Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Who is Gillian Leigh Anderson?

Who is Gillian Leigh Anderson? The Acting World knows her as Gillian Anderson, she is an Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG winning American actress, best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the American TV series The X-Files, Moro in the English dub of Princess Mononoke, Lily Bart in The House of Mirth and Lady Dedlock in the BBC TV series Bleak House.

Anderson was born August 9, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Rosemary Anderson, a computer analyst, and Edward Anderson, who owned a film post-production company.[1] Soon after her birth, her family moved to Puerto Rico for 15 months and then to Crouch End and finally Harringay[2] in North London, so that her father could attend the London Film School. When Anderson was 11 years old, her family moved again, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan. She attended Fountain Elementary and then City High-Middle School, a program for gifted students with a strong emphasis on the humanities; she graduated in 1986.

With her English accent and background, Anderson was mocked and felt out of place in the American Midwest and soon adopted a Midwest accent. To this day, her accent depends on her location - for instance, in an interview with Jay Leno she spoke in an American accent, but in an interview with Michael Parkinson she spoke with a British accent.[3][4][5] In addition, she had her nose pierced in the early 1980s and dyed her hair various colors. Her high school classmates voted her as "Most Bizarre," "Class Clown", "Most Likely to go Bald" and "Most Likely to be Arrested." She was caught trying to jam the high school doors by filling their locks with glue on the eve of her graduation.[6]

Anderson was interested in marine biology, but began acting her freshman year in high school productions, and later in community theater, and served as a student intern at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre. She attended The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago (formerly the Goodman School of Drama), where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990. She also participated in the National Theatre of Great Britain's summer program at Cornell University.

Anderson moved to New York when she was 20 years old. To support herself when she started her career, Anderson worked as a waitress. She began her career in Alan Ayckbourn's play, Absent Friends at the Manhattan Theatre Club alongside Brenda Blethyn; she won the 1990-91 Theatre World "Newcomer" Award for her role. Her next theatrical role was in Christopher Hampton's The Philanthropist at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut.

Anderson moved to Los Angeles in 1992, spending a year auditioning. Although she had once vowed she would never do TV, being out of work for a year changed her mind. Anderson did Home Fires Burning for a cable station, as well as the audio book version of Exit to Eden. She broke into mainstream television in 1993, with a guest appearance on the collegiate drama, Class of '96, on the fledgling Fox Network.

As a result of her guest appearance in Class of 96, Anderson was sent the script for The X Files at the age of 24. She decided to audition because "for the first time in a long time, the script involved a strong, independent, intelligent woman as a lead character." Producer Chris Carter wanted to employ her, but Fox wanted someone with previous TV exposure and greater sex appeal.[7] Fox sent in more actresses, but Carter stood by Anderson, and she was eventually cast as Special Agent Dana Scully. Anderson got the part assuming it would run for 13 episodes, the standard minimum order for American TV networks. Filmed in Vancouver and then in Los Angeles, the series would run for nine seasons, and included two films, released in 1998 and 2008. During her time on The X Files, Anderson won several awards for her portrayal of Special Agent Scully, including an Emmy Award, Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild awards for "Best Actress in a Drama Series." While filming, Anderson met assistant art director Clyde Klotz, whom she would eventually marry.


Anderson had roles in a handful of films during the run of The X-Files and starred in The House of Mirth, an adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel of the same name.

In 1999, Anderson had a supporting role in the English-language release of Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, where she voiced the character of Moro. Anderson is a proclaimed lover of Miyazaki's work. She also took part in Eve Ensler's


The Vagina Monologues.

When The X-Files ended, Anderson performed in several stage productions and worked on various film projects. She has participated in narrative work for documentaries on scientific topics. In 2005, she appeared as Lady Dedlock in the BBC television adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House, had a starring role in the Irish film The Mighty Celt (for which she won an IFTA award for Best International Actress) and performed in A Cock and Bull Story, a film version of the novel Tristram Shandy.

In 2006, Anderson was nominated for a British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) for Best Actress and won the Broadcasting Press Guild Television and Radio Award for Best Actress for her role in Bleak House. Anderson also received an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie" for her performance as Lady Dedlock. Furthermore, she was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award and Golden Globe for her performance in Bleak House and came in second place in the Best Actress category of the 2005 BBC Drama website poll for her performance as Lady Dedlock (Billie Piper came in first and Anna Maxwell Martin came in third).

During 2006 and 2007, Anderson appeared in two British films: The Last King of Scotland (2006) and Straightheads (2007).

In December 2007, it was announced that Anderson will host PBS' Masterpiece Theatre during the Jane Austen series.

On December 10, 2007, Anderson began filming for The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Filming concluded on March 11, 2008. The movie was released on July 25, 2008, with a DVD released on December 2, 2008.

Gillian will portray Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House at the Donmar Warehouse in London's West End for a limited engagement running from May 14, 2009 until July 18, 2009.

Anderson has a sister, Zoe, who appeared uncredited as 14-year-old Dana Scully on The X-Files episode Christmas Carol.

Anderson has been married twice. She married her first husband, Clyde Klotz, The X-Files series assistant art director, on New Years Day, 1994, on the 17th hole of a golf course in Hawaii in a Buddhist ceremony. They divorced in 1997. In December 2004, Anderson married Julian Ozanne, a documentary filmmaker, in the village of Shella on Lamu, an island off the coast of Kenya. Anderson and Ozanne announced their separation on April 21, 2006, after 16 months of marriage.[8] After separating from Ozanne in 2006, Gillian became involved with her current partner, Mark Griffiths.


Anderson has three children. She has a daughter with ex-husband Klotz, Piper Maru (for whom The X-Files episode, "Piper Maru," was named). Piper was born on September 25, 1994, in Vancouver, Canada. During Anderson's pregnancy, The X-Files creator, Chris Carter, created an alien abduction storyline that kept Anderson off-camera long enough for labor, delivery and a 10-day maternity leave. Carter was named Piper's godfather. In the year of 2000, Piper had a small (and uncredited) appearance in her mother's movie The House of Mirth. Anderson also has two sons, Oscar (born November 1, 2006)[9] and Felix (born October 15, 2008).

In 1996, Anderson was voted the "Sexiest Woman in the World" for FHM's 100 Sexiest Women poll.[10]

Anderson provides philanthropic and charitable assistance in the support of finding a cure for neurofibromatosis. She serves as NF, Inc.'s Honorary Spokesperson and is a Patron of the Neurofibromatosis Association (based in the UK). Her support stems from her brother being diagnosed with NF-1.[11] She is also a member of the board of directors for Artists for a New South Africa and a campaigner for ACTSA: Action for Southern Africa. Furthermore, Anderson is an active member of PETA, supporting animal rights.[12][13]

[edit] Filmography

Title ↓ Year ↓ Role ↓ Notes ↓
Three at Once 1986 Woman 1 B&W student production
A Matter of Choice 1988
B&W student production
The Turning 1992 April Cavanaugh
Chicago Cab, aka Hellcab 1998 Southside Girl or Brenda
The Mighty 1998 Loretta Lee
The X-Files 1998 Dana Scully
Playing by Heart 1998 Meredith
Princess Mononoke 1999 Moro Voice
The House of Mirth 2000 Lily Bart
The Mighty Celt 2005 Kate
A Cock and Bull Story
2005 Gillian Anderson/Widow Wadman
Bleak House 2005 Lady Dedlock
The Last King of Scotland 2006 Sarah Merrit
Straightheads, aka Closure 2007 Alice Comfort
The X-Files: I Want to Believe 2008 Dana Scully
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People 2008 Eleanor Johnson
Boogie Woogie
Jean Maclestone Unknown release date, finished shooting 2 November 2007
Gellhorn 2010 Martha Gellhorn
The Smell of Apples 2011

Other TV appearances

Stage appearances

Other works

  • Wrote and directed the X-Files episode all things
  • Provided the voice for the ship's computer in the 1996 video game Hellbender by Terminal Reality and Microsoft.
  • Compiled a collection of Electronica music inspired by Future Fantastic, entitled Future: A Journey Through The Electronic Underground. Contributed vocals to one track "Extremis", with music by HAL. The song was distributed by EMI Records in 1997. It was a minor hit in Australia.
  • Appeared in two X-Files games, The X-Files Game and provided her voice and likeness for The X-Files: Resist or Serve.
  • Provided the voice for Jenny in the sitcom Frasier, Jenny calls Frasier's show for advice about her boyfriend.
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Who is Mira Nair?

