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Notting Hill poster

Notting Hill

1999

ComedyRomance

London bookstore owner William Thacker's quiet life turns upside down when a chance encounter with famous actress Anna Scott sparks an unlikely romance challenged by their vastly different worlds.

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Nick Moore

Editor · Known for Notting Hill, Red, White & Royal Blue

Nick Moore is known for Love Actually (2003), About a Boy (2002) and Notting Hill (1999).

Rhys Ifans photo

Rhys Ifans

Cast · Known for The Amazing Spider-Man, The King's Man, Venom: The Last Dance

Rhys Owain Evans (Welsh pronunciation: [r̥ɨːsˈivans]; born 22 July 1967), known as Rhys Ifans, is a Welsh actor. His portrayed roles in Notting Hill (1999), Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), and Enduring Love (2004), in addition to Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Part 1 (2010), Dr. Curt Connors / Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Grigori Rasputin in The King's Man (2021). His television roles include Hector DeJean in the Epix thriller series Berlin Station, Mycroft Holmes in the CBS series Elementary, and Otto Hightower in the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon. Ifans was also formerly the frontman of the rock bands The Peth and Super Furry Animals. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rhys Ifans, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Paul Brightwell

Paul Brightwell is an English actor and director. He has acted in many different plays, films and TV shows since the late 1980s. Theatre direction includes the British premieres of Heiner Muller's Hamletmachine at the Gate Notting Hill, and Witkiewicz's They at the Polish Theatre in Hammersmith.

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Kevin Layne

Cast · Known for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Kevin Layne was born in London to Allyson Williams MBE, a senior Midwife, and Vernon 'Fellows" Williams, an entrepreneur and pioneer of London's world-famous Notting Hill Carnival. Layne grew up in Wembley, northwest London, and regularly visited his parents' native Trinidad and Tobago. As a teenager, Layne took a keen interest in acting, initially taking extra roles in shows such as Channel 4's 'Get up Stand Up' and television commercials. Having gained more life experience, Layne received the DaDAs (Dance and Drama Awards) scholarship from the Arts Educational School of Acting after having only auditioned 'once' in his entire life. Since graduating, with a Masters Degree in acting, Layne has appeared in several stage productions in London's West End, and has also featured in independent film productions, network television shows and Hollywood movie productions.

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Roger Michell

Director · Known for Notting Hill

Roger Michell (5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021) was a South African-born British theatre, television, and film director. He was best known for directing films such as Notting Hill and Venus, as well as the 1995 made-for-television film Persuasion. Description above from the Wikipedia article Roger Michell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Emma Chambers

Cast · Known for Notting Hill

Emma Gwynedd Mary Chambers (11 March 1964 – 21 February 2018) was an English actress. She was best known for playing the roles of Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley and Honey Thacker in the film Notting Hill (1999).

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David Cann

David Cann is an actor with a diverse and successful career in both theatre and television. After training at RADA he served his apprenticeship in the repertory system, appearing at many of Britain's grand old theatres in a wide range of roles. In plays ancient and modern, Shakespearean drama, musicals and pantomime, David developed into a leading man and character actor with a strong vocal technique and a firm grasp of many artistic styles; from the extreme naturalism of Lawrence's 'A Collier's Friday Night' through the high comedy of Sheridan's 'A School for Scandal' to the classical verse (not to mention the athletic sword-fighting) in 'Romeo and Juliet'. Moving into television David appeared in many shows including 'Sapphire and Steel' and 'Grange Hill'. In between these, he worked in small fringe theatres, such as the Gate in Notting Hill and the Croydon Warehouse, where such heart-warming pieces as Barrie Keeffe's 'My Girl' showed his subtlety in the more intimate space of studio theatre. In the mid-90’s David auditioned for a small part in a new type of comedy pioneered by Chris Morris. The resulting series, 'Brass Eye', was hailed as a major breakthrough in TV style; satirising TV itself. Morris subsequently asked David to join a small team to develop the award-winning BBC radio series 'Blue Jam' and, in 1999, some of this material was filmed for television as 'Jam'. It is for his work in this surreal and iconic series that David is best known. Over many years David has developed a strong reputation working with new and emerging talent, helping writers to develop their scripts through workshops and rehearsed readings. This led to David working with young director Tamara Harvey who later asked David to take the leading role in Laura Wade's charming play about the Welsh poet WH Davies in the highly-praised production of 'Young Emma' at the Finborough Theatre in London in 2003. For the BBC David became part of a notable storyline as Dot Cotton's cancer specialist in 'EastEnders' and again as Doctor Casper in the disturbing, futuristic drama-documentary 'If...we could stop the violence David’s film work includes appearances in 'Run, Fat Boy, Run', 'Attack The Block', 'The Iron Lady', 'Greed' and 'Rebecca'. On television David has appeared in 'Spooks' and 'Psychoville', 'Silent Witness' and 'The Javon Prince Show', but more recently 'Sex Education', 'It’s Kevin', 'Sally4Ever', 'Sick Note', 'Killing Eve' and 'The Baby'.

