Lee Pace

After graduation, Pace starred in several off-Broadway plays, including The Credeaux Canvas and The Fourth Sister. He also starred in a production of Craig Lucas's Small Tragedy, for which he was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Actor. In 2006, Pace starred in the two-character play Guardians by Peter Morris, which earned Pace his second nomination for a Lortel Award as Outstanding Actor.

Pace made his Broadway debut in Larry Kramer's play The Normal Heart, portraying Bruce Niles.[6] It opened at the Golden Theatre on April 27, 2011. The show ran for a total of 96 performances, with July 10 marking its final performance.[7]

Pace was cast as composer Vincenzo Bellini in Golden Age, which began previews November 15, 2012.[8] The play, written by Terrence McNally, began its official run at the Manhattan Theatre Club December 4, 2012.[9] The previews were originally scheduled for November 13, 2012, but two shows were cancelled as a result of Hurricane Sandy.[10]

Pace played the role of Joe Pitt in the Broadway revival of the National Theatre's production of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Previews began at the Neil Simon Theatre on February 23, 2018, and the show opened on March 25, 2018.[11]

Pace promoting Guardians of the Galaxy at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International

Pace first gained recognition for his role in the 2003 film Soldier’s Girl, based on real events, in which he played the central role of Calpernia Addams.

Of the role, Pace has said:

Not even my excellent training at Juilliard prepared me for my first movie role, where I played a transsexual who falls in love with a military guy in Soldier’s Girl. Here I was, this 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), 190 pounds (86 kg), lanky kid from Chickasha, Oklahoma, not knowing how to begin being a woman. So I saw documentaries about transsexuals, I lost twenty-five pounds, and I put on prosthetic boobs and hips to become that character. There were times I’d look in the mirror and wonder, ‘What am I doing to my life here? My dad is going to kill me!’ But the reason I went into acting was to be able to play parts as complicated and important as this one. In playing a transsexual, I got the chance to help change people’s perspective about other people, and that is a powerful thing. I’m playing a swashbuckling bandit in my next film, but I’ll always be proud of Soldier’s Girl ”.[12]

Pace won a Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor and was nominated for several other awards, including a Golden Globe Award, for his work in this film.

In 2008, Pace starred in the film Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and in Tarsem Singh’s The Fall. The Fall was very well received amongst critics and viewers alike and where Pace starred in one of his most artistic roles. His next film was the movie Possession with Sarah Michelle Gellar. Pace also played supporting roles in The White Countess, Infamous, When in Rome and The Good Shepherd. In 2010, Pace appeared as Phil Winslow in the film Marmaduke.

In 2012, Pace starred as Garrett, the nomadic vampire, in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. Pace was admittedly aware of the reputation linked to the Twilight franchise, and revealed that he "went in to this a little like ‘You know what you’re getting into, just do what you can.’ "[13] However, he enjoyed the experience and only had praise for the director Bill Condon.[14] Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight saga, was very satisfied with Pace’s performance as Garrett, since he "stood out as someone who really was just so much fun and really looked the part."[15] The movie was met with a mixed reception by critics.[16] However, some critics, such as Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times, whose only issue was that he was introduced too late in the series: "Why, oh, why didn’t they introduce him sooner?"[17] Meanwhile, Sara Stewart of the New York Post simply described him as a “standout”.[18]

On April 30, 2011, it was announced that Pace had been cast as the king of the Mirkwood Elves, Thranduil, in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. The announcement was made by Peter Jackson himself, who revealed on his Facebook page that Pace had been his favorite for the part, ever since he saw his performance in The Fall.[19] The character had previously been mentioned in Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and had previously been portrayed in The Hobbit, voiced by Oscar-nominated director Otto Preminger, and in the 1968 BBC radio series, voiced by the British actor Leonard Fenton. Pace made three trips to New Zealand, and called it a “fantastic experience”.[14] The character appeared in the prologue of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey released in December 2012, and had a larger role in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug released in December 2013 and in the last film of the series, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, released on December 17, 2014.[20][21]

On July 28, 2011, it was announced that Pace had been cast in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, as the one-time New York City mayor Fernando Wood, an early Confederate supporter.[22] The events in the film takes place in 1865, when Fernando Wood served in the House of Representatives. However, at the time, Wood was 53 years old, which is 20 years senior to Pace’s age when he portrayed him. In a Q&A, Spielberg revealed that he decided to offer Pace the part, after he saw his performance in Ceremony.[23] Of the experience of the film, Pace said that “it was a real pinnacle of what I’ve done as an actor.”[14] The movie was nominated for 12 Academy Awards,[24] including Best Picture, and was nominated for Best Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Award. However, Pace was not included among the Lincoln ensemble’s nomination, and several bloggers were annoyed by this, including Katey Rich of Cinemablend.com and Nathaniel Rogers of The Film Experience.[25]

Pace played the villain, Ronan the Accuser, in the 2014 Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy.[26] He reprised the character in Captain Marvel.[27]

Pace played Aaron Tyler in the acclaimed but short-lived 2004 television series Wonderfalls, which was co-created by Bryan Fuller. Later, Fuller cast Pace in the lead role of Ned in the series Pushing Daisies which debuted on ABC in October 2007 and returned for its second and final season on October 1, 2008. Pace received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance.[28]

Pace has also portrayed a child molester in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Guilt".[29] In 2010, Pace was cast in the unsold HBO pilot The Miraculous Year directed by Kathryn Bigelow.[30][31] From 2014 to 2017, Pace played the role of Joe MacMillan in the AMC series Halt and Catch Fire.[32]

In 2018, Pace was cast as Sam Colin in Hong Kong action crime television series Flying Tiger 2 produced by Shaw Brothers Studios.[33]