Feature: The Cast of SPOTLIGHT, Stage & Screen Stars of the Best Picture Nominee!
By: Alexa Spiegel Feb. 22, 2016
In anticipation of the 88th Annual Academy Award broadcast on ABC on Sunday, February 28th, BWW will be spotlighting the Oscar nominated movie performances of some of Broadway's biggest stars.
Today, we take a look back at the incredible careers, both stage and screen, of the cast of SPOTLIGHT, nominated for Best Picture. SPOTLIGHT is the story of how four Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists broke the story of the Boston archdiocese priest sex-abuse SCANDAL in 2001. We are profiling three members of it's amazing cast who each have strong ties to Broadway; Brian d'Arcy James, Liev Schreiber, and Len Cariou.
Brian d'Arcy James
Brian d'Arcy James is a favorite to theatre fans and no stranger to the stage. His credits include BLOOD BROTHERS, CAROUSEL, TITANIC, THE WILD PARTY, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS and THE APPLE TREE. He received a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 2002 for his portrayal of Sidney Falco in SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, co-starring John Lithgow.
More recently, James gained notoriety for his work in SHREK THE MUSICAL, playing the title character opposite Sutton Foster, and NEXT TO NORMAL, where he originated the role of the Goodman Off-Broadway, later to return to the role as a replacement during the Broadway run. James also originated the role of King Geroge III in the Off-Broadway production of HAMILTON at the Public Theatre, and then went on to star in the new hit Broadway musical SOMETHING ROTTEN!, for which he received his third Tony nomination.
On screen, Brian d'Arcy James is known to SMASH fans as Frank, who was the husband of Debra Messing's character. James can also be seen in the movie SISTERS, and the critically-acclaimed SPOTLIGHT, playing Matty Carroll.
Liev Schreiber is known in the world of entertainment for his acting and producing. Fans of TV might also know him from playing the character Michael Keppler on CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION or the title character in the Showtime series RAY DONOVAN, for which he was nominated for three GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama, and one Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
Schreiber is also no stranger to the stage. In 2005, he played the role of Richard Roma in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. Schreiber returned to the Broadway stage in the revival of TALK RADIO in 2007, and A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE in 2010, receiving Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations.
Leiv Schreiber has had a long career in film, ranging from movies such as the SCREAM trilogy and SALT, to THE BUTLER. He played the mutant supervillain Sabretooth in the Marvel film X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE and can most recently be seen in the 2016 Academy Award nominee, SPOTLIGHT, in which he plays Martin Baron.
Len Cariou
Len Cariou is best known to theatre fans for his portrayal of the murderous Sweeney Todd in the original cast of SWEENEY TODD; THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. Prior to that, Cairou made his Broadway debut in the 1968 production of THE HOUSE OF ARTEUS and landed his first starring role in 1970, opposite Lauren Bacall in APPLAUSE, where he earned his first Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He earned his second Tony nomination for his role in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, which he then went on to repeat in the film version of the show, opposite Elizabeth Taylor.
Cariou won his first Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for SWEENEY TODD, his second Stephen Sondheim musical. Other Broadway appearances include THE DINNER PARTY and PROOF.
On screen, Cariou was seen in multiple episodes of the popular television mystery series, MURDER, SHE WROTE from 1985 to 1992, opposite his SWEENEY TODD co-star, Angela Lansbury. Cariou's other television credits include THE WEST WING, LAW & ORDER, and STAR TREK: VOYAGER. He was also the first actor to portray Walt Disney in the Annette Funicello biography A DREAM IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES: THE ANNETTE FUNICELLO STORY. Len Cariou currently appears as Henry Reagan, a retired NYPD Police Commissioner in the series BLUE BLOODS, and of course can be seen in the movie SPOTLIGHT.
Will you be rooting for SPOTLIGHT on Oscar night? Let us know your thoughts on her nomination, and the Oscars in general in the comments below.
The 88th Academy Awards telecast will air live coast-to-coast on Sunday, February 22, 2015 (8:30 p.m.ET/5:30 p.m.PT) on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. And be sure to visit BWW for live coverage of the 2016 Oscar telecast.
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