John Leguizamo
A multi-faceted performer and Emmy Award winner, John Leguizamo has established a career that defies categorization. With boundless energy and creativity, his work in film, theatre, television, and literature cover a variety of genres, continually threatening to create a few of its own.
Leguizamo is currently in production on Overture Films' Humboldt Park, a heartwarming family dramedy about three siblings' return to their parent's home for the holidays in Humboldt Park on Chicago's northwest side. Freddy Rodriguez (Grindhouse) is set to executive produce and star alongside Leguizamo. The film also stars Debra Messing and Alfred Molina.
Leguizamo recently completed M. Night Shamalan's The Happening opposite Mark Walberg. The film is a about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity. 20th Century Fox is set to release the film on June 13th, 2008.
Leguizamo also recently filmed Righteous Kill for Overture Films, opposite Robert Deniro and Al Pacino. The film revolves around two Veteran New York City Detectives who hunt a vigilante who may be one of their own.
Also upcoming for Leguizamo are the independent films The Babysitters, Franc Reyes's The Ministers, and Brad Furman's The Take, opposite Rosie Perez.
In the fall of 2007, Leguizamo was seen in New Line Cinema's Love in the Time of Cholera, the screen adaptation of celebrated writer Gabriel García Márquez' novel. Directed by Mike Newell, the film also stars Javier Bardem, Benjamin Bratt and Giovanna Mezzogiorno. The film charts the evocative story of an unrequited love spanning five decades in turn-of-the-20th-century South America, with the tale of 'Florentino' (Bardem) and 'Fermina' (Mezzogiorno). Leguizamo stars as 'Lorenzo Daza,' Fermina's father determined to keep them apart.
In the summer of 2007, Leguizamo starred in Spike TV's limited series The Kill Point, in which he played the leader of the robbers, who happen to be a team of U.S soldiers who recently returned from serving in Iraq.
Also an accomplished author, Leguizamo penned his autobiography "Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends." Harper Collins released the fast-paced, hilarious, and poignant memoir in October 2006.
In spring 2006, Leguizamo was heard in theaters in Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, in which he reprised his voice role as 'Sid, the Sloth' and co-stars alongside Ray Romano, Denis Leary and Queen Latifah. Additionally, the ever versatile Leguizamo appeared as a guest star in twelve episodes of NBC's cornerstone drama "ER" during the 2005/2006 season.
In 2005, Leguizamo earned rave reviews for his role as a popular TV reporter who's willing to sacrifice everything to get the story of a notorious serial killer in Crónicas. The film screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and 2004 Toronto Film Festival and was honored as a Un Certain Regard selection at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
For his performance as a sensitive drag queen in Too Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, Leguizamo garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Leguizamo's credits include Land of the Dead, Ed Burns' The Groomsmen, Lies & Alibis , Assault on Precinct 13 , Sueno, Spin, Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, (ALMA nomination, Best Supporting Actor), Ice Age, Spike Lee's Summer of Sam, Seth Zvi Rosenfeld's King of the Jungle (ALMA nomination, Best Lead Actor), the cult hit Spawn, Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, and Dr. Doolittle as well as Brian de Palma's Carlito's Way, and Casualties of War starring Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox.
Leguizamo also starred in HBO's Undefeated, his feature directorial debut. Scripted by Frank Pugliese from a story by Leguizamo and Kathy DeMarco, the film is a drama about a young Latino boxer dealing with love and career success.
In 1991, Leguizamo created an off-Broadway sensation as the writer and performer of his one-man show, “Mambo Mouth” in which he portrayed seven different characters. He received Obie, Outer Critics Circle and Vanguardia awards for his performance. The play's HBO special led to his first television comedy special, Comedy Central's The Talent Pool, for which he received a CableACE Award.
Leguizamo's second one-man show, “Spic-O-Rama”, had an extended sold-out run in Chicago at the Goodman and Briar Street theaters before opening in New York. The play received numerous accolades including the Dramatists' Guild Hull-Warriner Award for Best American Play and the Lucille Lortel Outstanding Achievement Award for Best Broadway Performance. Leguizamo received the Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent, as well as a Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance. “Spic-O-Rama” also aired on HBO, receiving four CableACE Awards.
"Freak,” Leguizamo's third one-man show, ended a successful run on Broadway in 1998. Billed as a “Semi-Demi-Quasi-Pseudo Autobiography," “Freak” was described as “scathingly funny" (The New York Times.) Along with the Tony Award nominations for Best Play and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, Leguizamo won the Drama Desk and the Outer Critic's Circle Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance. A special presentation of "Freak," directed by Spike Lee, aired on HBO and earned Leguizamo the Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Music Program as well as a nomination for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special.
Fall of 2001 saw Leguizamo's return to Broadway with his "Sexaholix...a Love Story." Directed by Peter Askin, the play is based on the sold-out national tour, "John Leguizamo Live!" Leguizamo was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance and the show received a Tony nomination for Best Special Theatrical Performance. "Sexaholix" aired as an HBO Special in spring 2002 and also toured the country. Additional stage credits include “A Midsummer Night's Dream” and “La Puta Vida” at the New York Shakespeare Festival and “Parting Gestures” at INTAR.
Raised in New York City, Leguizamo studied acting with Lee Strasberg and Wynn Handman at New York University. He was the recipient of the 2002 ALMA Award for Entertainer of the Year.
Katherine Waterston
Katherine Waterston was recently described by Variety as ‘riveting’, referring to her leading performance in Julian Sheppard’s play, “Los Angeles”, directed by Adam Rapp at The Flea Theatre in Manhattan. The New Yorker proclaimed ‘…what keeps you watching... is Waterston’s arresting, thin-skinned performance’.
In 2008, she’ll be seen starring opposite John Leguizamo and Cynthia Nixon, as an enterprising teen-aged babysitter who devises an ethically dubious business in response to unfulfilled love for one of her clients, in Peace Arch’s release of The Babysitters.
Waterston is currently shooting a feature for Warner Brothers Studios entitled The Factory, starring John Cusack. Previously, she performed on NY stages in the world premiere of Brooke Berman’s “Smashing”, directed by Trip Cullman, and in various off-Broadway productions, including “Gladiators v. Kamikazes”; “This is Our Youth”, and “No Exit”. Regionally, she performed at New York Stage and Film, The Cape Cod Theater Project, The Orchard Project and in several Williamstown Theatre Festival plays, including “Big Love” and “The Marriage of Bette and Boo”.
On television, Waterston most recently starred opposite Jonathan Pryce, Collin Hanks and Jonathan Silverman in Marsh McCall’s comedy pilot for CBS, entitled The Wylies and opposite Alyson Hannigan in NBC’s pilot, Americana. Waterston was born in London and currently resides in Manhattan, where she graduated with honors from NYU’s Tisch School of Arts and The Stella Adler School of Acting.
Cynthia Nixon
Emmy and Tony Award-winner Cynthia Nixon has been a critically acclaimed and sought-after actress since the age of twelve.
Nixon will next be seen in New Line's feature film Sex and the City: The Movie, which is scheduled for release in May 2008. The actress will begin production this spring on Derick and Steven Martini's film Lymelife along with Alec Baldwin, Tim Hutton, and Holly Hunter.
Nixon was last in New Regency's feature Little Manhattan opposite Bradley Whitford as well as in Alex Steyermark's One Last Thing, which premiered at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival and was screened at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. The actress also starred in HBO's telepic Warm Springs, in which she plays Eleanor Roosevelt opposite Kenneth Branagh's Franklin Roosevelt. This role earned Nixon a Golden Globe nomination, a SAG Award nomination, and an Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Made for Television. In 2004 she starred in the mini-series Tanner on Tanner, directed by Robert Altman and written by Garry Trudeau, a sequel to Tanner '88.
For six seasons Nixon appeared in HBO's much celebrated series, Sex and the City, in which she played Miranda, a role that garnered her an Emmy Award in 2004 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, two other Emmy nominations, and four consecutive Golden Globe nominations. Nixon was honored with the 2001 and 2004 SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
Nixon was last seen off-Broadway in the title role of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”. In 2006 the actress completed a successful run in the Manhattan Theatre Club production of David Lindsay-Abair's Pulitzer Prize winning play “Rabbit Hole” for which she won a Tony Award as well as a Drama League nomination and an Outer Critics Circle Award. Prior to that, she was last seen on Broadway performing as Mary Haines in The Roundabout's revival of “The Women”, which was also broadcast on PBS' Stage to Screen series. Nixon won a Theatre World Award at 14 for her stage debut as Dinah Lord in Ellis Rabb's production of “The Philadelphia Story” at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre. At 15, she was directed by acclaimed filmmaker Louis Malle in the title role of John Guare's “Lydie Breeze”. Most remarkably, at age 18, she appeared simultaneously in two Broadway productions, David Rabe's “Hurlyburly” and Tom Stoppard's “The Real Thing”, both directed by Mike Nichols.
Nixon began her film career at age twelve with Ronald F. Maxwell's Little Darlings (as Sunshine, the flower child) and went on to appear in Sidney Lumet's Prince of the City (as a strung-out drug addict), Milos Forman's Amadeus (as Lorl, Mozart's maid), Robert Altman's O.C. & Stiggs, Marshall Brickman's The Manhattan Project, Let it Ride, Addams Family Values, The Pelican Brief, John Hughes' Baby's Day Out, Marvin's Room, The Out-of-Towners, Igby Goes Down, and Advice from a Caterpillar, based on the play by the Drama Dept.'s Douglas Carter Beane.
Nixon's very first professional job was an ABC After-School Special, Seven Wishes of a Rich Kid, costarring Butterfly McQueen. Nixon went on to appear in PBS's presentation of Mark Twain's Private History of a Campaign that Failed, Lanford Wilson's Fifth of July and Women and Wallace (the last two for American Playhouse).
She has most recently appeared on network television in guest roles on Law & Order: SVU, House, and ER. Prior to that, Nixon was in the CBS telefilm Papa's Angels.
Born and raised in New York City, Nixon attended Hunter College High School and has a degree in English Literature from Barnard College. She lives in New York City and has a daughter, Samantha, and a son, Charlie.