Demián Bichir is one of the most well known and well respected actors in his home of Mexico and all of Latin America. He is an Ariel award winner for Best Actor, given by the Mexican Academy of Cinematography, and has been garnered with other prestigious honors and achievements throughout his career, including a Medal of Honor from Mexico City.
In the United States, Bichir is known as Esteban Reyes in the hit Showtime series Weeds or for his portrayal of a young Fidel Castro in Steven Soderbergh's Che, opposite Benicio Del Toro. He is attached to star opposite Vera Farmiga in A Thousand Guns. Bichir starred in the film Hildago as the title role, based on the father of Mexican Independence, Miguel Hidalgo, which recently opened to rave reviews in Mexico (he is also a producer). He received Silver Colon for "Best Actor" at the Huelva Film Festival in October of 2010.
Bichir also starred in the independent film The Runway, which won the award at The Galaway Irish Film Festival this year.
In the theater, he wowed audiences in 2008 starring in the play By The Waters of Babylon, which opened at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
This should come as no surprise, as Bichir comes from a very strong theater background and a well respected theatrical family. He is the son of famed theater director Alejandro Bichir and acclaimed actress Maricrúz Nájera. His brothers, Odiseo and Bruno, are two of the most talented actors of their generation. In fact, one year there was a special category in Mexico at the "MTV Movie Awards" that was named after his family called "El Mejor Bichir en Una Pelicula" (the best Bichir in a movie) – Demian won. His films have been seen by more than twelve million people in México alone, without mentioning the vast audience in Spain and South America, where he has also shot several films. His credits include such films as: Rojo Amanecer(winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the San Sebastian Film Festival), Alex de la Iglesia's Perdita Durango with Javier Bardem, Hasta Morir (winner Best Actor Ariel, The Mexican Academy of Cinematography), Sin Noticias de Dios with Victoria Abril and Penélope Cruz, Sex, Shame and Tears (Ariel Best Actor nominee), American Visa (Best Foreign Film nominee at the Goyas in Spain), Fuera del Cielo (soon to be released in the US by Lionsgate Films) and Enemigos Intimos.
20In his native México he's performed in plays such as Shakespeare's A Mid Summer Night's Dream and Richard The III, Strindberg's The Ghost Sonata, Peter Shaffer's Equus, O'Neill's Ah! Wilderness, Neil Simon's Broadway Bound and The Odd Couple, Halliwell's Little Malcolm and his Struggle Against the Eunuchs and Sabina Berman's Extras (an adaptation from Marie Jones' Stones in his Pockets).
Bichir received a special award at the 35th Chicago International Film Festival for three of his films. He's is consistently invited to be part of the jury in international film festivals and we name LALIFF, Huelva and Ibiza among them. He has received two tributes, one at the San Diego film festival, and recently received another with his brothers at the Monterrey film festival in México. Last year Mexican GQ named him "Man of the Year."
Bichir currently resides in Los Angeles and Mexico.
One of France's biggest stars, actor/writer/director Jean Dujardin began his performing career in Paris comedy clubs. In the late 1990s, he co-founded the popular sketch comedy troupe Nous C Nous, which broke through to the French public through multiple wins on television talent competition series "Graines des stars" and went on to appear on France's most successful talk shows. Dujardin's solo career began to take off when he became the star of the hit sitcom "Un gars une fille," which aired from 1999 to 2003; he also wrote several episodes of the series. After acting in the short ensemble comedy A L'abri Des Regards Indiscrets 2002, Dujardin made his feature debut in the 2002 comedy If I Were A Rich Man. Increasingly prominent film roles in films such as Mariages (2003) followed and in 2004, Dujardin starred in and wrote the hit comedy Brice De Nice, (2004), which was based on his original sketch. In 2004, Dujardin acted in his first screen drama, Nicolas Boukhrief's Le Convoyeur by Nicolas Boukhrief. He began his successful collaboration with writer/director Michel Hazanavicius with his star turn as secret agent OSS 117 in the filmmaker's hit spy pastiche OSS 117 - Cairo, Nest Of Spies. Dujardin's performance as the suave spy garnered him a César Award nomination for Best Actor. He and Hazanavicius reteamed for the sequel, the equally beloved OSS 117 – Lost In Rio, released in 2009.
