Basic - Movie Release & About The Cast

ABOUT THE CAST

JOHN TRAVOLTA (Tom Hardy) has been honored twice with Academy Award® nominations, most recently for his riveting portrayal of a philosophical hit man in Quentin Tarentino’s Pulp Fiction. He also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations, and was named Best Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, among other distinguished awards.

He also won praise for playing the Mafioso-turned-movie producer in the comedy sensation Get Shorty, garnering a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy. In 1997, Travolta received the prestigious American Cinematheque Award and, in 1998, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chicago Film Festival.

In addition, he won the distinguished Alan J. Pakula Award from the U.S. Broadcast Film Critics Association for his performance in A Civil Action. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in Primary Colors directed by Mike Nichols.

Travolta earned his first Oscar® and Golden Globe nominations for his role in the blockbuster Saturday Night Fever, which launched the disco phenomenon of the late 1970s. He went on to star in the big screen version of the long-running musical Grease and the wildly successful Urban Cowboy, which also influenced trends in popular culture. Other film credits include the Brian DePalma thrillers Carrie and Blow Out, as well as Amy Heckerling’s hit comedy Look Who’s Talking.

Other hit films include Phenomenon, John Woo’s top-grossing action thrillers Broken Arrow and Face/Off, Michael, The General’s Daughter, Swordfish, Domestic Disturbance and Battlefield Earth, based on the best-selling novel by L. Ron Hubbard.

CONNIE NIELSEN (Lt. Julia Osborne) is best known for her star-making portrayal of Princess Lucilla opposite Russell Crowe's Maximus in the 2001 Academy Award®-winning Gladiator. Performances such as this have made Hollywood take notice.

In addition to Basic, Nielsen is currently starring in The Hunted with Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro, as an FBI agent tracking down a trained assassin. The film is directed by William Friedkin (The French Connection). In addition, Nielsen has completed a starring role in the suspense thriller Demonlover for acclaimed director Olivier Assayas (Irma Vep), as an industrial spy in a corporate acquisition war. It was one of the most talked about films at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, and also stars Chloe Sevigny and Gina Gershon. She recently completed production on The Great Raid opposite Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes and James Franco for director John Dahl. She portrays an American nurse who is one of the leaders of an underground movement liberating prisoners-of-war in the Philippines at the end of WWII. Miramax Films plans to release the film later this year.

SAMUEL L. JACKSON (Sgt. Nathan West) made an indelible impression with his portrayal of Jules, the philosophizing hit man, in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. He received Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominations as Best Supporting Actor, as well as a Best Supporting Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). For his role as a crack addict in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, he was awarded the first and only Best Supporting Performance Award ever given by the judges at the Cannes Film Festival. He also won the New York Film Critics Award as Best Supporting Actor for the same performance.

Jackson recently starred in XXX directed by Rob Cohen. Other recent releases include Changing Lanes with Ben Affleck and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, in which he repeated his role as Mace Windu. In addition, Jackson starred in Ronnie Yu’s Formula 51, on which he also served as executive producer, and prior to that, two films directed by Kasi Lemmons, Caveman’s Valentine and the critically acclaimed Eve’s Bayou, which he also produced. Other prominent roles include John McTiernan’s Die Hard: With a Vengeance and Deep Blue Sea for director Renny Harlin, Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown (for which he received a Golden Globe nomination and the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor in a Comedy at the Berlin Film Festival), M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable, Rules of Engagement, The Negotiator, Shaft, A Time To Kill (for which also he received a Golden Globe Nomination and an NAACP Image Award), Francois Girard’s The Red Violin and Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace.

GIOVANNI RIBISI (Levi Kendall) has made a name for himself as one of Hollywood’s most promising young talents thanks to a series of impressive performances.

He most recently starred opposite Cate Blanchett in the intense love story Heaven directed by Tom Tykwer. For The Gift, also with Blanchett, he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his portrayal of an emotionally damaged mechanic. He also received critical praise for his performance as a stockbroker in Boiler Room with Ben Affleck, Vin Diesel and Nicky Katt. Ribisi also appeared opposite as Nicolas Cage in Gone in Sixty Seconds.

Ribisi’s notable performances include the role of a mentally challenged bakery worker in director Garry Marshall’s The Other Sister opposite Juliette Lewis, and as the haunted medic ‘Pvt. Wade’ in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. Additional credits include

Lost Highway, SubUrbia, First Love, Last Rites, That Thing You Do!, The Mod Squad, Scotch and Milk and The Virgin Suicides. In 1999, Ribisi received the ShoWest Male Star of Tomorrow award.

