Best actors of 2012
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Ezra Matthew Miller was born in Wyckoff, New Jersey, to Marta (Koch), a modern dancer, and Robert S. Miller, who has worked at Workman Publishing and as former senior V.P. for Hyperion Books. Ezra has two older sisters and is of Ashkenazi Jewish (father) and German-Dutch (mother) ancestry. Ezra has described themselves as Jewish and "spiritual".
As a child, Miller sang with the Metropolitan Opera and attended Rockland Country Day School and The Hudson School. Miller's first feature film was the independent Afterschool (2008), with subsequent appearances on the television series Californication (2007), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), and Royal Pains (2009), and in the films City Island (2009), Every Day (2010), Beware the Gonzo (2010), and Another Happy Day (2011).
Miller drew critical praise playing Kevin Khatchadourian, the homicidal son of Tilda Swinton's character, in the dramatic thriller We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011). Miller subsequently played Patrick in the well-received teen drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), opposite Logan Lerman and Emma Watson.
Ezra's other roles include the period piece Madame Bovary (2014), Judd Apatow's comedy Trainwreck (2015), and the psychological thriller The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015). Miller has been cast as superhero The Flash in The Flash (2023), scheduled for release in 2022.- Actor
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Kenton Duty began his acting career when he was 9 years old in the Dallas Theater Center's stage production of "A Christmas Carol". He began auditioning for roles in Los Angeles after he was discovered at a workshop at the Young Actors Studio in Dallas, Texas by Hollywood talent agent Cindy Osbrink. Duty first gained popular notoriety in the role of young "Jacob" on the hit TV series, Lost (2004), although no one, including Duty himself, knew who his character was until nearly the final episode of the series. He was billed simply as "Teenage Boy". In 2010, Duty landed a starring role on the Disney Channel original series, Shake It Up (2010) as the flamboyant dancer/fashion designer antagonist, "Gunther Hessenheffer", alongside Caroline Sunshine as his fraternal twin sister, "Tinka Hessenheffer". The glitzy brother/sister duo of Gunther and Tinka is said to be inspired by Ryan and Sharpay Evans of Disney's "High School Musical" franchise.- Kieron Richardson was born on 12 January 1986 in Eccles, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Hollyoaks (1995), It's Adam and Shelley (2007) and Heartbeat (1992). He is married to Carl Hyland. They have two children.
- Ashley Slanina-Davies was born in December 1989 in Wigan, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Hollyoaks Later (2008), Hollyoaks (1995) and Dancing on Ice (2006).
- Northern Irish born actress Karen Hassan recently starred as lead role 'Alison' in the feature film 'Wait For Me', directed by Keith Farrell and currently streaming on Amazon Prime. A gripping story of a sex worker struggling to reconnect with her lost daughter. She is also currently appearing on Season 3 of BBC/ Britbox television series 'Hope Street' as the new formidable detective constable 'Jo Lipton'. Karen also stars as lead character 'Aidie' in super natural Feature Film 'Cellar Door', directed by Vicko Nikci in association with The Irish Film Board which picked up an award at The Galway Film Fleadh 2018 for Best First Feature Film. A young woman in the grips of the Irish Magdalene Laundries, who struggles to keep in touch with reality. She has also appeared in RTE comedy 'Finding Joy' playing 'Sarah' alongside Amy Huberman and as 'DC Rachel Miskelly' in a BBC flagship film 'Doing Money' as part of the BBC anti slavery campaign, directed by Lynsey Miller. She has collaborated with The Comedy Unit and The BBC playing unwitting boss 'Lisa McCoy' in their comedy television series 'Soft Boarder Patrol', exposing the hilarious consequences of the boarder change between the UK and the EU post Brexit. Karen also appeared in award winning TV series, 'The Fall' (all three seasons) playing 'Annie Brawley' alongside Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan. In 2015 she appeared as the devious 'Therese' (series regular) in Season Four of 'Vikings' (The History Channel), 'Rose Freeman' in series two of 'Suspects' (Channel 4) and 'Emily' in series two of 'The Royals' (Lionsgate). After two years (2010 - 2012) as series regular 'Lynsey Nolan' in multi award winning TV Series 'Hollyoaks' (Channel 4) Karen received several nominations for her role, including best actress and best story line. She studied at Queen's University obtaining a first class BA degree.
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Neil Patrick Harris was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on June 15, 1973. His parents, Sheila Gail (Scott) and Ronald Gene Harris, were lawyers and ran a restaurant. He grew up in Ruidoso, New Mexico, a small town 120 miles south of Albuquerque, where he first took up acting in the fourth grade. While tagging along with his older brother of 3 years, Harris won the part of Toto in a school production of The Wizard of Oz (1939).
