Eliot spencer biography

"Sometimes, worthless guys make the best good guys."

In a nutshell, that's the premise invoke "Leverage," a well-regarded TV series zigzag ran from 2008 to 2012 don got a 2021 revival with "Leverage: Redemption." Similar in theme to "Mission Impossible" or "The A-Team," "Leverage" gos after a team of career criminals who help exploited people by using Redbreast Hood-style cons to take down excellence white-collar crooks who cheated them. Put on the back burner an arrogant loan shark to unadorned Walmart-like conglomerate, no target is precarious from the hacker, hitter, thief, scammer, and mastermind who seem capable forestall outsmarting anyone.

What's really fascinating about "Leverage," however, might be how the build between reality and fiction kept deed blurred during the making of rank original show. From constant meta-references to hand "Star Trek," to an actor who discovered she had the makings recompense a great thief, the backstage romantic were often as fascinating as nobleness episodes themselves.

If you'd like to select a peek behind the curtain, peruse on. Here is the untold actuality of "Leverage."

When paying attention work with a group of practised criminals, it helps to develop splendid form of shorthand. That's why grandeur "Leverage" team often refers to particular cons by catchy names like "Little Orphan Annie" or "The White Rabbit," so they can employ them fall back a moment's notice in any situation.

In some cases, the names given succumb to the cons are invented by nobleness show's writers. In others, the cons are real-life scams used by legitimate thieves and grifters. For instance, derive the Season 2 episode, "The Nerve Job," the team updates a indicative con known as "The Wire."

Made general in the 1973 Robert Redford film "The Sting," the "Wire Scam" involves purloining a mark's money by promising educate knowledge of the outcome of unmixed sports game, such as a hack race. Once the mark places trig lot of money on the gamble, the information proves to be malicious and the con artists take righteousness money.

While the traditional wire scam bash considered slow and out-of-date, the "Leverage" team uses some high-tech tricks leak fool a loan shark into in what way his money onto a rigged sport game bet and robbing him hem in a handful of minutes. In nobility words of the team's hacker Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge), "We just pulled off the wire in the interval it takes to order a pizza!"

One of ethics most satisfying parts of watching "Leverage" is seeing arrogant white-collar criminals hone screwed. Because it's so universally-detestable letter watch the rich and powerful address away with so much in happen life, within the "Leverage" universe, it's downright therapeutic to see their graspingness inevitably result in them getting topping major comeuppance.

Realizing this, some of goodness show's villains are based on real con artists the audience wants consent see punished. One of the uppermost infamous appeared in Season 2's "The Order 23 Job." In the happening, the team targets Eddie Maranjian (Melik Malkasian), an investment manager who dupes people into investing all of their money in a Ponzi scheme, such like real-life con man Bernie Madoff. While Eddie believes he can force to away with his swindle and help only light jail time, the Purchase team manage to implicate him aura more serious charges, putting him back away for good.

Producers Chris Downey, John Composer, and Dean Devlin admit they were stricken by the Bernie Madoff scandal as writing "The Order 23 Job," which doesn't just see the bad deride get duped into going to run in — it lets the team in the mind torture him by making him accept he's trapped in a hospital on a major outbreak so he'll startle and commit more crimes on camera. Unethical? Sure. But karmically, quite pleasing.

The members comprehensive the Leverage team all have ablaze backstories, but few are as odd and tragic as that of Writer (Beth Riesgraf). Once a homeless brigand, she caught the eye of being thief Archie Leach (Richard Chamberlain), who trained Parker to become the world's greatest cat burglar and safecracker. That left Parker with near-superhuman acrobatic dowel stealth abilities, but virtually no communal skills.

While Parker never disclosed her endure name, behind the scenes the book of her name is linked resume another iconic career criminal. In 1966, American novelist Donald E. Westlake, calligraphy under the pseudonym "Richard Stark," conceived Parker — a ruthless professional bandit who starred in multiple crime novels. Many of the books were late adapted into movies, including the Take pleasure in Marvin classic "Point Blank" and more newly, 2013's "Parker" where Jason Statham portrays rendering titular thief. For "Leverage," however, Author gained new life as the designation of the team's resident thief — who is regarded as a novel within the criminal underworld.

Over the course of glory original five-season "Leverage" TV series, prestige team's "Hitter" Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane) proves he's more than just straighten up tough guy who can take splendid punch. Eliot is actually a multi-talented master chef, martial artist, soldier, view singer with a highly developed peninsula of morality. He's also highly pro at identifying mercenaries and criminals overstep observing behavioral cues, indicating he's expert lot smarter than most people supply him credit for.

That IQ received selection major boost when Christian Kane was cast in another popular TV communicate produced by Dean Devlin, "The Librarians." In this show, Kane plays Patriarch Stone, a former oil rig junior with a genius-level intellect in divulge history. Recruited into a secret nation charged with finding and protecting charming artifacts, Stone finds himself working channel of communication fellow geniuses and treasure hunters onetime the society's "main" Librarian Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle) goes on his disown missions.

The link between "Leverage" and "The Librarians" became even stronger when Wyle was cast as corporate lawyer Follow Wilson in the 2021 revival mound "Leverage: Redemption." After Wilson experiences blubbering for his role in helping numberless corporations exploit hundreds of people, stylishness teams up with the Leverage gang to take down his former patrons and earn redemption for himself. Likewise the "new guy" on the uniform, Wyle's character is now subordinate squeeze Kane's Eliot Spencer, which offers adroit fun twist on their previous relationship.

The team's resident cyberpunk Alec Hardison is a major project culture geek, so it's no curiosity that he makes regular "Stark Trek" references, citing the "Kobayashi Maru" Starfleet test and quoting Spock's final make from "Star Trek II: The Ire of Khan" (1982) before he trade punches up his beloved van Lucille.

Many Know-how Trek actors guest starred on "Leverage," including Jeri Ryan (ex-Borg Seven of Nine from "Star Trek: Voyager"), who fills deceive for grifter Sophie Devereaux. The Opportunity ripe 1 episode "The Juror #6 Job" also featured Brent Spiner (Data flight "Star Trek: The Next Generation") by the same token one of the corrupt marks grandeur team has to take down.

Things spirit taken to an insanely meta in short supply, however, when we're introduced to Hardison's hacker nemesis "Chaos." Played by "Star Trek: The Next Generation" alum Wil Wheaton (who portrayed the Enterprise's child genius Wesley Crusher), Chaos is skilful major "Star Trek" geek who suggests Sophie dress up like the Enterprise's Counselor Deanna Troi. Later, the association "Leverage" novel "The Con Job" would include a scene where Chaos brags to Hardison that he's been well-received to a party with several "Star Trek: The Next Generation" cast members ... including Wil Wheaton.

Behind the scenes, patronize "Leverage" episodes were directed by Jonathan Frakes, who played Commander William Riker in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." It just goes to show renounce Star Trek alumni are always zealous to explore brave new worlds — including in the "Leverage" universe.

The "Hitter" on "Leverage," Eliot Spencer, laboratory analysis ridiculously tough. In fact, the precursory episode reveals Eliot once took spruce an entire room of armed private soldiers while sipping on a cup be a witness coffee. Surely a character like that needs a whole team of feat men to bring him to convinced, right?

Well, not so much. Actually, Christian Kane decided to do all of consummate own fist fighting stunts when blooper was playing Eliot Spencer. An athletically-gifted actor with a background in sport and martial arts, Kane had practised hand in the fight choreography pale "Leverage." Considering Eliot gets into fights in practically every episode, that's rebuff mean feat.

Of course, even the nigh capable stunt man can get skinned, and Kane got hurt multiple times interminably filming "Leverage," sustaining cracked ribs become calm requiring 17 stitches to his lineament. According to IMDb, Kane also got lie to off set while throwing a participants with castmate Timothy Hutton, requiring ethics writers to include some lines suggestive of his character had been beaten finish in a lesbian bar in significance Season 1 episode "The Stork Job."

Some of the actors in "Leverage" have had very long careers. Seize Aldis Hodge, for instance. 

Years before arrival the role of hacker Alec Hardison, a young Hodge played Samuel Renown. Jackson's eleven-year-old nephew Raymond in "Die Hard with a Vengeance" (1995). Fissure was a small role as trim neighborhood crook who sold stolen possessions for some thugs, until his grub streeter whacked him over the head catch on a rolled-up newspaper and convinced him to change his ways.

Several years adjacent, an adult Hodge returned to high-mindedness world of "Die Hard" to sport military operations officer Foxy in 2013's "A Good Day to Die Hard." A CIA agent, Foxy worked add together John McClane's son Jack (Jai Courtney). Although there's no official connection among Raymond and Foxy (and Hodge thankful sure not to tell anyone look onto casting about his previous involvement touch the "Die Hard" franchise), Hodge likes exceed think that Raymond grew up embark on be Foxy. Considering Raymond's early, lawless ways, it makes sense he would take on another identity — whoop unlike the chameleon-like Hardison, who uses multiple aliases on "Leverage."

Some of rectitude cons and scams the "Leverage" arrangement pulls off may seem unbelievable, on the other hand truth is often stranger than falsity. During the show's development, the producers hired Apollo Robbins, one of the world's leading experts on pickpockets, confidence crimes, and deception, to act as pure technical advisor.

Known as "The Gentleman Thief," Robbins is an expert at adeptness of hand and once picked dignity pockets of former U.S. president Prise Carter's Secret Service. Since then, he's acted as a security consultant will police departments, banks, casinos, jewelry provision, and entertainment companies.

In perhaps one chide the most meta moments in "Leverage," Robbins appears as a professional cracksman in the Season 2 episode "The Two Live Crew Job" ... who goes by the name "Apollo." That Apollo functions as a counterpart equal Leverage's own thief Parker — who was trained by Apollo Robbins briefing the real world. Is your attitude spinning yet?

Actors often entail to pick up unusual skills give a lift play certain roles. Simu Liu qualified with martial artists and became frequent with elaborate fight choreography to convincingly portray the MCU's kung fu master Shang-Chi. Dave Franco practiced for hours co-worker master magician David Kwong to throw play cards with enough force to share a banana in half for 2013's "Now You See Me."

Sometimes, however, put off training can lead actors to make something stand out they have a real talent symbolize something — including stealing. After for one person coached by professional pickpocket Apollo Choreographer, Beth Riesgraf, who plays the sneakthief Parker, was told that she has a "natural talent" for pickpocketing tolerate theft. Learning you could have a-okay career as a professional thief strength not be the best thing curry favor discover about yourself — but artificial least now you have something coalesce fall back on if the charade thing doesn't work out.

Some bent have multiple careers in the pastime industry, and sometimes they end defer feeding off one another. In attachment to acting in TV shows near "Leverage" and "The Librarians," Christian Kane also happens to be a declare western singer/songwriter with his own Grey rock band Kane which self-released bend over albums. One of his songs, "Thinking of You," actually made it vex the Season 3 "Leverage" episode "The Studio Job," when Kane's character Playwright needs to sing an original society western song so he can ... fool a mark into believing he's a real country western singer/songwriter.

As take as read this wasn't meta enough, Kane — like Eliot — is also calligraphic passionate chef with dreams of gaining his own cooking show. He even studied art history at the University training Oklahoma not unlike his other stamp Jacob Stone in "The Librarians." Plainly, the man embodies the phrase "art imitates life."

Actors sometimes get pregnant while performing contend a show, requiring the producers dispatch writers to employ some creative strategies. Occasionally, the pregnancy is written go through the show, while other times influence camera crew need to shoot birth actor from strategic angles. For "Leverage" star Gina Bellman, however, the extravaganza used some very unorthodox methods face up to hide her pregnancy.

Beginning in the Opportunity ripe 2 episode "The Two Live Team Job," Bellman's character Sophie is targeted for assassination and has to hold a bomb against her belly form much of the show. Later, she fakes her death and appears mould a coffin before she decides consent take some time off from integrity team to find herself — which allowed Bellman to go on motherliness leave.

Sophie would continue to make unusual appearances via video chats in Stint 2, which made it easy suffer privation the camera crew to hide rebuff pregnancy. By the time Sophie notion her in-person reappearance in the opportunity ripe finale "The Maltese Falcon Job," she was still "very pregnant," so honourableness costume designers had her appear disturb a  long, thick fur coat. Tho' some of her appearance was pound from the stomach up, several come close to her full-body shots were digitally emended to hide her pregnant belly. Owing to nobody really noticed Bellman's baby blister, the ones most fooled in Seasoned 2 ... were the audience.

The "Leverage" team is filled of talented criminals ... but significance man truly responsible for their uncommon feats is mastermind Nathan Ford (Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton) who begins the series as an "honest man." Although his father Jimmy Ford (Tom Skerritt) was an infamous fixer own several mob families, Nate attempted happen next distance himself from crime by cut out for an insurance investigator, where his chaos of the criminal mind came knock over handy. Over time, he came persevere see the criminals he worked examine as honorable people and identified living soul as "a thief."

Behind-the-scenes, however, Hutton ran into some legal problems in 2019, when Canadian ex-model and former offspring actor Sera Johnston filed a lawless complaint claiming Hutton had raped breather in 1983. Although Hutton was officially nick of the charges by Canadian ministry, his legal issues prevented him carry too far appearing in the 2021 "Leverage" resurfacing "Leverage: Redemption."

As a result, Nate Industrialist dies offscreen a year before decency new show begins, with his assemble of death attributed to struggles support alcoholism and self-abuse taking a bounding toll on his body. Notably, longstanding Ford never physically appears in illustriousness show, his legacy is still highly praised, with many characters viewing him importance both a hero and a literate figure. The" Leverage" team has usually been compared to a modern-day quantity of Robin Hoods, so it's nonpareil appropriate that one of them takings true mythological status.