Played By: Christian Bale
Birthdate & Age: Sept. 15, 1975, age 35
Screen name: biff bam powe

Biography: Adrian Powell may be a household name nowadays, but he wasn't always at the forefront of Hollywood's leading pack. He was born in 1975 in Cape Town, South Africa, to a French diplomat and her husband. Adrian was the youngest of two sons and later (in 1985) became the elder half-brother to a sister. Their collective childhood was whirlwind and fairly strenuous; their mother had delusions of political grandeur though she was not especially gifted in diplomacy, and the family was called back to France when Adrian was seven. His mother, Anais, was excused from her position, which came as a great personal shock to her but not to her American husband, Frank. At ten years old, Adrian's older brother was more sympathetic to their mother, and household tensions became increasingly more intense.

Frank, having been essentially the stay-at-home father while Anais did her thing, suddenly found himself the sole provider for the family, a role he accepted quite successfully. His speedy and financially sound job finding went unnoticed by Anais, which set Frank on a path of feeling inadequate and Anais feeling resentful. Their relationship only worsened, which left Adrian and his brother to argue between them. Adrian much preferred his father, who, though working long hours in a fairly menial occupation, still made time for his youngest son. Adrian's brother, however, was doted upon by their newly lazy mother, and had a newfound distrust in their father, instilled in him by Anais. The distrust, however, was misdirected. In 1985, it was discovered that Anais had been sleeping with a neighbor, a fact only made known to Frank and her children through the development of her pregnancy. Her lover was conflicted about the pregnancy but Frank was willing to work through things and provide for a child who would never really be his. Adrian was ten and old enough to realize the importance of his father's offer, but Anais, more petulant than either of her children, decided she wanted a divorce. Frank was left broken hearted when Anais left with their eldest son, and Adrian tried very hard to help him pick up the pieces. Later that year, Anais gave birth to Adrian's younger half sister.

In an effort to have his father happy again, ten year old Adrian took up pantomime, memorizing long scenes from his father's favorite movies to act out whenever his father was particularly down. Eventually Frank encouraged Adrian to try out for a school play, and Adrian did so eagerly. His first stage production was a student-translated version of West Side Story, and Adrian loved every minute of it. Most children in his position would claim to love the bright lights or the attention afterwards, but Adrian found what he loved was embodying the character. He spent an embarrassingly long time researching the '50s gang member spiel and by the end of the production, the near eleven year old could've rivaled James Dean. Frank, having recovered slightly from Anais' complete rejection, decided to pursue Adrian's talents by moving to New York City. Enrolled in a fairly prestigious theatre academy, Adrian continued to improve in leaps and bounds, finding a gift for accents and embodying each character he was given completely. For all his acting talent, however, Adrian was a severely serious little boy. He had few friends at the school because of his complete focus, and very rarely made a fool of himself. Adrian hated embarrassment more than anything. It was what drove him to completely become the character. If he was half assing it, they would be able to tell. And then they would laugh. Before Frank had pushed him to join the school play, Adrian had mentioned to his mother and brother his thoughts of acting, but both had shut him down completely. All Adrian ever wanted was to be taken seriously. In New York, that happened.

He stuck to stage acting from ages thirteen to seventeen, starring in local productions of mostly Shakespearean works, his most common role being the young Macduff until he was old enough to take bigger parts in productions such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and finally, with a bit of help from the makeup department, playing his younger character's father in Hamlet. Frank never pushed for Adrian to finish any sort of high school, and college, save for further acting instructing, wasn't mentioned. When Adrian turned eighteen, he turned to television work for a further challenge, and went on to guest on numerous popular television shows, his name sometimes not appearing at all. The lack of renown didn't bother him; he was working up to it and taking his time. After guesting on The X-Files and Law & Order, he auditioned for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He was cast as Billy Cranston, aka The Blue Ranger. Adrian held the role for three years, as long as the three seasons of the show lasted.

After becoming fairly recognizable in America as The Blue Ranger, Adrian decided to move to England in favor of pursuing less commercial roles. He found himself back on the stage for a year, performing once again mostly Shakespearean works, before being approached by the BBC. Adrian was 23 when he was cast as Archie Kennedy in Hornblower, an A&E/BBC adaption of C.S. Forester's Hornblower novels. The miniseries gained a cult following and Adrian's portrayal as the brash young Lieutenant was widely praised. The BBC called him back for more after his run on the series ended, and he performed a number of radio productions, including the role of Sebastien Flyte in Brideshead Revisted.

Adrian returned to America, Los Angeles instead of New York, with some fairly more reputable roles under his belt, and he was no longer being known only as The Blue Ranger. In 1999 he was starred in both Fight Club and The Astronaut's Wife, the former failing commercially but gaining a cult status, the latter being the most important film to Adrian personally. Playing the Jill to his Spencer, Isobel Jensen first caught Adrian's eye, then his interest, and finally his heart. A rather difficult marital dynamic to portray, Isobel and Adrian put their own emotions aside and brought forth an excellent performance. Isobel, the better known and more attractive of the two, garnered the most attention from the film, but Adrian would soon pay her back. Their off-screen romance only intensified after the film wrapped.

In 2000, when he was twenty five, he was cast in Christopher Nolan's Memento, which earned several Academy Award nominations. It earned him both box office and art house credibility, and he made an extremely important friend in Nolan. The director would go on to cast him in one of the most important films in his career. He married Isobel in 2001 in a ceremony his mother refused to attend. He signed on for the short lived but highly successful (post-cancellation) series Firefly, in which he played Malcolm Reynolds. He reprised the role in the 2005 film Serenity. In 2005, not only did he star in Serenity but also in his first real blockbuster (Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins). It was also the year his daughter, Ruby Abigail, was born. Having built a family and a franchise (2008's The Dark Knight would not only propel his career but also break his wife's Titanic record of $500 million at the North American box office) Adrian Powell looked like the golden boy of good cinema.

In 2008, however, Adrian's brother showed up at the Powell's residence wanting to meet Ruby. Frank Powell, who had been visiting at the time, wanted to take the chance to talk to his son, who he hadn't seen since the divorce in 1985. Adrian's brother, still fiercely loyal to Anais, punched Frank, breaking his nose. Adrian rose to his father's defense and the brothers went into a vicious fist fight while Isobel called the police. By the time the cops arrived, so had the paparazzi, and soon photos of a bloody and bruised Adrian were splashed across every tabloid. Adrian had experienced anger management problems since he was very small and had used acting as a way to control himself. On set, however, things often became a little too intense for his fellow thespians. On the set of Memento, he kept almost entirely to himself, getting into the character of amnesiac Leonard. While portraying an alien with heavily sadistic undertones against his future wife in The Astronaut's Wife, he would often fail to come out of character at the end of the day, and frequently snapped at the cast and crew. His brotherly fist fight came as no surprise to those who knew him but came as a shock to the public. Isobel has stuck by him, however, and he is fiercely defensive of both their privacy and the privacy of their daughter. Many anticipate that his 2008 brawl won't be the last time the words "rage" and "Powell" find themselves together in the news.

Credits: here
Other Stuff: Adrian has been a part of four franchise films. His first led him to play Malcolm Reynolds in both a television series and a feature film. He played the werewolf character Lucian in three installments of the Underworld series. He has portrayed Batman/Bruce Wayne in two films and would pursue the role if Christopher Nolan wished him to. He has also signed on for the role of Marcus Wright, whose fate is not yet publicly known. He wants to do a children's film so his daughter can finally watch him at work but studios are more swayed to cast him in violence-filled blockbusters than films like Finding Nemo. The desire remains, however.