Luke Ford

Like Cliff Robertson (Charly) and Leonardo DiCaprio (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) before him, Australian actor Luke Ford first achieved substantial recognition and critical acclaim playing a mentally impaired character: that of Charlie, a young man saddled with autism and ADHD, in Elissa Down's sensitively handled drama The Black Balloon (2008). Ford clearly weighed the role with considerable seriousness and professionalis; in preparing for it, he made several trips through public places, such as shopping malls, and engaged in deeply autistic behavior to evaluate the reactions of unsuspecting passersby. Balloon scarcely constituted Ford's first role (several had preceded it, including a turn as Iphicles in the 2005 American miniseries Hercules), but it did mark one of his first leads. He followed it up by doing an about-face and embarking on a much different cinematic excursion: a role in the mega-budgeted Hollywood adventure The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), opposite Brendan Fraser and Jet Li.