Curated playlist
Male actors from Malibu, California
- Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo DiCaprio owes his first name to a kick. His pregnant mother felt the baby move while she stood before a Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Uffizi museum in Florence, Italy. That child grew up to be an American actor and film…
- Mel BrooksMel Brooks was 14 years old when he climbed onto a diving board at the Butler Lodge, a second-rate hotel in the Borscht Belt. He worked there as a pool-side tummler, an entertainer hired to keep the guests amused. On this day he wore a…
- Anthony HopkinsAnthony Hopkins once delivered a seven-page courtroom speech in a single take on the set of Steven Spielberg's Amistad. The crew was astonished. Spielberg was so overawed that he could not bring himself to call the actor Tony, and he…
- Martin SheenMartin Sheen was born Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez. In a 2009 speech at Oxford University, he said he had been arrested 66 times. The human rights activist Craig Kielburger gave that tally a memorable comparison. He said Sheen had "a rap…
- Tom HanksTom Hanks lost 35 pounds to play a dying lawyer in Philadelphia. He thinned his hair and learned to walk differently.
- Robert Downey Jr.Robert Downey Jr. was too big an insurance risk to hire until Mel Gibson paid his insurance bond.
- Pierce BrosnanPierce Brosnan once lost the part of James Bond because his television show was too popular to cancel. In 1986, NBC ended his detective series Remington Steele. Then the producers of the Bond films offered him the role of 007. News of the…
- Mel GibsonMel Gibson was paid $400 for his first film role, in Summer City, while he was still a drama student. A short time later, the title role in Mad Max paid him $9000. In the year 2000, Hollywood handed him a record $25 million to star in The…
- Kelsey GrammerKelsey Grammer was meant to play Frasier Crane for only six episodes. He kept the role for 20 years across two shows.
- Mark HamillMark Hamill voiced Ukraine's air raid alert app as Luke Skywalker. Each alert ended with "May the Force be with you".
- Michael J. FoxMichael J. Fox once worked two months of days that began with rehearsals at 10 a.m. and ended with filming at 2:30 the next morning. Those were the hours of 1985. By day he rehearsed the sitcom Family Ties. By night he rushed to the set of…