Indie actors to look out for
Indie actors to look out for, I have compiled a list of 11 actors that really excite the socks off me, some have already carved out good careers but my prediction is all will go from strength to strength, I've even stook my neck out to suggest a future oscar winner.
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- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman never really wanted to make movies, he wanted to work in Broadway musicals. During his years in Yale he was introduced to "B" pictures and the works of Roger Corman. Lloyd later got the opportunity to executive-produce a short movie made by a fellow student. The film, called "Rappacini", got him even more interested in movies. He bought his own camera and took it with him to Chad, Africa, were he spent his summer. There, he shot a 15-minute film of a pig being slaughtered. That was his first movie, and was the birth of what was later to become known as Troma Films. He showed the footage of the squealing pig being killed to his family, and their reaction to it made him wonder if making movies that shocked audiences would keep them in their seats to see what would happen next.
He wanted to be a director right then and there, so he got a couple of friends at Yale and made his second movie, The Girl Who Returned (1969). People loved it, and he went straight to work on other films, helping out on projects like Joe (1970), Rocky (1976) and Saturday Night Fever (1977).
Lloyd put in a lot of long, hard hours in the film business, just to be in the credits and to get money for his next project, a full-length feature. It was a tribute to Charles Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and the classic era of silent-film comedy. Even though Lloyd hated the movie when it was completed, people seemed to love it. He formed a studio called 15th Street Films with friends and producers Frank Vitale and Oliver Stone. Together, they made Sugar Cookies (1973) and Cry Uncle (1971), directed by John G. Avildsen. A friend from Yale, Michael Herz, saw Lloyd in a small scene in "Cry Uncle" and contacted him to try to get into the film business. Kaufman took Herz in, as the company needed some help after Oliver Stone quit to make his own movies. Michael invested in a film they thought would be their biggest hit yet, Schwartz: The Brave Detective (1973) (aka "Big Gus, What's the Fuss?"). It turned out to be a huge flop and 15th Street Films was ruined. Lloyd and Michael owed thousands of dollars to producers and friends and family members who had invested in the picture.
Lloyd, trying to find a quick way to pay off the bills, made The Divine Obsession (1976), and with Michael formed Troma Studios, hoping to make some decent movies, since they only owned the rights to films they thought were poor. They were introduced to Joel M. Reed, who had an unfinished movie called "Master Sardu and the Horror Trio". The film was re-edited and completed at Troma Studios (which consisted of just one room) during 1975, re-titled and released in 1976 as Blood Sucking Freaks (1976) (aka "Bloodsucking Freaks"). It was enough of a success to enable them to pay the rent so they wouldn't lose the company.
Lloyd later got a call from a theater that wanted a "sexy movie" like The Divine Obsession (1976), but about softball (!). The resulting film, Squeeze Play (1979), used up all the money Troma had earned from "Bloodsucking Freaks" and, as it turned out, no one wanted to see it--not even the theater owner who wanted it made in the first place (he actually wanted a porno movie). Just when things looked their darkest, they got a call from another theater which was scheduled to show a film, but the distributor pulled it at the last minute. Troma rushed "Squeeze Play" right over, and it turned out to be a huge hit. Lloyd, Michael and Troma eventually made millions from it, and had enough money to buy their own building (which remains as Troma Headquarters). Troma then turned out a stream of "sexy" comedies-- Waitress! (1982), The First Turn-On!! (1983), Stuck on You! (1983)--but there was a glut of "T&A" films on the market. Lloyd noticed that a lot of comedies were being made and decided to make one, but much different than the rest. After reading an article that claimed horror movies were dead, Lloyd got the idea to combine both horror and comedy, and Troma came up with "Health Club Horror"--later re-titled and released as The Toxic Avenger (1984), a monster hit that finally put Troma on the map.
Lloyd Kaufman and Troma have become icons in the cult-movie world, and Troma has distributed over 1000 films. Lloyd has continued his career as a director in addition to producing, and Troma has turned out such films as Monster in the Closet (1986), Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986), Combat Shock (1984), Troma's War (1988), and Fortress of Amerikkka (1989), and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006), which follows an army of undead chickens as they seek revenge on a fast food palace.With 500 credits to his name, Lloyd has to take the top slot, yes he may not fit into the Hollywood scene but he is a legend in his own rights.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Born as Kim Sønderholm Andersen in Aarhus, Denmark, Kim was already at the age of 12 familiar with the media business. He was started as a weekly co-host at a local radio station in his hometown. Already after a few shows he was given his own DJ program each week. At a few occasions Kim also went on-air on the National Danish Radio. During this time, he also starred in several commercials on both radio and television. As the local radio station had to close, he went on to writing for a couple of magazines, both paper and Internet based, in most cases film-related. Since then starring in quite a few underground short films before finally being accepted to theater school in 1998, where, during his stay, he and a fellow student wrote manuscripts for no less than three feature films. Sønderholm graduated from acting school in 2001 and moved to the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen, to focus on manifesting a life long dream of working with film. Sønderholm has since written, directed and produced several feature films but decided in 2012 to take a step back and from then only focus on the creative aspects with a dedicated main focus on acting.
In 2019 Sønderholm became a father to Emily Victoria Sønderholm Dalgaard and in 2023 married his life partner for the past almost ten years, Joan Dalgaard, henceforth taking the name Kim Sønderholm Dalgaard Andersen - although continuously still using Kim Sønderholm as his stage name.Kim takes 2nd spot, The Danish Actor has a huge following on twitter and facebook and with his talent and over 100 films you can see why.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Russell Arthur Benson Jr. was born to Cynthia Lattof and Russell Benson. Russell Benson Sr. was a union plumber who had come back from Vietnam. Cynthia Lattof was a student at Gloucester State College. They divorced in 1979. Cynthia had moved Russell and his infant brother out to Sacramento, California where she met future husband Frank Russo. Frank adopted the two boys and Russell Arthur Benson Jr. name changed legally to Russell Austin Russo. The family then moved to Phoenix, Arizona before settling for a cross country drive in December 1982 to Long Branch, New Jersey where Frank's family lived. The family rented homes and duplexes while having three more children. In April 1992, the Russo family moved to Rumson, New Jersey. Russ finished his senior year of high school at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional and graduated in 1994.He then moved with long time girlfriend Laura Wood to Clearwater, Florida in June 1996. The relationship dissolved and in November 1997, Russell moved back to Rumson, New Jersey. Russ was studying business-finance at Brookdale College. In February 1999, he stumbled upon the Jewelbox Theatre. Jade Greene, the director of the theatre, was offering internships for acting classes. In the months to follow, he studied Alexander, Meisner, Stella Adler, Lee Strausberg and Method acting. Russ worked as a utility actor in various plays during the internship before landing a lead role in Clifford Oddet's classic "Awake & Sing" playing Moe Axelrod, a role previously performed by Sanford Meisner. Russ began traveling to NYC to study at Tisch in various acting workshops as well as working with the NJ Theatre Exchange. In March 2002, he landed the lead role in the Independent film "Envy" portraying a character with multiple personality disorder. "Envy" won the Buzz award at the NY Independent Film Festival. Russ continues to act in various plays and films.Russ is carving out a name for himself, certainly an actor to look out for.- Stunts
- Actor
- Producer
Jonah "Drumming Wolf" Young is an actor, writer, producer and stuntman/stunt coordinator for television and film. Whether he is in front of, or behind the camera, Jonah's focus is on bringing meaningful stories to life, either through creating depth in a character through his acting and action work, or by writing stories or choreography that captures the altruistic essence of connection, and the authentic exploration of the human condition. He endeavors to find a higher element to the stories he helps to tell. Jonah believes storytelling is one of the oldest forms of healing, and it has made a full circle in his life.Jonah is a talented actor new to the scene watch this space.- Macha Grenon was born on 7 June 1968 in Canada. She is an actress, known for Barney's Version (2010), The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom (2011) and Maurice Richard: Histoire d'un Canadien (1999).Splendid Actress Macha, you may look at her credits and say why is she not on everyones lips, my prediction is she will be!!!
- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Hafsia Herzi , born in Manosque, is a French actress and director. She grew up in Marseille.
Hafsia Herzi, of Tunisian origin by her father and Algerian by her mother, is the youngest of a family of four children (two brothers and a sister, Dalila).
In 2019, she released her first feature film as a director, You deserve a love , followed by Bonne Mère two years later.
Hafsia Herzi was only 13 years old when she landed a role, albeit a minor one, in Notes sur le rire, a TV movie for France 3 adapted from the novel by Marcel Pagnol. She followed this up with a few extra roles, and auditioned for the series Plus belle la vie and Sous le soleil; trials at the end of which she was not selected.
It was in 2005 that her luck changed for the young actress: her meeting with Abdellatif Kechiche proved decisive, as he offered her the lead role in La Graine et le mulet, in which she brilliantly and sincerely played the character of Rym. A first try, a master stroke: Hafsia Herzi won the Marcello Mastroianni Prize at the 64th Venice Film Festival in 2007, and the César for the Best Female Hopeful (meilleur espoir féminin) in early 2008.
Having never taken acting classes, she left Marseille and moved to Paris, where she enrolled in law at the university, took acting classes at the conservatory and even took diction classes to soften her Mediterranean accent. She decided to devote herself exclusively to the cinema, and quickly obtained the main roles in Française and L'Aube du monde, for which she learned Iraqi. In 2009, she plays under the direction of Francis Huster in Un homme et son chien, alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo before sharing the star with Jacques Dutronc for the fourth film of Xavier De Choudens: Joseph et la fille.
The year 2011 seems to be the year of consecration for the young actress because we find it in the poster of four films and not least: Jimmy Rivière's Teddy Lussi-Modeste, Le Chat du rabbin where she lends himself to the exercise of dubbing, L' Apollonide - souvenirs de la maison - close de Bertrand Bonello et La Source des femmes by Radu Mihaileanu, alongside the much sought after Leïla Bekhti. In Hiam Abbass' Héritage, the actress plays the rebellious Hajar, the youngest daughter of the Arab family at the center of the film.