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Julia Roberts

Cast · Known for Leave the World Behind, Notting Hill, Ocean's Eleven

Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles across several genres, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. She became known for portraying charming, relatable characters in romantic comedies and blockbusters before expanding into dramas, thrillers, and independent films. After early breakthroughs in Mystic Pizza (1988) and Steel Magnolias (1989), Roberts solidified her status as a leading lady with the romantic comedies Pretty Woman (1990), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), and Runaway Bride (1999). Roberts won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of the title role in the biographical drama Erin Brockovich (2000). She then starred in films such as Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Valentine's Day (2010), Eat Pray Love (2010), August: Osage County (2013), Wonder (2017), Ticket to Paradise (2022), Leave the World Behind (2023), and After the Hunt (2025). On television, she starred as a physician during the AIDS crisis in the HBO film The Normal Heart (2014), for which she earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, a social worker in the first season of the streaming series Homecoming (2018), and portrayed Martha Mitchell in the Starz political limited series Gaslit (2022). Roberts runs the production company Red Om Films, through which she has served as an executive producer for various projects she has starred in, as well as for the first four films of the American Girl franchise (2004–2008). She has served as the global ambassador for Lancôme since 2009. She was the world's highest-paid actress for most of the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s. People magazine has named her the most beautiful woman in the world a record five times. Description above from the Wikipedia article Julia Roberts, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Samuel West

Cast · Known for Slow Horses, The Gentlemen

Samuel West was born on June 19, 1966 in Hammersmith, London, England as Samuel Alexander Joseph West. He is known for his work on Howards End (1992), Van Helsing (2004) and Notting Hill (1999).

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Robert Gilbert

Robert is a dual citizen raised between England and the US and continues to work between the two countries on stage (Royal Shakespeare Company, West End, Lincoln Center NY, Shakespeare In The Park) and screen. He releases music under the name Captain Backfire, writes for other artists through publishing house Notting Hill and stars in his screenwriting and directing debut 'Real Thirsty' alongside Bryan Cranston and Joely Richardson.

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John Shrapnel

Cast · Known for Gladiator, Notting Hill, Troy

Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy (née Edwards) and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel.[1] As a stage actor, he was a member of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre company and the Royal Shakespeare Company and most recently appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in The School for Scandal (directed by Deborah Warner) at the Barbican Centre in 2011. He has also appeared extensively in film and on television in roles in Elizabeth R, Z-Cars, Edward and Mrs. Simpson, 101 Dalmatians, Space: 1999, Inspector Morse, Coogan's Run, Notting Hill and Foyle's War. He presented an episode of the 1983 BBC television travel series Great Little Railways. He gave performances in three entries in the BBC Television Shakespeare plays and as Creon in the BBC's 1984 productions of the Three Theban plays of Sophocles. In America, he has starred in supporting roles as Senator Gaius in Gladiator, Nestor in Troy and Pompey in the second episode of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. He also played the Jail Warden in the 10th Kingdom, an epic fantasy miniseries. He has the rare achievement of appearing in two episodes of Midsomer Murders as two different characters, in Death in Chorus and Written in Blood. Shrapnel appeared in an episode of Jonathan Creek as Professor Lance Graumann in the episode The Omega Man. He appears in Chemical Wedding alongside Simon Callow, telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist Aleister Crowley. Shrapnel also has experience in the field of BBC radio drama through such characters as Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse and William Gibson's Neuromancer. He is the son-in-law of Deborah Kerr through his 1975 marriage to her younger daughter Francesca Ann Bartley. They have three sons, the actors Lex Shrapnel (b.1979), Tom Shrapnel (b.1981) and the writer Joe Shrapnel (b.1976). They live in Highbury, north London.