His parents moved the family to Albuquerque in 1988, the same year that Harris made his film debut in two movies: Purple People Eater (1988) and Clara's Heart (1988), which starred Whoopi Goldberg. A year later, when Neil was 16, he landed the lead role in Steven Bochco's television series about a teen prodigy doctor at a local hospital, Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989), which launched Harris into teen-heartthrob status. The series lasted1989-1993 and earned him a People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a New Series (1990) and a Golden Globe Nomination (1990). Harris attended the same high school as Freddie Prinze Jr., La Cueva High School in Albuquerque. Neil acted on stage in a few plays while there, one of which was his senior play, Fiddler on the Roof (1971), in which he portrayed Lazar Wolf the butcher (1991).
When "Doogie Howser, M.D." stopped production in 1993, Harris took up stage acting, which he had always wanted to do. After a string of made-for-television movies, Harris acted in his first big screen roles in nine years, Starship Troopers (1997) with Casper Van Dien and then The Proposition (1998). In July 1997, Harris accepted the role of Mark Cohen for the Los Angeles production of the beloved musical, Rent (2005). His performance in "Rent" garnered him a Drama-League Award in 1997. He continued in the musical, to rave reviews, until January 1998. He later reprised the role for six nights in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in December 1998.
In 1999, Harris returned to television in the short-lived sitcom Stark Raving Mad (1999), with Tony Shalhoub. He was also in the big-screen projects The Next Best Thing (2000) and Undercover Brother (2002), and he can be heard as the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the newest animated Spider-Man (2003) series. Harris has continued his stage work, making his Broadway debut in 2001 in "Proof." He has also appeared on stage in "Romeo and Juliet," "Cabaret," Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert (2001), and, most recently, "Assassins." In 2005, Harris returned to the small screen in a guest-starring role on Numb3rs (2005) and a starring role in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005). Neil played the title role in the web-exclusive musical comedy Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008), widely downloaded via iTunes to become the #1 TV series for five straight weeks, despite not actually being on television.- Actor
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Lucas Neff was born in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago, IL in 1985. The start of his acting career came about by mistake after he was assigned to the performing arts department at the University of Illinois. It was there that he graduated with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Theatre in 2008. Upon graduation he became involved in local theatre before winning his first television role in an episode of "The Beast" in 2009. He followed this up with roles in the films "In Memoriam" and "Amigo" before winning the role of Jimmy Chance on "Raising Hope" in 2010.- Actress
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Shannon Woodward is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Sabrina Collins on the FOX sitcom Raising Hope (2010-2014), Elsie Hughes on the HBO science-fiction thriller series Westworld (2016-2018), and the voice and motion capture of Dina in the video game The Last of Us Part II, for which she received a BAFTA Award for Performer in a Supporting Role nomination at the 17th British Academy Games Awards.- Dane DeHaan recently wrapped production on Amazon Studio's international cocaine drama Zero Zero Zero, in which he stars.
On the silver screen DeHaan was last seen as Billy the Kid in The Kid opposite Ethan Hawke and Chris Pratt. He played the title character in Luc Besson's Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets and was Gore Verbinski's leading man in A Cure For Wellness. In 2016, he starred opposite Tatiana Maslany in the romantic drama Two Lovers and a Bear, which premiered at Cannes.
Dane received rave reviews for his portrayal of James Dean in Anton Corbin's Life, opposite Robert Pattinson. Prior to that he played Harry Osborn/The Green Goblin in Sony Pictures' The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and also starred opposite Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly, and Molly Shannon in the dark comedy Life After Beth.
In 2013, Dane was nominated for a Gotham Award in the "Breakthrough actor" category and won "Breakthrough Performer" at the Hamptons International Film Festival for his portrayal of Lucien Carr, opposite Daniel Radcliffe's Alan Ginsberg, in Kill Your Darlings.
The year prior he burst into the film world with his starring role in the box office hit Chronicle alongside Michael B. Jordan. That same year, DeHaan starred in Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines as well as John Hillcoat's Lawless.
In 2010, DeHaan received an Obie Award for Best Performance in the off-Broadway production of The Aliens, written by Annie Baker. The Aliens was given the prestigious honor of "Play of the Year" by The New York Times. He was also critically lauded that year for his portrayal of 'Jesse D'Amato' on HBO's hit drama series In Treatment.