The actor's other credits include Jan Kounen's comedy 99 Francs, Franck Mancuso's crime drama Counter-Investigation; Francis Huster's A Man And His Dog with Jean Paul Belmondo; James Huth's comic western Lucky Luke, for which he co-wrote the screenplay; Bertrand Blier's The Clink Of Ice; Guillaume Canet's Little White Lies with Marion Cotillard; and Nicole Garcia's A View Of Love.
Academy Award® nominee Michael Shannon is making his mark working with many of the industry's most honored talent and treading the boards in the world's most respected theatres.
In Take Shelter, Shannon re-teams with Jeff Nichols and stars alongside Jessica Chastain and Shea Whigham. In 2007, he first collaborated with Jeff Nichols starring as 'Son Hayes' in the critically acclaimed Shotgun Stories.
This year, Shannon appeared Marc Forster's Machine Gun Preacher opposite Gerard Butler and Michelle Monaghan. Shannon will also be seen in Martin Scorsese's HBO series, Boardwalk Empire, co-starring Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt and Kelly Macdonald. Based on Nelson Johnson's book, the series centers on an Atlantic City liquor distribution ring at the onset of Prohibition. Shannon plays 'Nelson Van Alden,' a dedicated senior agent with the Treasury Department who has a strong interest in controlling bootlegging. Upcoming, Shannon has David Koepp's Premium Rush, opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film is an action story set in New York City where a bike messenger picks up a package at Columbia University and subsequently catches the attention of a dirty cop. Sony Pictures has slated the release for January 13, 2012.
Shannon is currently in production on Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, starring as 'General Zod,' opposite Henry Cavill, Amy Adams and Diane Lane. Warner Bros. is slated to release the film on June 14, 2013. Prior to that, Shannon completed production on Liza Johnson's Return, which premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival as part of the 'Director's Fortnight.' Starring Linda Cardellini, the film centers on a female soldier who comes home after serving overseas. Shannon plays opposite star Cardellini as her husband.
Last year, Shannon led Craig Wright's off-Broadway play, Mistakes Were Made, at the Barrow Street Theater. Directed by Dexter Bullard, Shannon portrays 'Felix Artifex,' a small time theatre producer who gets in way over his fast-talking head when he takes on an epic about the French Revolution. The play received its world premiere at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago in 2009 with the same cast and director. The critically acclaimed production garnered numerous accolades for Shannon, including an 'Outstanding Lead Actor' Lortel Award nomination, an 'Outstanding Actor in a Play' Drama Desk Award nomination, an 'Outstanding Solo Performance' Outer Critics Award nomination and a 'Distinguished Performance' Drama League Award nomination as well as a listing on Time Magazine's 'Top 10 Everything of 2010' (Top 10 Plays and Musicals).
Most notably, Shannon made his mark in an Oscar®-nominated supporting role in Revolutionary Road, playing 'John Givings', the psychologically troubled neighbor's son. Directed by Sam Mendes and adapted by Justin Haythe, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Kathy Bates.
With over thirty roles in film, Shannon's credits include Floria Sigismondi's The Runaways; Werner Herzog's My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done and Bad Lieutenant; Sydney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows Your Dead; Oliver Stone's World Trade Center; William Friedkin's Bug; Curtis Hanson's Lucky You; Michael Bay's Bad Boys II; Curtis Hanson's 8 Mile; David McNally's Kangaroo Jack; Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky; Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor; John Waters' Cecil B. DeMented; Noah Buschel's The Missing Person; and Shana Feste's The Greatest.
For all his roles on screen, Shannon has maintained a connection to theatre and credits include Our Town (Barrow Street Theatre), Lady (Rattlestick Theatre), The Metal Children (Vineyard Theatre), The Little Flower of East Orange (Public Theatre), The Pillowman (Steppenwolf Theatre), Bug (Barrow Street Theatre, Red Orchid Theatre and Gate Theatre), Man From Nebraska (Steppenwolf Theatre), Mr. Kolpert (Red Orchid Theatre), Killer Joe (SoHo Playhouse, Next Lab Theatre and Vaudeville Theatre), The Idiot (Lookingglass Theatre), The Killer (Red Orchid Theatre) and Woyzeck (Gate Theatre).