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Richard Curtis

Writer · Known for Notting Hill

Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE (born 8 November 1956) is New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, and Love Actually, as well as the hit sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Vicar of Dibley. He is also the founder of the British charity Comic Relief.

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Chizzy Akudolu

Cast · Known for Holby City

Chizzy Akudolu (7 October 1973) is a British actress. In 2002, she was one of eight, new, comedy performers who won the BBC Talent Initiative, The Urban Sketch Showcase. All eight performed a comedy sketch show in front of BBC casting directors and producers at the Tabernacle Theatre, Notting Hill. Her first television appearance was in the BBC sitcom, 15 Storeys High. This was followed by a small role in Eastenders. She continued to work for the BBC in her first children's series called Stupid! and Roman's Empire. Credits also include Green Wing, International Emmy award winning children's drama, Dustbin Baby for Kindle Entertainment and as a charicature of herself in the mockumentary, The Most Unromantic Man in the World. Chizzy also played series regular, Miss Kanouti in The Complete Guide to Parenting. She has continued to work for CBBC in programs such as Nuzzle and Scratch, Scoop and Gigglebiz. In 2007, she toured with The Vagina Monologues for 3 months. In 2008, Chizzy played the housemate, Angel in Dead Set, a satirical cross between Big Brother and zombies. The same year, she played a UN cleaner in BBC Films, In the Loop directed by Armando Iannucci, but was uncredited. In 2009, she had a guest role in Hollyoaks Later and starred in the CBBC show Jinx in the lead role as the unconventional, Fairy Godmother, Cookie. 2010 has so far seen roles in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, London 2012 (BBC), Scoop Series 3(CBBC), The Inbetweeners (Ch4), and as semi regular in the upcoming Channel 4 comedy, Campus. Description above from the Wikipedia article Chizzy Akudolu licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Rachel Shelley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Rachel Shelley (born on 25 August 1969) is an English actress and model. She was born in Swindon and graduated from Sheffield University with a B.A. Hons in English and Drama. She played Elizabeth Russell in the Indian Hindi film Lagaan and Helena Peabody on the television show The L Word. Shelley lives in Notting Hill, grew up in London and moved from Swindon at age one. She is married to Mathew Parkhill, and gave birth to a daughter on September 8, 2009. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rachel Shelley, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Gina McKee

Cast · Known for Notting Hill

Georgina "Gina" McKee (born 14 April 1964) is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for Our Friends in the North (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for The Lost Prince (2003) and The Street (2007). She also starred on television in The Forsyte Saga (2002) and as Caterina Sforza in The Borgias (2011). Her film appearances include Notting Hill (1999), and Phantom Thread (2017). Description above from the Wikipedia article Gina McKee, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Olivia Hallinan

