Fred Ward (Earl Bassett) is surely one of the most exciting and unconventional leading men to grace the silver screen. Having worked as a street vendor, janitor, timber faller and subway tunneler, he could probably teach his Tremors/TREMORS 2 character, Earl Bassett, a few new tricks! Whether he’s portraying a vulnerable Gus Grissom in The Right Stuff, roaring to action in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, or navigating the comic turns of the screwball comedy Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, Fred Ward is, in the words of film critics Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael, a “superior actor.”Discovered in 1974 by director Roberto Rossellini, Fred Ward is an accomplished performer whose extensive film career is as atypical as the man himself. Recognized for bringing to life complex characters in compelling ways, Ward has been sought by prominent directors such as Robert Altman (The Player and Short Cuts), Jonathan Demme (Swing Shift), Walter Hill (Southern Comfort), Mike Nichols (Silkwood), Alan Rudolf (Equinox), Beth B (Two Small Bodies) and Sam Shepard (Simpatico). Philip Kaufman, director of Henry and June and The Right Stuff said that “it was great casting Fred to play Henry Miller. He’s been studying for the role his whole life…Fred Ward is the first cult actor of the year 2000.”

Ward studied acting at the Herbert Berghoff Studio in New York, with David Alexander in Los Angeles and with theatre guru Jerzy Grotowsky. Always nomadic, Ward began his film career in Rome with Roberto Rossellini as a star in Cartesio and The Power of Cosimo. He then moved on to San Francisco where Tennessee Williams noticed Ward in a production of Find Your Way Home and cast him in his The Two Characters Play, which garnered both Ward and the play critical and commercial success. Following extensive stage work, including the part of McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and two plays written and directed by Sam Shepard (Inacoma and Angel City) at the Magic Theatre, Ward moved to Los Angeles where he was soon cast as Clint Eastwood’s partner in crime in Escape from Alcatraz.

Since then Ward has starred and co-starred in over 35 films, co- produced Miami Blues with Jonathan Demme and is developing independent films as both a director and an actor. About his projects, Ward says, “They are all about marginal people who try to live by their own rules.”

When Michael Gross (Burt Gummer) traded in the intimacy and familiarity of the theatre for three cameras and a Hollywood sound stage, little did he know he would be catapulted into the limelight with the success of the Emmy Award-winning series “Family Ties.” As passionate ’60s activist Steven Keaton, Gross delighted audiences for a seven-year stretch, and his career continues in full swing, not missing a beat since the show’s touching finale.In TREMORS 2: AFTERSHOCKS, Gross reprises his Tremors role as one-man arsenal Burt Gummer and again demonstrates his unique ability to skate the fine line between hilarity, vulnerability, and the sort of thrilling unpredictability that makes Gross performances as an actor resonate with multi-layered excitement.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Michael Gross graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a B.A. and went on to earn a master of Fine Arts degree from the School of Drama at Yale University. His professional career began with three seasons at the Actors Theatre, the Yale Repertory Theatre, Baltimore’s Center Stage, the Indiana Repertory Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum, where he won a Drama-Logue Award for the West Coast premiere of The Real Thing. New York productions include the Broadway premiere of Bent, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination and the off-Broadway production of No End of Blame, which earned him an Obie Award. Recently, he starred in Chicago’s Northlight Theatre production of A.R. Gurney’s Later Life, the American premiere of Money and Friends at L.A.’s Doolittle Theatre and in Chicago, New Mexico and San Francisco productions of Gurney’s Love Letters.

In addition to the science-fiction thriller Tremors, Gross’ feature film credits include Big Business and the independent features Alan and Naomi and Unfaithful. Recent television movies include the starring role in NBC’s drama, “Deceived by Trust,” the highest rated movie of the ’95 season; Fox Television’s “Avalanche;” “Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story” for CBS and “In the Line of Duty: The Price of Vengeance” for NBC.

Michael’s passion for acting is closely followed by his passion for trains. As the grandson and great-grandson of railroad workers, Michael is a railroad buff who would rather ride than fly. He is also an amateur railway historian, photographer and award-winning modeler.

New York native Christopher Gartin (Grady Hoover) fell into show business at the age of thirteen when he accompanied his sister on a trip to meet a casting agent. Before he knew it, he was going to his first audition and was cast as the lead in the Circle-in- the-Square production of The Buddy System.A typical teenager, he was torn between the sacrifices of school athletics and a normal life as a kid versus the thrill of acting and its inherent obligations. However, he continued to juggle those responsibilities and landed parts in the features No Big Deal opposite Kevin Dillon and First Born starring Teri Garr and Peter Weller.

It wasn’t until he was chosen by Harvey Fierstein to take over Matthew Broderick’s role in the Tony Award-winning Torch Song Trilogy that Christopher was inspired to pursue a fulltime acting career. Following Torch Song Trilogy, he was cast in the Broadway production of Precious Sons in which he understudied the two “sons” opposite Ed Harris and current cast member Judith Ivey. Following a semester at the University of Southern California, he was cast in the series “Aaron’s Way” and went on to appear on numerous television series including “Who’s the Boss,” “Boys of Twilight,” “Room for Romance,” “Going Places,” “Melrose Place” and “M.A.N.T.I.S.”

Gartin stared in “Buddies,” a comedy series from Wind Dancer Production Group and Touchstone Television. His movie-of-the-week credits include Parent Trap III, Words To Live By, Danielle Steele’s Changes, The Story Lady and Matters of the Heart, and he recently filmed the role of Johnny Mnemonic in the CD-ROM movie version of the feature with Keanu Reeves.

In addition to his acting credits, Gartin has directed a production of David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago and enjoys writing whenever time allows.

Helen Shaver (Kate White Reilly) could be described as a “chameleon” for her uncanny ability to get inside the skin of whatever character she portrays and make audiences believe they are looking into a mirror rather than watching a performance. A native of Canada and one of today’s most exciting and versatile actresses, Shaver has time and time again been singled out by critics for her work. Currently starring in the Showtime series “Poltergeist: The Legacy,” Shaver received a CableACE Award nomination for her role in Showtime’s “Sandkings,” the premiere episode that launched the rebirth of the popular anthology series “The Outer Limits.” Her performance in Desert Hearts won her the Bronze Leopard Award at the Locano Film Festival in Switzerland and she is a Genie Award Best Actress winner for In Praise of Older Women. Additionally, Shaver’s performance in the Broadway production of Neil Simon’s Jake’s Women won her a Theater World Award.After TREMORS 2, Shaver can next be seen in the upcoming feature films The Craft and Open Season, in which she stars alongside writer/director Robert Wahl. In addition, she recently completed production on The Amateurs, directed by Masato Harada. Among Shaver’s previous film credits are The Osterman Weekend, The Color of Money, The Believers, Zebrahead, and That Night.

In 1995, Shaver starred in an episode of Showtims’s “Rebel Highway” and has starred on such popular television show as “WIOU.” She has also guest-starred on episodes of “Hill Street Blues” and “Amazing Stories.”

Marcelo Tubert (Senor Carlos Ortega) enjoys what is surely one of the most varied and interesting careers in Hollywood. An accomplished actor both in movies and on stage, he has worked with many of the best in both media, from Mike Nichols in Postcards from the Edge to Eugene Ionesco in the world premiere of Tales, for Persons Under Three Years of Age. He has been a member of the acting company for the Sundance Institute’s Playwright’s Lab, a guest star on dozens of television shows, from “Melrose Place” to “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and is a member of Antaeus Company, which specializes in classical repertory theater, Film and movie-of-the-week credits include Vampire in Brooklyn, Leprechaun 3, Everything Changes, and Masque of the Red Death, to name a few.Of his latest, TREMORS 2: AFTERSHOCKS, Tubert says, “The movie was just a great experience. I worked with really talented people in every aspect of the production, and director Steve Wilson was very supportive of the actors.”

Marcelo was born in Cordoba, Argentina. His mother, Miriam Tubert, is an actress who did a great deal of stage work and had her own children’s radio show. Marcelo’s introduction to theater came at the age of three, in Garcia Lorca’s Yerma, when a child actor in a visiting troupe became ill. When he was seven, Marcelo and his family moved to Los Angeles where he later took up acting seriously in high school then studied at Los Angeles City College’s Theater Arts Department.

Among his many early influences, he cites actor Alejandro Rey. Tubert began with small television and film roles. As those roles grew larger, he was also proving his versatility, establishing himself in theatre and with commercial and voiceover work.