CAST BIOGRAPHIES Season 2 RICKY WHITTLE
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CAST BIOGRAPHIES Season 2 RICKY WHITTLE (SHADOW MOON) Ricky Whittle was born in Oldham, near Manchester in the north of England. Growing up, Whittle excelled in various sports representing his country at youth level in football, rugby, American football and athletics. After being scouted by both Arsenal and Celtic Football Clubs, injuries forced him to pursue a law degree at Southampton University. It was here he began modeling, becoming the face of a Reebok campaign in 2000. Whittle left university to pursue an acting career and soon joined several action-packed seasons as bad boy Ryan Naysmith in Sky One’s “Dream Team.” Following that, Whittle quickly joined the U.K.’s hugely popular long-running drama, “Hollyoaks,” in which he played rookie cop Calvin Valentine to acclaim across 400+ episodes. In 2010, Whittle made the decision to relocate to California and, within months of settling in, booked the role of Captain George East in the romantic-comedy feature Austenland for Sony Pictures, which was produced by Twilight creator Stephanie Meyer. Additionally, he was soon cast in a major recurring role in VH1’s popular series, “Single Ladies.” Another major recurring role followed on The CW’s popular post-apocalyptic sci-fi series “The 100.” Whittle’s character, Lincoln, immediately became a fan-favorite character, so he was upped to a series regular. Simultaneously, Whittle also had a recurring arc as Daniel Zamora in ABC’s “Mistresses.” In 2016, after a vigorous casting process, Whittle won the coveted role of Shadow Moon in Starz’s “American Gods.” In 2017, Whittle was seen opposite Sanaa Lathan in the Netflix feature film Nappily Ever After, which is based on the novel of the same name by Trisha R. Thomas. IAN MCSHANE (MR. WEDNESDAY) Just before graduating from the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Ian McShane caught his first break in 1962 when he landed the lead role in The Wild and the Willing. Other earlier breakout roles include the role of Anthony in the 1973 cult classic The Last of Sheila, Wolfe Lissner in Villain and Charlie Cartwright in If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. McShane gained critical acclaim on the small screen as the fierce yet charismatic Al Swearengen in HBO’s hit crime series “Deadwood,” for which he won a Golden Globe® Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Drama Series in 2005. His compelling and gritty portrayal also earned him nominations for an Emmy® Award that same year and a SAG Award in 2006. In 2010, McShane then went on to garner another Golden Globe® nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries for his portrayal of the scheming Waleran Bigod in Starz’s Emmy®-nominated “The Pillars of the Earth.” Since then, McShane has been seen starring opposite Johnny Depp as the pirate Blackbeard in Disney’s worldwide blockbuster hit Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. In 2015, he also appeared as the cold-blooded billionaire Andrew Finney opposite Liev Schreiber in Season 3 of the Showtime series “Ray Donovan.” McShane has had other notable roles on popular television series, including FX’s “American Horror Story” and HBO’s highly regarded and award-winning “Game of Thrones.” HBO announced a “Deadwood” movie in 2018, which McShane shot in the fall that same year. McShane reprises his role as club owner and ex-assassin Winston in the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 3. He can also be seen in projects such as The Hollow Point, Jawbone and Pottersville. McShane is also an accomplished, award-winning stage actor, who made his West End debut in 1967 co- starring with Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen in “The Promise.” Other notable stage performances include his portrayal of Daryl Van Horne in “The Witches of Eastwick” and, most significantly”, his role in the world premiere of Larry Atlas' “Yield of the Long Bond,” for which he received the 1984 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. With a decorated career spanning more than five decades, McShane’s other noteworthy roles on the big screen have included Joe Strombel in Woody Allen’s Scoop; King Brahmwell in Bryan Singer’s modern- day fairy tale Jack the Giant Slayer; and priest/prophet/warrior Amphiaraus, opposite Dwayne Johnson, in MGM's Hercules for director Brett Ratner. Notable roles on the small screen have included Sir Eric Russell in the landmark, blockbuster miniseries “Roots” and Ken Harrison in “Whose Life is it Anyway?” He also starred as the lovable rogue antiques dealer in the acclaimed series “Lovejoy,” which he produced (and several episodes of which he directed) for the BBC and A&E. The show, which first aired in 1986, was brought back by popular demand, successfully airing in both the U.S. and the U.K. from 1991 to 1994. McShane also made his mark in film and television