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An improvisational comedy troupe performing a shortform game based on direction from the audience; in this case spoofing a hard rock band performing a song made up on the spot.

Improvisational theatre, also known simply as improv, is a form of performance art.

Many actors, who work with scripts in stage, film or television, use improvisation in their rehearsal process. "Improv" techniques are often taught in standard acting classes. Some of the basic skills improvisation teaches actors are to listen and be aware of the other players, to have clarity in communication, and confidence to find choices instinctively and spontaneously. Knowing how to improvise off the script helps actors find life-like choices in rehearsal and to then keep the quality of discovery in the present moment in their performance, as well.

History[link]

Improvised performance is as old as performance itself. The original performers were storytellers. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, Commedia dell'arte performers improvised based on a broad outline in the streets of Italy and in the 1890s theatrical theorists and directors such as Russian, Konstantin Stanislavski and the French, Jacques Copeau, founders of two major streams of acting theory, both heavily utilised improvisation in acting training and rehearsal.^[1]

Some people credit American, Dudley Riggs as the first vaudevillian to use audience suggestions to create improvised sketches. Modern theatrical improvisation is generally accepted to have taken form in the improvisational acting exercises developed by Viola Spolin in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, now known as Theater Games. In the 1970s, Canadian Keith Johnstone invented Theatresports that has become a staple of modern improvisational comedy. These rehearsal-room or workshop activities evolved into an independent art form which can be presented or performed before an audience.

Spolin can probably be considered the American Grandmother of Improv. She influenced the first generation of Improv at The Compass Players in Chicago, which led to The Second City. Her son, Paul Sills, along with David Shepherd, started The Compass Players. Following the demise of the Compass Players, Paul Sills began The Second City. They were the first organized troupes in Chicago, Illinois and from their success, the modern Chicago improvisational comedy movement was spawned.^[2][3]

Many of the current "rules" of comedic improv were first formalized in Chicago in the late 1950s and early 1960s, initially among The Compass Players troupe, which was directed by Paul Sills. From most accounts David Shepherd provided the philosophical vision of the Compass Players, while Elaine May was central to the development of the premises for its improvisations. Mike Nichols, Ted Flicker, and Del Close were her most frequent collaborators in this regard. When The Second City opened its doors on December 16, 1959, directed by Paul Sill, his mother Viola Spolin began training new improvisers through a series of classes and exercises which became the cornerstone of modern improv training. By the mid 1960s, Viola Spolin's classes were handed over to her protégé, Jo Forsberg, who further developed Spolin's methods into a one-year course, which eventually became The Players Workshop, the first official school of improvisation in the USA. During this time Jo Forsberg trained many of the performers who went on to star on The Second City stage.^[2][3]

Many of the original cast of Saturday Night Live came from The Second City and the franchise has produced such comedy stars as Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Bob Odenkirk, Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Eugene Levy, Steve Carell, Chris Farley, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.

Simultaneously, Keith Johnstone's group The Theatre Machine, which originated in London, was touring Europe. This work gave birth to Theatresports, at first secretly in Johnstone's workshops, and eventually in public when he moved to Canada. Toronto has been home to a rich improv tradition.

In 1984 Dick Chudnow (Kentucky Fried Theater) founded ComedySportz in Milwaukee, WI. Expansion began with the addition of ComedySportz-Madison (WI), in 1985. The first Comedy League of America National Tournament was held in 1988, with 10 teams participating. The league is now known as World Comedy League and boasts a roster of 21 international cities.

In San Francisco, The Committee theater was active in North Beach during the 1960s. It was founded by alumni of Chicago's Second City, Alan Myerson and his wife Jessica.

When The Committee disbanded in 1972, Three major companies were formed: The Pitchell Players, The Wing, and Improvisation Inc, Improv, Inc. being the only company continuing to perform Del’s “Original” Harold. In 1976, two former Improv-Inc members, Michael Bossier and John Elk, formed Spaghetti Jam, performing Short-Form improv and Harolds in San Francisco’s famous Old Spaghetti Factory through 1983. Stand-Up comedians performing down the street at the Intersection for the Arts would drop by and sit in. "Improv Comedy" was born. In 1979 John Elk brought Short-Form to England, teaching workshops at Jacksons Lane Theatre and was the first American to perform at The Comedy Store, London, above a Soho strip club.

Modern political improvisation's roots include Jerzy Grotowski's work in Poland during the late 1950s and early 1960s, Peter Brook's "happenings" in England during the late 1960s, Augusto Boal's "Forum Theatre" in South America in the early 1970s, and San Francisco's The Diggers' work in the 1960s. Some of this work led to pure improvisational performance styles, while others simply added to the theatrical vocabulary and were, on the whole, avant garde experiments.

Joan Littlewood, the English actress and director who was active from the 1930s to 1970s, made extensive use of improv in developing plays for performance. However she was successfully prosecuted twice for allowing her actors to improvise in performance. Until 1968, British law required scripts to be approved by the Lord Chamberlain's Office. The department also sent inspectors to some performances to check that the approved script was complied with exactly as approved.

Improvisational comedy[link]

Modern improvisational comedy, as it is practiced in the West, falls generally into two categories: shortform and longform.

Shortform improv consists of short scenes usually constructed from a predetermined game, structure, or idea and driven by an audience suggestion. Many shortform games were first created by Viola Spolin based on her training from Neva Boyd.^[4] The shortform improv comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? has familiarized American and British viewers with shortform.

Longform improv performers create shows in which short scenes are often interrelated by story, characters, or themes. Longform shows may take the form of an existing type of theatre, for example a full-length play or Broadway-style musical such as Spontaneous Broadway. Longform improvisation is especially performed in Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles and has a growing following in Minneapolis, Kansas City and Austin. One of the more well-known longform structures is the Harold, developed by ImprovOlympic cofounder Del Close. Many such longform structures now exist.

Non-comedic improv[link]

Other forms of improvisational theatre training and performance techniques are experimental and Avant-garde^[5] in nature and not necessarily intended to be comedic. These include Playback Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed, the Poor Theatre, the Open Theatre, to name only a few. Long Form improvisation has been growing on the west coast with such groups as True Fiction Magazine, Three for All and the Awkward Dinner Party. These formats are designed to allow for a full length play to be created improvisationally.

Applying improv principles in life[link]

Many people who have studied improv have noted that the guiding principles of improv are useful not just on stage but in everyday life.^[6] For example, Stephen Colbert in a commencement address said,^[7]

Well, you are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what's going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say "yes." And if you're lucky, you'll find people who will say "yes" back.

Tina Fey in her book Bossypants lists several rules of improv that apply in the workplace.^[8] There has been much interest in bringing lessons from improv into the corporate world. In a New York Times article titled "Can Executives Learn to Ignore the Script?", Stanford professor and author, Patricia Ryan Madson notes, "executives and engineers and people in transition are looking for support in saying yes to their own voice. Often, the systems we put in place to keep us secure are keeping us from our more creative selves." Madson explores the application of thirteen "maxims of improvisational theater" to real-life in the book Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up.

In film and television[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Many directors have made use of improvisation in the creation of both main-stream and experimental films. Many silent filmmakers such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton used improvisation in the making of their films, developing their gags while filming and altering the plot to fit. The Marx Brothers were notorious for deviating from the script they were given, their ad libs often becoming part of the standard routine and making their way into their films. Many people, however, make a distinction between ad libbing and improvising.

The British director Mike Leigh makes extensive use of improvisation in the creation of his films, including improvising important moments in the characters lives that will not even appear in the film. This Is Spinal Tap and other mockumentary films of director Christopher Guest are created with a mix of scripted and unscripted material and Blue in the Face is a 1995 comedy directed by Wayne Wang and Paul Auster created in part by the improvisations filmed during the production of their movie Smoke.

Improv comedy techniques have also been used in television and stand-up comedy, in hit shows such as the recent HBO television show Curb Your Enthusiasm created by Larry David, the UK Channel 4 and ABC television series Whose Line Is It Anyway (and its spinoffs Drew Carey's Green Screen Show and Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza), Nick Cannon's improv comedy show Wild 'N Out, and Thank God You're Here. In Canada, the long-running series Train 48 was improvised from scripts which contained a minimal outline of each scene. The American show Reno 911! also contained improvised dialogue based on a plot outline.

Psychology[link]

In the field of the Psychology of Consciousness,^[9] explored the altered state of consciousness experienced by actors and improvisers in his scholarly paper Acting: an altered state of consciousness.^[10] According to G. WIlliam Farthing in The Psychology of Consciousness comparative study, actors routinely enter into an altered state of consciousness (ASC).^[11] Acting is seen as altering most of the 14 dimensions of changed subjective experience which characterize ASCs according to Farthing, namely: attention, perception, imagery and fantasy, inner speech, memory, higher-level thought processes, meaning or significance of experiences, time experience, emotional feeling and expression, level of arousal, self-control, suggestibility, body image, and sense of personal identity.

Structure and process[link]

Improvisational theatre allows an interactive relationship with the audience. Improv groups frequently solicit suggestions from the audience as a source of inspiration, a way of getting the audience involved, and as a means of proving that the performance is not scripted. That charge is sometimes aimed at the masters of the art, whose performances can seem so detailed that viewers may suspect the scenes were planned.

In order for an improvised scene to be successful, the improvisers involved must work together responsively to define the parameters and action of the scene, in a process of co-creation. With each spoken word or action in the scene, an improviser makes an offer, meaning that he or she defines some element of the reality of the scene. This might include giving another character a name, identifying a relationship, location, or using mime to define the physical environment. These activities are also known as endowment. It is the responsibility of the other improvisers to accept the offers that their fellow performers make; to not do so is known as blocking, negation, or denial, which usually prevents the scene from developing. Some performers may deliberately block (or otherwise break out of character) for comedic effect—this is known as gagging -- but this generally prevents the scene from advancing and is frowned upon by many improvisers. Accepting an offer is usually accompanied by adding a new offer, often building on the earlier one; this is a process improvisers refer to as "Yes, And..." and is considered the cornerstone of improvisational technique. Every new piece of information added helps the improvisers to refine their characters and progress the action of the scene.

The unscripted nature of improv also implies no predetermined knowledge about the props that might be useful in a scene. Improv companies may have at their disposal some number of readily accessible props that can be called upon at a moment's notice, but many improvisers eschew props in favor of the infinite possibilities available through mime. In improv, this is more commonly known as 'space object work' or 'space work', not 'mime', and the props and locations created by this technique, as 'space objects'. As with all improv offers, improvisers are encouraged to respect the validity and continuity of the imaginary environment defined by themselves and their fellow performers; this means, for example, taking care not to walk through the table or "miraculously" survive multiple bullet wounds from another improviser's gun.

In tune with the unscripted nature, several techniques have arisen with which help improvisers to avoid prescripted jokes to arise in their scenes. One such technique is known as "rolphing." This is the process which is sometimes referred to as "vomiting words," and consists of starting with a sound as opposed to a full word. Once the sound is projected, the improviser is forced to come up with a word related to the sound, often surprising even the speaker himself. This technique is not so often used in scene however, as it may break the reality of a scene. Instead, it is often used in preliminary work, setting up a scene, giving the improviser an unexpected and unpredictable scene.

Because improvisers may be required to play a variety of roles without preparation, they need to be able to construct characters quickly with physicality, gestures, accents, voice changes, or other techniques as demanded by the situation. The improviser may be called upon to play a character of a different age or sex. Character motivations are an important part of successful improv scenes, and improvisers must therefore attempt to act according to the objectives that they believe their character seeks.

Keith Johnstone[link]

Keith Johnstone’s work at the Royal Court Theatre in the late 1950s is seen as an important framework for contemporary improvisational theatre today. Heavily influenced by the teaching methods of Anthony Stirling, Johnstone set out to rediscover the imaginative world of childhood, the origins of creativity and spontaneity, and the ability to tell stories in an attempt to shift what he saw as the ‘pretentiousness’ of theatre to something much less dependent on intellect.^{[citation needed]}

Thoughts on Education Johnstone’s work highly criticized what he saw as the negative impact the education system has on the creative mind. He felt the classroom suppressed spontaneity, as the child who was spontaneous was often more difficult to control and to mould. Schools taught children to respond intellectually to poetry (for example) and not emotionally, we are taught to believe that great ideas come from those who are intelligent, and we forget that inspiration is not intellectual.^{[citation needed]} Thus his teaching methods often seem paradoxical – Johnstone is often famous for asking his students to ‘be boring’, ‘be obvious’. Johnstone therefore tried to develop and rediscover the creativity that had been suppressed at school.

Status Status is central to Johnstone’s theories on what constitutes ‘ordinary conversation’. After seeing Stanislavsky’s production of “The Cherry Orchard”, his conclusion was that the actors were naturalistic in a theatrical way but not like in real life. He emphasized the character’s status relationship over character motives, when creating an ‘authentic’ conversation on stage. He concludes that every inflection and movement implies a status and the audience gains pleasure when they see the status of each character on stage constantly being switched or “ejected”.

