The Many Faces of… Kevin Costner

Overview movies roles Kevin Costner

I always like it when actors make a comeback. Kevin Costner was big during movies like Intouchables, The Bodyguard, JFK, Dances With Wolves but after Postman and Waterworld you didn’t see him that much anymore. Lately he has appeared in some very high profile movies so I thought it would only be right do an installment on him.

Kevin Costner was born on January 18, 1955 in California. Growing up he enjoyed sports a lot and also liked to sing. He got a BA in marketing and finance, but started acting and appeared in his first movie in 1981. It wasn’t until his role as Eliott Ness in The Untouchables that he became famous. He has acted in movies like No Way Out, Field of Dreams, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and A Perfect World. He was scheduled to act in Django Unchained, but had to drop out. Some of his newer films include The Company Men, Man of Steel, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and 3 Days to Kill. His most succesfull movie was Dances with Wolves for which he won 2 Oscars (best picture and best director). He also is a singer in a country rock band (Kevin Costner & Modern West) Continue reading

The Many Faces of… Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood was born on May 31, 1930 in San Francisco. He grew up in Pledmont, California. When he attended Oakland Technical High School there were teachers who wanted him in school plays, but he wasn’t interested. In 1951 he went into the army where he worked as swimming instructor and lifeguard. He survived a Douglas AD bomber crash. He was noticed when Universal Studios was shooting in Fort Ord, it resulted in his first small role in Revenge of the Creature (1955). He continued playing small roles in other films. He appeared in the CBS show Rawhide (1959), which he did for several years. During this time he started to get interested in directing, but it wouldn’t be until 1971 he started directing movies.

Sergio Leone cast him in A Fistful of Dollars (1964), the start of the so-called spaghetti westerns. Eastwood would play in a lot of other westerns throughout his career including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Hang ‘Em High and Unforgiven. One of his most iconic roles is that of Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry, which is still quoted a lot. Movies he was in include High Plains Drifter, Escape from Alcatraz, The Rookie, In the Line of Fire, The Bridges of Madison County, Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino. He won 4 Oscars (Best Motion Picture and Best Achievement in Directing for Letter from Iwo Jima, Best Picture and Best Director for Unforgiven). Continue reading

The Many Faces of… Andrew Garfield

The Many Faces of Andrew Garfield

With the release in the US of The Amazing Spiderman 2 I thought it was a nice moment to take a look at the career of Andrew Garfield. He was born on 20 August 1983 in Los Angeles. At the age of 3 his parent moved to the United Kingdom where he grew up in Epsom, Surrey. Growing up he swimmed and did gymnastics. He wanted to study business, but he took an interest in acting. He took acting classes and started working in stage acting. He won several theatre awards. His first roles were mainly on British TV in series like Sugar Rush, Swining, Trial & Retribution and Doctor Who. His first American movie was Lions for Lambs in 2007, followed by a role in The Other Boleyn Girl, Red Riding television tirlogy and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. He got bigger roles in Never Let Me Go and The Social Network, but it was his starring role in The Amazing Spider-man which really made him well-known. Continue reading

The Many Faces of… Robert Duvall

overview movies Robert Duvall roles picture pictures

As you can imagine making these overviews for the “Many Faces of…” posts can take up quite some time. Finding pictures of all the movies an actor or actress has played in is not done in a couple of minutes. Some of those actors/actresses have a very long career and time not always allows me to make a post for them. Robert Duvall is one of them. I have been meaning to do a post on him for a long time and now I finally was able to. My first memory of seeing him was in one of my favorite movies, Falling Down, in which he played a cop who was about to retire and had to deal with a man who was causing havoc in the city. He breathed life into that character and made him a guy you like. He has a certain charm to his acting which I really appreciate. With 142 credits to his name he has already had an impressive career. Time to look at his many roles.

Robert Duvall was born on January 5, 1931 in San Diego, California. He grew up on the East Coast as his father was a U.S.Navy admiral. He graduated college in 1953. During the Korean War he served in the United States Army. In the army he acted in a a production of the comedy “Room Service”. In 1955 he studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater in New York. James Caan, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman were his classmates, with which he both shared rooms with. His first acting was in theatre. He started appearing in a lot of TV shows. His first movie role was in To Kill a Mockingbird in 1962. During his career he was nominated for an Oscar a total of six times and won the statue for his leading role in Tender Mercies. Continue reading