as a voiceover artist. He has lent his voice as the narrator of Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and as the characters of Captain Hook in Shrek the Third, Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda and Ragnar Sturlusson in The Golden Compass. EMILY BROWNING (LAURA MOON) In a short time, Australian actress Emily Browning has established herself as one of the industry’s most versatile and exciting young talents, balancing studio films with artful independent fare. Browning first received international recognition when she was cast as Violet Baudelaire in the 2004 film adaptation of the popular children’s book series, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. She received a 2005 Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Young Actress from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, as well as a 2005 Best Actress Award by the Australian Film Institute, for her performance. In 2011, Browning starred in Julia Leigh’s art-house film Sleeping Beauty, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. While the film received mixed reactions from critics and journalists for pushing the envelope, Browning received critical praise for her demanding performance. She was honored with the Breakthrough Performer Award at the 2011 Hamptons International Film Festival and received a Best Actress in a Leading Role nomination by the Film Critics Circle of Australia, as well as the Australian Film Critics Association. In 2014, Browning starred and sang in the musical feature film God Help the Girl, written and directed by Stuart Murdoch of the music group Belle and Sebastian. The film follows Eve (Browning), who escapes from a psychiatric hospital and makes her way to Glasgow, hoping to become a musician. God Help the Girl premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. That next month, the film served as the opening night film of the Generation section at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. Browning most recently appeared opposite Tom Hardy in the criminal biopic Legend, which was written and directed by Brian Helgeland. Legend depicts the rise and fall of real-life twin brothers, Reggie and Ronnie Kray, who dominated organized crime in London during the 1960s before their 1969 convictions for murder. Hardy portrays both Kray brothers, and Browning plays Frances Shea, a woman who tragically falls for Reggie Kray and marries him. In October 2015, Universal Studios released the film in the U.S. after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Browning recently completed production on Eddie O’Keefe’s directorial debut, Shangri-La Suite. The film, which was also written by O’Keefe and Chris Hutton, follows two young lovers (played by Browning and Luke Grimes) who break out of a mental hospital in 1974 and set out on a road trip to Los Angeles to fulfill the boy’s lifelong dream of killing his idol, Elvis Presley. Browning’s debut acting role was in the 1998 Hallmark Channel movie The Echo of Thunder. Additional roles in her home country of Australia soon followed, including recurring roles in the television series “Blue Heelers,” “Something in the Air” and “High Flyers.” Other film credits include Ghost Ship, Ned Kelly, The Uninvited, Stranded, Sucker Punch, Magic Magic, The Host, Summer in February, Plush and Pompeii. Browning currently resides in Los Angeles. PABLO SCHREIBER (MAD SWEENEY) Pablo Schreiber was nominated for an Emmy® award for his performance as the sadistic corrections officer George “Pornstache” Mendez in the Netflix hit series “Orange is the New Black.” He was most recently seen on the big screen in Christian Gudegast’s Den of Thieves, opposite Gerard Butler; Michael Bay’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi for Paramount; and the independent film Thumper from director Jordan Ross. Schreiber’s recent television credits include the Starz hit series “American Gods”; the HBO comedy series “The Brink,” opposite Jack Black and Tim Robbins; and an acclaimed season-long arc on “Law & Order: SVU,” on which he played a sociopathic killer who kidnaps and torments Mariska Hargitay’s character, Olivia Benson. Schreiber’s other film credits include Josh Radnor’s Happythankyoumoreplease (which won the Audience Award at Sundance), Woody Allen’s Vicky Christina Barcelona, Catherine Hardwicke’s The Lords of Dogtown, Michael Cuesta’s Tell Tale, George C. Wolf’s Nights in Rodanthe, Jonathan Demme’s The Manchurian Candidate, Daryl Wein’s Breaking Upwards, Claudia Myers’ Fort Bliss, and Stephen Frears’ Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight. Past television credits include HBO’s critically acclaimed “The Wire,” Showtime’s “Weeds,” FX’s “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” and “Lights Out,” CBS’ “A Gifted Man” and “The Good Wife,” ABC’s “Dirt,” NBC’s “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” and John Grisham’s telefilm A Painted House.