Spontaneity Johnstone felt that the intellectual mind, or the process of thinking and rationalization, was one of the main reasons why an individual is unable to be spontaneous or creative on stage. He believes that many students block their imaginations through ‘editing’ and the fear of being ‘un-original’. The attempt to be original, through thinking, creates a less interesting idea. He thus encourages the obvious idea or the first thing that comes to mind as the key to effective improvisation.

Games Johnstone’s exercises for developing spontaneity and the overall the improving of improvisation skills are used in almost every teaching institute for improvisational theatre. Here are two well known games:

Blind Offers This game is designed encourage students to justify their (or in this case, someone else’s) actions after they have done it, as opposed to thinking about something and then acting on the thought. Person A strikes a pose, then Person B photographs him. Person B lies on the ground, Person A mimes shoveling earth onto him. Person A jumps up and down, Person B says “I can’t believe your mother gave you those skittles”. And the cycle continues.

Word At A Time Students stand in a circle, and proceed to tell a story one word at a time. This game develops the ability to speak the first word that comes into your head. Johnstone states that this game makes it seem like some other force is telling the story. In order, the dialogue come out like this as an example - “There” – spoken by the first person, “was” – said by second person,“once” - third person,“a” - fourth person,“child” - fifth “named” – sixth, “biff” - seventh person … and in this way the story continues, being created by the whole group together.

The term "game" in improv can also refer to the Upright Citizen Brigade Theatre's concept of the "game of the scene" as a teaching technique and strategy for improv and sketch comedy.

Community[link]

Many theatre troupes are devoted to staging improvisational performances and growing the improv community through their training centres. One of the most widespread is the international organization Theatresports, which was founded by Keith Johnstone, an English director who wrote what many consider to be the seminal work on the relationship between status, story telling and improvisational acting, Impro. There are also many independent Improv groups around the world; a non-exhaustive but lengthy list is available here. In addition to for-profit theatre troupes, there are several college-based improv groups in the United States that are becoming popularized as a result of programs such as Whose Line is it Anyway?.

In Europe the special contribution to the theatre of the abstract, the surreal, the irrational and the subconscious have been part of the stage tradition for centuries. From the 1990s onwards a growing number of European Improv groups have been set up specifically to explore the possibilities offered by the use of the abstract in improvised performance, including dance, movement, sound, music, mask work, lighting, and so on. These groups are not especially interested in comedy, either as a technique or as an effect, but rather in expanding the improv genre so as to incorporate techniques and approaches that have long been a legitimate part of European theatre.

Notable performers[link]

Some key figures in the development of improvisational theatre are Avery Schreiber, Viola Spolin and her son Paul Sills, founder of Chicago's famed Second City troupe and originator of Theater Games, and Del Close, founder of ImprovOlympic (along with Charna Halpern) and creator of a longform improv format known as The Harold. Other luminaries include Keith Johnstone, the British teacher and writer–author of Impro^{[disambiguation needed ]}, who founded the Theatre Machine and whose teachings form the foundation of the popular shortform Theatresports format, Dick Chudnow, founder of ComedySportz which evolved its family-friendly show format from Johnstone's Theatersports, Stan Wells, creator of the "Clap-In" longform style and founder of The Empty Stage Comedy Theatre in Los Angeles, and Bill Johnson, creator/director of The Magic Meathands, who pioneered the concept of "Commun-edy Outreach" by tailoring performances to non-traditional audiences, such as the homeless and foster children. Peter Sellers was also a popular and influential improviser who would often improvise the dialogue in his work.

David Shepherd, with Paul Sills, founded The Compass Players in Chicago. Shepherd was intent on developing a true "people's Theatre", and hoped to bring political drama to the stockyards. The Compass went on to play in numerous forms and companies, in a number of cities including NY and Hyannis, after the founding of The Second City. A number of Compass members were also founding members of The Second City. In the 1970s, Shepherd began experimenting with group-created videos. He is the author of "That Movie In Your Head", about these efforts.In the 1970s, David Shepherd and Howard Jerome created the Improvisational Olympics, a format for competition based improv. The Improv Olympics were first demonstrated at Toronto's Homemade Theatre in 1976 and have been continued on as the Canadian Improv Games. In the United States, the Improv Olympics were later produced by Charna Halpern under the name "ImprovOlympic" and now as "IO"; IO operates training centers and theaters in Chicago and Los Angeles. t IO, Halpern combined Shepherd's "Time Dash" game with Del Close's "Harold" game; the revised format for the Harold became the fundamental structure for the development of modern "long-form" improvisation.^[12]

In 1975 Jonathan Fox founded Playback Theatre, a form of improvised community theatre which is often not comedic and replays stories as shared by members of the audience.

Spaghetti Jam in San Francisco (1976-83) hosted weekly jam sessions that included Betty Thomas, Terry McGovern, John Elk, Buzz Belmondo, Robin Williams, Barry Sobel, Dana Carvey, Gil Christner, Joyce Imbesi, Taylor Negron, Jose Simon and Paul Willson.

The Groundlings is a popular and influential improv theatre and training center in Los Angeles, California. Gary Austin, founder of The Groundlings, continues to teach improvisation around the country, focusing especially in Los Angeles. He is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest acting teachers in America. His work is grounded in the lessons he learned as an improviser at The Committee with Del Close, as well as in his experiences as founding director of The Groudlings. The Groundlings is often seen as the Los Angeles training ground for the "second generation" of improv luminaries and troupes. Stan Wells developed the "Clap-In" style of longform improvisation here, later using this as the basis for his own theatre, The Empty Stage which in turn bred multiple troupes utilizing this style.

In the late 1990s, Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh founded the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York and later they founded one in Los Angeles, each with an accompanying improv/sketch comedy school. In September 2011 the UCB opened a third theatre in New York City's East Village, known as UCBeast.

See also[link]

• Ad lib
• Atellan Farce
• Busking
• Commedia dell'arte
• Guerrilla improv
• Improvisation
• List of improvisational theatre companies
• List of improvisational theater festivals
• Thank God You're Here
• Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Povinelli, Daniel J.. "On the possibilities of detecting intentions prior to understanding them". In B. Malle, D. Baldwin, & L. Moses (eds.), Intentions and Intentionality: Foundations of Social Cognition. MIT Press 2001. http://www.cognitiveevolutiongroup.org/site100-01/1001369/docs/djp57_on_the_possibilities.pdf. 