The Many Faces of… Chris Evans

The Many Faces of CHris Evans

Chris Evans was born on born June 13, 1981 in Boston. His sister was acting before him and he started acting in school plays, went to theater camp and took an internship for a casting office. Thanks to that internship he got to know various agents and it did not take long before he started his career. His first roles were in The Newcomers, Opposite Sex and The Fugitive. After Not Another Teen Movie he starred in Cellular and The Perfect Score. His first comic book role would be in The Fantastic Four movie as Johnny Storm. Other movies he acted in were Sunshine, Street Kings, Push, The Losers and Scott Pilgrim. He is best known though for his role as Captain America in the Marvel universe. Continue reading

The Many Faces of… Morgan Freeman

Overview pictures Morgan Freeman movies roles

Morgan Freeman was born on the 1st of June 1937 in Memphis Tennessee. At age nine he acted in a school play and at age 12 he won a drama competition. He graduated in 1955 and decided to work as a radar technician in the United States Air Force. He took acting and dancing lessons at the beginning of the sixties. He was a transcript clerk at Los Angeles City College. He moved to New York and worked as a dancer en was part of the Opera Ring musical theater group. He started acting more and had a role in the film The Pawnbroker in 1965. He acted on stage on Broadway. While appearing on stage he also started acting in TV shows and movies in supporting roles. With Driving Miss Daisy he became well-known to a wider audience. He has since acted in a big number of movies and played both God and the president of America twice. His performance in Million Dollar Baby earned him and Oscar. Continue reading

The Many Faces of… Emile Hirsch

Overview pictures Emile Hirsch movies roles

This week I decided to take a look at the career of Emile Hirsch. Born on March 13, 1985 in Topanga, California he grew up in Los Angeles and Sante Fe. Thanks to his sister he got interested in acting and it was already at the age of 8 that he had his first role in Woodstock, Illinois. After that he started appearing in television shows (3rd Rock from the Sun, Early Edition, Two of a Kind, Promised Land) and TV movies. After playing a role in NYPD Blue he started getting cast for more serious roles and he appeared in ER for two episodes. His first movie was The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. Other movies included The Girl Next Door, The Mudge Boy, Imaginary Heroes and Lords of Dogtown. Into the Wild is the movie where I first noticed him as it was an impressive movie, partly thanks to his acting. Other movies he has starred in include Speed Racer, Milk, Taking Woodstock, The Darkest Hour and Prince Avalanche. Continue reading

The Many Faces of… Paul Dano

Overview pictures movies Paul Dano

This week I decided to take a look at the many roles of Paul Dano, who I first noticed in Being Flynn where he impressed me. I started noticing him other movies as well and am impressed by the number of great movies he has appeared in the last couple of years.

Paul Dano was born on June 19, 1984 in New York, but grew up in Conneticut. As he was growing up he did community theater. He appeared in the play Inherit the Wind and in 1998 had a small role in the TV show Smart Guy. His first movie was The Newcomers, followed by several other small movies. He landed a role in The Sopranos, playing Patrick Whaley in 2 episodes. After this he acted in The Ballad of Jack and Rose, followed by The King and Little Miss Sunshine. Daniel Day-Lewis was so impressed by him when he acted with him on The Ballad of Jack and Rose that he wanted him to act in There Will Be Blood. Other movies he appeared in were Meek’s Cutoff, Knight and Day, Being Flynn playing the son of a character played by Robert de Niro, Ruby Sparks, Loop, 12 Years a Slave and Prisoners. Continue reading

The Many Faces of… Catherine Keener

Overview pictures Catherine Keener roles movies

Catherine Keener was born on March 23, 1959 in Miami, Florida. When she was studying she majored in English and history. When she could not get into a photography class she chose theater instead. In 1986 she started appearing on TV shows, with her first bigger role as Lt. Cricket Sideris in the show Ohara, featuring Pat Morita. Her first movie was About Last Night. She earned her first Oscar nomination for her role in Being John Malkovich. She has starred in a big number of movies including S1m0ne, The Interpreter, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Capote (for which she received a second Oscar nomination), Friends With Money, Into the Wild, Synecdoche, New York and A Late Quartet. Continue reading

The Many Faces of… Idris Elba

Overview of movies Idris Elba pictures

Idris Elba was born on the 6th of September 1972 in London. He made his first steps into acting when he was at school. In 1986 he helped his uncle to DJ at weddings and with that experience he started a DJ company together with friends. In 1988 he left school and went to the National Youth Music Theatre. He appeared in Crimewatch where he played roles in reconstructions of crime scenes. His first proper role was in Bramwell (1995). After this he appeared in various British shows like Absolutely Fabulous, The Bill, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Family Affairs, Ultraviolet and Dangerfield. What shot him to stardom was his starring role in The Wire, in which he played the character “Stringer” Bell. He has since starred in various movies, including 28 Weeks Later, RocknRolla, Legacy, The Losers, Takers, Thor, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Prometheus, Pacific Rim and Long Walk to Freedom. Continue reading