Olivia Hallinan is a British actress best known for her role as Laura Timmins in the BBC TV series Lark Rise to Candleford and also as Kim in the Channel 4 drama Sugar Rush. She also starred as Ellie in Girls in Love. Hallinan is from Twickenham, West London, and is the second youngest of four sisters. Olivia Hallinan began training at her mother's Saturday drama school All Expressions in Teddington when she was 11, and then went on to professional acting. After attending St Catherine's School in Twickenham, and Notting Hill & Ealing High School, in Ealing, Hallinan went on to study English and Drama at the University of Manchester. In 2020 Olivia Hallinan confirmed she was in a relationship with Charlie Smith. They live in Windsor, Berkshire and have a child together (born May 2021). In July 2024, they announced they were expecting a second child, a son. Hallinan has appeared in over 100 productions since the age of seven. Her first professional role was playing alongside Cilla Black in a 1991 production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Since then, she has appeared in theatre, radio, film and on television shows including The Bill, Holby City, My Family, Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde and Granada TV's, Girls in Love. At the end of her first year at the University of Manchester, Hallinan appeared in the first of two series of the cult TV drama Sugar Rush for Channel 4, based on the Julie Burchill novel. On 9 June 2007, Hallinan was a speaker at the Stonewall Gay Youth Conference, talking about playing a lesbian character in Sugar Rush. While at Manchester, Hallinan was actively involved in student drama. In 2006, her final year of her degree, she starred in Nicola Schofield's new play, Wake Me Later. That same year she played Emma in the Torchwood episode Out of Time, appeared in an episode of Trial and Retribution, and played a character in Radio 4's dramatisation of Marguerite Duras's erotic novel The Lover, broadcast between 3 and 7 September 2007. She starred as Laura Timmins in the BBC production Lark Rise to Candleford which first aired on Sunday 13 January 2008, appearing in all four series. Hallinan was named one of the 2008 UK Stars of Tomorrow in Screen International, a prestigious industry publication that highlights the hottest up and coming actors and filmmakers. A-List actors Tom Hiddleston, Michelle Dockery, Dev Patel, Claire Foy, Carey Mulligan, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw were among this coveted list alongside Hallinan this same year. 2011 saw her film debut as she starred in the British film noir Jack Falls as Natasha. In 2011 Hallinan starred in Precious Little Talent written by Ella Hickson and directed by James Dacre at Trafalgar Studios theatre in London's West End. In December 2011 Hallinan played the role of Justine in Lucinda Coxon's play "Herding Cats" at the Hampstead Theatre, London, a role she previously played at the Ustinov Studio, Bath in December 2010. In 2013, she starred as Marianne Dashwood in Helen Edmundson's BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. In 2014 Hallinan appeared in Lotty's War (written by Giuliano Crispini and directed by Bruce Guthrie) at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, before touring the UK.

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Omid Djalili

Cast · Known for Jason and the Argonauts, Over the Hedge, The Bad Guys 2

Omid Djalili is a British stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and writer. Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in St Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents Ahmad and Parvaneh Djalili. His parents emigrated from Tehran to London in 1958. He has a brother and sister. His mother was a dressmaker who at one point assisted Iranian singer Googoosh. His father was a liaison officer at the Iranian embassy in which he would provide medical assistance. He was also a photographer whose pictures ended up in the newspaper Kayhan. He attended Holland Park School where he failed A-level exams a record six times and faked his results to gain entry to Ulster University in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, studying English and theatre studies having been turned down by 16 drama schools. Djalili cited Jack Lemmon, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Julia Roberts as influences. The first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son", followed by "The Arab and the Jew" with Jewish comedian Ivor Dembina in 1996. Djalili has appeared in a number of films, most notably Gladiator, The Mummy, Mean Machine, The World Is Not Enough, Alien Autopsy, Spy Game, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Grow Your Own, Notting Hill, Mr Nice, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Sex and the City 2 and provides his voice in Over the Hedge. He has observed that he usually appears as a generic Middle Eastern background character in many of these films, often commenting that he appears in the James Bond film as the "Second Azerbaijani oil pipe attendant". He appeared as Nasim in 22 episodes of the U.S. sitcom Whoopi, starring Whoopi Goldberg, and picked up an international film award for Best Supporting Actor in Casanova, starring alongside Heath Ledger and Jeremy Irons. Djalili has won awards for his comedy. These include the EMMA Award, Time Out Award, and LWT Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Comedian, Spirit of the Fringe Award as well as the One World Media Award for his Channel 4 documentary, Bloody Foreigners. He has also been nominated for awards, such as the Perrier Award for Best Comedian, the Gemini Award for Best Comedy Performance of 2003, the South Bank Award for Best Comedy of 2003, the Royal Television Society Award for Best Stand-up, and the European TV Award for his Bloody Foreigners.

