Breakthrough Actor: Justin Long

8 months ago 24th Mar 11:35

Twenty nine year old actor Justin Long has been working in the movie industry for almost a decade starring in movies such as Jeepers Creepers and Dodgeball.

But it was summer 2007, when he was cast as Matt Farrell alongside Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4.0, that he was propelled into the spotlight.

The young actor made his big screen debut in 1999 when he appeared alongside Tim Allen and Alan Rickman in Dean Parisot’s parody of Star Trek, Galaxy Quest.

For four years, the crew of the NSEA Protector donned their uniforms and set off on thrilling and often dangerous missions in space--then their series was cancelled.

Twenty years later, the five stars of the classic '70s TV series Galaxy Quest are still in costume, making appearances at science fiction conventions for their legions of die-hard fans.

But some of those fans are a little more far out than the actors could ever have imagined.

A group of aliens who have mistaken intercepted television transmissions for "historical documents" arrive at a convention and whisk "Commander Peter Quincy Taggart" (Tim Allen) and his crew into space to help them in their all-too-real war against a deadly adversary.

With no script, no director, and no clue about real interstellar travel, the make-believe crew of the Protector has to turn in the performances of their lives to become the heroes the aliens believe them to be.

From 2000-2004 Long juggled various movie work with his role as regular cast member Warren Cheswick on NBC’s Ed.

By 2004 he left Ed and focused on his big screen work landing role in Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Sasquatch Gang and Dodgeball.

Peter LaFleur is a charismatic underachiever and proprietor of a rundown gym called Average Joe's. The facility's ecclectic clientele of decidedly less-than-"average Joes" is comprised of: a self-styled pirate; a scrawny nerd who dreams of impressing an unattainable cheerleader; an obsessive aficionado of obscure sports; a dim-witted young man; and a cocky know-it-all who, of course, really knows nothing.

Peter's humble gym catches the eye of White Goodman, the power-mullet-sporting, Fu-Manchu-d, egomaniacal owner of Globo Gym, a gleaming monolith of fitness.

White intends to take over Average Joe's, and Peter's non-existent bookkeeping is making it all too easy for him.

A foreclosing bank has stationed attorney Kate Veatch inside Average Joe's to finalize Globo's takeover of the gym.

But Peter's boyish charms win her over and Kate joins his team of social rejects to beat the odds--and their own ineptitude--to try to save Average Joe's. How? A showdown dodgeball competition against Globo Gym.

Dodgeball was another Ben Stiller hit as it went on to gross more than $114 million in the U.S alone.

But it was Long's role as Matt Farrell in the fourth instalment of the Die Hard franchise where the actor really made his name last summer.

Thomas Gabriel, an evil mastermind is determined to bring down the entire infrastructure of the United States on Independence Day, sending the country into anarchy and chaos. Joining him on his mission of destruction is the elegant Mai, played by Maggie Q from Mission: Impossible III.

McClane becomes involved when he gets caught in the crossfire while transporting prisoner Matt Farrell, a hacker extraordinaire who is the perfect complement to the old-school McClane, who eschews cell phones, computers, and doing anything the easy way.

But when Gabriel kidnaps McClane's daughter, Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), it gets personal.

Directed by Len Wiseman the film was a critical and commercial hit, grossing over $382 million at the global box office, making it the most successful movie in the Die Hard franchise.

Long will next bee seen hunting for the legend Bigfoot with Steve Zahn in Strange Wilderness.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw