, Dancy had a recurring role in The Big C starring Laura Linney, and has been seen in Tom Hooper’s critically acclaimed series Elizabeth I opposite Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons. Dancy received an Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his role as Earl of Essex, and the series received the 2007 Golden Globe® Award for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television and the Emmy® Award for Best Miniseries. Read more

Biography: Alexander Skarsgard

Alexander Skarsgard is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. He began his acting career at the age of eight and worked steadily in films and on Swedish television. Skarsgård went on to study theater at the Leeds Metropolitan University in the U.K. and at Marymount Manhattan College in New York. He returned to Sweden and appeared in a number of productions that made him a star in his native country. A visit to Los Angeles landed him a part in the hit comedy Zoolander (2001), where he starred alongside Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell.

Skarsgård returned home to Sweden to continue honing his acting skills with roles in film and theatrical productions, including Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Bloody Wedding. In 2003, he co-wrote and co-directed an award-winning short, Att döda ett barn (To Kill a Child), which was shown at the Tribeca and Cannes film festivals. Read more

Biography: Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson has become one of the leading international motion-picture actors today. Whether it is his Academy Award®-nominated role of Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s highly acclaimed Schindler’s List (1993), his award-winning portrayal of the legendary Irish Republican hero in Michael Collins (1996), or his role as controversial sex therapist Alfred Kinsey in the critically acclaimed Kinsey (2004), Neeson continues to display an acting range matched by few.

In January 2012, Neeson starred in the box-office hit The Grey. Directed by Joe Carnahan, this action-adventure featured an oil drilling team that struggled to survive after a plane crash that stranded them in the wild of Alaska. Hunting the humans was a pack of wolves that saw them as intruders.

In February 2011, Neeson was seen opposite Diane Kruger and January Jones in Unknown, a psychological thriller about stolen identity. Neeson also co-starred in the Warner Bros. remake of the 1981 film Clash of the Titans, which tells the myth of Perseus and his quest to battle both Medusa and the Kraken monster in order to save the princess Andromeda. A sequel is currently in the works for release in 2012. Read more

Biography: Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey is one of Hollywood’s most sought after leading men whose films have grossed over a billion dollars at the box office. He is a Texas native who, while attending the University of Texas in Austin, planned to be a lawyer. When he discovered an inspirational Og Mandino book The Greatest Salesman in the World before one of his final exams, he suddenly knew that he had to change his major from law to film.

McConaughey began his acting career in 1991, appearing in student films and commercials in Texas and directing short films. It was a chance meeting in Austin with casting director and producer, Don Phillips, who introduced him to director, Richard Linklater where he was cast as Wooderson in the cult classic Dazed and Confused. Since that time McConaughey has appeared in over 40 feature films, and has become a producer, director, and philanthropist all the while sticking to his Texas roots and ‘jk livin’ philosophy. Over the years, he has portrayed an athlete, a police officer, a football coach, and a lawyer, and has worked with Hollywood greats such as Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemekis, Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Sandra Bullock, and Al Pacino to name a few. Read more

Biography: Kevin Hart

Kevin Hart has burst onto the scene as one of the most versatile comedy actors in film and television.

In September 2011, AMC Theatres released the feature-film version of his comedy tour Laugh at My Pain (LAMP). The movie grossed more than $7 million and was 2011’s most successful film released in fewer than 300 theaters. The LAMP tour made Hart the No. 1 comedian on Ticketmaster in 2011, and in February 2011, he sold out the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE for two nights in a row, which broke the record previously set by Eddie Murphy. After being on sale for one month, the LAMP DVD hit double platinum in February 2012.

Hart is currently on the road with his new tour, Let Me Explain. This tour will take him to 90 cities in the U.S. and internationally to cities in Europe and Africa.

On April 20, 2012, Hart will be seen in Screen Gems’ Think Like a Man, a comedy based on Steve Harvey’s best-selling book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.

Hart was last seen in Little Fockers, with Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, and in Death at a Funeral, alongside Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan and Martin Lawrence. He also co-starred alongside Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson in Fool’s Gold and opposite Steve Carell in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Hart’s other film credits include Soul Plane, opposite Tom Arnold, Method Man and Snoop Dogg; Not Easily Broken; Extreme Movie; Drillbit Taylor; Epic Movie; The Last Stand; Scary Movie 4; In the Mix; Meet Dave; and Superhero Movie. Read more

Biography: Mindy Kalling

Mindy Kaling is a quadruple threat to be reckoned with.

Kaling is an actor, producer, writer and director on the critically acclaimed and Emmy Award-winning NBC show The Office. Additionally, she is a New York Times best-selling author and has recently written a pilot for FOX, which she will star in, write and executive produce.

Kaling can currently be seen on the eighth season of The Office, where she stars as Kelly Kapoor. She has written more than 18 episodes for the show, including Niagara, for which she received an Emmy nomination.

She has also ventured into directing and was recently named an executive producer of The Office. In 2009, she debuted as a director with the episode Subtle Sexuality.

In early 2004, Kaling was hired as a writer and performer for the American version of The Office. At first, executive producer Greg Daniels wasn’t sure where to use her on screen in the series, until a point in the episode Diversity Day required Steve Carell’s insensitive character, Michael Scott, to be slapped by a minority character. In a 2007 interview with The A.V. Club, Kaling stated that the Kelly character is “an exaggerated version of what I think the upper-level writers believe my personality is.” Read more

Biography: Chris Pratt

Chris Pratt is most often recognized for portraying Andy Dwyer on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, opposite Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari and Rashida Jones. Now in its fourth season, the hit series has been hailed as one of the smartest and funniest shows on television.

Pratt is currently filming Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty.

Pratt first gained recognition as an actor on the television shows Everwood and The O.C. He earned two Teen Choice Award nominations for his portrayal of Harold Brighton “Bright” Abbott during Everwood’s four-year run.

The actor’s work in feature films has steadily gained momentum. In the Oscar®-nominated film Moneyball, directed by Capote’s Bennett Miller, Pratt plays Oakland A’s first baseman Scott Hatteberg. Adapted by Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian from Michael Lewis’ non-fiction book, Moneyball stars Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

In 2011, Pratt starred in the late 1980s period comedy Take Me Home Tonight, with Anna Faris and Topher Grace. Pratt also recently finished shooting Ten Year, in which he co-stars with Channing Tatum, Rosario Dawson and Justin Long.

His previous film credits include the 2009 thriller Jennifer’s Body, written by Diablo Cody and starring Megan Fox. He portrayed Anne Hathaway’s fiancé in the 2009 comedy Bride Wars, and in 2008, he was featured in Wanted, opposite Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy. Read more

Biography: Luke Evans

Luke Evans is a Welsh actor primed to turn heads among U.S. moviegoers and the film industry with his upcoming starring roles in notable studio films. Evans will next be seen in Paul W.S. Anderson’s star-studded 3-D spectacle The Three Musketeers. Evans stars as Aramis, one of the disgraced musketeers taking on Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz) and The Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) in the hope of restoring their reputation as a force to be reckoned with. The film also stars Logan Lerman and Milla Jovovich.

Soon thereafter, Evans again graces multiplexes as the Greek god Zeus in Tarsem Singh’s Immortals, a stylish and spectacular 3-D action adventure starring Mickey Rourke, Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto and Isabel Lucas.

Evans recently completed his second turn with director Mat Whitecross in the contemporary film noir Ashes, starring alongside Ray Winstone, Jim Sturgess, Lesley Manville and Jodie Whittaker. The actor has also completed production on No One Lives, directed by Ryûhei Kitamura. This horror film focuses on a ruthless gang of killers who are surprised by their victims’ resistance. Next, Evans begins filming his role as Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Read more

Biography: Mark Duplass

Mark Duplass is a writer, director, producer and actor who first made a name for himself when he starred in, co-wrote, and co-directed a string of award-winning short films, including This Is John and Scrabble, which premiered at Sundance in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

He and his brother Jay also wrote and directed the 2005 Sundance breakout hit The Puffy Chair, which went on to win the Audience Award at SXSW 2005 and was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. The film was released theatrically by Roadside Attractions and Netflix in 2006. Baghead, their next feature film, was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics at Sundance 2008 and received an international theatrical release that year. Fox Searchlight recently released Mark and Jay’s first studio feature, Cyrus, starring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei, which garnered rave reviews. Mark and Jay’s next film is Paramount Vantage’s Jeff Who Lives at Home, starring Jason Segal, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, and Judy Greer.

As an actor, Mark co-starred in The Puffy Chair, Joe Swanberg’s 2007 Hannah Takes The Stairs from IFC Films, and 2009’s breakout Sundance hit Humpday from Magnolia Pictures. Mark also appeared opposite Ben Stiller in Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg, which Focus Features released in March 2010. Read more

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