Richard Colin Brake (born 30 November 1964) is a Welsh actor. Following his film debut in Death Machine (1994), Brake had a supporting role as Joe Chill in Batman Begins (2005). He subsequently appeared in numerous horror films such as Doom (2005), Hannibal Rising (2007), Mandy (2018), and Barbarian (2022), as well as his first lead role in Perfect Skin (2018). A frequent collaborator of Rob Zombie, Brake has appeared in four of his films: Halloween II (2009), 31 (2016), 3 from Hell (2019), and The Munsters (2022).
Brake is best known for his recurring roles as the Night King on the fourth and fifth seasons of the HBO fantasy drama series Game of Thrones (2014–15), Vlad on the fourth season of the Showtime crime drama series Ray Donovan (2016), and Merle Callahan on the third season of the Paramount+ crime thriller series Mayor of Kingstown (2024–present). He is also known for his lead role as Conrad Harlow on the first season of the Amazon Prime Video crime thriller series Absentia (2017).
In 1993, he made his screen acting debut as a reporter on an episode of the British comedy series Jeeves and Wooster. In 1994, Brake and actress Rachel Weisz both made their film debuts in the science-fiction horror film Death Machine, which starred Brad Dourif. Following supporting roles in a few low-budget films (including Subterfuge, co-starring Matt McColm), Brake did not appear in a single film until six years later when he landed his first role by a major film distributor in Anthony Minghella's civil war film Cold Mountain. He played the leader of a group of Union foragers who attempts to rape the young widow Sara (played by Natalie Portman). The film was released on Christmas Day 2003 and was a critical and commercial success, receiving seven Academy Award nominations.[citation needed]
In 2005, Brake finally achieved recognition from mainstream audiences in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins. He played Joe Chill, the man responsible for murdering the parents of Bruce Wayne. Brake appeared as the warped and perverted space Marine Dean Portman in Doom, a live action adaptation of the video game series, with Karl Urban and Dwayne Johnson. He appeared as a hostile American man in Steven Spielberg's Munich, a cinematic retelling of the Munich massacre in the midst of the 1972 Olympic Games. In that same year, Brake also provided the voicework in the video game Juiced as T. K., the leader of the Urban Maulerz crew.
In 2006, Brake appeared in the music video for Muse's Knights of Cydonia, playing a villainous sheriff in a strange futuristic western. Brake played paroled convict Bobby DeWitt in Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia, a fictional account of the murder of actress Elizabeth Short. Despite being a critical and commercial failure, the film received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, losing to Pan's Labyrinth. In 2007, he had a supporting role in Hannibal Rising, which was based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. He played Enrikas Dortlich, one of the war criminals who murders Mischa Lecter, the younger sister of psychiatrist-turned-cannibalistic killer Hannibal Lecter (played by Gaspard Ulliel) .[5]
In 2008, he played ex-Marine Prior in the horror film Outpost.[6] In 2009, following a guest appearance on the crime drama Cold Case and a supporting role as the titular character in Perkins' 14,[7] he appeared in Rob Zombie's Halloween II,[8] the sequel to his remake of Halloween. He plays Gary Scott, a sleazy and perverted coroner who is brutally decapitated by Michael Myers following a car crash that kills his co-worker. Brake garnered the role based on a personal recommendation to Zombie from actor Sid Haig.[9] Brake made a cameo in the thriller Cuckoo, which premiered at the Cambridge Film Festival on 25 September 2009.[citation needed]
From 2014 to 2015, Brake portrayed the Night King on the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, appearing in the show's fourth and fifth seasons, most notably in the fifth-season episode "Hardhome", which received seven Emmy nominations. Brake appeared in the action comedy Kingsman: The Secret Service, where he plays an unnamed man who interrogates Eggsy Unwin (played by Taron Egerton) character as part of his training to become a spy for the intelligence agency Kingsman. He made an appearance as a bar patron in the semi-biographical drama Set Fire to the Stars, which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 23 June 2014.
