AQUAMAN (2108) About The Director and Cast

Director James Wan, with castJason Momoa,Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, andDolph Lundgren.

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DIRECTOR

JAMES WAN (Director, Story) is regarded as one of the most creative filmmakers working today. Most recently on screen for Wan as director was "The Conjuring 2," with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprising their roles as famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Released in June 2016, the film opened at #1 at the box office in 32 territories, including the U.S. Wan served as director of the film as well as co-writer and producer. He previously directed the critically acclaimed "The Conjuring" (2013), starring Farmiga, Wilson, Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston. To date, the "Conjuring" Universe has earned over $1.6 billion worldwide. Wan directed the critically acclaimed "Furious 7," which was released in April 2015 and was #1 at the U.S. box office for four weeks, earning over $1.5 billion worldwide, #7 of all-time at the box office.

Wan's production company, Atomic Monster, launched its slate with "Annabelle" (2015) and followed with "Lights Out" (2016) and "Annabelle: Creation" (2017). All three box office successes included Wan as producer. "The Nun," the latest in the "Conjuring" Universe, was released on September 7, 2018. An instant box office success, the film was produced by Wan based on a story by Wan and Gary Dauberman.

Atomic Monster is in post-production with "The Curse of La Llorona," which is set for release on April 19, 2019. In production for the company is the next installment of the "Annabelle" franchise, which is slated to be released on July 3, 2019. Wan is a producer on both.

Atomic Monster's television slate kicked off with "MacGyver," a reimagining of the classic television series, which premiered on CBS in the Fall of 2016. Wan directed the pilot for the series and serves as executive producer. The show is in its third season. Also in production for the company is "Swamp Thing." Written by Mark Verheiden and Gary Dauberman, the series will begin streaming in 2019 on DC Universe. Wan is an executive producer on the project.

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CAST

JASON MOMOA (Arthur/Aquaman) one of Hollywood's leading men, most recently starred as Aquaman in "Justice League." Next for Momoa is "See," Apple TV's upcoming drama series, in which he plays the lead character of Baba Voss, the warrior leader, where 600 years in the future all humanity has lost the sense of sight and have adapted to new ways to survive.

Momoa starred as the lead in Netflix's action/adventure series "Frontier," and played an integral role in launching HBO's Emmy-winning "Game of Thrones" with his performance as Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo. Momoa also appeared in "The Bad Batch" and co-wrote, coproduced, directed and starred in "Road to Paloma," a road-tale, character-driven thriller shot throughout the American Southwest.

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AMBE R HEARD (Mera) is an actress and activist whose passion for enriching lives continues from the screen to real life. Heard first appeared as her "Aquaman" character Mera in Zack Snyder's "Justice League," which was released in November 2017 and grossed over $655 million worldwide.

She will also star in Alex Ross Perry's "Her Smell," opposite Elisabeth Moss, which premiered at this year's Toronto Film Festival and New York Film Festival. She recently wrapped production on Nabil Elderkin's "Gully," opposite Charlie Plummer.

Heard starred in Tom Hooper's "The Danish Girl," opposite Eddie Redmayne. The film premiered to rave reviews at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals and was released in January 2016. In 2015, she had two films premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, "The Adderall Diaries," opposite James Franco, and "When I Live My Life Over Again," opposite Christopher Walken.

Her other film credits include: "Magic Mike XXL," opposite Channing Tatum; McG's "Three Days to Kill," opposite Kevin Costner; Robert Rodriguez's "Machete Kills"; Robert Luketic's "Paranoia," opposite Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman; John Carpenter's "The Ward"; "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane"; "Zombieland"; "The Stepfather"; "Pineapple Express"; "The Rum Diary"; "North Country"; "Drive Angry 3D"; "The Joneses"; "Never Back Down"; "Alpha Dog"; and "Friday Night Lights."

Heard uses her platform to advocate for human rights issues as an activist and philanthropist. In 2003, Heard started working with The Art for Elysium, which introduced her to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles. A longtime supporter of women's rights and a prominent voice in the LGBTQ community since 2006, Heard actively involves herself with organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, the ACLU, and Equality Now. In partnership with Amnesty International, Heard has traveled to the Mexican border to provide humanitarian aid as a translator, and in 2018, she went on a mission to Jordan with the Syrian American Medical Society to visit and provide support to Syrian refugees.

Continuing to expand her spheres of influence, Heard recently became L'Oreal's newest Global Spokesperson and works to spread their mantra that all women are "worth it." As a Human Rights Champion of the United Nations Human Rights Office, Heard continues to use her voice gained as an actress to champion human rights for all.

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NICOLE KIDMAN (Atlanna) is an Academy Award-winning actress who first came to the attention of American audiences with her critically acclaimed performance in Phillip Noyce's riveting 1989 Australian psychological thriller "Dead Calm." Kidman has since become an internationally recognized, award-winning actress known for her range and versatility.

In 2002, Kidman was honored with her first Oscar nomination, for her performance in Baz Luhrmann's innovative musical "Moulin Rouge!" For that role and for her performance in writer/director Alejandro Amenabar's psychological thriller "The Others," she received dual 2002 Golden Globe nominations, winning for Best Actress in a Musical. In 2003, Kidman won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award and a Berlin Silver Bear for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in Stephen Daldry's "The Hours."