LK

Lorelei King

Cast · Known for Notting Hill, Alien: Covenant

Lorelei King is a United States-born actress who has been based in the United Kingdom since 1981. She is primarily known for her voice acting, narrating audiobooks and appearing in plays on BBC Radio 4. King spent her childhood moving between Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and California. In 1981, she planned to move to either Paris or Yugoslavia, where her family originated, but after a three-day stopover in London, she decided to stay in Britain King has made numerous television roles, which include drama, comedy and children's shows. Her first appearance was in the drama Murrow (1983), a biography of the American news reporter and political commentator Edward R. Murrow and since then she has had roles in many British shows, such as Series 2 on the Sky One show, Mile High as Fresh! airlines HR boss, Stella Lightfoot, Chef! (as Savanna), Linda Milson in ‘’Rumpole of the Bailey’’ in 1991 and in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as showgirl Vonda Lockhart. As well as this, she has also had parts in films such as Shining Through (1992), Notting Hill (1999), 24 Hours in London (2000) and The House of Mirth (2000), as well lending her voice to radio shows and video games. This includes Dirk Maggs' adaptations of The Adventures of Superman and Batman: Knightfall. She voiced the character of Mary Osakwe in the UFO: Afterlight computer game. More recently, she provided voices to small parts in the video games Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017), Subnautica (2018) and its sequel Subnautica: Below Zero (2021). In 2006, she appeared in an episode of sitcom Not Going Out as a therapist. She has narrated over 400 audiobooks. King also provided the voice of Samus Aran's Power Suit in a 2005 pinball video game, Metroid Prime Pinball. In 2017 she portrayed the voice of MUTHUR, the eponymous spaceship's computer in Alien: Covenant.

One Tree Hill poster

One Tree Hill

2003

Drama

In Tree Hill, North Carolina two half brothers share a last name and nothing else. Brooding, blue-collar Lucas is a talented street-side basketball player, but his skills are appreciated only by his friends at the river court. Popular, affluent Nathan basks in the hero-worship of the town, as the star of his high school team. And both boys are the son of former college ball player Dan Scott whose long ago choice to abandon Lucas and his mother Karen, will haunt him long into his life with wife Deb and their son Nathan.

One Tree Hill

one-tree-hill-269

In Tree Hill, North Carolina two half brothers share a last name and nothing else. Brooding, blue-collar Lucas is a talented street-side basketball player, but his skills are appreciated only by his friends at the river court. Popular, affluent Nathan basks in the hero-worship of the town, as the star of his high school team. And both boys are the son of former college ball player Dan Scott whose long ago choice to abandon Lucas and his mother Karen, will haunt him long into his life with wife Deb and their son Nathan.

Joss Whedon photo

Joss Whedon

Director · Creator · Known for Angel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Justice League

Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon (/ˈwiːdən/ WEE-dən; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003) and its spinoff Angel (1999–2004), the short-lived space Western Firefly (2002), the Internet musical miniseries Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008), the science fiction drama Dollhouse (2009–2010), the Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Avengers (2012) and series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020), and the science fiction drama The Nevers (2021). After beginning his career in sitcoms, Whedon wrote the poorly received horror comedy film Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)—which he later adapted into the acclaimed television series of the same name—co-wrote the Pixar animated film Toy Story (1995), and wrote the science fiction horror film Alien Resurrection (1997). After achieving success as a television showrunner, Whedon returned to film to write and direct the Firefly film continuation Serenity (2005), co-write and produce the horror comedy film The Cabin in the Woods (2012), and write and direct the Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing (2012). For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Whedon wrote and directed the ensemble superhero film The Avengers (2012) and its sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). He also co-wrote the DC Extended Universe superhero film Justice League (2017), for which he also served as director for reshoots, replacing Zack Snyder (who retained directorial credit). Whedon has also worked as a composer (notably for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode "Once More, with Feeling" and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) and comic book writer, both for comic book continuations of television series he created and for established franchises, such as Astonishing X-Men. Beginning in July 2020, multiple actors, producers, and writers spoke out against Whedon following the toxic workplace environment he had allegedly created in many of his projects. Whedon has denied any wrongdoing, while acknowledging that he can be "confrontational." Description above from the Wikipedia article Joss Whedon, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Sue Casey photo

Sue Casey

While other actresses would have long given up a stalled career out of pure frustration after decades of mostly uncredited extra/bit parts and little reward, perennial starlet Sue Casey somehow found the stamina to maintain for six decades! In films from 1946, the voluptuous brunette, at most, became a campy vixen in a few 1960s "drive-in" bombs, yet has always held a remarkably appreciative outlook as to how things turned out. Successfully establishing herself as a wholesome commercial actress, she pitched everything from cereal to automobiles in over 200 assignments. Light TV guest parts also came her way in episodes of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957), The Baileys of Balboa (1964), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), The Farmer's Daughter (1963), The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) and Family Affair (1966), among others. As for the big screen, nothing changed. Obscure bit/extra parts continued with Bells Are Ringing (1960), The Ladies Man (1961), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Two Weeks in Another Town (1962), A New Kind of Love (1963) and The Carpetbaggers (1964). Finally, after nearly two decades of pursuing her dream in Hollywood, Casey nabbed a leading role! As bad girl "Vicky Lindsay" in what is arguably one of film's biggest "turkeys" of all time, The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965), she attained a notoriety that led to minor cult status. The film had a non-existent budget and was received poorly in every way, shape and form upon its initial release. Casey even had to do her own hair and makeup and was forced to pick out her vixen character's clothes from her own closet. The actors were never paid until the movie was sold years later to TV (retitled as "Monster from the Surf") and that was a mere pittance. Over the years, however, the movie has reportedly gained a cult following. Two other easily dismissed co-starring roles in unmemorable campy films followed. She played a hillbilly mom in the fugitive drama Swamp Country (1966) (which starred pearly-toothed pre-Carol Burnett hunk Lyle Waggoner) and a manipulative mom and art forger in Catalina Caper (1967) (which starred former Disney star Tommy Kirk after his fall from studio grace, and (again) Lyle Waggoner). In later years, she developed a successful real estate business. She found acting work (often without an agent) intermittently on film and TV. Featured in a couple of higher-scaled movie musicals -- as a lady attendant to Vanessa Redgrave's Queen Guinevere in Camelot (1967) and as one of John Mitchum's two wives in Paint Your Wagon (1969) -- her final film resume would add such films as The Main Event (1979), Evilspeak (1981), Whitesnake: Live... in the Still of the Night (2005) and A Very Brady Sequel (1996). In American Beauty (1999), an Oscar winner for "Best Picture" and "Best Actor", lead actress Annette Bening (a Best Actress nominee for the role), plays a desperate realtor trying to sell Casey's well-to-do character a house.

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Djimon Hounsou

Cast · Known for Shazam!, Gladiator, The King's Man

Djimon Gaston Hounsou (born April 24, 1964) is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos, made his film debut in Without You I'm Nothing and earned widespread recognition for his role as Cinqué in the Steven Spielberg film Amistad. As an actor, Hounsou has been nominated for two Academy Awards. Hounsou became a naturalized American citizen in 2007. He was reluctant to renounce his Beninese citizenship and therefore opted to become a dual citizen of both Benin and the United States, effectively rendering him a Beninese-American. Djimon Hounsou was born in Cotonou, Benin, in 1964, to lbertine and Pierre Hounsou. He immigrated to Lyon in France at the age of thirteen with his brother, Edmond. In 1987, he became a model and established a career in Paris. He moved to the U.S. in 1990. One year before obtaining his college degree, he dropped out of school. In 1989, he appeared in a music video of Straight Up by Paula Abdul. Hounsou's film debut was in the 1990 Sandra Bernhard film Without You I’m Nothing, and he has had television roles on Beverly Hills, 90210 and ER and a guest starring role on Alias, but received a larger role in the science fiction film Stargate. His first on-screen appearance was in the 1990 Janet Jackson video “Love Will Never Do (Without You).” He also starred in a 2002 Gap commercial directed by Peter Lindbergh, dancing to a rendition of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" by Arrested Development's Baba Oje. He received wide critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his role as Cinqué in the 1997 Steven Spielberg film Amistad. He gained further notice as Juba, in the 2000 film Gladiator. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for In America, in 2004, becoming the fourth African male to be nominated for an Oscar (along with Basil Rathbone, Cecil Kellaway and Omar Sharif). In 2006, he won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Blood Diamond; he received Broadcast Film Critics Association, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Academy Award nominations for this performance. In 2007, Hounsou began dating model/CEO of Baby Phat, Kimora Lee Simmons. In 2008 Hounsou and Simmons visited Hounsou's family and while there, the two participated in a traditional commitment ceremony. On May 30, 2009, Simmons gave birth to their son, Kenzo Lee Hounsou, reportedly named because Kenzo means 3 (Kimora's third child).