Michelle Ingrid Williams (born September 9, 1980) is an American actress. Known primarily for starring in small-scale independent films with dark or tragic themes, she has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for five Academy Awards and a Tony Award.
Williams, a daughter of politician and trader Larry R. Williams, began her career with television guest appearances and made her film debut in the family film Lassie in 1994. She gained emancipation from her parents at age fifteen, and soon achieved recognition for her leading role in the teen drama television series Dawson's Creek (1998–2003). This was followed by low-profile films, before having her breakthrough with the drama film Brokeback Mountain (2005).
Williams went on to receive critical acclaim for playing emotionally troubled women coping with loss or loneliness in the independent dramas Wendy and Lucy (2008), Blue Valentine (2010), and Manchester by the Sea (2016). She won two Golden Globes for portraying Marilyn Monroe in the drama My Week with Marilyn (2011) and Gwen Verdon in the miniseries Fosse/Verdon (2019), in addition to a Primetime Emmy Award for the latter. Her highest-grossing releases came with the thriller Shutter Island (2010), the fantasy film Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), the musical The Greatest Showman (2017), and the superhero films Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). Williams has also led major studio films, such as Ridley Scott's crime thriller All the Money in the World (2017) and Steven Spielberg's drama The Fabelmans (2022).
On Broadway, Williams starred in revivals of the musical Cabaret in 2014 and the drama Blackbird in 2016, for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She is an advocate for equal pay in the workplace. Consistently private about her personal life, Williams has a daughter from her relationship with actor Heath Ledger and was briefly married to musician Phil Elverum. She has two children with her second husband, theater director Thomas Kail.
Stuart Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956) is a Canadian actor and producer. He is known for his role as the American president John F. Kennedy in Thirteen Days, for which he won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and as Captain Christopher Pike in J.J. Abrams's Star Trek movie reboot series. He has been nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards, once for Best Actor (for Elephant Song) and twice for Best Supporting Actor (for The Sweet Hereafter and Being Julia).
He is known for his roles as Nick Parsons in Double Jeopardy, Stuart Ramsey in Passenger 57, Bob Andrews in Father's Day, Earl Cavanaugh in Here on Earth, National Security Advisor Bill Sokal in Rules of Engagement, JFK in Thirteen Days, Anthony 'Tony' Leighton in Swept Away, Cmdr. Robert Iverson in The Core; Lt. Bennie Macko in Hollywood Homicide, Lawrence Robertson in I, Robot, Lord Charles in Being Julia, Nolan Walsh in Racing Stripes, Jack Dunphy (Truman Capote's lover) in Capote; Hugh Sullivan in The Mermaid Chair, Professor Davis McClaren in Eight Below, Jack McCready in Deja Vu, Keenan Jones / Garrett in I'm Not There, the President in National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Christopher Pike in Star Trek and its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, George McCray in A Dog Named Christmas, Lance Fender in Dinner for Schmucks, Stephen Meek in Meek's Cutoff, Cooper in Super 8, Bill Kill Cullen in The Place Beyond the Pines, Charlie Anderson in Flight, Hugh Butterfield in Endless Love, Vince in The Captive, Andrew Heyward in Truth (2015), Dr. Jake Houseman in the TV movie version of Dirty Dancing (2017), Uncle Dean in Kodachrome, the US President in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Gerald in Gerald's Game, Robert McNamara in The Post, and Dr. John Dalton in Doctor Sleep.
His best known TV roles are as Dr. Randolph Bell on The Resident, Gil Garcetti on American Crime Story, Emmet Cole on The River, Mitch Yost on John from Cincinnati, Dr. Nathan Bradford on Sleepwalkers, Thomas Veil on Nowhere Man, Jack Gage on Legmen, Pierce Lawton on Knot's Landing, and Dr. Seth Griffin on St. Elsewhere.
He has voiced Bruce Wayne / Batman in the animated series Young Justice and in several Batman cartoon videos, and voiced Chiron in the animated series Class Titans.
William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series Falling Skies. He also appeared in the films Remember the Titans, Armageddon, Gone in 60 Seconds and The Punisher. He appeared opposite Kevin Costner in two films: No Way Out (1987) and The Postman (1997). He won two Obie Awards for best actor in Sam Shepard's play Fool for Love and the Public Theater production of What Did He See?.
Zoe Swicord Kazan (born September 9, 1983) is an American actress, playwright, and screenwriter. She made her acting debut in Swordswallowers and Thin Men (2003) and later appeared in films such as The Savages (2007), Revolutionary Road (2008), and It's Complicated (2009). She starred in Happy. Thank You. More. Please. (2010), Meek's Cutoff (2010), Ruby Sparks (2012), and What If (2013). In 2014 she appeared in the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge, for which she received an Emmy nomination. She portrayed Emily Gardner in the film The Big Sick (2017), and in 2018 appeared in the Coen Brothers film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs in the episode "The Gal Who Got Rattled".
She has appeared in several Broadway productions. She also wrote Ruby Sparks and co-wrote Wildlife (2018) with her partner, Paul Dano (who directed Wildlife and co-starred with Kazan in Ruby Sparks). In 2020, she co-starred in the HBO miniseries The Plot Against America.
Paul Franklin Dano (born June 19, 1984) is an American actor. He began his career on Broadway before making his film debut in The Newcomers (2000). He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance for his role in L.I.E. (2001) and received accolades for his role as Dwayne Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). For his dual roles as Paul and Eli Sunday in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007), he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Dano has also received accolades for roles such as John Tibeats in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Alex Jones in Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners (2013). His acting portrayal of musician Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy (2014) earned him a Golden Globe nomination in the category of Best Supporting Actor. Dano made his directorial debut with the drama film Wildlife (2018), based on the novel by Richard Ford. He co-wrote the screenplay with his partner Zoe Kazan. In 2018, he starred in the Showtime miniseries Escape at Dannemora, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. In 2022, he played Edward Nashton / The Riddler in The Batman.
Shirley Henderson is a Scottish film and television actress, best known for playing Moaning Myrtle in the "Harry Potter" movie franchise as well as Jude in several "Bridget Jones" movies. She's a graduate from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, England, UK.