In 2015, he appeared on the FX historical fiction drama The Bastard Executioner as Baron Edwin Pryce. Due to scheduling conflicts with The Bastard Executioner, Brake was unable to reprise as The Night King for the sixth season of Game of Thrones and was replaced by Vladimir Furdik, one of the shows main stunt performers. Brake guest-starred on an episode of Grimm as a hunter with a penchant for severing a foot from his victims. He co-starred with Melissa McCarthy and Jason Statham in the action comedy Spy, where he played Solsa Dudaev, a Chechen terrorist in pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The film was universally praised and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Throughout 2016, Brake made guest appearances on several award-winning television shows such as Hawaii Five-0 and Peaky Blinders. He also had a recurring role as Russian mobster Vlad on the Showtime series Ray Donovan. In 2016, he starred as the main antagonist in Rob Zombie's slasher horror film 31. He played Doom-Head, a contract killer who participates in the annual titular game by murdering a group of victims who are kidnapped by goons. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2016.[11] Despite mixed reviews from critics, Brake received enormous praise for his performance and was nominated for the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actor, losing to Stephen Lang for Don't Breathe.
In 2017, Brake appeared as Medved in Bitter Harvest and as Tarasov in The Death of Stalin. Although both films focused on Soviet revolutionary and dictator Joseph Stalin, the former was more preoccupied with the Holodomor. While the former was panned by critics, the latter received widespread praise. Brake had a recurring role on the crime thriller series Absentia as Conrad Harlow, a wealthy banker who is released from prison after FBI agent Emily Byrne (played by Stana Katic), who was hunting him down for the murders of several women, is found alive.
In 2018, he got his first lead role in the psychological horror-thriller Perfect Skin, which premiered at Frightfest London on 25 August 2018. He played Bob Reid, a tattoo artist who, after the dissolution of his marriage as a result of being diagnosed with Parkinson's, kidnaps a Polish immigrant and tattoos her body in attempt to create one last piece of art before he dies. Brake's performance was critically acclaimed and was regarded as the best of his career. He subsequently won the Best Actor award at the First Glance Film Festival and the Vancouver Badass Film Festival for his performance.
Brake co-starred in the horror film Mandy, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 19 January 2018. He later appeared as Rex in the western The Sisters Brothers. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on 2 September. In 2019, he portrayed Winslow Foxworth Coltrane in the horror film 3 From Hell. He also co-starred in the thriller film The Rhythm Section, which was released on 31 January 2020. He played Valin Hess, an Imperial officer, in the seventh episode of the second season of The Mandalorian.
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor. He first became known for portraying Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson's if.... (1968), a role he later reprised in O Lucky Man! (1973) and Britannia Hospital (1982). His performance in if.... prompted Stanley Kubrick to cast him as Alex in A Clockwork Orange (1971), the role for which McDowell became best known.
Famke Beumer Janssen is a Dutch actress and former model. She played Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye (1995), Jean Grey / Phoenix in the X-Men film series (2000–2014), and Lenore Mills in the Taken film trilogy (2008–2014). In 2008, she was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for Integrity by the United Nations. She made her directorial debut with Bringing Up Bobby in 2011. She is also known for her roles in the Netflix original series Hemlock Grove (2013–2015), FX's Nip/Tuck (2003–2010), and ABC's How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020). Janssen starred in the 2017 NBC crime thriller The Blacklist: Redemption.
Robert Barton Englund is an American actor and director. Englund is best known for playing the villain Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and Willie in the V television franchise (1983–1985). Englund has received multiple accolades and honors, including a Saturn Award, a Fangoria Chainsaw Award, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Brian Denis Cox is a Scottish actor. A classically trained Shakespearean actor, he is known for his work on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include two Laurence Olivier Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award as well as a nomination for a British Academy Television Award. In 2003, he was appointed to the Order of the British Empire at the rank of Commander.
Steven Bradford Culp is an American actor. Culp appeared in films Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), James and the Giant Peach (1996), The Emperor's Club (2002), and most notably in the 2000 political thriller Thirteen Days playing Robert F. Kennedy.
Douglas Peter Savant is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Matt Fielding in the Fox prime time soap opera Melrose Place (1992–97), Tom Scavo in ABC comedy-drama Desperate Housewives (2004–12), and as Sgt. O'Neal in Godzilla (1998).
Judith Amanda Geeson is an English film, stage, and television actress. She began her career primarily working on British television series, with a leading role on The Newcomers from 1965 to 1967, before making her major film debut in To Sir, with Love (1967). She starred in a range of films throughout the 1970s, from crime pictures to thriller and horror films, including The Executioner (1970), Fear in the Night (1972), Brannigan (1975) and The Eagle Has Landed (1976). She played heiress Caroline Penvenen from 1975-1977 in the BBC series Poldark, from the Winston Graham novels.
