title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" premiered in Los Angeles on June 24, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 30, by Summit Entertainment. It became the first and only "The Twilight Saga" film to be released in IMAX. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film grosssed over $698 million worldwide, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2010. It held the record for biggest midnight opening in the United States and Canada, grossing $30.1 million, beating "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" until it was surpassed by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" (2011). The film then scored the biggest Wednesday opening in the United States and Canada with $68.5 million, beating "" (2009). "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" has also become the film with the widest independent release, beating "The Twilight Saga: New Moon", and the widest domestic release, playing in 4,416 theaters, beating "Iron Man 2" (2010) until it was surpassed by "Despicable Me 2" (2013).


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: In Seattle, not far from Forks, Victoria attacks Riley Biers, so she can begin to create an army of newborns with him to get her revenge on Edward Cullen for killing her true love James.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Back in Forks, Edward and Bella Swan discuss the complications of becoming an immortal vampire. At 18 years old, one year older than Edward was when he became a vampire, Bella expresses her aversion to the idea of marrying so young. Edward refuses to turn her into a vampire until they are married, his argument that she should have various human experiences she would otherwise miss. While Charlie Swan investigates the disappearance of Riley Biers, Edward suspects his disappearance was caused by the newborn vampires, furthering his suspicions is Riley's intrusion into Bella's room.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Although Edward fears for her safety, Bella insists that Jacob Black and the rest of the werewolf pack would never harm her, but Edward is still unconvinced. Bella goes to La Push to see Jacob and returns home unharmed. During one of her visits, Jacob confesses he is in love with her, and forcefully kisses her. Furious, Bella punches him and sprains her hand, and Edward later threatens Jacob if he ever touches her without her consent again and tells him to wait for Bella to give it to him. She even revokes the invitations for Jacob and his pack members to her graduation party, but when he apologizes for his behavior, she forgives him.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Meanwhile, Alice sees a vision of the newborn army attacking Forks led by Riley Biers. Jacob, accompanied by Quil and Embry overhear this, which leads to an alliance between the Cullens and Wolf pack. Later, the Cullens and the wolves agree to a meeting place and time to train and discuss strategy.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: During the training Jasper explains to Bella that he was created by a vampire named Maria to control a newborn army. He hated his original existence and upon meeting Alice, joined the Cullens with her. Bella sees the true bond between a mated vampire pair and begins to understand Jasper better. Despite her reluctance to marry, Bella realizes that spending eternity with Edward is more important to her than anything else and agrees to marry him.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Edward and Bella camp up in the mountains to hide her from the bloodthirsty newborns. During the night, she overhears a conversation between Edward and Jacob, in which they temporarily put aside their hatred towards each other. In the morning, Jacob overhears Edward and Bella discussing their engagement and takes off. She desperately asks him to kiss her, realizing she has fallen in love with him. Edward finds out about the kiss but is not upset, as Bella tells him her love for Jacob is not as strong as her love for him.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: When Victoria appears, Edward kills her while Seth kills Riley. The Cullens and the Quileute wolves, meanwhile, destroy her "army", though Jacob is injured saving Leah Clearwater from a newborn. Several members of the vampire police, the Volturi, arrive to deal with the newborn army. They also see that the Cullens are guarding the newborn, Bree Tanner, who had refused to fight and surrendered to Carlisle and Esme. Jane tortures her to collect information, then instructs Felix to kill her, despite the Cullens' efforts to spare her.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: When Jane notes that Caius will find it interesting that Bella is still human, Bella informs her the date for her transformation has been set. She visits the injured Jacob to tell him that even though she is in love with him, she has chosen to be with Edward. Heartbroken but willing to accept her choice, Jacob reluctantly agrees to stop trying to come between her and Edward.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Bella and Edward go to their meadow, where she tells him she has decided to do things his way: get married, have sex, then be transformed into a vampire. She also explains that she never has been normal and never will be; she's felt out of place her entire life, but when she is in Edward's world she feels stronger and complete. At the end of the film they decide they need to tell Charlie about their engagement.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: In early November 2008, Summit Entertainment obtained the film adaptation rights to the remaining novels in the "Twilight" book series, "New Moon", "Eclipse", and "Breaking Dawn". On February 20, 2009, Summit confirmed that they would begin working on "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse". On the same day, it was announced that since "" director Chris Weitz would be in post-production for "New Moon" when "Eclipse" began shooting, he would not be directing the third film. Instead, the film would be helmed by director David Slade. David Slade dove right into the project, interviewing cast members individually between two trough three times to discuss characters and the plot.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Summit Entertainment revealed that they would replace Rachelle Lefevre, who played an evil vampire named Victoria, with Bryce Dallas Howard in late July 2009. They attributed the change to scheduling conflicts, and Lefevre responded by saying she was "stunned" and "greatly saddened" by the decision. Howard had previously rejected the role of Victoria as "too small of a part" when she was approached to play her in "Twilight".


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: "Silent Hill"'s Jodelle Ferland was cast as the newly turned vampire, Bree Tanner. Other new cast members include Xavier Samuel as Riley, Jack Huston as Royce King II, Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria, Julia Jones as Leah Clearwater, and Boo Boo Stewart as Seth Clearwater.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Actors who auditioned for the various roles were not given a script to work from. Instead, actress Kirsten Prout mentioned, "they made the scenes exact transcripts from the book... They didn't give the screenplay out. So, the audition side was just reading a page of "Twilight" and reading the lines that were interspersed between the descriptions."


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Principal photography for "Eclipse" began on August 17, 2009, at Vancouver Film Studios. On August 29, photos captured Kristen Stewart, Billy Burke, and other principal actors, filming a scene with graduation caps and gowns. September 2 brought Xavier Samuel together with Stewart and Robert Pattinson filming at a soundstage for scenes at Bella's house. Director David Slade stated that they filmed a scene with a tent on September 13. He also said that they filmed a kiss between Jacob and Bella on September 17. Filming wrapped up on October 29, 2009, while post-production began in late November. Slade published multiple updates on his Twitter account proclaiming that editing was going well. He said the "story and the way [they] approached the film calls for a more realistic approach." In April 2010, it was revealed that reshoots to the film were needed. Both Slade and Stephenie Meyer were present at the shoot along with the three main stars.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: In January 2010, an early draft of the film's script was leaked on the Internet. The script presumably belonged to star Jackson Rathbone, as his name was watermarked across each page.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: The score for "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" was composed by Howard Shore, who composed the scores for such films as "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "The Aviator". The film's soundtrack was released on June 8, 2010, by Atlantic Records in conjunction with music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas' Chop Shop label. The lead single from the soundtrack is "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)", performed by the British band Muse.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: On May 11, 2010, MySpace announced that the full "Eclipse" soundtrack listing would be unveiled starting at 8 a.m. the following morning every half-hour, totaling six hours. The album debuted at #2 on "Billboard" 200.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: As in the previous film, "Eclipse" used CGI animation to depict the wolf pack when they were transformed into wolves. Mostly, the wolves were simply animated, although in one scene with Jacob and Bella, Taylor Lautner himself played the wolf, with him wearing a gray suit which was reportedly "so his skin tone wouldn’t bounce back onto Stewart and create lighting issues"; the visual effects of the wolf was later edited onto Lautner.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: On November 5, 2009, the American Film Market revealed the first poster for "Eclipse". In late February 2010, Summit Entertainment announced that the first trailer would be attached to the studio's own film "Remember Me", which also stars Robert Pattinson. On March 10, 2010, a 10-second preview of the trailer was released online, followed by the release of the full trailer the next day. The trailer's release coincided with the launching of the film's official website. On March 19, 2010, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" was released on DVD and Blu-ray; the Walmart Ultimate Fan Edition includes a 7-minute first look at "Eclipse". On March 23, the second poster for the film was released. The final "Eclipse" trailer debuted on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", and in promotion for the movie, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, and Dakota Fanning made a guest appearance on the show May 13; the audience also viewed a version of the film. On June 6, 2010, a sneak peek of the film was shown at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards; that same week, more clips and TV spots were released also.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: In order to tie in the lunar eclipse on June 26, 2010, