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2001 marked Kevin Pollak's return to the stage as he headlined a sold out 20 city stand-up comedy tour. Prior to his film career, Kevin Pollak had been performing stand-up comedy since the age of 10. He became a touring professional stand-up at age 20, and then in 1988 landed a role in George Lucas' Willow, directed by Ron Howard. In 1990, he co-starred in Barry Levinson's Avalon, for which he received an overwhelming response from the film community. It was Pollak's role in the 1992 film A Few Good Men, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore, that garnered him fellowship among a select group of highly respected character actors.
After co-starring with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in the box-office success Grumpy Old Men and its sequel, Grumpier Old Men, Pollak received an award from the National Board of Review for his work in The Usual Suspects. The film also won two Academy Awards and became an international sensation. Other highlights include working with Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese's Casino.
In 1997, Pollak starred in The Underworld, a crime telepic for Warner Bros. and NBC, which he co-created and co-executive produced with Chris McQuarrie (Academy Award-winning screenwriter of The Usual Suspects) and his producing partner, Lucy Webb. He has also starred in two of his own HBO stand-up comedy specials, the latest being Kevin Pollak: Stop With The Kicking, directed by David Steinberg.
At the turn of the Millennium Kevin starred opposite the man who would be Governor. Yes, Kevin joined Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gabriel Byrne in Universal Pictures' End of Days. That year also brought Kevin some of his best reviews for his starring role in Paramount Classics' political thriller Deterrence, written and directed by Rod Lurie (The Contender).
It was in 2001 that Pollak returned to his roots and toured thirty cities doing stand-up comedy. The response from one sold-out show after another was overwhelming, but Kevin decided he would not forsake his love for movies.
2002 and 2003 kept Kevin busy doing several more films, while touring as many cities as possible doing stand-up and writing a screenplay for Disney. After The Wedding Planner, Dr. Dolittle 2, 3000 Miles to Graceland and Santa Claus 2, Kevin pitched an original film idea to Tim Allen for him to star in. After pitching it to Disney, Kevin was hired to pen the script. Look for updates on this project as it develops.
As an actor, Kevin hit pay dirt again in Warner Bros. hit comedy The Whole Nine Yards, opposite Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry. The film found such a big audience the world over that a sequel, The Whole Ten Yards, was filmed and slated for a release date of April 9th, 2004.
Speaking of 2004, the year started with a bang when a little Canadian film, Seven Times Lucky, made a big splash at this years Sundance Film Festival. The film, written and directed by G.B. Yates, has been referred to by Pollak as, "By far the best role I've had in many many years. I'm rarely asked to carry the film and this was a great opportunity to see if I could do it." Well, a recent Daily Variety review not only praised Pollak's work but also applauded the Canadian writer/director for his "savvy casting of Kevin Pollak... his best film work..."
After returning from Sundance, Kevin began work on his 51st film role. "HOSTAGE" was a best selling novel by Robert Crais, who then did the screen adaptation. Kevin stars opposite his ol' pal Bruce Willis in this psychological thriller due out around Thanksgiving of this year.
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