"Lee Pace"

Lee Grinner Pace (born March 25, 1979) is an American actor. Pace has been featured in film, stage and television. He can currently be seen as protagonist Joe MacMillan on AMC's Halt and Catch Fire. He also played Roy Walker/Red Bandit in the 2006 film The Fall. He has appeared in popular series, such as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 as Garrett and The Hobbit as Thranduil. He played villain Ronan the Accuser in the film Guardians of the Galaxy, and starred as Ned in the ABC series Pushing Daisies for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2008.

Pace was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, the son of Charlotte (née Kloeckler), a schoolteacher, and James Roy Pace, an engineer. He has two siblings, a sister and a younger brother named Willam Pace. As a child, Pace spent several years in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked in the oil business; the family later moved to Houston, Texas. Pace attended Klein High School in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, with future fellow actor Matt Bomer. Pace temporarily quit high school to act at Houston's Alley Theatre before returning to graduate. At the Alley, he appeared in productions of The Spider's Web and The Greeks. In 1997, Pace was accepted by the Juilliard School's Drama Division as a member of Group 30 (1997–2001), which also included actors Anthony Mackie and Tracie Thoms. While there, he acted in several plays, including Romeo and Juliet as Romeo, Richard III in the title role, and Julius Caesar as Cassius. He graduated from Juilliard with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

After graduation, Pace starred in several off-Broadway plays, including The Credeaux Canvas and The Fourth Sister. He also starred in a production of Craig Lucas's Small Tragedy, for which he was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Actor. In 2006, Pace starred in the two-character play Guardians by Peter Morris, which earned Pace his second nomination for a Lortel Award as Outstanding Actor.

April 19, 2011 marked Pace's Broadway debut, when The Normal Heart began its previews; it opened April 27 at the Golden Theatre. The show ran for a total of 96 performances, with its closing night on July 10, 2011. Pace played the character Bruce Niles in the show.

Pace has been cast as composer Vincenzo Bellini in Golden Age, which began previews November 15, 2012. The play, written by Terrence McNally, began its official run at the Manhattan Theatre Club December 4, 2012. The previews were originally scheduled for November 13, 2012 but two shows were cancelled as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

Pace first gained recognition for his role in the 2003 film Soldier's Girl, based on a real events, in which he played the central role of Calpernia Addams. Of the role, Pace has said "Not even my excellent training at Juilliard prepared me for my first movie role, where I played a transsexual who falls in love with a military guy in Soldier's Girl. Here I was, this 6'3" 190-pound lanky kid from Chickasha, Oklahoma, not knowing how to begin being a woman. So I saw documentaries about transsexuals, I lost twenty-five pounds, and I put on prosthetic boobs and hips to become that character. There were times I'd look in the mirror and wonder, 'What am I doing to my life here? My dad is going to kill me!' But the reason I went into acting was to be able to play parts as complicated and important as this one. In playing a transsexual, I got the chance to help change people's perspective about other people, and that is a powerful thing. I'm playing a swashbuckling bandit in my next film, but I'll always be proud of Soldier's Girl".

Pace won a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor and was nominated for several other awards, including a Golden Globe Award, for his work in this film.

He starred in the film Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and in Tarsem Singh's The Fall, both released in 2008. The Fall was very well received amongst critics and viewers alike and where Lee starred in one of his most artistic roles. His next film was the movie Possession with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Pace also played supporting roles in The White Countess, Infamous, When in Rome and The Good Shepherd. In 2010, Pace appeared in the film Marmaduke, as Phil Winslow.

In 2012, Lee Pace starred as Garrett, the nomadic vampire, in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. Pace was admittedly aware of the reputation linked to the Twilight franchise, and revealed that he "went in to this a little like 'you know what you’re getting into, just do what you can.'" However, he enjoyed the experience and only had praise for the director Bill Condon. Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight saga, was very satisfied with Pace's performance as Garrett, since he "stood out as someone who really was just so much fun and really looked the part." The movie was met with a mixed reception by critics, however, some critics, such as Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times, whose only issue was that he was introduced too late in the series: "Why, oh, why didn't they introduce him sooner?." Meanwhile, Sara Stewart of the New York Post simply described him as a "standout." Pace appreciates the support of the fans, and said that he felt their support while he was appearing in Golden Age on Broadway: "a lot of them come to the play, which is nice, really nice. I just appreciate that Twilight really does bring a Community of people together."

On April 30, 2011, it was announced that Pace had been cast as the king of the Mirkwood Elves, Thranduil, in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. The announcement was made by Peter Jackson himself, who revealed on his Facebook page that Pace had been his favorite for the part, ever since he saw his performance in The Fall.  The character had previously been mentioned in Jackson's Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and had previously been portrayed in The Hobbit, voiced by the Oscar–nominated Otto Preminger, and in the 1968 BBC radio series, voiced by the British actor Leonard Fenton. Pace spent four months filming in New Zealand, and called it a "fantastic experience." The character appeared in the prologue of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey released in December 2012, and had a larger role in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug released in December 2013 and in the last film of the series, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, released on the 17th of December 2014.

On July 28, 2011, it was announced that Pace had been cast in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, as the one-time New York City mayor Fernando Wood, an early Confederate supporter. He filmed all his scenes within a week, before he worked on The Hobbit, which made Spielberg the first Oscar-winning director for Pace to work with on a feature film (Pace had previously worked with Kathryn Bigelow on The Miraculous Year). The events in the movie takes place in 1865, when Fernando Wood served in the House of Representatives. However, at the time, Wood was 53 years old, which is 20 years senior to Pace's age when he portrayed him. In a Q&A, Spielberg revealed that he decided to offer Pace the part, after he saw his performance in Ceremony. Of the experience of the film, Pace said that "it was a real pinnacle of what I've done as an actor." The movie was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and was nominated for Best Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Award. However, Pace was not included among the Lincoln ensemble's nomination, and several bloggers were annoyed by this, including Katey Rich of Cinemablend.com and Nathaniel Rogers of The Film Experience.

Pace played the villain, Ronan the Accuser, in the 2014 Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy.Pace played Aaron Tyler in the acclaimed but short-lived 2004 television series Wonderfalls, which was co-created by Bryan Fuller. Later, Fuller cast Pace in the lead role of Ned in the series Pushing Daisies which debuted on ABC in October 2007 and returned for its second and final season on October 1, 2008. For his role as Ned, Pace was nominated for several awards including: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy, also for a Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy, and a Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television.

Pace has also portrayed a child molester in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Guilt".

In 2010, Pace was cast in the unsold HBO pilot The Miraculous Year directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

In 2013, Pace was cast in the AMC pilot Halt and Catch Fire to be directed by Juan J. Campanella.

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Soldier's Girl	Calpernia Adams	Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film
2005	The White Countess	Crane
2006	Infamous	Dick Hickock
2006	The Fall	Roy Walker / The Red Bandit
2006	The Good Shepherd	Richard Hayes	Nominated—Berlin International Film Festival for Outstanding Artistic Contribution
2007	Polarbearman
2008	Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day	Michael Pardew
2009	A Single Man	Grant
2009	Possession	Roman
2010	When in Rome	Brady Sacks
2010	Marmaduke	Phil Winslow
2011	The Resident	Jack
2011	Ceremony	Whit
2011	30 Beats	Matt Roberts
2012	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2	Garrett
2012	Lincoln	Fernando Wood	Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics for Best Ensemble
2012	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey	Thranduil, the elvenking
2013	The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug	Thranduil, the elvenking
2014	Guardians of the Galaxy	Ronan the Accuser	Pending-Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2014	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	Thranduil, the elvenking

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Benjamin Tucker	Episode: "Guilt"
2004	Wonderfalls	Aaron Tyler	13 episodes
2007–2009	Pushing Daisies	Ned	Main cast 22 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series(2008) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy (2008) Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy(2007–2008) Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television (2008)
2014	Halt and Catch Fire	Joe MacMillan	Main cast 10 episodes Pending—Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Television Series — Drama
2015	The Mindy Project	Alex	Guest Star

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2003	Gotham Award	Breakthrough Award	Solider's Girl	Won
2004	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television		Nominated
	Satellite Award	Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television		Nominated
	Independent Spirit Award	Best Male Lead		Nominated
2007	Silver Bear	Outstanding Artistic Contribution Shared with John Sessions, Oleg Shtefanko, Martina Gedeck, Michael Gambon,John Turturro, Keir Dullea, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Ivanir, Timothy Hutton, Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro, Matt Damon, Gabriel Macht,Alec Baldwin, Angelina Jolie, Billy Crudup, William Hurt, and Tammy Blanchard	The Good Shepherd	Won
	Satellite Award	Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical	Pushing Daisies	Nominated
2008				Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Saturn Award	Best Actor on Television		Nominated
2009	Online Film & Television Association Award	Best Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2012	Awards Circuit Community Award	Best Cast Ensembe Shared with Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, David Strathairn, John Hawkes,Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hal Holbrook, Joseph Cross, James Spader, and Jackie Earle Haley	Lincoln	Nominated
2013	Online Film & Television Association Award	Most Cinematic Moment Shared with Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, Gloria Reuben, Peter McRobbie, Bill Raymond,Boris McGiver, Christopher Evan Welch, David Costabile, and Michael Stuhlbarg		Nominated
2014	Phoenix Film Critics Society	Best Ensemble Acting Shared with Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Glenn Close, Bradley Cooper, Benicio Del Toro, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, Laura Haddock, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Rooker and John C. Reilly	Guardians of the Galaxy	Nominated
	Satellite Award	Best Actor in a Series, Drama	Halt and Catch Fire	Nominated

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/