Who is Mira Nair? The acting world know Mira Nair as an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films.

Mira Nair was born October 15, 1957 in Rourkela,[3] Orissa, where her Punjabi father, Nayyar (she spells her surname Nair, having his roots in Amritsar, Punjab), was employed. She was the youngest of three children from a middle-class hindu family. Her father was a civil servant and her mother a social worker. was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! (1988), won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. She used the proceeds of the film, to establish an organization for street children, called the Salaam Baalak Trust in India.[1] She often works with longtime creative collaborator, screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala, whom she met at Harvard.

She has won a number of awards, including a National Film Award and various international film festival awards, and was a nominee at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTA Awards and Filmfare Awards. She was also awarded the India Abroad Person of the Year-2007, which was presented by Indra Nooyi, Chairperson and CEO, PepsiCo, Inc, and India Abroad Person of the Year-2006.[2]


Mira did her early schooling at a boarding school in Shimla. She studied sociology at Miranda House, Delhi University, where she became involved in political street theater and performed for three years in an amateur drama company. In 1976, at age 19 she left for the US [4] with a scholarship at Harvard, where she continued her studies in sociology.[5] While at Harvard she met her husband, photographer Mitch Epstein, as well as her screenwriter, Sooni Taraporevala and gradually moved towards making documentary films.

At the beginning of her career as a film artist, Nair directed four documentaries. India Cabaret, a film about the lives of strippers in a Bombay nightclub, won an award at the American Film Festival in 1986.

Salaam Bombay! (1988), with a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign language film, and won many other awards. It is today considered a groundbreaking film classic, and is standard fare for film students.

The 1991 film Mississippi Masala starred Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury, and profiled a family of displaced Ugandan-Indians living and working in Mississippi. The screenplay was again by Sooni Taraporevala, and produced by Michael Nozik. In 1995 her film adaption of the book The Perez Family, by Christine Bell, was released. The film starred Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina, and Angelica Huston, and was again produced by Michael Nozik.


She was also the director of the movie Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, a provocative movie set in 16th century India. My Own Country starring Naveen Andrews,
was produced for HBO films, adapted from the memoir by Abraham Verghese by Sooni Taraporevala.

Nair's most popular film to date, Monsoon Wedding (2001), about a chaotic Punjabi Indian wedding with a screenplay by Sabrina Dhawan, was awarded the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice film festival. Her 2004 version of Thackeray's novel, Vanity Fair, starred Reese Witherspoon.

Her film, The Namesake, premiered in the fall of 2006 at Dartmouth College where Nair was presented with the Dartmouth Film Award. Another premiere was held in fall 2006 with the Indo-American Cultural Council in New York. The Namesake, adapted by Sooni Taraporevala from the novel by Pulitzer prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, was released in March 2007.

Her latest project is Maisha, a film lab to help East Africans and South Asians learn to make films. Maisha is headquartered in Nair's adopted home of Kampala, Uganda.

Nair is also working on the big-budget Johnny Depp-starrer Shantaram in India, the U.K. and possibly Australia. Production was delayed due to a Writers Guild of America, East strike that lasted from November 2007 until February 2008. Nair has stated that Shantaram was not dead and that it may be possible for production to begin in 2010. She is also credited with directing a film in pre-production New York, I Love You, a romantic-drama anthology of love stories set in New York. Her future film Impressionist is a coming-of-age story set in the Raj of the 1920s.

Nair will be honoured with the Pride of India award at the 9th Bollywood Film Awards later this year for her contributions to the film industry. [6]

She has done a 12-minute movie on AIDS awareness (funded by The Gates Foundation) called Migration.[7][8]

Nair lives near Columbia University in New York City where she is an adjunct professor in the Film Division of the School of Arts, and where her husband, Professor Mahmood Mamdani, also teaches [9][10]. Nair and her husband first met in 1988, when she went to Uganda for the first time to research for the film Mississippi Masala [4]. Nair has been an enthusiastic yoga practitioner for decades; when making a film, she has the cast and crew start the day with a yoga session.[11] Nair has one son, Zohran Mamdani,[12] born in 1991, currently attending The Bronx High School of Science.

Filmography

Awards

Wins

Nominations

Who is Luigi "Geno" Auriemma?

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