‘ROCK THE HOUSE’

CAST BIOS

JACK COLEMAN (Max) – Jack Coleman stars in NBC’s Emmy-nominated ensemble drama series “Heroes” as the mysterious Noah Bennett. Seemingly an unassuming family man as father to Claire, played by Hayden Panettiere, Bennett is also a man of mystery who has an interest in people with special abilities.

Coleman has performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, in film and on television. Series roles include “Dynasty,” “Nightmare Café,” “Oh Baby” and “Steven King’s Kingdom Hospital.” Recently, he has been featured on such programs as “Entourage,” “Nip/Tuck,” “Without a Trace” and “CSI Miami.”

On stage, Coleman starred on Broadway in Bill Cain’s Stand-Up Tragedy in a part he originated at the Mark Taper Forum. He was nominated for a Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Award for his performance. He reprised the role in San Francisco at the Marines Memorial Theater and in Connecticut at The Hartford Stage Company before opening in New York. Coleman won a Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Award for his performance in John Godber’s Bouncers at the Tiffany Theater and also starred off-Broadway in Simon Gray’s The Common Pursuit.

Coleman has also appeared in regional theaters across the country, playing Danny Zuko in Grease from Long Island, New York to Odessa, Texas (where his character in “Heroes” resides), and performing Othello and Loves’ Labours Lost at the Globe of the Great Southwest.

Coleman wrote, produced and starred in a short film entitled “Studio City,” an audience favorite at such film festivals as the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival and the New Orleans Media Experience. He has recently completed a screenplay titled “Can’t Help Falling,” a comedic drama about a young man who falls in love with his uncle’s fiancée.

Coleman is a graduate of Duke University, the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut and the Writers’ Boot Camp in Santa Monica, California. His grandfather, Herbert Agar, won a Pulitzer Prize in history for “The People’s Choice,” about how Americans choose their president, and Coleman’s sixth generation grandfather is Benjamin Franklin.

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CASSI THOMSON (Karen) – Cassi Thomson is an actress, singer and songwriter who was born in Queensland, Australia. She has had guest starring roles on top shows such as “CSI,” “House” and “ER,” and has had a lead role in the Hallmark Channel Original Movie, “Our First Christmas.” At a young age, Thomson got her start in the industry doing commercials and print modeling for various catalogs and Disney products.

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Thomson appeared at the end of season three on the critically acclaimed HBO original series “Big Love.” Beginning in season four, she joined the cast as a series regular, and is currently filming season five.

In addition to acting, Thomson is also a gifted vocalist and songwriter who is working on her first album. Her first music video for the single, “Caught Up In You,” was completed in March 2008. Shortly after, she featured her song “Fathers and Daughters” in a second music video. Her newest song, “The Boy,” was completed in 2010, and she has now completed six songs.

Thomson resides in Los Angeles.

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CLARE CAREY (Jesse) – A versatile film and television actress, Clare Carey was recently seen as frustrated Brentwood housewife Christine Emory in the Starz’s original series, “Crash,” based on the Academy Award-winning film. Carey is also widely known as the home-wrecking bartender Mary Bailey in “Jericho.” She was a regular on “Point Pleasant,” and on the comedy series “So Little Time,” starring Mary Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen. Carey initially came to recognition during her long-running role as Coach’s daughter, Kelly Fox, on the TV series “Coach.”

Carey’s colorful guest-starring roles include such memorable parts on Fox’s “House,” as sex- maniac Eileen Dodd on Showtime’s “Weeds,” the wife of a man becoming a woman on “Grey’s Anatomy,” “ER” and “Without a Trace.” She has also appeared in “Army Wives,” “Boston Legal,” “Judging Amy,” “Ally McBeal,” and in the TV movies “44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out” and “Home Alone 4.”

Born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to a missionary-doctor father and schoolteacher mother, Carey is one of eight children. She grew up in Santa Barbara, CA after moving there with her family as an infant. She started acting at the age of six, and has studied with acting coach Harry Mastrogeorge.

