Lee Grinner Pace Bio
Lee Grinner Pace, born on March 25, 1979, in Chickasha, Oklahoma, is an American actor recognized for a wide-ranging career across film, television, and stage. He first drew widespread attention for his role as the pie-maker Ned in the ABC series Pushing Daisies, a performance that earned him a 2008 Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Pace is also widely known for portraying the Elvenking Thranduil in The Hobbit trilogy, the tech visionary Joe MacMillan in Halt and Catch Fire, and the villain Ronan the Accuser in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since 2021, he has starred as the galactic emperor Brother Day in the Apple TV+ adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation.
Early Life and Background
Lee Grinner Pace was born to Charlotte, a schoolteacher, and James, an engineer, and grew up with a brother and a sister. As a child, he spent several years in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked in the oil business, before the family returned to the United States and settled in the Houston, Texas, area. Pace was raised in a Catholic household, an upbringing he has occasionally referenced in interviews.
He attended Klein High School in Spring, Texas, where his classmate was the actor Matt Bomer. During his teenage years, Pace briefly stopped attending classes to perform at Houston’s Alley Theatre, where he appeared in productions of The Spider’s Web and The Greeks before returning to complete his high school education. The experience at the Alley Theatre helped confirm his desire to pursue acting as a career.
In 1997, Pace was accepted into the Juilliard School’s Drama Division as a member of Group 30 (1997–2001), a class that also included future co-stars Anthony Mackie and Tracie Thoms. While at Juilliard, he performed in several plays, taking on roles such as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, the title role in Richard II, and Cassius in Julius Caesar. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, a training ground that he has credited with preparing him for the demands of professional acting.
Path to Acting
After graduating from Juilliard, Lee Grinner Pace moved into the New York theater scene, starring in several off-Broadway productions including The Credeaux Canvas and The Fourth Sister. He earned a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Actor for his work in Craig Lucas’s Small Tragedy, and later received a second Lortel nomination for his role in Peter Morris’s two-character play Guardians in 2006. These early stage roles established him as a thoughtful and committed dramatic actor.
Pace made his Broadway debut in Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart in 2011, portraying Bruce Niles at the Golden Theatre. He continued his stage career with Vincenzo Bellini in the Manhattan Theatre Club’s Golden Age and later joined the 2018 Broadway revival of Angels in America as Joe Pitt. His theater work laid a strong foundation for his transition into film and television.
Lee Grinner Pace Career
Early Career (2001-2006)
Lee Grinner Pace began his screen career with a striking turn in the 2003 television film Soldier’s Girl, in which he portrayed Calpernia Addams, a transgender woman who falls in love with a military man. To prepare for the role, he studied documentaries about transsexual people, lost twenty-five pounds, and wore prosthetic breasts and hips, an experience he later described as the most demanding of his early training. The performance earned him a Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor and a Golden Globe Award nomination, establishing him as a serious dramatic talent.
His early film work also included roles in The Fall (2006), Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Possession, The White Countess, Infamous, When in Rome, and The Good Shepherd. On television, he played Aaron Tyler in the short-lived 2004 series Wonderfalls, created by Bryan Fuller, who would soon cast him in his breakout role.
Breakthrough (2007-2014)
Pace’s breakthrough came with Pushing Daisies, which debuted on ABC in October 2007 and ran for two seasons. His portrayal of Ned, a pie-maker who can bring the dead back to life, brought him a 2008 Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and cemented his reputation with audiences.
He expanded his range with supporting roles in Marmaduke and as the nomadic vampire Garrett in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012), a casting that author Stephenie Meyer praised for capturing the character’s swashbuckling energy. That same year, director Peter Jackson announced that Pace had been cast as Thranduil, the king of the Mirkwood Elves, in The Hobbit trilogy. Jackson revealed that Pace had been his first choice for the part since seeing him in The Fall. Thranduil appeared briefly in the prologue of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and featured more prominently in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).
In 2011, Pace joined Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln as Fernando Wood, a role Spielberg offered him after seeing his performance in Ceremony. The film received 12 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. He then stepped into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ronan the Accuser in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), later reprising the character in Captain Marvel.
Notable Works and Milestones
Pace went on to portray Joe MacMillan in the AMC drama Halt and Catch Fire from 2014 to 2017, a performance that showcased his ability to anchor a character-driven series. In 2019, Apple announced his casting as Brother Day in the adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation, which premiered in September 2021. He also appeared in the 2018 Hong Kong action series Flying Tiger 2 and narrated the horror podcast Darkest Night, produced by AMC’s streaming service Shudder. In 2025, he was cast as the voice of Grand Regent Thragg in Season 4 of the animated series Invincible.
Lee Grinner Pace Award Nominations
Lee Grinner Pace has received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance as Ned in Pushing Daisies, along with Golden Globe and other recognition for his early film work in Soldier’s Girl.
Lee Grinner Pace Awards Won
Pace won a Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor for his portrayal of Calpernia Addams in Soldier’s Girl, marking him as one of the most promising talents of his generation.
Lee Grinner Pace Family
Lee Grinner Pace is married to Matthew Foley, an executive at the fashion label Thom Browne. The couple married in 2022.
Personal Life
Pace is married to Matthew Foley, an executive at Thom Browne, with whom he tied the knot in 2022. In earlier interviews, including a 2018 conversation with W magazine, Pace has spoken about having dated both men and women, and in June 2018, he discussed being a queer actor in an interview with The New York Times.