DeHaan began his film career under the direction of two-time Oscar Nominee John Sayles in Amigo. Other film and television credits include Tulip Fever, Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg, Devils Knot, and True Blood. - Actor
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Dustin Milligan was born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada as Dustin Wallace Milligan. He is an actor, writer and producer, known for Extract (2009), 90210 (2010), Schitt's Creek (2014), Me Him Her (2015) Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2016), Rutherford Falls (2021), and The People We Hate at the Wedding (2022). He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.- George Sampson won series 2 of Britains Got Talent in 2008. He then starred in the west end production of 'Into The Hoods' before making his own Music DVD, charting at no. 1 in the charts. He then went onto star as Eddie in feature film: Street Dance 3D, kick starting an acting career which saw hi star in a feature film (Street Dance 2) and landing roles in various TV drams (Waterloo road/ Mount pleasant/ Emmerdale)
Sampson continues to act and perform all over the world, starring annually on theaters across the country and touring. - Actor
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Frankie was born in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, to Denise, a nurse, and Francisco Muniz III, a restaurateur. His father is of Puerto Rican heritage and his mother is of Irish and Italian descent. Frankie was home-schooled since Grade Six. He started his acting career performing the role of Tiny Tim in "A Christmas Carol" for three years. Nominations for his performances include "The Hollywood Reporter Young Star Award", as well as "The Young Artist of Hollywood Award". Frankie is quite a good golfer and has been playing since his grandfather taught him at the age of five. Frankie was raised in Knightdale, North Carolina. He resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.- Actor
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Having grown up in Houston, and its northern suburb of Spring, he made his first stage appearance in a school play at the age of 6. Parsons then went on to study theater at the University of Houston. From there he won a place on a two-year Masters course in classical theater at the University of San Diego/The Old Globe Theater, graduating in 2001.
He moved to New York, working in Off-Broadway productions, appearing in TV commercials and in one episode of Ed (2000) before landing a recurring role in Judging Amy (1999) in 2004.
He was propelled to international fame and acclaim three years later when he starred as Sheldon in the award-winning sitcom, The Big Bang Theory (2007).- Actor
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Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black was born on August 28, 1969 in Santa Monica, California and raised in Hermosa Beach, California to Judith Love Cohen & Thomas William Black, both satellite engineers. He is of Russian Jewish & British-German ancestry. Black attended the University of California at Los Angeles. While at UCLA, he was a member of Tim Robbins' acting troupe & it was through this collaboration that led to his 1992 film debut in Bob Roberts (1992). Although he was just a background voice in his first film, Jack's appearances in such television shows as The X-Files (1993), his breakthrough performance in High Fidelity (2000) & his rock-comedy band, Tenacious D have created an ever-growing cult following.- Actor
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Daniel Jacob Radcliffe was born on July 23, 1989 in Fulham, London, England, to casting agent Marcia Gresham (née Jacobson) and literary agent Alan Radcliffe. His father is from a Northern Irish Protestant background, while his mother was born in South Africa, to a Jewish family (from Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Germany). Daniel began performing in small school productions as a young boy. Soon enough, he landed a role in David Copperfield (1999), as the young David Copperfield. A couple of years later, he landed a role as Mark Pendel in The Tailor of Panama (2001), the son of Harry and Louisa Pendel (Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis). Curtis had indeed pointed out to Daniel's mother that he could be Harry Potter himself. Soon afterwards, Daniel was cast as Harry Potter by director, Chris Columbus in the film that hit theaters in November 16, 2001, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). He was recognized worldwide after this film was released. Pleasing audiences and critics everywhere, filming on its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), commenced shortly afterwards. He appeared again as Harry in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and then appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) directed by Mike Newell. Shortly afterwards, he finished filming December Boys (2007) in Adelaide, Australia, Kangaroo Island, and Geelong, Australia which began on the 14 November 2005 and ended sometime in December. On January 27, 2006, he attended the South Bank Awards Show to present the award for "Breakthrough Artist of the Year" to Billie Piper. Daniel reprised his famous character once again for the next installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). In February 2007, he took on his first stage role in the West End play Equus, to worldwide praise from fans and critics alike. Also that year, he starred in the television movie My Boy Jack (2007), which aired on 11 November 2007 in the UK.
After voicing a character in an episode of the animated television series The Simpsons in late 2010, Radcliffe debuted as J. Pierrepont Finch in the 2011 Broadway revival How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a role previously held by Broadway veterans Robert Morse and Matthew Broderick. Other cast members included John Larroquette, Rose Hemingway and Mary Faber. Both the actor and production received good reviews, with USA Today commenting: "Radcliffe ultimately succeeds not by overshadowing his fellow cast members, but by working in conscientious harmony with them - and having a blast in the process." Radcliffe's performance in the show earned him Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. The production itself later received nine Tony Award nominations. Radcliffe left the show on 1 January 2012. His first post-Harry Potter project was the 2012 horror film The Woman in Black, adapted from the 1983 novel by Susan Hill. The film was released on 3 February 2012 in the United States and Canada, and was released on 10 February in the UK. Radcliffe portrays a man sent to deal with the legal matters of a mysterious woman who has just died, and soon after he begins to experience strange events from the ghost of a woman dressed in black. He has said he was "incredibly excited" to be part of the film and described the script as "beautifully written".
In 2013, he portrayed American poet Allen Ginsberg in the thriller drama Kill Your Darlings (2013), directed by John Krokidas. He also starred in an Irish-Canadian romantic comedy film The F Word directed by Michael Dowseand written by Elan Mastai, based on TJ Dawe and Michael Rinaldi's play Toothpaste and Cigars and then he starred in an American dark fantasy horror film directed by Alexandre Aja Horns. Both of the films premiered at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival. Radcliffe also performed at the Noël Coward Theatre in the stage play revival of Martin McDonagh's dark comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan as the lead, Billy Claven, for which he won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor in a Play. In 2015, Radcliffe starred as Igor in a science fiction horror film Victor Frankenstein (2015), directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Max Landis, which was based on contemporary adaptations of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein. In 2016, he appeared as a wealthy villain in the mystery/action film Now You See Me 2 (2016), and as an oftentimes mobile corpse in the indie fantasy Swiss Army Man (2016).
Now being one of the world's most recognizable people, Daniel leads a somewhat normal life. He has made friends working on the Harry Potter films, which include his co-stars Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.- Writer
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Seth Woodbury MacFarlane was born in the small New England town of Kent, Connecticut, where he lived with his mother, Ann Perry (Sager), an admissions office worker, his father, Ronald Milton MacFarlane, a prep school teacher, and his sister, Rachael MacFarlane, now a voice actress and singer. He is of English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry, and descends from Mayflower passengers.
Seth attended and studied animation at the Rhode Island School of Design and, after he graduated, he was hired by Hanna-Barbera Productions (Now called Cartoon Network Studios) working as an animator and writer on the TV series Johnny Bravo (1997) and Cow and Chicken (1997). He also worked for Walt Disney Animation as a writer on the TV series Jungle Cubs (1996). He created The Life of Larry (1995) which was originally supposed to be used as an in-between on Mad TV (1995). Unfortunately the deal fell through but, a few months later, executives at FOX called him into their offices and gave him $50,000 to create a pilot for what would eventually become Family Guy (1999).
Since Family Guy's debut, MacFarlane has gone on to create two other television shows-American Dad! (2005) and The Cleveland Show (2009). MacFarlane began to establish himself as an actor, voice actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer throughout his career. MacFarlane has also written, directed and starred in Ted (2012) and its sequel Ted 2 (2015), and A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014). He voiced the mouse, Mike, in the animated musical Sing (2016).- Actor
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Josh Radnor was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Carol Radnor, a high school guidance counselor, and Alan Radnor, a medical malpractice lawyer. Radnor has two sisters, Melanie Radnor and Joanna Radnor Vilensky. He grew up in Bexley, Ohio, a small city nested inside Columbus. Radnor attended Orthodox Jewish day schools (including the Columbus Torah Academy) and was raised in Conservative Judaism. Josh Radnor went to Bexley High School and later Kenyon College, where his school's theater department presented him with the Paul Newman Award and during which he spent a semester (Spring 1995) training at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. He graduated from Kenyon with a B.A. in Drama in 1996. Radnor received his Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts in 1999. Radnor participated in an Israel experience program in Tzfat with Livnot U'Lehibanot in 1997.- Actor
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Multi-talented Jason Jordan Segel was born in Los Angeles, California, where he was raised by his parents, Jillian (Jordan), a homemaker, and Alvin Segel, a lawyer. His mother is of English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry, and his father is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. He was educated at St. Matthew's Parish School in Pacific Palisades, before moving on to Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. During his education he showed an interest in acting and often performed in plays at the Palisades Playhouse.
His major break came in 1999, when he was cast as Nick Andopolis in Judd Apatow's well-regarded series Freaks and Geeks (1999). Further TV and film roles followed, notably in How I Met Your Mother (2005) and Knocked Up (2007). His film breakthrough, however, came in 2008's hit Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) which he wrote and starred in. Segel also co-wrote and starred in The Muppets (2011).
Segel is also a musician and songwriter, with his songs appearing in many projects including Freaks and Geeks (1999), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), I Love You, Man (2009), How I Met Your Mother (2005) and Get Him to the Greek (2010).