What She Has Been In:
Lake Bell, 34, got her start in
2002 with roles in the indie film Speakeasy
and a two-episode arc on ER.
From there, she continued to get work on television, starring in the TV movie War Stories and as a series
regular in the short-lived Miss
Match. She also had a notable character arc on Boston Legal.
In 2008, Bell started to get
comedic supporting roles in films, including: Over Her Dead Body, What Happens in Vegas, and It’s Complicated. She took on
some dramatic work too with a role in Pride and Glory.
Making a name for herself
starring on the funny ensemble comedy series Childrens Hospital, she took
more comedic work with better supporting roles in No
Strings Attached and A Good
Fashioned Orgy. She played a series regular in HBO’s short-lived, but good How to Make It in America,
giving probably the best performance of her career to date as Rachel Chapman.
Breakthrough:
Childrens Hospital and How to
Make It in America gave Bell more notoriety. She also has immersed herself
amongst a strong group of comedians, all of which is beginning to pay dividends.
Her upcoming film In a World…
will likely make her a star (or at least a star among indie film fans). She
writes, directs, and stars in the film. It is about an underachieving vocal
coach who is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to
become a voiceover star. It played to rave reviews at Sundance.
May Film:
This month Bell stars with Katie Aselton and Kate Bosworth in
the indie thriller Black Rock.
Aselton also directed the film and co-wrote it with her husband Mark Duplass
(something very different to the comedic stuff they usually do). It is about
three childhood friends who decide to reunite for a girls’ weekend on a remote
island off the coast of Maine. However, after a tragic turn of events, the
weekend becomes a deadly fight for survival. The film received mostly negative
reviews during its advanced screenings. See the trailer here.
Upcoming:
In addition to In a World…, Bell
also stars in the upcoming sports drama Million Dollar Arm opposite Jon Hamm, Alan Arkin, Suraj Sharma.
Directed by Craig
Gillespie and written by Tom McCarthy, it
is about a sports agent who tries to convert a talented Indian cricket player
into a Major League Baseball star. It is clear that Bell has a bright future
with these projects.
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
What He Has Been In:
Benedict Cumberbatch, 36,
started his career in 2001 in the theatre. He then started taking roles on
British television. His first great role came in 2004 playing Stephen Hawking
in the TV movie Hawking. He
also took supporting roles in Starter
for 10, Atonement,
The Other Boleyn Girl, Four Lions, and The Whistleblower building up
quite a resume of strong character performances.
In 2011, Cumberbatch starred in Danny
Boyle’s reimagining of Frankenstein
for England’s National Theatre Live. He continued this great work with strong
supporting performances in Tinker
Tailor Soldier Spy and War
Horse, as well as starring in the HBO miniseries Parade’s End. All this
brilliant work has made him one of the most sought-after stars. 2013 will be
his breakthrough year in the States.
Breakthrough:
Cumberbatch’s big break however
came with the British series Sherlock,
a modern reimagining of Sherlock Holmes. Created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffatt and
co-starring Martin
Freeman, it is fantastically brilliant and among the five best shows
currently on television. Cumberbatch is wonderful and iconic as Holmes. CBS
decided to remake the show for Americans, calling it: Elementary.
May Film:
This month Cumberbatch plays the
villain in J.J.
Abrams’s Star Trek IntoDarkness. The film, being the sequel to Star
Trek, sees the crew of the Enterprise foolhardily go after Cumberbatch’s
character after he attacks Starfleet only to find that they facing a force they
never quite expected and are certainly not ready for. The film looks like a lot
of fun and should be a good sci-fi action adventure. See the trailer here.
Upcoming:
As said above, Cumberbatch is
going to have a breakthrough year in 2013 starting with Star Trek Into Darkness
– he may even be ‘the star’ of the year. He also has a supporting role in
another big blockbuster The
Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug playing Smaug. Additionally, he is in three
of the most anticipated dramas of the year. He stars opposite Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep in
the ensemble dramedy from John Well called August: Osage County. It is
about the strong-willed women of the Weston family, who must come together to
guide the family through a crisis. Then, he stars opposite a strong cast as
Julian Assange (the founder of Wiki-leaks) in Bill Condon’s The Fifth Estate. Finally, he
has a supporting role in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (a drama
that I think has potential to be 2013’s best film) about a man living in New
York during the mid-1800s who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep
South. It also stars Brad
Pitt, Michael
Fassbender, and Chiwetel
Ejiofor (headlining the brilliant cast).
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
What He Has Been In:
James Badge Dale,
35, got his first big break when he was cast as Chase Edmunds in season three
of 24. He continued to get
roles on television, appearing in a three-episode arc on Rescue Me, a supporting role on
The Black Donnellys (short-lived
but really good), and as the series lead on AMC’s Rubicon (which did not make it
past season one).
Badge Dale also took roles in a
number of good film projects. He has a very small role in The
Departed, playing one of the other cops who are undercover for Frank
Costello. Additionally, he has supporting roles in The Conspirator, Shame,
The Grey, and Flight
(which he is brilliant in, even if it is only one scene).
Breakthrough:
Badge Dale’s breakthrough role
came in 2010 on the HBO miniseries The Pacific from Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman – their follow-up
to Band
of Brothers. The series is about America’s Pacific Theatre during WWII as
told through three soldiers: Robert Leckie (Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge, and
John Basilone (played by Joseph
Mazzello and Jon Seda
respectively). It is a wonderful miniseries.
May Film:
In May, Badge Dale plays the Mandarin’s
henchman Savin in Iron
Man 3, which sees Tony Stark lose everything at the hands of his enemy. The
film is written and directed by Shane Black and is
the second best film of Marvel’s film universe to date behind The Avengers.
See the trailer here.
Upcoming:
In addition to Iron Man 3, Badge
Dale also has a supporting role in the summer blockbuster World War Z, which stars Brad
Pitt and is directed by Marc Forster. It is
about the Zombie Apocalypse. And, the summer blockbuster The Lone Ranger (also known as
Disney’s Pirates of the
Caribbean as a western) in which he plays the brother of John Reid (the
Lone Ranger). It stars Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer and
is directed by Gore
Verbinski (who directed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean film and
he is again working with the same creative team). Finally, he stars in the
drama Parkland about Dallas’
Parkland Hospital on the day of JFK’s assassination. It is written and directed
by Peter Landesman.
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
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