Lee Pace

Lee Pace
Birth name	Lee Grinner Pace
Born	March 25 1979 (1979-03-25) (age 29) Chickasha, Oklahoma,  United States
Awards Other Awards 2003 Gotham Awards - Breakthrough Actor Soldier's Girl

Lee Pace (born March 25, 1979) is a two-time Golden Globe nominated American actor. Pace has been featured in film, stage and television. He is best known for his starring role as Ned in the ABC series Pushing Daisies, as well as his supporting role as Aaron on the series Wonderfalls.

Childhood

Pace was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma. As a young child, Pace spent several years in Saudi Arabia (where his father was in the oil business), and they later moved to Houston. He temporarily quit high school to act at Houston's Alley Theatre before returning to graduate. During his time at the Alley he was in productions of The Spider's Web and The Greeks. He attended Klein High School, just outside of Houston, with fellow actor Matthew Bomer. In 1997, Pace was accepted to the Juilliard School's drama division. While there he acted in several plays including, Romeo and Juliet as Romeo, Richard II in the title role and Julius Caesar as Casius, among others. He eventually graduated with a BFA.

Career

Theater

After graduation, Pace starred in several off-Broadway plays including: The Credaux Canvas and The Fourth Sister. He also starred in a production of Small Tragedy by Craig Lucas, which is being adapted into a 2007 film (see Small Tragedy). For this role, he was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Actor. In 2006, Pace starred in the two-character play Guardians by Peter Morris. Guardians earned Pace his second nomination for a Lucille Lortel Award Outstanding Actor.

Film roles

Pace first gained recognition for his role in the 2003 film Soldier's Girl. Pace played the central role of Calpernia Addams, a transgendered woman dating Army soldier Barry Winchell (played by Troy Garity). Winchell was subsequently murdered because of his sexuality and his relationship with Addams. Of the role, Pace said:

"Not even my excellent training at Juilliard prepared me for my first movie role, where I played a transsexual who falls in love with a military guy in Soldier's Girl. Here I was, this 6'3" 190-pound lanky kid from Chickasha, Oklahoma, not knowing how to begin being a woman. So I saw documentaries about transsexuals, I lost twenty-five pounds, and I put on prosthetic boobs and hips to become that character. There were times I'd look in the mirror and wonder 'what am I doing to my life here? My dad is going to kill me!' But the reason I went into acting was to be able to play parts as complicated and important as this one. In playing a transsexual, I got the chance to help change people's perspective about other people and that is a powerful thing. I'm playing a swashbuckling bandit in my next film, but I'll always be proud of Soldier's Girl." ^[1]

Pace won a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor and was nominated for several other awards, including a Golden Globe, for his work in this film. His next film is the horror movie Possession with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Television

Pace played Aaron Tyler in the acclaimed, short-lived 2004 television series Wonderfalls, which was co-created by Bryan Fuller. Fuller has cast Pace in the lead role of Ned in his new series, Pushing Daisies, which currently airs on ABC. Pace has also appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

• Lee Pace at the Internet Movie Database
• LeePaceFan.com (fan site)