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HELEN SLATER (Diane) – Helen Slater's career has encompassed motion pictures, television, music and theatre. Film credits include “Supergirl,” “The Legend of Billie Jean," "Ruthless People," "The Secret of my Success," "City Slickers" and "Lassie," among many others. Recent television credits include "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "Grey's Anatomy,” “Smallville” and “The Eleventh Hour.” She appeared in the off-Broadway plays Almost Romance and Responsible Parties, and starred in Pasadena Playhouse's world premiere production of The Big Day.

Slater co-founded the theatre group Naked Angels in New York City, and the absurdist comedy

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troupe The Bubalaires in Los Angeles. A singer and songwriter since her days at the High School of Performing Arts, she has performed at clubs and benefits in Los Angeles and abroad, and has released two CDs of her own original music.

Most recently, Slater finished filming a lead role in Nickelodeon's new series, “Gigantic.” She is playing the role of Jennifer Moore, the mom to Anna, played by Meryl Streep’s daughter, Grace Gummer.

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ANDY MILDER (Ronny) – Andy Milder is most recognizable for his role as Dean Hodes in Showtime’s hit comedy series “Weeds,” for which he was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Additionally, Milder also has a recurring role on NBC’s hit comedy “Parks and Recreation,” making him one of the few actors to be on two different shows simultaneously.

Other credits of note include the films “Frost/Nixon,” “Seven Pounds,” “Apollo 13” and “Armageddon.” On television, Milder has worked on “Private Practice,” “The Middle,” “Six Feet Under,” “Medium,” “House” and “The West Wing,” just to name a few. He also enjoys a successful voiceover career, currently voicing ads for Mucinex and Pepperidge Farm’s Goldfish.

When he’s not acting, Milder co-runs a successful fake acting class in Los Angeles, Definition: Actor.

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DAVID PERMENTER (Pete) – A native of Oklahoma who eventually defected to Texas, David Permenter served in the U.S. Army as an airborne infantryman before graduating from the University of North Texas, Denton, with degrees in theater and film. He then moved to Los Angeles where he immediately began working in several soap operas, including “General Hospital,” “Santa Barbara,” and “Days of Our Lives.” Roles followed on “Designing Women,” “Get a Life” and “Homefront,” at which point Permenter entered the Master of Fine Arts program at University of California, Los Angeles.

While completing his degree, Permenter continued to add to his professional credits, landing his largest role to date in the cult-classic “Leprechaun.” Over the next several years he appeared in numerous Los Angeles stage productions, most notably Quills at the Geffen Playhouse, and The Hothouse, which The L.A. Times called “unmissable.” Other notable guest appearances included “Party of Five” and “Melrose Place” and the feature films “In Dreams,” “Deep End of the Ocean” and “Air Force One.”

Permenter has also worked professionally as a composer, theatrical sound designer, and musician (keyboards and drums), for which he has earned multiple Garland Award nominations.

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Composing credits include “Mathnasium” and “Little Einsteins” for Disney. Most recently, he has performed with the fiery Latin guitar world fusion band Incendio as a guest-keyboard artist.

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NED VAUGHN (Carver) – Ned Vaughn is a 25-year veteran of movies and television, appearing in such classic films as “The Hunt for Red October,” “Apollo 13,” “Frost/Nixon,” and “Courage Under Fire,” among others.

Vaughn has earned praise for his work in numerous award-winning television movies, including “The Tuskegee Airmen,” “The Beach Boys: An American Family,” “Into Thin Air” and Gore Vidal’s “Billy the Kid.”

Vaughn has also played roles in many notable TV series, including the acclaimed “China Beach,” “Murder One,” “JAG” and the current hit, “24.” He continually works as a guest star on television and can be seen in a long list of TV favorites.

In addition to his film and television work, Vaughn is also an accomplished voiceover performer. Based in Los Angeles, he pursues a wide range of interests beyond acting, but is primarily devoted with his wife Adelaide to raising their five children.

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