Scott Capurro
ActingSan Francisco, California, USAScott A. Capurro is an American comedian, writer and actor based in San Francisco. His comedy material is deliberately provocative, referring often to gay life and culture, politics, race and racism, and popular culture. "I don't give a shit about those who don't like my work," he snaps. "I'm never going to win them over anyway, so why bother? My work is for a discerning audience who don't have knee-jerk responses." — Interview with Veronica Lee, The Evening Standard, November 6, 2000
Gene Hackman
ActingSan Bernardino, California, USAGene Hackman is the absolute definition of a proper, hard-grafting actor's actor, a bloke who didn't care a single bit about flashy Hollywood glamour and instead built his entire legendary career on pure, unadulterated grit. Rising from a tough working-class background, he became one of the greatest leading men of the 1970s New Hollywood era, bringing a rugged, no-nonsense physical presence and a fierce intensity to the screen that felt completely real.He didn't hit the big time until he was well into his thirties, but once he did, he put the proper hard shifts in to create some of the most memorable characters ever committed to film. He completely rewired the crime genre and bagged his first Oscar playing the ruthless, porkpie-hat-wearing detective Popeye Doyle in The French Connection, famously tearing through the streets of New York in that iconic car chase. Hackman had a staggering, elite range—he could play a brilliant, paranoid surveillance expert in The Conversation, turn around and have a right laugh as the comedic mastermind Lex Luthor in Superman, and then pull off a terrifying, Oscar-winning performance as the sadistic sheriff Little Bill Daggett in Unforgiven.Even though he chose to completely pack it in and retire from the acting business over twenty years ago to focus on writing historical fiction novels from his quiet home in New Mexico, his legacy hasn't faded a single bit. He remains a monumental pillar of classic cinema, an old-school titan who never picked the easy, safe option and always delivered an absolute masterclass in raw, honest acting.He never did any of that fake, big-headed celebrity fluff; he just turned up, put the work in, and dominated the screen effortlessly. When you see his name on a film box, you know you are guaranteed to watch an absolute master craftsman operating at the absolute top of his game.Insomniacs Trivia
• The Marine Corps Radio Grind: Long before he ever walked a red carpet or read a Hollywood script, a sixteen-year-old Gene lied about his age to escape his troubled home life and enlist in the United States Marine Corps. He spent nearly five years putting the hard yards in as a field radio operator, serving in Shanghai and Hawaii. He always credited that intense, disciplined military graft for giving him the thick skin and rugged mental focus needed to survive decades in the brutal film industry.• The Least Likely to Succeed Label: When Gene was cutting his teeth at the Pasadena Playhouse drama school in the 1950s alongside his lifelong mate Dustin Hoffman, the instructors absolutely hated them. The school officially voted Hackman and Hoffman as "Least Likely to Succeed" out of the entire class, giving Gene a brutal 1% rating for potential success. Instead of packing it in, the two lads moved to New York together, shared a tiny flat, slept on the kitchen floor, and used that rejection as fuel to prove the snobs completely wrong.• The Handpicked Silence Masterclass: When director Ridley Scott was casting the massive sci-fi thriller Crimson Tide, the script originally featured a massive amount of shouting matches for the submarine captain. Gene took the role but worked heavily with the writers to strip back the fluff, arguing that a real, seasoned military commander doesn't need to scream to command a room. He replaced dozens of loud lines with cold, deadpan stares, creating a terrifyingly quiet screen presence that completely stole the show from a prime Denzel Washington.Insomniacs Take
Gene Hackman is a proper, irreplaceable powerhouse of global cinema who represents pure, unfiltered integrity. In an industry crammed with safe, hyper-polished performers who act like they're saving the world, he stood out because he felt dangerous, completely honest, and totally authentic. He didn't do loud, arrogant celebrity PR; he just turned up, delivered a heavy-hitting masterclass in restraint, and let his incredible screen presence do all the heavy lifting. He is a massive credit to the history of motion pictures, and his entire filmography remains a permanent guaranteed safe bet for a cracking watch.
Jaimz Woolvett
ActingHamilton, Ontario, CanadaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.Jaimz Woolvett is a Canadian actor. He was born on April 14, 1967 in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada. Woolvett's highest-profile role was The Schofield Kid, a near-sighted, aspiring gun-fighter in Clint Eastwood's Academy Award-winning Western Unforgiven (1992). He has a younger brother, Gordon Michael Woolvett.Description above from the Wikipedia article Jaimz Woolvett, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Saul Rubinek
ActingWolfratshausen, GermanySaul Rubinek is a German-born Canadian actor, director, producer, and playwright. He is widely known for his television roles, notably Artie Nielsen on Warehouse 13, Donny Douglas on Frasier, Lon Cohen on A Nero Wolfe Mystery, and Louis B. Mayer on The Last Tycoon. He also starred in the films Against All Odds (1984), Wall Street (1987), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Unforgiven (1992), Nixon (1995), True Romance (1993), The Express (2008), Barney's Version (2010), and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018).Rubinek was born in Föhrenwald, Germany, in 1948. His parents were Polish Jews who had been hidden by Polish farmers during World War II. They immigrated to Canada after the war.Rubinek began his acting career in theater, appearing in several productions with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and Theatre Passe Muraille. He made his television debut in 1977, with a guest appearance on the series Baretta.In 1984, Rubinek starred in the film Against All Odds. He followed that up with roles in the films Wall Street (1987), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), and Unforgiven (1992).In 1995, Rubinek starred in the film Nixon. He received critical acclaim for his performance, and he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.In 1998, Rubinek directed his first feature film, Jerry and Tom. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.From 2009 to 2014, Rubinek starred as Artie Nielsen on the Syfy series Warehouse 13. The series was a critical and commercial success, and it ran for five seasons.In 2013, Rubinek starred as Louis B. Mayer on the Amazon Prime series The Last Tycoon. The series was based on the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald.Rubinek is a five-time Genie Award nominee, winning Best Supporting Actor for Ticket to Heaven (1981). He is also a two-time Gemini Award nominee.Rubinek is married to Elinor Reid, a playwright and producer. They have two children.
Frances Fisher
ActingMilford-on-the-sea, Hampshire, England, UKFrances Fisher (born 11 May 1952) is a British-born American actress. She is best known for her roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven (1992), directed by Clint Eastwood; and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic (1997), directed by James Cameron. Both films won the Academy Award for Best Picture.She is also known for her roles as Jane Crawford on the HBO series Watchmen, Mary Windsor in The Lincoln Lawyer, Evelyn Nolan (John Nolan's mother) on CBS's The Rookie, Barbara Schoenberg in Woman in Gold, Gwen in You're Not You, Lucille Langston on ABC's scifi drama Resurrection, Maggie Stryder in The Host (2013), Nicole Farmington on ABC's scifi drama Touch, Blanche Tipton on CBS's A Gifted Man, Elaine Flowers in The Kingdom (2007), The Mother on BBC's Torchwood, Eva Thorne on Syfy's Eureka, Connie Walsh in House of Sand and Fog, Sara Miller in Laws of Attraction, Junie in Gone in 60 Seconds, Donna Garcia in Striptease, Angie in FOX's Strange Luck, June in L.A. Story, and Rochelle Bossetti in Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael.