Matt Damon

Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon (/ˈdeɪmən/; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor and filmmaker. Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Damon began his acting career by appearing in high school theater productions and he made his professional acting debut in the film Mystic Pizza (1988). He came to prominence in 1997 when he and Ben Affleck wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting, which won them the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received further praise for his roles as the eponymous character in Saving Private Ryan (1998), the antihero in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), a fallen angel in Dogma, and received critical acclaim for performances in dramas such as Syriana (2005) and The Good Shepherd, as well as his role as a villain in the neo-noir crime drama The Departed (2006).

Damon is also known for his starring roles as Jason Bourne in the Bourne film series (2002–present).For his supporting role as rugby player Francois Pienaar in Invictus (2009) and his leading role as an astronaut stranded on Mars in The Martian (2015), he has received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor, respectively. Damon's leading role in The Martian won him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He has also received BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG nominations for Behind the Candelabra (2013) and three Emmy nominations for producing Project Greenlight

Inside the Actors Studio

Inside the Actors Studio is an American television show on the Bravo cable television channel, hosted by James Lipton. It is produced and directed by Jeff Wurtz; the executive producer is James Lipton. The program, which premiered in 1994, is distributed internationally by CABLEready and is broadcast in 125 countries around the world reaching 89 million homes. It is currently taped at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University's New York City campus.

About the program

The program began as a televised craft seminar for students of the Actors Studio Drama School, originally a joint venture of the Actors Studio and New School University in 1994, with Paul Newman, a former Actors Studio president as its first guest, and soon became Bravo's flagship program. At first taped at the New School's Tishman Auditorium in Greenwich Village, New York City, blocks away from Actors Studio's home in the theater district in midtown Manhattan, it was shifted subsequently to its present location, Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University's New York City campus. The program is presented as a seminar to students of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University.

Actors Studio

The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow, who provided training for actors who were members.Lee Strasberg joined later and took the helm in 1951 until his death on February 17, 1982. It is currently run by Al Pacino, Ellen Burstyn, and Harvey Keitel. The Studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method acting. The approach was originally developed by the Group Theatre in the 1930s based on the innovations of Constantin Stanislavski. While at the Studio, actors work together to develop their skills in a private environment where they can take risks as performers without the pressure of commercial roles.

History

After an initial meeting held on October 5, 1947 at the Labor Stage, located at 106 W. 39th Street (formerly the Princess Theatre), in which goals and ground rules of the new organization were discussed, the studio officially opened for business the following day at the Union Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 229 West 48th Street, previously home to the Actors Kitchen and Lounge (maintained to assist actors and others unable to afford meals), and long a source of rental rehearsal space for local theatrical producers.

Actors Studio (TV series)

Actors Studio is an American TV show which aired for 65 episodes, from September 26, 1948 to October 26 on the fledgling ABC Television Network; then from November 1, 1949 to June 23, 1950 on CBS Television. (It was one of the first series to be picked up by a network after being cancelled by another network). It was hosted by Marc Connelly.

The series showcased short pieces of adapted, classic and original drama, performed and produced live each week. Among some of the known authors were William Saroyan, James Thurber, Ring Lardner, Edgar Allan Poe, Irwin Shaw and Budd Schulberg. Featured actors included Martin Balsam, Richard Boone, Marlon Brando, Hume Cronyn, Julie Harris, Jean Muir and Jessica Tandy. Recurring performers included Jocelyn Brando, Tom Ewell, Steven Hill, Kim Hunter and Cloris Leachman.

In February 1950, the series moved to Friday nights and was expanded to one hour, alternating every other week with broadcasts of Ford Theatre. In March, the name of the show was changed to The Play's the Thing.