More and more present on the screens, Hafsia Herzi multiplies projects and her roles gain importance, like her performances in Fugues marocaines, Le Sac de farine, Certifiée halal or Sex Doll. She also collaborates again with Abdellatif Kechiche on the two controversial Mektoub, my love. The actress also tastes the joys of the thriller via Persona non grata by Roschdy Zem, in which she gives the line to Nicolas Duvauchelle and Raphael Personnaz.
In 2019, the actress directs her first feature film, Tu mérites un amour, in which she also plays the lead role.Superb talent, since watching her brilliant performance in Couscous, I see Oscar winner in the making here.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Tang Wei was born on 7 October 1979 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. She is an actress, known for Lust, Caution (2007), Decision to Leave (2022) and Blackhat (2015). She has been married to Kim Tae-yong since 12 July 2014. They have one child.Only 7 credits to her name Wei will notche up many more and looks to be something special.- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Bjorn grew up in the Army and lived up and down the East Coast until his family finally settled down in Florida. His love for acting started at a very young age as he would do whatever it took to make his younger cousins laugh. He grew up an only child until the age of 20 when his sister, Ivy, was born. His career began in the Theatre, where he performed in over 48 stage plays. He now works primarily in film and television.Bjorn is working his way up the ladder and I believe he will do very well.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Alfredo Castro Gómez was born in Santiago de Chile. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Acting from Universidad de Chile. Presently, he works as a theatre director, actor, pedagogue, playwright, and founder of Teatro La Memoria, a theatre company that marks a milestone in the history of contemporary Chilean theatre. In 2006, the company founded the Centro de Investigación Teatral (Center for Theatrical Investigation) and the Sala de Teatro: Teatro La Memoria (anintimate 100-seat playhouse).
In 1989, Gómez received a grant from the French Government for advanced professional studies in Theatre Direction in Paris, Strasbourg, and Lyon. He then traveled to London in 1993, with a scholarship from the British Council for professional training in theatre acting at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. In June of 2010, Gómez went to Italy to perform alongside distinguished actor Tony Servillo in the Italian film É stato il figlio, directed by Daniele Cipri.
As an actor and screenwriter, Alfredo Castro Gómez has participated in several films by Chilean director Pablo Larraín. These have included: Fuga (2006), Tony Manero (2008), and Post Mortem (2010), the last of which was selected to compete for the prestigious Golden Lion award in the 67th Venice International Film Festival, in the Best Film category.Alfredo is not known worldwide if you watch his great performances you can see why he is a great actor- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jason Croot's Acting career started back in 2000. He completed an N.C.F.E. in performing arts in his native home, County Yorkshire. Jason moved to London in 2002 to pursue his acting career, training at the Poor School. He also completed a Drama Diploma at Birkbeck, University of London. His early stage performances included Demetrius in Midsummer's Night's Dream, Edmund Tyrone in Long Days Journey into Night, Biff in Death of a Salesman & Jerry in Pinter's Betrayal. 2003 saw his Film career take off. Since then, he has acted in over 35 Short Films, one of which was made at The New York Film Academy, The Neighbour (2004) directed by Stathis Athanasiou, an Avantgarde filmmaker, the film swept awards in Paris, Barcelona and Athens. The role of a Paranoid Schizophrenic was also shown in Berlin, where it took 3rd place at the Berlinale. He has also acted in 22 feature films. He finished shooting on Freight (2010), where he took on the role of Iosef a Romanian Criminal playing alongside Andrew Tiernan; in the same year Jason played Gilles De Rais in The Death of Love Cradle of Filth Music Video, Jason also appears alongside Tamzin Outhwaite as Bulgarian Hitman Popov in the ITV production The Fixer (2008) directed by the highly acclaimed Sam Miller, Jason was Screen Tested for Barry Levinson (2008). 2011 saw Croot appear as The Good Shepherd in the digital media production Nativity, directed by Bafta-winning Martha Fiennes. In 2009, Jason moved into directing his Feature Film directorial debut, Le Fear (2010), which received some excellent film reviews. Croot waited a few years to make a Follow-up Le Sequel (2016), which attracted interest from HBO and the writer of Seinfeld (1989) and director of Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) Larry Charles. Croot has been appearing in film cameo roles and focusing on filmmaking in recent years. In 2024, Croot will release his book titled - My Ego Screwed My Acting Career, based on his life and acting career. Croot spent two years writing it, working night and day. Croot aims to make a documentary film based on his life with the same title My Ego Screwed My Acting CareerWith over 70 credits Jason looks to have created a career on the indie film scene, I predict another actor one with huge potential.- Actor
- Casting Department
- Soundtrack
Gustavo Sánchez Parra was born on 8 November 1966 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He is an actor, known for Amores Perros (2000), Rage (2009) and Leap Year (2010).Ok you can argue Gustavo Sánchez Parra has already worked on some big movies but I see awards for this guy top notch actor.