Cast Biographies
RILEY KEOUGH (Christine Reade)
Riley Keough, 26, is one of Hollywood’s rising stars. At the age of 12, she appeared in her first campaign for Tommy Hilfiger and at the age of 15 she ignited a media firestorm when she walked the runway for Christian Dior.
From a young age, Riley wanted to explore her talents within the film industry, and by the age of 19 she dedicated herself to developing her acting craft for the camera. In 2010, she made her big-screen debut as Marie Currie in The Runaways starring opposite Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. People took notice; shortly thereafter, she starred alongside Orlando Bloom in The Good Doctor, directed by Lance Daly. Riley’s memorable work in the film, which premiered at the Tribeca film festival in 2010, earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Milan International Film Festival in 2012.
Riley’s talents landed her a title-lead as Jack in Bradley Rust Gray’s werewolf flick Jack and Diane. She also appeared alongside Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike, directed by Steven Soderbergh, which grossed nearly $167 million worldwide. Further in 2011, she completed work on director Nick Cassavetes’ film Yellow, starring alongside Sienna Miller, Melanie Griffith and Ray Liota, as well as the Xan Cassavetes film Kiss of the Damned.
As her camera talent evolves alongside her creative growth, so do the roles she is meant to play. Recently, she was the lead in the highly-anticipated fourth installment of director George Miller’s cult- classic Mad Max - Mad Max: Fury Road alongside a distinguished cast comprising of Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Zoe Kravitz and Nick Hoult. Riley recently wrapped filming Peer Pederson’s feature The Greens are Gone alongside Cary Elwes, Anton Yelchin, and Catherine Keener, Lovesong opposite Jena Malone and Brooklyn Decker, and Hank Bedford’s Dixieland co-starring Faith Hill and Chris Zylka.
Riley currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
PAUL SPARKS (David Tellis)
Paul Sparks can be seen as the Underwoods’ provocative biographer, Thomas Yates, in the Netflix series “House of Cards” and recurs on the upcoming HBO series, “Crime,” created by Steven Zaillian. Sparks recently completed a 5 season run on HBO’s award-winning series, “Boardwalk Empire” and won two SAG Awards in the Ensemble category.
Sparks will appear in Warner Brothers’ Midnight Special, his second collaboration with Jeff Nichols after Mud. Sparks also stars in indie drama, Stealing Cars, directed by Bradley Kaplan, with an ensemble including William H. Macy, John Leguizamo and Felicity Hoffman.
Recent film appearances include critically acclaimed Sparrows Dance opposite Marin Ireland,
directed by Noah Buschel, as well as Clark Greggs’ dark comedy, Trust Me and Parkland, written and directed by Peter Landesman.
Sparks most recent stage work was with longtime friend and collaborator Michael Shannon in Ionesco’s enigmatic play, “The Killer,” performed at Theater for a New Audience in Brooklyn this past summer.
Sparks distinguished work on stage has earned him five Drama Desk Awards nominations. His first came in 2000 for the play “Coyote on a Fence” by Bruce Graham. He followed that up with a 2004 nomination for his performance in Adam Rapp’s “Blackbird,” which he originated in London. (Sparks appeared in the film version of “Blackbird” as well.) Also in ‘04 Sparks appeared Off Broadway in another Rapp play, “Finer, Noble, Gases,” which he later performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and won The Stage Award for Acting Excellence. Sparks’ appearance in Craig Wright’s “Orange Flower Water” earned him a third Drama Desk nomination in 2005. Another collaboration with Adam Rapp in the 2007 production of “Essential Self Defense” earned him his fourth Drama Desk nomination. Spark’s most recent nomination was in 2010 for his performance opposite Kate Walsh in Stephen Belber’s “Dusk Rings a Bell.”
His other stage credits include “American Sligo,” “Pumpgirl” and Craig Wright’s “Lady.” Sparks also appeared on Broadway opposite Mary Louise Parker in “Hedda Gabler.”
Sparks’ TV credits include a recurring role on “Underemployed,” produced by Craig Wright, the HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce”, all three New York “Law & Orders,” “Person of Interest”, “Brotherhood” and “Trinity.”
Sparks lives in New York with actress Annie Parisse and their children.
MARY LYNN RAJSKUB (Erin Clements)
A gifted comedienne, writer and dramatic actress, Mary Lynn Rajskub is one of the most versatile and talented performers today.
It was recently announced that Rajskub has joined the cast of ABC’s new family sitcom, created by Judah Miller, as a series regular. The untitled comedy centers on a Tony Award® -winning mother (Megan Hilty) and a risk-averse, cerebral father (Greg Grunberg) who are blessed with a son who is a natural-born competitive athlete, and they are thrust into the world of youth sports. Rajskub will play ‘Susie,’ the self-serving and opportunistic twin sister of ‘Gary.’
Rajskub was most recently seen on the small screen in her iconic role as ‘Chloe’ on FOX’s “24,” which she reprised on “24: Live Another Day,” the number-one rated show of 2014. Mary Lynn has also appeared in recurring arcs on “2 Broke Girls,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Californication,” and was a regular panelist on “Chelsea Lately.” Additional television credits include “New Girl,” The Mentalist,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Raising Hope,” “Modern Family,” “Royal Pains,” “Flight of the Conchords,” “The Simpsons,” “Gilmore Girls,” “The Larry Sanders Show” and “Mr. Show with Bob and David.”
In film, Rajskub will next be seen in Ally Walker’s Sex, Death and Bowling, starring opposite Selma Blair, Drea de Matteo and Adrian Grenier. She will also be seen in Mark Blanchard’s A World Away, which is slated for release in 2015.
Rajskub was most recently seen in Jason Nash Is Married, opposite Jason Nash, Busy Philipps, Casey Wilson, David Koechner, Andy Richter, Rob Coddry and Patton Oswalt. The film was distributed online by Comedy Central in January 2014. Other film credits include The Kings of Summer, opposite Alison Brie, Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, the Duplass Brothers’ Safety Not Guaranteed, Arrested Development, Little Miss Sunshine, Mr. Show, Larry Sanders, Julie and Julia, Punch Drunk Love and Sunshine Cleaning.
Rajskub currently resides in Los Angeles.
KATE LYN SHEIL (Avery Suhr)
Kate Lyn Sheil is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In the years since, she has gone on to act in such films as Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ Knife Point, Alex Ross Perry’s The Color Wheel (AFI 2011), Lawrence Michael Levine’s Gabi on the Roof in July, Sophia Takal’s Green (SXSW 2011), Joe Swanberg’s Silver Bullets (Berlin 2011), Adam Wingard’s You’re Next (Toronto 2011), Amy Seimetz’s Sun Don’t Shine (SXSW 2012) and Robert Byington’s Somebody Up There Likes Me (SXSW 2012).
Sheil can be seen in the recurring role of ‘Lisa Williams’ in seasons two and three of Netflix's “House of Cards.” Later this year, Kate will hit theaters in Drake Doremus’ sci-fi futuristic love story “Equals.”
Sheil currently resides in Manhattan.
ALEX CASTILLO (Jacqueline)
Alex Castillo is a respected Chilean-Canadian actress whose career in film and television spans two decades. Having worked with such as greats as William H. Macy and Robert Duvall. Alex received critical acclaim in 2013 for her work as a series regular in “Lucky 7,” Steven Spielberg's ABC remake of the hit BBC series “The Syndicate” and appears as ‘Detective Inez’ on the ABC hit “Rookie Blue.” She is the proud mother of precocious four-year-old.
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