Further reading[link]

• John Abbott. 2007. The Improvisation Book. London: Nick Hern Books. ISBN 978-1-85459-961-2.
• Coleman, Janet. 1991. The Compass: The Improvisational Theatre that Revolutionized American Comedy. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press.
• Johnstone, Keith. 1981. Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre Rev. ed. London: Methuen, 2007. ISBN 0-7136-8701-0.
• Patricia Ryan Madson. 2005. "Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up" New York: Bell Tower. ISBN 1-4000-8188-2
• Nachmanovitch, Stephen. 1990. Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art New York: Penguin-Tarcher. ISBN 0-87477-631-7.
• Spolin, Viola. 1967. Improvisation for the Theater. Third rev. ed. Evanston, Il.: Northwestern University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8101-4008-X.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Improvisational theatre

• How To Be A Better Improviser, an essay by Dan Goldstein that lays out a foundation for improvising.
• Improvisation: the Original Survival Tool, an essay by Brad Fortier linking evolution of humanity with ethics of improvisation.

Paul Scheer
in July 2011
Born	Paul Christian Scheer (1976-01-31) January 31, 1976 (age 36) Huntington, New York
Occupation	Actor, comedian, writer, producer
Years active	1995–present
Spouse	June Diane Raphael (2009–present)
Website
www.paulscheer.com

Paul Christian Scheer (born January 31, 1976) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He currently stars on the FX series The League and in the Adult Swim comedy-action series "NTSF:SD:SUV::", which he also created. Scheer has made many memorable appearances on comedy programs such as 30 Rock, Best Week Ever, Childrens Hospital, Funny or Die Presents, Parks and Recreation, Happy Endings, Party Down and Yo Gabba Gabba. He has also appeared in films such as Piranha 3D, Bride Wars, School for Scoundrels and Year One. He previously co-created and starred in the cult MTV sketch series Human Giant alongside Rob Huebel and Aziz Ansari. He also currently hosts the podcast "How Did This Get Made?", which was hailed by iTunes as the "best new comedy podcast" of 2011.

Personal life[link]

Scheer was born in Huntington, New York. He graduated from St. Anthony's High School (New York) and from the School of Education at New York University, where he majored in Communication and Education.

Scheer currently lives in Los Angeles and is married to actress/writer June Diane Raphael.

Live performances[link]

New York (1995–2005)[link]

In 1995, Scheer became a member of New York City's longest running Off-Broadway comedy show, Chicago City Limits. As a member of their touring company Scheer extensively traveled throughout the United States as well as overseas.

In 1998, he joined the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City where he performed Sketch and Improvisation with Respecto Montalban, winners of the 2003 ECNY Award for "Best Improv Show." The group included such members as Rob Riggle, Rob Huebel, Jack McBrayer and Dannah Feinglass. They performed their unique brand of long form improvisation to sold out crowds every Saturday night for over five years and even collaborated Adam McKay (director/writer of Anchorman) on a political sketch comedy show called "George Bush is a Motherfucker".

In 2002 Scheer created/starred in "Automatic Vaudeville" at the Ars Nova Theater, which the Hollywood Reporter called "one of the top five shows in the country."

Los Angeles (since 2006)[link]

Scheer moved to Los Angeles in 2006 and is a regular performer at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles (UCBTLA).

Every Wednesday at 9:30PM he performs FACEBOOK, an improvised show based on audience member's Facebook profiles. The show was named the "Best Improv Show" by Los Angeles Magazine and has been profiled on Good Morning America. Cast members include Rob Riggle and Rob Huebel.

Every 1st and 3rd Monday of the Month at 11PM Scheer co-hosts Crash Test with Human Giant Alum Rob Huebel. Los Angeles Magazine calls the show "Extremely Funny...Several thumbs up" and MetroMix proclaims "Sketch Comedy doesn't get much funnier."

Scheer also occasionally performs in a two person improv show, Scheer/McBrayer with Jack McBrayer his 30 Rock nemesis and can be seen in video pieces on Funny or Die .

Television highights[link]

[edit] Human Giant (MTV)

Human Giant's Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, Jason Woliner & Paul Scheer in May 2007

Around the summer of 2005, Scheer began collaborating with fellow comedians Rob Huebel and Aziz Ansari as well as director Jason Woliner to make short films. The first series created by the group was "Shutterbugs", which followed Huebel and Ansari as cutthroat child talent agents. This was followed up by the "Illusionators", which starred Ansari and Scheer as Criss Angel-style goth magicians. In mid-2006, MTV greenlit a sketch series from the group which debuted April 5, 2007.

The show has completed two seasons. In interviews, the group has mentioned that they were offered a third season by MTV but were unable to complete it due to Ansari's commitments to the new NBC show Parks and Recreation. However, the group has stated that MTV has left the door open for the group to complete a third season at a later date or to produce a special for the network. The group recently re-united for "Stunt Kidz" a sketch in the Ansari hosted MTV Movie Awards.

In November 2008, The Hollywood Reporter noted the group is currently developing a feature film with Red Hour Films, the production company run by Ben Stiller and producer Stuart Cornfeld.

[edit] NTSF:SD:SUV:: (Adult Swim)

NTSF:SD:SUV:: is a 15 minute procedural parody, which premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on July 21, 2011 for a 12 episode order. The series was created by Scheer, who also serves as Executive Producer and Star. Scheer plays Trent Hauser an elite government operative who protects San Diego from terrorism. Scheer is joined by Kate Mulgrew, Rebecca Romijn, Martin Starr, June Diane Raphael, Brandon Johnson and Rob Riggle. Series Guests include Jeff Goldblum, Adam Scott, Ed Helms, John Cho, Gabrielle Union, JK Simmons, Robert Picardo, Lorenzo Lamas, Rich Fulcher, Courtney Ford, Moon Bloodgood and Adult Film star Riley Steele.

[edit] The League (FX)

The League is a sitcom, which premiered on FX on October 29, 2009. The series is a semi-scripted comedy about a fantasy football league. Currently in its third season, Scheer has co-scripted a handful of episodes, "The Anniversary Party", "Expert Witness", and "Sober Buddy." with co-star Nick Kroll. Scheer plays Dr. Andre Nowzick, a rich plastic surgeon whose naivete makes him the brunt of many jokes.