In 2010, Kidman starred opposite Aaron Eckhart in "Rabbit Hole," for which she received Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best Actress. The film was developed by Kidman's production company, Blossom Films. In October 2012, Kidman starred in Lee Daniels' "The Paperboy" with Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron and John Cusack. Her performance earned her an AACTA, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe nominations. In 2014, Kidman was seen in "Grace of Monaco," which earned her a SAG nomination. In 2015 she was seen in "The Secret in Their Eyes"; "The Family Fang" with Jason Bateman, which she also produced; and "Genius," alongside Colin Firth. In 2016, Kidman was seen in "Lion" with Dev Patel, for which she received Critics' Choice, Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Oscar nominations. She was most recently seen in Sofia Coppola's "The Beguiled," Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Killing of a Sacred Deer," Neil Burger's "The Upside," and John Cameron Mitchell's "How to Talk to Girls at Parties." Her upcoming projects include "Destroyer," "Boy Erased," and "The Goldfinch," a movie adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

In television, Kidman starred in HBO's "Hemingway and Gellhorn," alongside Clive Owen, in 2012. Her portrayal of Martha Gellhorn earned her Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe nominations. Kidman returned to the small screen in 2017 with the limited series "Big Little Lies," alongside Reese Witherspoon for HBO; Kidman's Blossom Films and Witherspoon's Pacific Standard produced the project, for which she received an Emmy Award, Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award and SAG Award. "Big Little Lies" also received an Emmy Award, Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for Outstanding Limited Series. She also had an arc on the second season of "Top of The Lake: China Girl." Kidman is currently in production on the second season of "Big Little Lies," where she will again serve as actress and executive producer.

In 2018, Kidman and her production company, Blossom Films, signed a first-look deal with Amazon Studios. Under the agreement, she will develop theatrical and series content, the first of which being a new drama series, "The Expatriates," based off the novel by Janice Y.K Lee.

In theater, Kidman made a highly lauded London stage debut in the fall of 1998, starring with Iain Glen in "The Blue Room," David Hare's modern adaptation of Schnitzler's "La Ronde." For her performance, Kidman won London's Evening Standard Award and was nominated in the Best Actress category for a Laurence Olivier Award. In 2015, Kidman was seen on the West End stage in Anna Ziegler's "Photograph 51," for which she received a London's Evening Standard Award.

In January of 2006, Kidman was awarded Australia's highest honor, the Companion in the Order of Australia. She was also named, and continues to serve, as Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UN Women, whose goals are to foster women's empowerment and gender equality, to raise awareness of the infringement on women's human rights around the world and to end violence against women. Along with her husband, Keith Urban, she has helped raise millions over the years for the Women's Cancer Program, which is a world renowned center for research into the causes, treatment, prevention, and eventual cure of women's cancer. In 2017, the Cannes Film Festival honored Kidman with a special award for her body of work and longstanding history with the festival. She is one of only eight people to ever receive this honor in the 70-year history of the festival.

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DOLPH LUNDGREN (King Nereus) was born and raised in an academic middle-class family in Stockholm, Sweden. Despite an early interest in playing the drums and clowning around in high school comedies, Lundgren decided to follow in his father's cerebral footsteps and pursue an engineering degree.

After having completed his military service in the Swedish Marine Corps, Lundgren enrolled in the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, studying the same subject as his older brother: Chemical Engineering. He attended both Washington State University and Clemson University in South Carolina, studying Chemistry on various scholarships. He graduated from The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, completing his Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering on an exchange program with the University of Sydney in Australia. Graduating at the head of his class, Lundgren was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, one of the world's top engineering schools. That same year, the young Ph.D. student met the exotic singer Grace Jones and fell in love. Lundgren decided to move to New York City and take up modeling to make some extra cash. A bit too muscular for a model at size 40, he was to begin at MIT a few months later. On a friend's advice that he looked like he could be in the movies, Lundgren's life took an unexpected turn.

His motion picture debut came in the James Bond feature "A View to a Kill" in 1985. However, it was Lundgren's memorable performance in "Rocky IV" later that year that definitely got him noticed worldwide. After a nine-month audition process among 5,000 hopefuls, Lundgren was chosen by writer-director Sylvester Stallone as his fearsome Russian opponent, Captain Ivan Drago. Lundgren grit his teeth and managed to build quite a career as an international action hero and has since starred in more than 70 feature films.

Throughout the ups and downs of Hollywood, Lundgren has always stayed close to the Martial Arts. After completing a grueling examination at the age of 40, he was awarded his Third Degree Black Belt by the World Karate Organization in Tokyo. His athletic accomplishments include being the captain of the Swedish National Karate Team and the individual champion of the Swedish, European and Australian Heavyweight Full Contact Divisions. In addition to his Karate expertise, Lundgren was selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee to serve as the Team Leader of the U.S. Olympic Pentathlon Team during the 1996 Atlanta Games.

After getting married, Lundgren spent considerable time in Europe, raising his two daughters. In 2009, he received a call from his old friend Sly Stallone to co-star opposite Stallone, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Jason Statham and Arnold Schwarzenegger in what would be a box office smash, "The Expendables." Soon, "The Expendables 2 & 3" followed, adding Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas and Harrison Ford to the worldwide action franchise.

As well as being an actor, Lundgren has written and directed five feature films. His production companies, Thor Pictures and Red Orm Productions, are currently developing several projects in Europe.

In 2015, Lundgren produced and starred in "Skin Trade," an action-thriller about human trafficking. Working with actors like Ron Perlman, Peter Weller and Thai martial arts legend Tony Jaa. This film led Lundgren to build a close relationship with CAST/LA, a non-profit organization helping human trafficking victims in Los Angeles.

In addition to "Aquaman," Lundgren can currently be seen on the big screen as the iconic Russian fighter Ivan Drago, opposite Sly Stallone, Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson in "Creed II." Always an avid fitness devotee, Lundgren recently wrote an autobiographical fitness book, Train Like an Action Star, for Sky Horse Publishing.

Lundgren has two daughters. Ida, 22, and Greta, 16. He is currently living in West Hollywood, California with his partner Jenny Sandersson, a Swedish fighter, painter and designer.

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