Michael Shannon grew up in Lexington, Kentucky and began his professional stage career in Chicago.
Ryan Gosling's career breakthrough came with the controversial lead role in the 2001 film The Believer. His performance garnered him rave reviews and industry-wide attention. He continues to be noticed as "one of the most exciting actors of his generation," as recently declared by Manohla Dargis, critic for The New York Times. In 2004, he was lauded as ShoWest's Male Star of Tomorrow.
In 2007 Gosling was honored with both a Golden Globe® and SAG Actor nomination for his work in Lars and The Real Girl. The previous year he garnered an Academy Award® Nomination for 'Best Actor' for his role in Half Nelson. His performance as 'Dan,' a drug-addicted inner city junior high school teacher also garnered 'Best Actor' nominations from the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Broadcast Film Critics Awards, Film Independent Spirit Awards, Chicago Film Critics, Online Film Critics' Society, Toronto Film Critics and the Satellite Awards. He was awarded the 'Male Breakthrough Performance Award' from the National Board of Review, and won Best Actor Awards from both the Seattle and Stockholm International Film Festivals. His 2010 powerhouse performance in Blue Valentine earned Gosling his second Golden Globe® Nomination for 'Best Actor'.
Gosling's performance in The Believer, which won the Grand Jury prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, garnered him a 'Best Actor' Film Independent Spirit nomination, a 'Best Actor' nomination from the London Film Critics' Circle, and earned him the Golden Ram for 'Best Actor' by the Russian National Critics Association. Gosling's penchant to take on intricate and complex characters earned him the lead and title role in The United States of Leland, opposite Kevin Spacey and Don Cheadle. Subsequently, he starred in the blockbuster romantic drama The Notebook, followed by Marc Forster's Stay, opposite Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, starred opposite Anthony Hopkins in the New Line thriller Fracture as well as the lead in All Good Things.
In 2011, Gosling can be seen in the marital crisis comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa , also starring Steven Carell, Julianne Moore, and Emma Stone and in George Clooney's upcoming drama The Ides of March with Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. In addition to his work on screen, Gosling, an accomplished musician, recently released the album Dead Man's Bones.
After Woody Harrelson had his first outing with director Oren MOverman on The Messenger, he received nominations for Best Supporting Actor from the Academy Awards ®, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild. He received the same nominations as Best Actor for his critically acclaimed portrayal of controversial magazine publisher Larry Flynt in Milos Forman's The People Vs. Larry Flynt, or serial killer Mickey Knox in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Other films include the Oscar-winning No Country For Old Men, The Thin Red Line, and Indecent Proposal, to comedic fare like Kingpin, White Men Can't Jump, Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion, Richard Linkletter's A Scaner Darkly and box office smash Zombieland.
A committed environmentalist, Harrelson married his activism with his film efforts in Ron Mann's Go Further, a road documentary that follows Harrelson and his friends on their bicycle journey down the Pacific Coast Highway from Seattle to Santa Barbara. Harrelson has been active in both mainstream and independent projects since he first stood behind the bar on the iconic TV sitcom Cheers in 1985, earning himself five Emmy® nominations and a win in 1989. He appeared as a recurring guest star on the hit series Will and Grace and reprised his role of Woody Boyd on a very special episode of Frasier.
“I feel like I’m trespassing in the indie world and they seem to have accepted it,” Seth Rogen recently told The Hollywood Reporter about his 2012 Spirit Award nomination as producer of the comedy “50/50.” Looks like they’ve not only have they accepted it, they’ve embraced it, as Rogen’s been invited to host this year’s…
The star of “Knocked Up,” “The Green Hornet,” and “Freaks and Geeks” will host the Spirit Awards which will air on IFC February 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
At a ceremony in Los Angeles this morning, Anthony Mackie and Kate Beckinsale announced the nominees for the 2012 Spirit Awards, which will be handed out on IFC on Saturday, February 25. And one night after it scored Best Film and Best Ensemble at the Gotham Awards, “Beginners” built more awards season momentum by landing…
“Take Shelter” and “The Artist” are poised to win big.
