Lee Pace

Lee Pace
Biographical information
Birth name	Lee Grinner Pace
Born	March 25, 1979 (age 36)
Nationality	American
Gender	Male
Height	6' 5" (1.95 m)
Career
Years active	2002-present
In Twilight saga	Garrett
Notable roles	Ned - Pushing Daisies

Lee Pace (born March 25, 1979) appears in Breaking Dawn - Part 2 as Garrett. He has also starred in the TV show Pushing Daisies as Ned.

Early life

Pace was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma. As a child, Pace spent several years in Saudi Arabia, where his father was in the oil business; the family later moved to Houston, Texas. Pace temporarily quit high school to act at Houston's Alley Theatre before returning to graduate. At the Alley, he appeared in productions of The Spider's Web and The Greeks.

Pace attended Klein High School in the suburb of Spring in Houston, Texas, with fellow actor Matthew Bomer.

In 1997, Pace was accepted by the Juilliard School's drama division (Group 30). While there, he acted in several plays, including Romeo and Juliet as Romeo, Richard III in the title role, and Julius Caesar as Cassius. He graduated with a BFA and was a classmate of actors Anthony Mackie and Tracie Thoms.

Career

Theater

After graduation, Pace starred in several off-Broadway plays, including The Credeaux Canvas and The Fourth Sister. He also starred in a production of Craig Lucas's Small Tragedy. For this role, he was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Actor. In 2006, Pace starred in the two-character play Guardians by Peter Morris. This role earned Pace his second nomination for a Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Actor.

Filming

Pace first gained recognition for his role in the 2003 film Soldier's Girl, based on fact, in which he played the central role of Calpernia Addams, a transgender woman dating Army soldier Barry Winchell, played by Troy Garity. Winchell was 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."

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.

He starred in the film Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and in Tarsem Singh's The Fall, both released in 2008. His next film was Possession with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Pace also played supporting roles in The White Countess, Infamous, When in Rome and The Good Shepherd.

Currently, he has been cast as Garrett for Breaking Dawn - Part 2.

Television

Pace played Aaron Tyler in the acclaimed but short-lived 2004 television series Wonderfalls, which was co-created by Bryan Fuller. Later, Fuller cast Pace in the lead role of Ned in the series Pushing Daisies, which debuted on ABC in October 2007 and returned for its second, and final, season on October 1, 2008.

Pace has also appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in season 3, episode 18 'Guilt'.

Pace was recently cast in the new HBO pilot The Miraculous Year.

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Soldier's Girl	Calpernia Adams/Scottie	Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Film Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film
2005	The White Countess	Crane
2006	Infamous	Dick Hickock
	The Fall	Roy Walker / The Black Bandit
	The Good Shepherd	Richard Hayes
2007	Polarbearman
2008	Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day	Michael Pardew
2009	Possession	Roman
	A Single Man	Grant
2010	When in Rome	Brady Sacks
	30 Beats	Matt Roberts	post-production
	The Resident	Jack	post-production
	Marmaduke	Phil Winslow
	Ceremony	Whit	post-production
2011	30 Beats	Matt Roberts	post-production
2012	Breaking Dawn - Part 2	Garrett
	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey	Thranduil
2013	The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug	Thranduil
2014	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	Thranduil
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Benjamin Tucker	Episode: "Guilt"
2004	Wonderfalls	Aaron Tyler	13 episodes
2007	Pushing Daisies	Ned	(2007–2009) 22 episodes Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (2008) Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series Musical or Comedy (2008) Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Television Series Musical or Comedy (2007, 2008)

External links

• Lee Pace at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview at Sci-fi-online.com
• Lee Pace Talks About Preparing to Play Garrett
• Lee Pace on Wikipedia