Lee Pace is Setting a New Pace for Hollywood

From Elvenking to alien dictator, Lee Pace is a rising star. Born on March 25, 1979 to Charlotte and James Roy Pace in Chickasha, Oklahoma, Lee is the oldest of the children, his siblings being Sally and William Pace.

In his early childhood, Pace spent several years in Saudi Arabia due to his father working for an oil company. Afterwards, in his teenage years, the family moved to Houston, Texas where he attended Klein High School for a few years. He dropped out to act at Alley Theatre before returning to school to get his diploma. Once he graduated, he was accepted to Julliard School’s Drama Division and earned his Bachelors of Fine Arts in 2001.

His first recognition was in the 2003 Sundance telefilm “Soldier’s Girl”, the true and very tragic story of Barry Winchell and Calpernia Adams. Lee plays as Addams, a transsexual woman who dances at a nightclub. As a 6’3″ man, Pace had to lose 25 lbs for the role and became very dedicated to the part. Pace says that the reason he went into acting was to “…play parts as complicated and important as (Calpernia Addams)”.

His major role was in the 2006 film “The Fall” as the main character Roy Walker/ Masked Bandit. After that, in 2007, ABC gave him the lead role in the television show, “Pushing Daises” as Ned, which went on to 2009. In 2010, he played Phil in the movie “Marmaduke.” His next noted appearance was in the final edition of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn Pt. 2. He played as a vampire named Garret, a patriot who fought in the American Revolution.

What truly brought him to stardom though, was his role in The Hobbit trilogy, as Thranduil the Elvenking. This part really expanded his fan base, making him a star amongst teenagers. His last appearance as Thranduil was in “Battle Of The Five Armies”, the final chapter of the Lord Of The Rings series. Another role that brought him into the spotlight recently was as Ronan the Accuser in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”.

Now 35, Pace can be seen as a guest star in the television series, “The Mindy Project” as Alex Eakin. With awards such as the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Award (for Calpernia Addams), Pace is certainly going places and fast.