BREAKTHROUGH (2019) Director & Cast
Roxann Dawson, Topher Grace, Marcel Ruiz, Chrissy Metz, Josh Lucas
ROXANN DAWSON (Director), TOPHER GRACE (Pastor Jason Noble), MARCEL RUIZ (John Smith), CHRISSY METZ (Joyce Smith), JOSH LUCAS (Brian Smith)
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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR & CAST
ROXANN DAWSON (Director), who makes her feature film directing debut with BREAKTHROUGH, is a triple threat talent, a respected producer, director and actor. This season, Roxann will direct Morning Show for Apple, starring Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carrell, and Jennifer Aniston. Her prolific career includes directing multiples of The Deuce, House of Cards, The Americans, The Path, Bates Motel, Chance and Treme. Dawson has been the producer-director on the perennial hit Scandal, as well as Cold Case and Crossing Jordan. Other credits include The Chi, Marvel's Runaways, Lost, The Good Wife, and Hell on Wheels. Dawson recently directed the pilot and first two episodes of Mercy Street for PBS and Scott Free Productions. Mercy Street marked the first American drama to air on PBS in more than a decade.
A native of Los Angeles, Dawson graduated from UC Berkeley as a Theatre Arts Major. Shortly after graduation, she landed her first professional job as Diana Morales in the Broadway production of A Chorus Line by attending an open call in San Francisco. Suddenly, she found herself in New York rehearsing with Michael Bennett at the Shubert Theatre. While in New York, Dawson also performed in numerous Off-Broadway and regional theatre productions including plays at Circle Repertory Theatre (where she was a member), Arena Stage, and at CTC, where she played Miranda in Julie Taymor's The Tempest. A series regular role in Aaron Spelling's Nightingales brought her back to Los Angeles, where she continued to act in series and films. She was honored to be asked to return to Broadway to close A Chorus Line as the last Morales.
Soon after, she was cast as B'Elanna Torres in Star Trek: Voyager, and during the series' seven-year run, she started a family and began her directing career. Voyager offered her the first opportunity to direct and she proceeded to direct 10 episodes of the next Star Trek series, Enterprise. In addition to directing, Roxann co-authored a trilogy of novels with Daniel Graham, The Tenebrea Trilogy, published by Simon & Schuster.
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Acclaimed actor TOPHER GRACE (Pastor Jason Noble) first caught the attention of audiences as one of the stars of the iconic television series That '70s Show, before going on to make his mark on the big screen in numerous films.
Topher recently wrapped Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman, opposite Adam Driver. This film chronicles the true story of an African-American detective in Colorado who infiltrated the KKK. Prior to that, Topher shot the feature Under the Silver Lake, opposite Andrew Garfield. The film is a noir crime thriller set against the backdrop of the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles.
Grace was recently seen in the David Michod Netflix black comedy, War Machine, opposite Brad Pitt. The film was based on Michael Hastings' book, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan, and follows General Glenn McMahon (Pitt), a four-star U.S. military general charged with commanding NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by his own hubris and a journalist's no-holds-barred expose.
Prior, Grace starred in the Sony Pictures Classics drama, Truth, opposite Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett, Dennis Quaid, and Elisabeth Moss. The film tells the true story of a group of journalists - with Topher portraying rebellious researcher, 'Mike Smith' - who uncover a conspiracy that would bring down President George W. Bush's presidency. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
Grace recently made the move behind the camera and completed production as producer and star of the romantic musical comedy, Opening Night, directed by Isaac Rentz. The film features Anne Heche and Taye Diggs and follows a failed Broadway singer who now works as a production manager who must save opening night by wrangling his eccentric cast and crew.
On the big screen, Grace won the National Board of Review award for Breakthrough Performance by an Actor, as well as a New York Film Critics award, for his roles in In Good Company and P.S. in 2004. As a member of the ensemble cast in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, he also won a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2001.
Additional film credits include Christopher Nolan's Interstellar; Gary Marshall's ensemble Valentine's Day, opposite Anne Hathaway, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx and others; Sam Raimi's Spiderman 3; Robert Luketic's Win a Date with Tad Hamilton; Mike Newell's Mona Lisa Smile, opposite Julia Roberts; and Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Twelve, among many other memorable roles including, most recently, American Ultra, opposite Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart.
On the small screen, along with That '70s Show, he has also appeared in Curtis Hanson's Golden Globe-winning TV film Too Big to Fail, for HBO. He also appeared in The Beauty Inside, a 2012 social film developed by Intel and Toshiba. Directed by Drake Doremus and co-starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, the film is broken up into six filmed episodes interspersed with interactive storytelling that all takes place on the main character's Facebook timeline. Topher won a Daytime Emmy in the category of Outstanding New Approaches - Original Daytime Program or Series.
In 2014, Grace made his Off-Broadway debut in Paul Weitz' acclaimed Lonely, I'm Not, opposite Olivia Thirlby, for Second Stage.
Grace grew up in Darien, Connecticut and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
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Born in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, and moving to Los Angeles at the age of 9, MARCEL RUIZ (John Smith) has taken his hobby of acting and turned it into a full-fledged career as a star in Netflix's reboot of One Day at a Time. Marcel's character Alex Alvarez mirrors his own laid-back and funny personality, but takes the second season to another level tackling topics like racism, popularity and bullying.
Though Marcel began his career acting in commercials and currently studies at a Performing Arts School, he knows the other side of the industry well from growing up on set at his parents' own production company. With Award-Winning directors for parents and a notable television host and comedian for a grandfather, Marcel has always known he was made for entertainment, and takes improv and acting classes in his spare time.
A creative talent, Marcel enjoys filming and editing content for his YouTube channel, writing music, photography and fashion, and excels in athletics including basketball and soccer. His determined and philanthropic spirit has recently driven him to give back to his home island after Hurricane Maria through Voices of Puerto Rico.
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Two-time Golden Globe and Emmy Award-nominated actress CHRISSY METZ (Joyce Smith) stars on the critically acclaimed hit NBC series This Is Us, which has been renewed for two additional seasons. Chrissy plays Kate, a woman struggling with her weight, eating habits, and body image. ET named her as one of six "breakout stars you will fall in love with this fall." People magazine named her to the "One's to Watch." This is Us also stars Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Justin Hartley, and Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown. This Is Us received nominations from The Critics Choice Awards, AFI, NAACP, and won the People's Choice Award for "Favorite New TV Drama" and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Chrissy is best known for her roles in American Horror Story: Freak Show, Loveless in Los Angeles, Solving Charlie, My Name is Earl, and Entourage, to name a few.
Chrissy Metz is from Homestead, Florida. The middle child of five siblings, Chrissy took the spotlight as the 'entertaining diplomat' of the family. She moved to Japan as an infant and lived there for 9 years before moving back to the States.
After being discovered in Gainesville, Florida at a local talent event that she originally attended as a chaperone for her sister, she packed up and moved to Los Angeles to find her way into entertainment.
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JOSH LUCAS ' (Brian Smith) film career began accidentally in 1979 when a small Canadian film shot on the tiny South Carolina Island, Sullivan's Island, where Lucas and his family lived. Unbeknownst to the filmmakers, 8-year-old Lucas was hiding in the sand dunes watching filming during the climactic scene where teenage lovers engage in a lovesick fight. It was during this experience that Lucas decided to pursue a career in film.
Born to young radical politically active parents in Arkansas in 1971, Lucas spent his early childhood nomadically moving around the southern U.S. The family finally settled in a small fishing village in Washington State. The small public high school had an award-winning drama/debate program and Lucas won the State Championship in Dramatic Interpretation and competed at the 1989 National Championship. Brief stints in professional theater in Seattle followed before Lucas moved to Los Angeles. After receiving breaks playing a young George Armstrong Custer in the Steven Spielberg-produced Class of '61 and Frank Marshall's film Alive, Lucas' career toiled in minor television appearances. Frustrated, he decided to start over in New York City.
There, Lucas studied acting under Suzanne Shepherd and worked in tiny "off-off Broadway" productions like Shakespeare in the Parking Lot before receiving a break in 1997 when he was cast as Judas in Terrence McNally's controversial Manhattan Theater Club production Corpus Christi. The play led to supporting roles in the films You Can Count on Me and American Psycho, followed by standout performances in the Oscar winning A Beautiful Mind and the box office hit Sweet Home Alabama in 2002.
In 2005, Lucas gained nearly 40 pounds to play legendary basketball coach Don Haskins in the Jerry Bruckheimer/Disney produced Glory Road. Lucas next made his Broadway debut in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie as the Gentleman Caller opposite Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange and Christian Slater. Since then, Lucas has appeared in films including The Lincoln Lawyer, Daydream Nation, Peacock, Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar as Charles Lindbergh and in Red Dog, based off of the book which was an Australian Box office smash and critical success. Lucas won Australia's best actor award (the I.F. Award) for the film. Lucas' first producing project Death in Love, was released in 2009. In 2013, Lucas played Beat generation legend Neal Cassady in Big Sur and garnered rave reviews for his performance in John Magary's Independent Spirit Award-nominated The Mend. Lucas' other film credits include Ang Lee's Hulk, David Gordon Green's Undertow, Secondhand Lions, Poseidon and Wonderland.
Recently, Josh has starred in John Hyams' drama, All Square; Elizabeth Chomko's What They Had with Michael Shannon and Hilary Swank; Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House with Liam Neeson, Boy Choir opposite Dustin Hoffman and Kathy Bates, Guardian Angel opposite Pilou Asbaek, Little Accidents with Elizabeth Banks, Youth in Oregon alongside Frank Langella and Billy Crudup, and the Netflix film The Most Hated Woman in America opposite Melissa Leo. Television credits include Taylor Sheridan's (Sicario, Hell or High Water) Yellowstone and two seasons on NBC's series The Mysteries of Laura opposite Debra Messing.
In 2017, Josh completed a sold-out Broadway run in The Parisian Woman opposite Uma Thurman. The show was written by Beau Willimon (House of Cards), directed by Pam MacKinnon and also starred Phillipa Soo and Blair Brown. Other theater credits include the award-winning off-Broadway production Spalding Gray: Stories Left Untold and Faultlines.
Lucas has always been fascinated by documentaries and has done voice work for film legend Ken Burns on the The War, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, Prohibition and many of Burns' other films. He was involved in the Oscar-nominated Operation Homecoming and appeared in the National Board of Review Award-winner Trumbo, and Barry Levinson's documentary Poliwood. Lucas is the voice of The Home Depot. And has done voice work for the NFL, NCAA, and the hit animated show American Dad among others.
Lucas currently resides in New York City.