BRIAN VAN HOLT (Raymond Dunbar) recently appeared in John Woo’s action drama Windtalkers and Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. An Illinois native and graduate of UCLA, Van Holt spent most of his youth immersed in athletics. He began his acting career as a teenager, performing in several stage productions at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles. The spotlight seemed to agree with him and, after graduating college with a degree in Sociology, he turned his full attention towards building a successful acting career.

Van Holt starred in the CBS comedy series “Love and Money” and guest-starred on HBO’s “Sex in the City,” ”Late Night With Al Franken,” “Homicide” and “Spin City.” On the big screen, Van Holt was also seen in the sexually charged comedy Whipped alongside Amanda Peet. Upcoming for Van Holt is the crime-thriller Confidence and the action-drama S.W.A.T.

TAYE DIGGS (Pike) made his feature film debut opposite Angela Bassett in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, based on the novel by best-selling author Terry McMillan. Diggs was most recently seen in the award-winning screen adaptation of Chicago opposite Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere, and directed by Rob Marshall. Diggs received an NAACP Nomination for Best Actor for his lead role opposite Sanaa Lathan in the romantic comedy Brown Sugar. He also recently starred opposite Christian Bale in the futuristic thriller Equilibrium and will be seen this summer in the comedy Malibu’s Most Wanted with Jamie Kennedy.

CRISTIAN DE LA FUENTE (Castro) has starred opposite Sylvester Stallone in Driven, in John Carpenter’s Vampires: Los Muertos with Jon Bon Jovi, as well as the independent thriller Minimal Knowledge.

The Chilean-born actor was spotted by a talent scout during his sophomore year as a civil engineering major at Santiago’s Universidad Catolica. De La Fuente won a contest as Chile’s next “Super Teen.” Beginning with small network roles in primetime, De La Fuente quickly went on to star in four primetime dramas including “Eclipse de Luna” and the highly acclaimed televised theatrical production of “La Tia de Carlos.” De La Fuente starred in Chile’s number-one rated variety program “Venga Conmigo,” the comedy “Mi Tio Y Yo” (My Uncle and Me) and the MTV-style music and dance program “Generation 2000.”

DASH MIHOK (Mueller) recently completed Roland Emmerich's highly-anticipated The Day After Tomorrow. He stars in the role of “Jason,” joining Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal in what promises to be another exciting blockbuster from the director of Independence Day and The Patriot.

Mihok has continually worked with some of the finest directors in Hollywood today. He has had featured roles in Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet (as "Benvolio"), Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (as "Private Doll") and Wolfgang Peterson's The Perfect Storm (as "Sergeant Mitchell").

TIM DALY (Col. Bill Styles) recently portrayed “Richard Kimble” in the remake of the hit series “The Fugitive,” and “Dan White” who, in 1978, assassinated San Francisco’s first openly gay supervisor, Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone in the drama “Execution of Justice.” He was also executive producer on the project. The film won the GLAAD Awards for Outstanding Made for Television Movie. Daly also played the lead in the Stephen King miniseries “Storm of the Century.” Daly co-starred in the romantic comedy The Object of My Affection with Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, played legendary astronaut Jim Lovell in Tom Hanks’ HBO miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon,” and was recently seen in Charles Dutton’s Against the Ropes.

ROSELYN SANCHEZ (Nunez) is a rising, multi-talented performer, who has already established herself as a leading actress. Most recently, she was seen in the blockbuster Rush Hour 2 opposite Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, and will next be seen in Boat Trip and Papi Chulo.

At the age of 19, the San Juan-born beauty was part of Puerto Rico’s number one comedy/variety television show “Que Vacilon.” She moved to New York at the age of 21 and starred in two Spanish-language musicals before landing a role in the CBS soap opera “As the World Turns.” Soon after she wrote and performed her own one-woman show “Out Here on my Own.”

In Los Angeles, Sanchez landed a leading role in the musical series “Fame L.A.” Other successful roles include a starring role in Held Up opposite Jamie Foxx and Nia Long, and a police officer in the television series “Ryan Caulfield: Year One.”

HARRY CONNICK, JR. (Pete Vilmer) made his film debut at the age of 23 opposite Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz and John Lithgow in the 1990 drama Memphis Belle. The following year he appeared in Little Man Tate, Jodie Foster's directorial debut. His next role was in Copycat with Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver. Connick continued to display his acting range with a memorable turn in Independence Day, one of the highest grossing films of all time.

His leading man role in Hope Floats, opposite Sandra Bullock, was recognized with a 1999 Blockbuster Award nomination for Favorite Actor - Drama/Romance. Connick proved his voice-over talents in the critically acclaimed feature My Dog Skip and the animated The Iron Giant. For his work in director Linda Yellen's improvisational film The Simian Line, Connick turned in what Variety termed an "achingly honest" performance. Other projects include ABC's telefilm version of "South Pacific" starring Glenn Close.

To Read About The Production Click Here