[edit] Yo Gabba Gabba {Nick Jr.}

Paul Scheer and Jack McBrayer make semi-regular appearances on the Nick Jr. series Yo Gabba Gabba!, in a segment called "Knock Knock Joke of the Day". They have appeared in seasons one and two, and, according to Scheer's Twitter, have recently taped segments for season three. Scheer and McBrayer were featured as themselves in the Yo Gabba Gabba! comic book, and have even made appearances on the Yo Gabba Gabba! live tour. In 2012, Scheer appeared as a villainous Cowboy Android in an episode of The Aquabats! Super Show!, another series from the creators of Yo Gabba Gabba!.

[edit] Funny or Die Presents (HBO)

Scheer and comedian Rob Riggle recently wrote and starred together in a series of filmed sketches called "Designated Driver" for the HBO sketch comedy program Funny or Die Presents, which began airing in February 2010. Scheer, Riggle and Rob Huebel also wrote and starred in a series of sketches for the second season, called "Death Hunt", which featured cameos from Jack McBrayer and Kathryn Hahn.

Other highlights[link]

In 2006, Variety named Scheer one of the "Top 10 Comics to Watch" and AP Magazine hailed him as one of their favorite comedians.

Scheer was also featured in the music video of Army Navy's "My Thin Sides"

[edit] How Did This Get Made? (Earwolf podcast)

How Did This Get Made?, a podcast on the Earwolf Network hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas, is the only bi-weekly show on the Earwolf network. Each show has a celebrity guest and features the deconstruction and mockery of terrible films. Not only are jokes made, but attempts to unscramble plots are often begun before being abandoned. During the show's off-week, a ".5" episode is uploaded featuring Scheer announcing the next week's movie as well as challenges for the fans. In 2011, iTunes selected How Did this Get Made as its favorite comedy podcast of the year.

Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear[link]

Scheer was the centerpiece of a massive Lost Viral campaign which started during the 2009 Lost Comic-Con panel. During the Q&A segment Scheer presented a velvet painting to Damon and Carlton arm and arm with a polar bear that he claimed to have spent the last 6 months working on. He told the crowd that more of his art would be appearing on his personal website DamonCarltonAndAPolarBear.com, named after his painting, Scheer handed the painting to Damon Lindelof. The following months after Comic Con the site began to reveal special limited edition artwork that was created by popular artists and only available to fans of the show who were following the clues of the game that Scheer set up. Scheer remained the figurehead of the viral event and even ended up hosting the final Lost panel at the Paley Center in Los Angeles during the final season.

Twitflix Controversy[link]

Scheer, along with Mr. Show writer/performer Scott Aukerman and Human Giant co-stars Aziz Ansari and Rob Huebel, created controversy when they, using Twitter, live "tweeted" a midnight screening of the film Crank: High Voltage, in an event they called "Twitflix."^[1] Aukerman, Scheer and Huebel had previously done this during the first screening of Fast & Furious held in D-BOX seats.^[2] Harry Knowles from Ain't It Cool News wrote to them during the film, threatening them, upset with what they were doing. This was reported on several websites the next day.^[3][4]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

• Paul Scheer at the Internet Movie Database
• Paul Scheer Official Site
• MySpace profile
• Facebook profile
• Twitter Feed
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Ellie Kemper
Photo from Princeton University in 2002
Born	Elizabeth Claire Kemper (1980-05-02) May 2, 1980 (age 32) Kansas City, Missouri, US
Occupation	Actress, comedian
Years active	2003–present

Elizabeth Claire "Ellie" Kemper (born May 2, 1980) is an American actress, comedian and writer best known for her role as Erin Hannon in NBC's The Office.

Personal life[link]

Kemper was born on May 2, 1980,^[1] in Kansas City, Missouri,^[2] the second of four children born to Dorothy Ann (née Jannarone) and David Woods Kemper.^[3] She is the granddaughter of Mildrid Lane Kemper, the namesake of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis, for which the family donated $5 million. Ellie Kemper's father was chairman and chief executive officer for Commerce Bancshares, a bank holding company founded by the Kemper family (her paternal great-great-grandfather was banker William Thornton Kemper, Sr.). She is also the older sister of television writer Carrie Kemper. Kemper is of Italian (from her maternal grandfather) and German descent.^[4] The family moved to St. Louis when Ellie was five years old. She attended the Conway School in the St. Louis suburb of Ladue and then high school at John Burroughs School, where she developed an interest in theater and improvisational comedy. One of her teachers was actor Jon Hamm, with whom she appeared in a school play.^[2]

In 2011, Kemper became engaged to her boyfriend Michael Koman, a former writer on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the co-creator of the Adult Swim series Eagleheart.^[5][6]

Career[link]

Kemper attended Princeton University,^[2] where she continued her interest in improvisational comedy. Kemper participated in Quipfire!, an improv comedy group, and the Princeton Triangle Club, a touring musical comedy theater troupe. She also played field hockey at Princeton in the 1999 season^[7] and claimed she sat on the bench "roughly 97 percent"^[8] of the time. Her field hockey team went to the national championship in her freshman year, but she quit the team in later years to focus on theater.^[2] Kemper graduated from Princeton in 2002 with a degree in English, then studied English for a year at the University of Oxford.^[8] She regularly appeared in comedy sketches on Late Night With Conan O'Brien in the late 2000s, and has made guest appearances on Important Things with Demetri Martin,^[2] and E! Television's The Gastineau Girls,^[9][10] which has been described as her "breakout role". She has appeared on Fuse TV's The P.A. In October 2008, Kemper appeared on The Colbert Report in a PSA for Teen Voter Abstinence.^[11]

Kemper has written several sketch comedy shows^[12] many of them with her comedy partner Scott Eckert,^[9] a fellow Princeton grad.^[8]

Kemper is a contributing writer for the national satirical newspaper The Onion^[13] and for McSweeney's, the literary journal founded by Dave Eggers.^[9] Her essays for McSweeney's included "Listen, Kid, The Biggest Thing You've Got Going For You Is Your Rack",^[14] "Following My Creative Writing Teacher's Advice To Write 'Like My Parents Are Dead'",^[15] and "Some Relatively Recent College Grads Discuss Their Maids".^[16] She is also a contributor to The Huffington Post,.^[17] Pieces include "I'm Not Exactly Afraid of Really Intense Fashion".^[18]

Kemper has also appeared in several national commercials. One was a radio spot for Dunkin' Donuts.^[9] In a commercial for Kmart, Kemper is featured as a camper with a live tarantula crawling over her face.^[19]

Upon moving to New York City, Kemper participated in the People’s Improv Theatre^[8] and the city troupe of Upright Citizens Brigade, an improvisational comedy and sketch comedy theater. She has appeared in several shows for the Brigade, including Death and/or Despair, Listen Kid, Gang Bang and The Improvised Mystery.^[9] At the UCB, she performed with the house improv teams Mailer Daemon and fwand.^[9] At the PIT, she performs with the house improv team Big Black Car.^[21] In August 2008, she auditioned for a spot on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, but was not cast.^[20] In July 2009, Kemper was named one of Variety magazine's "10 Comics To Watch".^[20] Big Black Car teammate Kristen Schaal was also named.

Kemper performing "Feeling Sad/Mad with Ellie Kemper" at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in 2008. She has performed for several shows for the Brigade.

In 2007, she appeared in How to Kick People, a performance combining stand-up comedy and literary performances. In March 2008, she wrote and performed in the one-woman show "Dumb Girls" through the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.^[10] She also performed in the one-woman show "Feeling Sad/Mad with Ellie Kemper"^[20] and has appeared in comedy sketches on Funny or Die, the comedy website started by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company, Gary Sanchez Productions.^[22]

Kemper gained some Internet fame in August 2007 for her part in "Blowjob Girl", a humor video on the sketch comedy site Derrick Comedy. The video, which was circulated on the popular site CollegeHumor, was a two-minute close-up of Kemper offering to perform oral sex on her boyfriend, but startling him by promising to bite and smash his genitals, which she seems to believe is arousing.^[23] As of April 2011, the video has been viewed more than 18.2 million times on YouTube.^[24] Kemper said of the video in an April 2010 interview with The A.V. Club that "I really don’t like that video, and I wish that I hadn’t done it, even though I know that it’s a joke. I hate that it got sort of big, because I don’t think that it’s that funny and I don’t want that to be the epitome of my work. It’s just one video in a sea of many, but it has made me conscious of not wanting to do a video like that again."^[25] Kemper has also contributed an article to CollegeHumor entitled "Regarding Our Decision Never To See Me Again."^[26] She also had a minor role in the 2009 movie Mystery Team.

She also co-starred in the fake iPhone commercial on Late Night With Conan O'Brien in January 2007, six months before the first iPhone was released by Apple Inc.^[27]

Kemper appeared in the Sofia Coppola comedy-drama Somewhere.^[20] She also appeared in Bridesmaids, a comedy produced by Judd Apatow and starring Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph.^[28]

[edit] The Office

Kemper auditioned for a role in Parks and Recreation, an NBC comedy series started in 2009 by Michael Schur and Greg Daniels, creator of the series The Office. She was not cast in the role, but received a call back to audition for a supporting role in The Office as Erin Hannon, a secretary filling in for the regular secretary Pam Beesly when she briefly left the job at the end of the fifth season. Kemper was cast in the role, and started appearing in the show in April 2009. The character was originally written to be more sarcastic and dry, but the writers changed her to be more perky and optimistic to more closely resemble Kemper herself. Kemper described the character as "an exaggerated version of myself".^[2] Kemper described herself as a "huge fan" of the show and was thrilled to be on the show.^[8] Although the character was originally intended for 4 episodes, the producers were impressed with Kemper and signed her as a regular in the sixth season.^[2] Jennifer Celotta, a screenwriter with the series, described Kemper as a "fun addition" to the show.^[29]

Kemper received positive reviews for her role in The Office. Alan Sepinwall, television columnist with The Star-Ledger, praised the "infectious joy and sweetness" she brought to the show.^[2] Joshua Ostroff of Eye Weekly described Erin as one of the best new television characters of the 2008–2009 season and said, "Erin’s high-grade adorability, up-for-anything attitude and sheer niceness is unlike anyone else in the office, adding a welcome new wrinkle for next season."^[30] Andy Shaw of TV Fodder said she "adds some freshness to the cast"^[31] and Josh McAuliffe of The Times-Tribune in Scranton, Pennsylvania, said he liked Erin's "cheerful, appealingly goofy personality".^[32] Many critics have singled her out as a highlight of the show's eighth season following Steve Carell's departure.^{[33][34][35] [36][37] [38]} In October 2009, Kemper appeared in Subtle Sexuality, a set of three Office webisodes about efforts by Erin and Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) to start a girl group.^[2]

Filmography[link]

• 21 Jump Street (2012) as Ms. Griggs
• Bridesmaids (2011) as Becca
• Somewhere (2010) as Claire
• Get Him to the Greek (2010) as Pinnacle Executives
• The Office (TV series) (2009–present) as Erin Hannon
• Cayman Went (2009) as Woman from L.A.
• Important Things With Demetri Martin (2008–2009) Various Roles
• Mystery Team (2009) as Jamie
• Redeeming Rainbow (2007) as Shelly

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ellie Kemper

• Ellie Kemper at the Internet Movie Database

Cannon in September 2009

Kay Cannon (nickname "Kay Bo") is an American television writer and actress who is best known for her work as an Emmy-nominated writer and producer for the NBC series 30 Rock.^[1][2]

Biography[link]

Kay Cannon graduated from Reed-Custer High School in Braidwood, Illinois. She received her BA in Theatre and MA in Education at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois.^[3] She trained in improvisation at The Second City and I.O. (ImprovOlympic) in Chicago.^[4][5]

In addition to being a writer for 30 Rock, Cannon also has had cameo roles on the series as well.

She was thanked by Alec Baldwin at the Golden Globe awards during his acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Comedy Series on January 15, 2007. She has won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedic Series for her work on 30 Rock three times, and also won a 2008 Peabody Award for her work on the show.^[6]

Cannon has spent the last several years performing sketch and improv for theatres like Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, The Second City in Chicago and Las Vegas, IO (West and Chicago) and at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in LA and New York.^[7] She was married to Saturday Night Live cast member/writer and former 30 Rock cast member Jason Sudeikis. They are divorced.^[8]

In 2010, Cannon was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.

On January 1st 2012, Kay married comedy writer Eben Russell in Los Angeles, California.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kay Cannon at the Internet Movie Database

This article about a television writer from the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Liam Neeson
Neeson at the TIFF premiere of The Other Man, 7 September 2008
Born	Liam John Neeson (1952-06-07) 7 June 1952 (age 60) Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1973–present
Spouse	Natasha Richardson (m. 1994–2009; her death)
Children	2
Relatives	Vanessa Redgrave (mother-in-law) Tony Richardson (deceased father-in-law) Joely Richardson (sister-in-law)

Liam John Neeson,^[1] OBE (born 7 June 1952)^[2] is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards. He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Bryan Mills in Taken, Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars (the film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Alfred Kinsey in Kinsey, Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins, and the voice of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia film series.

He starred in other notable films such as Excalibur, The Dead Pool, Nell, Rob Roy, Les Misérables, The Haunting, Love Actually, Kingdom of Heaven, Taken, Clash of the Titans, The A-Team, Unknown and The Grey, as well as smaller arthouse films (e.g. Deception, Breakfast on Pluto, Chloe). He was ranked at number 69 on Empire magazine's 100 greatest movie stars of all time in 1997.

He was born in Ballymena, County Antrim and educated at St Patrick's College (now St Patrick's, Dundonald), Ballymena Technical College and Queen's University Belfast. He moved to Dublin after university to further his acting career, joining the renowned Abbey Theatre. In the early 1990s, he moved again to the United States, where the wide acclaim for his performance in Schindler's List led to more high-profile work. He is widowed and lives in New York with his two sons.

Early life[link]

Neeson was born 7 June 1952, in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and is the son of Katherine "Kitty" (née Brown), a cook, and Bernard "Barney" Neeson, a caretaker at Ballymena Boys All Saints Primary School.^[3] He was raised Roman Catholic^[4][5][6] and was called Liam after the local priest.^[7] He was the third of four siblings; he has three sisters, Elizabeth, Bernadette, and Rosaline.^[8] At age nine, Neeson began boxing lessons at the All Saints Youth Club, and later became Ulster amateur senior boxing champion.^[9] At age eleven, Neeson first stepped on stage. His English teacher gave him the lead role in a school play, which he accepted because the girl he was attracted to would be starring.^[10] From then on, he kept acting in school productions for the following years.^[11]

His interest in acting and decision to become an actor was also influenced by minister Ian Paisley, whose church Neeson would sneak into. Neeson has said of Paisley that "He had a magnificent presence and it was incredible to watch this six foot-plus man just Bible-thumping away... It was acting but it was also great acting and stirring too."^[12]

Neeson was enrolled in 1971 as a physics and computer science undergraduate student at Queen's University Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before leaving to work for the Guinness Brewery.^[13]

He discovered a talent for football at Queens University. He was spotted by Seán Thomas at Bohemian F.C.. There was a club trial in Dublin. He only played one game as a substitute against Shamrock Rovers and was not offered a contract to continue playing.^[14]

Career[link]

1978–1999[link]

After leaving university, Neeson returned to Ballymena where he worked in a variety of casual jobs, from a fork-lift operator at Guinness to a truck driver. He also attended teacher training college in Newcastle for two years before again returning to his home town. In 1976, Neeson joined the Lyric Players' Theatre in Belfast where he performed for two years. He got his first film experience in 1977, playing Jesus Christ and Evangelist in the religious film, Pilgrim's Progress directed by Ken Anderson. Neeson moved to Dublin in 1978 after he was offered a part in a production at the Project Arts Centre. The play was Ron Hutchinson's "Says I, Says He", a drama about The Troubles. He acted in several other Project productions and joined the Abbey Theatre. In 1980, filmmaker John Boorman saw him on stage, acting as Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men, and offered him the part of Sir Gawain in the upcoming Arthurian film, Excalibur. After Excalibur, Neeson moved to London, where he continued working on stage, small budget films and television series. He lived with the actress Helen Mirren at this time, whom he met working on Excalibur.^[15] Between 1982 and 1987, Neeson starred in five films; most notably alongside Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins in 1984's The Bounty and Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons in 1986's The Mission. He also starred as a guest actor in the third season of the television series Miami Vice in 1986.

In 1987, Neeson made a conscious decision to move to Hollywood in order to star in high-profile roles.^[15] That year, he starred alongside Cher and Dennis Quaid in Suspect. The role brought Neeson critical applause, but it was 1990's Darkman that would bring his name to public attention. Although the film was successful, Neeson's following years would not give him the same recognition. In 1993, he joined Ellis Island co-star and future wife Natasha Richardson in the Broadway play Anna Christie. (They also worked together in Nell, released the following year.) He recited the Van Morrison song "Coney Island" on the 1994 Van Morrison tribute album, No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison. A single was also released with Neeson's version.

Director Steven Spielberg, impressed by his performance in Nell, offered him the coveted role of Oskar Schindler in the film about the Holocaust, Schindler's List.^[16] His critically acclaimed performance later earned him a nomination for a Best Actor Oscar; however, the award went to Tom Hanks for his performance in Philadelphia. Neeson also garnered BAFTA and Golden Globes nominations for Schindler's List. Schindler's List established Neeson as a widely sought-after actor. He later starred in period pieces Rob Roy (1995) and Michael Collins (1996), the latter earning him another Golden Globe nomination and a win for Best Starring Role at the Venice Film Festival. Neeson went on to star as Jean Valjean in the 1998 adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables and in The Haunting (1999) as Dr. David Marrow.

[edit] Star Wars

In 1999, Neeson starred as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, in director George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. As it was the first Star Wars film to be released in over sixteen years, it was surrounded by a large amount of anticipation from the media. Neeson's connection to the Star Wars films started in the Crown Bar, Belfast. Neeson stated to Ricki Lake, "I probably wouldn't have taken the role if it wasn't for the advice of Peter King in the Crown during a Lyric reunion." The Phantom Menace was an enormous box-office success and remains the most financially successful Star Wars film unadjusted for inflation.^[17] Qui-Gon's voice, provided by Neeson, would later be heard during a brief scene in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002). Qui-Gon was supposed to make an appearance in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) as a Force Ghost, and Neeson had hinted at involvement.^[18] However, he was ultimately unable to appear due to a motorcycle injury, and his character is only mentioned in the film.^[19] In 2011, he reappeared as the voice of Qui-Gon in the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

2001–present[link]

Neeson narrated the 2001 documentaries Journey Into Amazing Caves and The Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure. After being nominated for a Tony Award for his role opposite Laura Linney in The Crucible, Neeson teamed up with Harrison Ford in Kathryn Bigelow's submarine thriller K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) as Captain Mikhail Polenin and appeared in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (with Leonardo DiCaprio, Brendan Gleeson, Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis). He also played a recently widowed writer in Richard Curtis' ensemble comedy Love Actually (2003).^[20] His role as Alfred Kinsey in Kinsey again put Neeson up for nomination for a Golden Globe Award but lost to Leonardo DiCaprio for The Aviator.

In 2004, Neeson hosted an episode of the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live. He starred as a redneck trucker, Marlon Weaver, in an "Appalachian Emergency Room" sketch and a hippie in a one-off sketch about two stoners (the other played by Amy Poehler) who attempt to borrow a police dog in order to find their lost stash of marijuana. Despite vowing not to play any characters who were Irish stereotypes, Neeson did play a stereotypically Irish man named Lorcan McArdle in the home makeover show parody "You Call This A House, Do Ya?"^[21] In 2005, Neeson played Godfrey of Ibelin in Ridley Scott's epic adventure Kingdom of Heaven, Ra's al Ghul, one of the main villains in Batman Begins, and as Father Bernard in Neil Jordan's adaptation of Patrick McCabe's novel, Breakfast on Pluto.

In 2005, he voiced the role of a kindly priest on The Simpsons, who (briefly) converted Bart and Homer to Catholicism.^[22] That same year, he gave his voice to the lion Aslan in the blockbuster fantasy film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.^[23] A year later, he narrated the documentary Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity. Neeson starred in the 2008 hit Taken, which brought his image back into the public eye and resulted in his casting in many more mainstream Hollywood movies. In 2007, he starred in the American Civil War epic Seraphim Falls.

Neeson talking to Ralph Fiennes at the Madison Square Garden U2 concert, 1 October 2005

Neeson's voice is featured in the video game Fallout 3 as the main character's father, James.^[24] The executive producer of the game, Todd Howard, said "This role was written with Liam in mind, and provides the dramatic tone for the entire game".^[25] Fallout 3, the third game in the Fallout series, has been extremely well received by critics and shipped 4.7 million copies by the end of 2008, the year it was released.^[26]

In the director's commentary of the 2007 Transformers DVD, Michael Bay said that he had told the animators to seek inspiration from Neeson in creating Optimus Prime's body language. Neeson appeared as Alistair Little in the BBC Northern Ireland/Big Fish Films television drama Five Minutes of Heaven, which tells the true story of a young Protestant man convicted of murdering a Catholic boy during The Troubles.^[27]

He starred in the action film Taken in 2008, a French produced film also starring Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace. It is based on a script by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen and was directed by Pierre Morel. Neeson plays a retired Central Intelligence Agency operative from their elite Special Activities Division who sets about tracking down his teenage daughter after she is kidnapped for sexual slavery while travelling in Europe. Taken was a huge worldwide box office hit, grossing $223,882,658 worldwide and making almost $200,000,000 more than its initial budget. He again gave his voice to Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).^[28]

Neeson has wrapped filming the psychological thriller After.Life with Christina Ricci and Justin Long.^[29] He also provided a voice for Hayao Miyazaki's anime film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, which received an August 2009 release.^[30]

In 2010, Neeson played Zeus in the remake of the 1981 film, Clash of the Titans. The film went on becoming a huge box office hit and grossing $475 million worldwide.^[31]

Neeson also starred in the erotic thriller Chloe, theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics on 26 March 2010. Chloe had enjoyed commercial success and became director Atom Egoyan's biggest money maker ever.^[32] Later the same year, he played John "Hannibal" Smith in the spin-off movie from the TV series The A-Team.^[33][34]

In 2010, Neeson voiced the character Aslan again in the sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In late 2010, Neeson stated, "Aslan symbolises a Christlike figure, but he also symbolises for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries"; this disappointed many fans of the series, who felt that he was "destroying the author's legacy to be politically correct".^[35][36]

In 2011, Neeson starred in Unknown, a German-British-American co-production of a French book, it was filmed in Berlin in early 2010. It has been compared to Taken, which was set in Paris. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film enjoyed box office success in the United States. It was largely funded by Dark Castle entertainment with smaller amounts coming from the Berlin film agency.

He was set to reunite with director Steven Spielberg and star as Abraham Lincoln in the film based on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.^[37][37] In preparation for the role, Neeson visited Washington, D.C., Springfield, Illinois where Lincoln lived prior to being elected, and read Lincoln's personal letters.^[38] He was later replaced in the role by Daniel Day-Lewis.

Director Lee Daniels has confirmed that Neeson will play former U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson in Daniels' developing film Selma, which is about Martin Luther King, Jr., Johnson, and the civil rights marches.^[39]

Neeson also starred as Ben Ryan in the drama Before and After alongside Meryl Streep. This film was about how a family dealt with the aftereffects of a murder their son was accused of committing. It was announced in July 2010 that Neeson would guest-star on the new Showtime series The Big C.^[40] In 2011, he played himself, in BBC2's series Life's Too Short, starring Warwick Davis. It was announced that Liam Neeson would reprise his role as Ra's Al Ghul for the film: The Dark Knight Rises. He narrated the first trailer for the film that was released in July 2011.

Personal life[link]

Neeson was married to actress Natasha Richardson from 3 July 1994, until her death on 18 March 2009, when she suffered a severe head injury in a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant Resort, in Quebec. Richardson and Neeson had two sons: Michael and Daniel. Neeson lives in Millbrook, New York. In August 2004 Neeson and his wife purchased an additional 16 acres next to their estate.^[41][42]

A heavy smoker earlier in his career, Neeson has since quit smoking. When he took the role of Hannibal for the 2010 film adaptation of The A-Team, Neeson had reservations about smoking cigars (which is a signature trait of the Hannibal character) in the film due to being an ex-smoker, but agreed to keep that personality trait of Hannibal intact for the film.^[43] In August 2009, Neeson stated on ABC's Good Morning America that he had been naturalised as a United States citizen.^[44]

Neeson is a fan of Liverpool F.C.^[45]

In March 2011, Neeson was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.^[46]

A January 2012 article in The Sun indicated that Neeson has thought of leaving Catholicism and converting to Islam. This reportedly followed a period of filming in Istanbul, Turkey and hearing the call to prayer.^[47]

Honours and awards[link]

Neeson was offered the 'Freedom of the Town of Ballymena' by Ballymena Borough Council, but because of objections made by members of the Democratic Unionist Party regarding his comments that he had felt like a 'second-class citizen' growing up as a Catholic in the town, he declined the award, citing tensions.^[48] Neeson continues to practice the Catholic faith and has raised his children as Catholics. He has also expressed admiration for The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola.^[49]

He was appointed as Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in her 1999 New Year Honours.^[50] The American Ireland Fund honoured Neeson with their Performing Arts Award for the great distinction he has brought to Ireland at their 2008 Dinner Gala in New York.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography[link]