If HBO's period gangster epic Boardwalk Empire has a single truism to impart to working stiffs, it might be: It's good to be the king... well, mostly. Sure, Steve Buscemi's Nucky Thompson — Atlantic City treasurer, power broker and bootlegger supreme — is awash in money, power and glamour, but his day-to-day existence is a never-ending game of whack-a-mole, with egos to stroke, law enforcement threats to evade and scores to settle.
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He plays Boardwalk Empire's federal agent Nelson Van Alden, whose job — crusade might be a better word for it — is to enforce newly enacted Prohibition in Atlantic City. Good luck with that!
Where you've seen him His stunning, Oscar-nominated turn as Leonardo DiCaprio's mentally disturbed yet eerily insightful neighbor in 2008's Revolutionary Road. He's currently delivering a tour de force as a desperate producer in off-Broadway's Mistakes Were Made.
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Even as a high school thespian, Michael Shannon conveyed gravitas. "I would always play the old guy; I guess I had a good old-guy voice," he says. Over the telephone, his gravelly timbre does make him seem older than his baby-faced 36 years.
As Nelson Van Alden on HBO's Boardwalk Empire -- a gritty confection of organized crime in 1920s Atlantic City created by The Sopranos' Terence Winter and executive-produced by Martin Scorsese -- that deep voice serves Shannon well. He plays a federal agent tasked with enforcing Prohibition, the so-called "good guy" whose personal faith and unrelenting drive for justice...
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Three faces of Boardwalk Empire grace a photo studio in Manhattan's meatpacking district on a sunny Saturday: Gretchen Mol is glowing, not only because she's expecting her second child, but because her makeup's done and she now sits rosy-hued as her stylist affixes fiery-red extensions to her blonde locks. Michael Pitt, the very image of laconic Hollywood cool in his gelled locks and pinstripes, lounges on a sofa languidly strumming his acoustic guitar. Finally, a haggard Steve Buscemi shuffles in. He's here on two hours sleep, having worked till 4am directing an episode of Nurse Jackie. He plops down, takes one look at the tape recorder ...
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Boardwalk Empire has been renewed for a second season after airing one episode, HBO announced Tuesday.
"The response from the media and our viewers has been nothing short of amazing," HBO president Michael Lombardo said.
Fall TV Popularity Contest: What did you think of Boardwalk Empire?
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