He was a professional basketball player whoHe was going to change his life and make a career as a lawyer, but fate intervened and changed plans. Before the entrance exam to law school, Mark decided to watch the film “A Few Good Men” (1992), the events of which unfold in the courtroom. To his surprise, he realized that he admired not the work of a lawyer, but the game of an actor playing his role. A few years later, Mark Bluekus became a popular actor with notable works on television and film and took a worthy place in the Hollywood community.
Childhood and youth
Mark was born on January 11, 1972.Childhood and adolescence spent in the small town of Girard, Pennsylvania. The son of a school inspector and education administrator, he debuted on stage in the school play "Hansel and Greta", being a third-grade student. Having a suitable growth for practicing basketball, Mark, naturally, became interested in this popular sport in the USA and became a school star. As a leading player in the team that became the best among basketball teams in the US, Blucas Mark received a scholarship to attend Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, North Carolina). There he specialized in business and continued to play in the university basketball team as an attacking defender. Playing as part of the Wake Forest basketball team, he led her to victory in four tournaments and received a prize and scholarship from the Weaver-James Corrigan Foundation. Mark decided to continue his sports career, becoming a member of the NBA, but did not qualify and accepted the offer to join the English basketball club Manchester Giants. As a member of the team, Mark played one season, but then decided to take advantage of a program to help professional athletes and returned to his homeland to get a law degree and make a career in this field. In the plans of Blukas intervened case, and instead of the entrance exams to law school, he went to the tests in the cinema.
The first work in the cinema
Blukas debuted in 1995.He got a cameo role in the TV movie "Flammable." In 1996, producers Ronald M. Bozeman and Whoopi Goldberg searched for the comedy "Eddie" a basketball player with a childish face. When Mark, who possesses excellent external data, appeared on the samples, he was immediately approved. Blukas Mark was perfect for the role of a backup player for the New York Nix and made it a feature of the film.
Then there was the work as a technicalconsultant on NBC-SPORT during the filming of the biopic "Never Give Up: The Jimmy We Story" (1996). Mark continued to work with producers as a consultant, and also appeared in episodic television series roles. Wanting to achieve more, he attended acting classes and various celebrity film seminars.
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
Finally, in the fall of 1999, Mark was invited towork in a television series about the adventures of the girl Buffy, who has an extraordinary ability to recognize and destroy vampires. Mark was faced with a difficult job, because his character Riley Fin appears in the fourth season of the series and becomes the plot not only a brave fighter against the forces of darkness, but also the beloved of the main character. During the previous seasons, fans of the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer watched the love story between Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Angel (David Borianaz), and they were very upset by this turn. Angry letters flew to Mark and the creators of the series. Despite the difficulties, the actor coped with the role. Work in the series brought him popularity, Mark became recognizable and got fans. At the end of the work of the actor in the fourth season of the television movie, the producers began to receive letters from the fans of the series with a request to return the character Mark back.
Mark Blucas: Movies
Becoming a popular actor, Mark in 2001receives a leading role in the film with a baseball theme "Summer Games". Then in the same year, he starred in the melodrama "Jay and the Silent Bob Strike Back." The year 2002 was marked for the actor by working on the same film set with the famous Mel Gibson in the film “We were soldiers” and Gwyneth Paltrow in the comedy “Top view is better”. In 2004, Mark Blukus received the lead role in the comedy melodrama “First Daughter”, where Katie Holmes became his partner on the site, and was filmed in the historical film “Fort Alamo”. The detective drama "Three keys" (2006) and the main character Kevin Parson performed by Mark bring the actor recognition of the European audience. After working in this film, director Gideon Ruff invites Bluekas to the main role in the crime thriller “The Damned House” (2007).
In addition to working in a big movie, Mark continueswork in the television series. So, in 2011, the actor accepts an offer from Kevin Dowling for participation in the TV series “Cruelty Needed”. Mark Blukas plays one of the main male roles in it - coach Matthew Donelly. For three seasons, fans of the series follow the development of the relationship of the protagonist, psychotherapist Dani Santino (Callie Thorn), and football coach Donelly. In an interview, the actor admitted that he really enjoyed working on this role, because the topic of sport is still close to him, and the events of the series allow us to look at professional sport from a different angle.
