Birthday's to share this week : 15th - 21st November 2015

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Shailene Woodley does on 15th November - check out my tribute to this Birthday girl turning 24 at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 15th November

• Shailene Woodley - Born 1991, turns 24 - Actress
• Jonny Lee Miller - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actor
• Edward Asner - Born 1929, turns 86 - Actor | Producer
• Sam Waterston - Born 1940, turns 75 - Actor | Producer
• Yaphet Kotto - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actor
• Roger Donaldson - Born 1945, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer

Monday 16th November

• Maggie Gyllenhaal - Born 1977, turns 37 - Actress

Tuesday 17th November

• Zoe Bell - Born 1978, turns 36 - Actress | Stuntwoman
• Rachel McAdams - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actress
• Sophie Marceau - Born 1966, turns 48 - Actress | Director
• Lauren Hutton - Born 1943, turns 71 - Actress
• Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio - Born 1958, turns 56 - Actress
• Martin Scorsese - Born 1942, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Danny DeVito - Born 1944, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Wednesday 18th November

• Damon Wayans Jnr. - Born 1982, turns 32 - Actor | Writer
• Owen Wilson - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Delroy Lindo - Born 1952, turns 62 - Actor

Thursday 19th November

• Ted Turner - Born 1938, turns 76 - Producer | Actor | Media Mogul
• Adam Driver - Born 1983, turns 31 - Actor
• Charlie Kaufman - Born 1958, turns 56 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Jodie Foster - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Meg Ryan - Born 1961, turns 53 - Actress | Producer | Director

Friday 20th November

• Bo Derek - Born 1956, turns 58 - Actress
• Sean Young - Born 1959, turns 55 - Actress

Saturday 21st November

• Goldie Hawn - Born 1945, turns 69 - Actress | Producer

Shailene Diann Woodley was born in San Bernardino County, California to mother Lori Victor, a middle school counsellor, and father Lonnie Woodley a school Principal. She has a younger brother, Tanner. She attended the Simi Valley High School and from the tender age of four began modelling commercially. Acting followed although she claims by accident, as she never sought to be an actress and it was not something she aspired to be.

Her screen debut came in 1999 in the television movie 'Replacing Dad' and from that point on she has worked regularly in both television and film, although it would be another ten years or so before her big screen debut would present itself. As the new decade turned over there were several episodes on 'The District' from 2001-2003 and then singular episodes on 'Without a Trace', 'Everybody Loves Raymond', six episodes on 'The O.C.', four on 'Crossing Jordan', two on 'Jack & Bobby' and the television movies 'A Place to Call Home', 'Felicity : An American Girl Adventure' and 'Once Upon a Mattress'. More television work followed with the likes of 'My Name Is Earl', C.S.I. : NY', 'Close to Home' and 'Cold Case'.

At 15 years of age not only did her parents divorce, but she was diagnosed with scoliosis - a medical condition causing curvature of the spine. This resulted in the young teenage Actress having to wear a chest to hip plastic body brace to limit her spinal movement so allowing it to mend, and to prevent any further curving.

Before landing the principle role in 'The Secret Life of an American Teenager' in 2008 she had considered studying interior design at the University of New York, but the lure of the longer term gig doing exactly what she wanted to do was too great, with that show running for 121 episodes up until 2013.

During this period Woodley secured her breakout big screen debut alongside George Clooney as his troubled daughter in 'The Descendants' for which she received much critical acclaim, and a Best Supporting Golden Globe nomination. Next was 'The Spectacular Now' with Miles Teller for which again the young Actress received critical praise including the Special Jury Prize for Acting at the Sundance Film Festival. She followed this with 'White Bird in a Blizzard', and then the role as Mary Jane Watson opposite Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' although all her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor because Director Marc Webb needed to streamline the story.

The first film in the Veronica Roth novelisation series 'Divergent' came in 2014 with her lead role as Beatrice 'Tris' Prior with its follow up 'Insurgent' released earlier this year. 'Allegiant' is now due on 28th March 2016 and 'Ascendant' is currently filming for for a 24th March 2017 release. The first two films made a combined US$584M worldwide off a US$195M production budget.





2014 also brought 'The Fault in Our Stars' with Ansel Elgort, Laura Dern and Willem Dafoe and off US$12M made US$307M - so a bona fide blockbuster on that basis and again much critical applause for her lead performance as a 16 year old cancer sufferer. Currently in post-production is Oliver Stone's 'Snowden' due in May 2016 with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden, the notorious CIA Agent who leaked thousands of classified documents to the press just a few years ago.

Interestingly Woodley was considered for the role of Katniss Everdeen on that other similar movie franchise based on a dystopian future world 'The Hunger Games'. That role went to Jennifer Lawrence as we know. She auditioned for 'I Am Sam' in 2001 and lost out to Dakota Fanning; she auditioned for 'Les Miserable' in 2012 and lost out to Amanda Seyfried; she turned down 'Tomorrowland' with George Clooney once more, and that role went to Britt Robertson; and she turned down too 'Fifty Shades of Grey' which went to Dakota Johnson.

Woodley has thirty Acting credits under her belt, has a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination and another 32 award nominations and a total 31 wins so far . . . and she only turns 24 this week.

Shailene Woodley - seemingly can hardly make a wrong turn, critically acclaimed, sought after, the face of a major franchise, and already so much achieved with so much more to come - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-