Robert Scott Speedman is a Canadian actor and model. He is known for portraying Ben Covington in the coming-of-age drama television series Felicity, Lycan–Vampire hybrid Michael Corvin in the gothic horror–action Underworld films, and Barry "Baz" Blackwell in the TNT crime drama series Animal Kingdom. His other film work includes Duets, Dark Blue, XXX: State of the Union, The Strangers, Barney's Version, The Vow, and Crimes of the Future. In 2021, he returned to Grey's Anatomy as a main character following a guest role in season 14 as Dr. Nick Marsh.
Scout Taylor-Compton is an American actress. She has frequently worked in the horror genre, most notably as Laurie Strode in the 2007 remake of Halloween and its 2009 sequel. Outside of horror, she portrayed musician Lita Ford in the biographical drama film The Runaways (2010).
Stephen Lang is an American actor. He is known for roles in films such as Manhunter (1986), Gettysburg and Tombstone, Gods and Generals (2003), Public Enemies and The Men Who Stare at Goats, Conan the Barbarian (2011) and Don't Breathe (2016).
John Carroll Lynch is an American character actor and film director. He first gained notice for his role as Norm Gunderson in Fargo (1996). He is also known for his television work on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1997–2004) as the title character's cross-dressing brother, Steve Carey, as well as on four seasons of American Horror Story (2014–2019), most notably as breakout character Twisty the Clown. His films include Face/Off (1997), Zodiac (2007), Gran Torino (2008), Shutter Island (2010), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), Ted 2 (2015), The Invitation (2015), The Founder (2016), and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020). He made his directorial debut with the 2017 film Lucky.
Ryan Douglas Hurst, also known as Gobind Seva Singh is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Gerry Bertier in Remember the Titans (2000) and Opie Winston in the FX drama series Sons of Anarchy (2008–2012). He portrayed the Norse god Thor in the 2022 video game God of War Ragnarök, for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination. He also portrayed "Lil Foster" Farrell in the Outsiders (2016-2017) and Beta in the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead (2019-2020).
Toronto After Dark Film Festival is a showcase of horror, sci-fi, action and cult cinema held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival premieres a diverse selection of feature-length and short-films from around the world including new works from Asia, Europe and North America.
Maximilian Carlo Martini is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Corporal Fred Henderson in Saving Private Ryan, Wiley in Level 9, First Sergeant Sid Wojo in The Great Raid, and as Master Sergeant Mack Gerhardt in the CBS military drama television series The Unit. He also starred in the film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi as Mark Geist.
Lew Temple is an American actor known for his roles as Locus Fender in the action film Domino; Cal, the diner manager in the comedy-drama Waitress; and Axel in the third season of The Walking Dead.
Neil Maskell is an English actor, writer and director who is known for his appearances in British crime and horror films. His credits include Nil by Mouth (1997), The Football Factory (2004), Rise of the Footsoldier (2007), Doghouse (2009), Bonded by Blood (2010), Kill List (2011), Wild Bill (2011), St George's Day and Piggy, The Great Train Robbery (2013), Raised by Wolves (2015), The Mummy (2017), King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), Peaky Blinders (2019), Bull (2021), Litvinenko (2022), and Hijack (2023).
Chandler Carlton Riggs is an American actor and musician. He rose to prominence for his regular role as Carl Grimes on the AMC horror-drama television series The Walking Dead from 2010 to 2018. For his work on the series, Riggs won three Saturn Awards from five nominations and a Young Artist Award from three nominations.
Hannibal is an American psychological horror-thriller television series developed by Bryan Fuller for NBC. The series is based on characters and elements appearing in Thomas Harris' novels Red Dragon (1981), Hannibal (1999), and Hannibal Rising (2006) and focuses on the relationship between Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special investigator Will Graham and Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a forensic psychiatrist destined to become Graham's most cunning enemy and, at the same time, the only person who can understand him.
Maika Monroe is an American actress and kiteboarder. She made her film debut with the drama At Any Price (2012), and led the thriller film The Guest and the horror film It Follows, which established her as a scream queen. She starred in the thrillers Greta (2018) and Watcher (2022) as well as the horror film Longlegs (2024).
31 is a 2016 American horror film written, directed, and produced by Rob Zombie, and starring an ensemble cast featuring Sheri Moon Zombie, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Meg Foster, Richard Brake, Jane Carr, Judy Geeson, E.G. Daily, and Malcolm McDowell.
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