Michael Clarke Duncan (born December 10, 1957) 10, 1957) is an
American actor, best known for his breakout role as
John Coffey in The Green Mile, for which he was nominated for an
Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Early life Duncan was born in
Chicago, Illinois and grew up in a single-parent household with his
sister, Judy, and
mother, Jean Duncan (a house cleaner), after his father left. He
always wanted to act, but had to drop out of the Communications
program at Alcorn State University to support his family when his
mother became ill. Duncan's large frame—6 feet 5 inches (196 cm) and
315 pounds (142 kg)—helped him in his jobs digging ditches for the
People's Gas Company and
being a bouncer at different Chicago clubs. Duncan has stated that one
of his many jobs had been a stripper and that his stage name was Black
Caesar. In 1979, he participated in the Disco Demolition Night at
Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox: he was among the first
100 people to run onto the field
and he slid into third base. During the ensuing riot his silver belt
buckle was stolen while he was stealing a baseball bat from the
dugout. Clarke would later provide the narration for the 2005 World
Series film. Career Duncan took other security jobs while in Los
Angeles
while trying to get some acting work in commercials.
During this time, he worked as a bodyguard for
celebrities like Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J,
and Notorious B.I.G. all the while doing bit parts in television and
films. When the Notorious B.I.G.
was killed in 1997, a friend was covering for Duncan.
This was the reason for Duncan to quit this line of work. In 1998,
Duncan was cast as Bear in the film Armageddon, where he struck up a
friendship with castmate Bruce Willis. It was Bruce Willis' influence
that helped him to get his breakout role as John Coffey in
the Frank Darabont-directed The Green Mile, a role which netted him an
Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and a
Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a
Supporting Role in a Motion Picture . Duncan then was cast in a string
of films that helped
to establish him as a star: The Whole Nine Yards, Planet of the Apes,
The Scorpion King (where he starred alongside his friend, The Rock),
The Island and Daredevil as Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin. At first
glance, Wilson Fisk appears to be an overweight
corporate head nicknamed Kingpin, while in fact he is
the sole person running organized crime. Duncan
signed on for the role in January 2002, though he had been attached
far earlier. When Duncan was cast, he weighed 290 pounds. He was asked
to gain 40
pounds for the role in order to fit the physique of
Kingpin. In order to do this, he would lift weights for
30 minutes a day, and power-lifted with one or two reps a day, as well
as eating whatever he wanted.
Despite this, Duncan's biggest concern was that he is
black, whilst Kingpin has always been portrayed as white. He spoke on
the fan's loyalty to the source material by saying "they watch movies
to say, 'Hey,
that's not like the comic book.' But I want them to
get past that and just see the movie for what it is and see me for
what I am—an actor." In July 2006, Duncan showed interest in returning
for the role of
the Kingpin, but stated that he would not be willing to
gain weight as he felt "comfortable" being down to
270 pounds. However, he jokingly showed willingness
to change his mind if he was offered $20 million.
Duncan suggested that the character be portrayed as having been
training a lot in jail in order to become
faster in combat against Daredevil, also working as a way to fit his
weight loss into the story. In 2009, he stopped eating meat and later
appeared in a PETA ad campaign, touting the health benefits and his
increased strength from a vegetarian diet. Duncan has also provided
his voice for a number of
roles including Brother Bear and its sequel, Brother Bear 2, The Land
Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, Quiznos commercials, and
the video games Demon Stone, SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs, The Suffering:
Ties That Bind, Saints Row, and Soldier of Fortune, with his most
recent role being God of War II, where he provides the voice of Atlas,
the Titan condemned by Zeus to stand at the western edge of the earth
and hold up the sky on his shoulders. He
reprised his role as the Kingpin in Spider-Man: The New Animated
Series. In 2005, he starred in the film Sin City (again alongside
Bruce Willis) as Manute, a powerful mobster. Duncan
appeared in a minor role in the 2006 movie Talladega Nights: The
Ballad of Ricky Bobby as Lucius Washington, and he voiced the role of
the villain
Massive in the Loonatics Unleashed. In 2006, he voiced the role of
Numbuh 26 in the animated movie Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation
ZERO. He played Balrog in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and
voiced the prison commander in Kung Fu Panda. He has also guest
starred in numerous television
shows. He appeared in an episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
"Benchwarmers" as Zack's basketball coach, Coach Little (Which Zack
poked fun at, since
the "Little" was somewhat ironic due to his large build)
. In 2005, Duncan guest-starred in a first-season episode of CSI:
NY.He appeared as "Colt" in the second-season premiere of Chuck,
"Chuck Versus The First Date". In November he appearer as a guest star
on the CBS show Two and a Half Men. In April 2011 Duncan guest starred
on an episode of TV series Bones as Leo Knox. In 2012, Duncan got his
first starring role as the same character in the spinoff series The
Finder. In the same year, he appeared in a public service announcement
advertising the importance of knowing early onset symptoms of strokes.
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