Matthew McConaughey’s past film credits include Dazed & Confused, Amistad, A Time to Kill, How to Lose a Guy and We Are Marshall to name a few. The last few years have been filled with career changes, beginning with his successful turn in The Lincoln Lawyer, as well as a run of varied roles in edgy indie movies.
McConaughey reteamed with Linklater in the award-winning Bernie. He then starred in William Friedkin’s Killer Joe, a leading role for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Soon after, he took a supporting turn as the veteran male stripper in Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike. For his role as Dallas he has already earned a supporting Independent Spirit nomination as well as a New York Film Critics Circle win. He is currently portraying AIDS victim Ron Woodruff in his next project, The Dallas Buyers Club.
David Oyelowo graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, having received the “Scholorship for Excellence” from Nicholas Hytner, in 1998. Oylowo has had a busy 2012 with several highly-anticipated feature films this year. First up was George Lucas produced Red Tails, which tells the story of the heroic Tuskegee Airmen. In addition, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln with Daniel Day-Lewis, as well as Jack Reacher with Tom Cruise and Lee Daniels’ The Paperboy opposite Nicole Kidman. He just wrapped The Butler, starring with Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey for Lee Daniels.
He was seen on the big screen in last summer’s blockbuster Rise of the Planet of the Apes, as well as the critically lauded The Help. He also starred in The Last King of Scotland, opposite Forest Whitaker and James MacAvoy, Who Do You Love playing the iconic Muddy Waters, A Sound of Thunder for Warner Bros, Derailed for Miramax and the acclaimed BBC2 film Shoot the Messenger.
Beyond theater, Oyelowo starred in the BAFTA award-winning series Spooks/MI5. Additionally, he was nominated for a BAFTA for his work on Small Island. He also starred in BBC1’s Born Equal opposite Colin Firth, ABC’s A Rain In the Sun, the Kenneth Brannagh directed As You Like It, the mini-series Five Days and the acclaimed adaptation The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency directed by the late Anthony Minghella.
In addition, Oleyowo became the first black actor to play and English king for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the title role of Henry VI. The role won him the Ian Charleson Award and an Evening Standard award nomination.
Michael Peña has distinguished himself in Hollywood as an actor with a wide range of performances. Peña earned notable recognition for his performance in Paul Haggis’ provocative Oscar®-winning film Crash, which garnered best ensemble nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and Broadcast Film Critics. He also starred in Observe and Report, Shooter, 30 Minutes or Less and Tower Heist.
In 2013, you can see Peña in Gangster Squad opposite Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling, and in Chavezfor director Diego Luna, where Peña will portray the labor organizer, Cesar Chavez.
Sam Rockwell, known for his unforgettable performances as offbeat characters, won the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Berlin Bear Award and Movieline’s Breakthrough Performance of the Year Award for his portrayal of Chuck Barris in George Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Rockwell received widespread critical praise for that role in the adaptation of the cult memoir of Game Show Producer Chuck Barris who purported to be a CIA covert operative. He won the Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia Best Actor Award for his performance in Joshua and the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival Decades Achievement Award.
He was nominated for the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) and Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTA) for Best International Actor for his role as the astronaut Sam Bell in Moon. Rockwell shared two Screen Actors Guild nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast for Ron Howard’s Frost / Nixon and Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile based on Stephen King’s bestseller. He also shared a Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize Award for Ensemble Cast for Clark Gregg’s comedy Choke, adapted from Chuck Palahniuk’s bestseller.
He can be seen in several upcoming films, including: David M. Rosenthal’s thriller A Single Shot opposite William H. Macy, Jeffrey Wright, and Melissa Leo and adapted from Matthew F. Jones’ novel; Geoff Moore and David Posmentier’s Better Living Through Chemistry co-starring Jane Fonda, Olivia Wilde, Ray Liotta and Judi Dench; Oscar© winners Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s The Way, Way Back opposite Steve Carell and Amanda Peet; and Kat Coiro’s romantic comedy A Case of You, co-starring Evan Rachel Wood, Peter Dinklage and Vince Vaughan.
With roles in more than 70 films and television series, Rockwell’s credits include: Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens and Iron Man 2; Tony Goldwyn’s Conviction; Andrew Dominik’s critically acclaimed film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford with Brad Pitt; David Gordon Green’s Snow Angels; the Russo brothers’ comedy Welcome to Collinwood; McG’s Charlie’s Angels; Dean Parisot’s Galaxy Quest; The Sitter; Everybody’s Fine; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men; Woody Allen’s Celebrity; Michael Hoffman’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; John Duigan’s Lawn Dogs; John Hamburg’s Safe Men; Saul Rubinek’s Jerry and Tom; Tom DiCillo’s Box of Moonlight; Paul Schrader’s Light Sleeper; and Uli Edel’s Last Exit to Brooklyn. Rockwell made his film debut in Francis Ford Coppola’s Clownhouse while attending San Francisco’s High School of the Performing Arts.
In theatre, Rockwell recently collaborated with Seven Psychopaths’ Writer / Director / Producer Martin McDonagh in the Broadway play A Behanding in Spokane opposite Seven Psychopaths’ co-star Christopher Walken.
His other stage credits include: Philip Seymour Hoffman’s The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, a Labyrinth Theater Company production at The Public Theater; Face Divided, part of the EST Marathon series; the off-Broadway production of Mike Leigh’s play Goose-Pimples; and The Dumb Waiter and Hot L Baltimorefor the Williamstown Theatre Festival, both directed by Joe Montello.
Bruce Willis has demonstrated career versatility with diverse characterizations in memorable motion pictures. Among these have been Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, which won the Palme d’Or at the 1994 Cannes International Film Festival; Robert Benton’s Nobody’s Fool, opposite Paul Newman; Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys, with Brad Pitt and Madeleine Stowe; Norman Jewison’s In Country, for which Mr. Willis received a Golden Globe Award nomination; M. Night Shyamalan’s phenomenon The Sixth Sense, for which he won the People’s Choice Award; and, as Detective John McClane, four globally popular Die Hard movies directed by John McTiernan (the first and third installments), Renny Harlin, and Len Wiseman, respectively. He is reprising the latter role for a movie that he is executive-producing, directed by John Moore, to be released in 2013.
Following studies at Montclair State College’s prestigious theater program, the New Jersey native honed his craft in several stage plays and countless television commercials. In 1984, he took on the lead role in Fool for Love, under the direction of the play’s author Sam Shepard, in a run which lasted for 100 performances off-Broadway. Willis next won international stardom and multiple honors, including Emmy and Golden Globe Awards, for his starring role as private eye David Addison in the hit television series Moonlighting.
Since then, his many motion pictures have included Robert Altman’s The Player; Michael Bay’s Armageddon; Robert Benton’s Billy Bathgate; Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element; Blake Edwards’ Blind Date and Sunset; Stephen Frears’ Lay the Favorite; Barry Levinson’s Bandits and What Just Happened; Rob Reiner’s North and The Story of Us; Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City and Planet Terror; Alan Rudolph’s Mortal Thoughts and Breakfast of Champions, which he executive-produced; Robert Schwentke’s RED; M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable; Florent Emilio Siri’s Hostage, which he produced; Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables; Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her; and Edward Zwick’s The Siege. With his brother David Willis and business partner Stephen Eads, he co-founded Willis Brothers Films, a film production company based in Los Angeles.
He also maintains a hand in the theater. In 1997, he co-founded A Company of Fools, a non-profit theater troupe committed to developing and sustaining stage work in the Wood River Valley of Idaho, and throughout the U.S. He starred in and directed a staging of Sam Shepard’s dark comedy True West at the Liberty Theater in Hailey, Idaho. The production, dedicated to Mr. Willis’ late brother Robert, was recorded for television airing.
An accomplished musician, he recorded two Motown albums: The Return of Bruno (1986), which went platinum and yielded a Top 5 hit in “Respect Yourself,” and If It Don’t Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger (1989). In 2002, he launched a club tour with his musical group Bruce Willis and the Blues Band, traveling to Iraq to play for U.S. servicemen.
“I love everybody. We were so lucky to get to work together once; if we get to do it again in the future, that would be amazing,” Cardinelli tells IFC of working with the “Freaks and Geeks” cast.
“Sure, I can be in ‘Ant-Man.’ Why not?” Winstead tells IFC at the Spirit Awards.
Timberlake hosts “SNL” on March 9.
“It’s all about the script for me,” Oyelowo says.
