the event

Clifton Collins, Jr. stars as Thomas, a mysterious figure who's intimately connected to Sophia (Laura Innes) and the detainees at Inostranka in NBC's new high-octane conspiracy thriller The Event.

From an early age, Collins was encouraged to pursue his artistic talents by his actor grandfather, who allowed him the opportunity to surround himself with the acting community. Born to a Mexican mother and a German father, Collins realized his diverse background coupled with strong intellect would provide for a unique quality rarely seen on screen.

No stranger to the small screen, Collins received an Emmy Award nomination for his role in the highly acclaimed miniseries "Thief," in which he starred alongside Andre Braugher. He has also recurred on some of primetime's highest-rated shows, including "24," "The Shield," and "Alias." 

Collins' passion for the art of acting keeps him drawn to both studio and independent features. As one of Hollywood's busiest actors, he has starred in a variety of films, including the Sundance hit "Sunshine Cleaning" with Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. Next, he starred alongside an all-star cast in the J.J. Abrams' blockbuster "Star Trek," in which he plays the Romulan, Ayel. He can also be seen in the action-packed film "Crank 2:  High Voltage"; as well as "Extract" (alongside Ben Affleck); the highly anticipated cult sequel "Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day"; and in Jim Sheridan's "Brothers" (with Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman).

Collins' other notable film credits include "Traffic" (directed by Steven Soderbergh); "Rules of Attraction" (directed by Roger Avary); "Tigerland" (directed by Joel Schumacher); and the Academy Award-nominated film "Capote," for which he received an Alma Award nomination for Best Actor.

Collins next will appear alongside Oscar-winning actors Forest Whitaker and Adrien Brody in the Paul Scheuring-directed feature "The Experiment," a remake of the 2001 German film about a group of volunteers who participate in a prison scenario experiment. Collins will also appear in "Freeloaders," the next film from the Broken Lizard comedy troupe.
         
Even at the beginning of his career, Collins found himself working with some of Hollywood's bright young filmmakers, including the Hughes Brothers in "Menace to Society" and "Dead Presidents"; John Singleton in "Poetic Justice"; Kevin Reynolds in "187"; Antoine Fuqua in "The Replacement Killers"; "Still Waters"; and the award-winning independent film "Little Chenier."

Collins continues to take on new challenges and recently directed the video for Zac Brown Band's single "Chicken Fried," which debuted on CMT to rave reviews. The video was nominated for two CMT Awards (Group Video of the Year and USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year), and won the CMT USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year Award. It was also given a bronze for overall Video and Editing at the Telly Awards. In addition, Collins directed the video for the Zac Brown Band's follow-up single "Whatever It Is," which was #1 on CMT.

Collins currently resides in Los Angeles.