LANCE HENRIKSEN
Dickey
An intense, versatile actor as adept at playing clean-cut FBI agents as he is psychotic motorcycle-gang leaders, who can go from portraying soulless, murderous vampires to burned-out, world-weary homicide detectives, Lance Henriksen has starred in a variety of films that have allowed him to stretch his talents just about as far as an actor could possibly hope. He played “Awful Knoffel” in the TNT original movie Evel Knievel (2004), directed by John Badham and executive produced by Mel Gibson. Henriksen portrayed “Awful Knoffel” in this project based on the life of the famed daredevil, played by George Eads. Henriksen starred for three seasons (1996-1999) on Millennium (1996), Fox-TV’s critically acclaimed series created by Chris Carter (The X-Files (1993)). His performance as Frank Black, a retired FBI agent who has the ability to get inside the minds of killers, landed him three consecutive Golden Globe nominations for “Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series” and a People’s Choice Award nomination for “Favorite New TV Male Star”.
Henriksen studied at the Actors Studio and began his career off-Broadway in Eugene O’Neill’s “Three Plays of the Sea.” One of his first film appearances was as an FBI agent in Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon (1975), followed by parts in Lumet’s Network (1976) and Prince of the City (1981). He then appeared in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) with Richard Dreyfuss and François Truffaut, Damien: Omen II (1978) and in Philip Kaufman’s The Right Stuff (1983), in which he played Mercury astronaut Capt. Wally Schirra.
James Cameron cast Henriksen in his first directorial effort, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981), then used him again in The Terminator (1984) and as the android Bishop in the sci-fi classic Aliens (1986). Sam Raimi cast Henriksen as an outrageously garbed gunfighter in his quirky western The Quick and the Dead (1995). Henriksen has also appeared in what has developed into a cult classic: Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark (1987), in which he plays the head of a clan of murderous redneck vampires. He was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in the TNT original film The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998).
In addition to his abilities as an actor, Henriksen is an accomplished painter and potter. His talent as a ceramist has enabled him to create some of the most unusual ceramic artworks available on the art market today.
DANNY PUDI
Adam
Danny Pudi was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA as Daniel Mark Pudi. He is an actor, known for Community (2009), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Vijay and I (2013).
Honing his signature bone-dry comic delivery at the famed Second City Conservatory in Chicago, actor Danny Pudi achieved television notoriety with his hilariously dispassionate portrayal of film student Abed on the hit comedy series “Community” (NBC, 2009-2015). After his migration to Los Angeles in 2005, he began picking up roles on series such as “The West Wing” (NBC, 1999-2006), “Gilmore Girls” (The WB/The CW, 2000-07) and “Greek” (ABC Family Channel, 2006-2011). Pudi’s career made some headway with a supporting role in the raunchy direct-to-DVD sequel “Road Trip: Beer Pong” (2009), but it was his contribution as a member of the “Community” ensemble that put the young actor on the map. Other TV/Film credits include Angie Tribeca (TBS), Dr. Ken (ABC), and roles in independent films like The Pretty One and The Tiger Hunter. In addition to his acting work, Danny's Directorial Debut, 'Untucked', an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary short, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival (2014).
NEAL BLEDSOE
Brandon
Neal is best and most recently known from his starring roles on hit TV shows like The Mysteries of Laura, Ironside and Smash. Previously he has appeared on the daytime soaps Guiding Light, All My Children and As the World Turns, shared a kiss with Ed Westwick’s character Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl and in the original 2009 Broadway production of Impressionism, starring Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen.
In 2012 he was recognized for his critical performance in the Award winning feature film Junction and has since had a surging career. Additional he has been involved with the 52nd Street Project, a New York City theater company that is dedicated to the creation and production of new plays for, and often by, kids between the ages of 9 and 18.
JOANNA BAYLESS
Mary
Joanna Bayless has recently come back to the stage from semi-retirement, having performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, as well as in regional, tour, summer stock and dinner theatre productions.
She has performed in over 90 professional productions and then paused for 15 years to gain life experience traveling around the world to 42 countries: to places as obscure as Tibet, Myanmar, and Easter Island.
Shortly after her return to the biz she starred in Sweet Bird of Youth under the direction of Terry Schreiber for which she received rave reviews for her Alexandra del Lago. Through Terry Schreiber, she also had the opportunity to work with Edward Norton. Shortly afterwards she performed as the Grandmother in Tony Glazer’s play Stain at the Kirk Theatre and has recently completed a featured role in an International film on-location in Israel, entitled The Golden Pomegranate. Additionally, she played roles in the independent films, American Home and Junction.
DIANA DEGARMO
Piper
Diana DeGarmo was born in Birmingham, Alabama but grew up primarily in Snellville, Georgia. Auditioning on American Idol at age 16, DeGarmo went through weeks of auditions before making it to the top 32, where she then sang before a national TV audience. Voted into the top 12 by the American public, DeGarmo impressed with performances like “Think”, “One Voice”, “No More Tears”, “This is It”, “Because You Loved Me” and “Don’t Cry Out Loud”, and after making it to the bottom 3 three times,consistently became a fan favorite, making it all the way to the finals. Losing out to Fantasia Barrino by 1-2% of the vote on May 26, 2004, DeGarmo went on tour with the rest of the top 10. She released her single “Dreams” at the same time, which became the third best selling single of the year.
DeGarmo performed in the Atlanta productions of “Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Annie” and at the end of 2005, DeGarmo she went on a USO tour to entertain the troops in 13 countries overseas, including Afghanistan and Iraq. It was a life-changing experience for DeGarmo. Shortly thereafter, DeGarmo set her sights on Broadway, debuting in the role of nerdy sidekick Penny Pingleton in Broadway’s “Hairspray” in February 2006. She toured with “Brooklyn: The Musical” in the summer of 2006 with Tony Award winners Melba Moore and Cleavant Derricks, then returned to “Hairspray” to reprise her role as Penny until February 2007.
While participating in the CMT reality TV competition “Gone Country” in 2007, DeGarmo realized her heart was really in country music and decided to return to her roots in the genre, having started singing country music as a child. She now lives in Nashville and performs as a country singer/songwriter.
CHASTY BALLESTEROS
Yuan
Chasty Ballesteros was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada as Chasty Rose Ballesteros. She is an actress, known for Final Destination 5 (2011), The Internship (2013) and Casting Couch (2013). With over 50 television appearances since 2009, Chasty’s career has been full speed ahead with her most memorable recuring role portraying Tea on the critically acclaimed Series “Newroom” (2012-13) from creator Aaron Sorkin. More recently she continued her television success as Series Regular Rachel Ward on the comedy series “The Girl’s Guide to Depravity” (2013)