aka Design Dude

[Originally appeared in Senses, Spring 2008]

There’s something magical about catching a glimpse of an actor just as she begins her ascent to stardom. In the best scenarios, all of the talent, charisma, and appeal that we lump together as “star quality” are in place, having incubated through years of waiting tables and waiting on breaks. All that’s left is for the right projects to align together, creating a sustained visibility that positions an actor on the public radar. In 2008, it’s all going to come together for Taryn Manning.

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[Originally appeared in Tidbit, Winter 2008]

Jonathan Tucker is what you might refer to as a “rising star.” Appearing alongside Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Therone in the forthcoming feature In the Valley of Elah and currently shooting his starring role in the thriller The Ruins in Australia, the young actor’s career is approaching a frenzied pitch. The groundwork was set this spring, as Tucker starred in NBC acclaimed The Black Donnellys, which positioned him in a high-profile television role, working with director Paul Haggis. But for this focused emerging talent, his current career progressions can simply be described as the result of taking good roles and working with talented people. “It’s important to understand good work,” Tucker will tell you.

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[Originally appeared in UNleashed, October 2005]

Normally, moviegoers tend to lump a young actor into one of a couple broad categories. From the theatre seats, it seems like we’re always watching celebrity-driven actors who’ll take any role that will propel their star power, or we’re watching cool outsiders who only take parts in projects that will enrich their creative goals. But after my conversation with actress Ashley Scott, I’m liable to place her directly between two options. “I’m always right under the radar,” she tells me with a surprisingly unconcerned laugh, “which is a really great place to be.”

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 [Originally appeared in UNleashed, June 2005]

Ioan Gruffudd tells me over the telephone, “I’m quite excited to be mentioned in the same sentence as Jude Law or Colin Firth. They’re both great actors with compelling screen presence. I would be delighted.” One would figure that, by now, the Welsh actor wouldn’t mind being named alongside a list of British imports to Hollywood. Up to this point, that sort of company has been the standard introduction to his American audience. But all of that is about to change.

On the verge of making his American splash for several years now, Ioan Gruffudd (pronounced YO-an GRIFF-ith) is now ready to step into his version of start recognition. The 32-year-old has been appearing on television in the UK since he was a teenager, and he attended the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, receiving critical acclaim for the lead role in Horatio Hornblower, a film series for A&E. Small roles in Titanic and Black Hawk Down came to him along the way, but in the wake of last year’s lead role as Lancelot in King Arthur, Gruffudd is definitely stepping into his own.

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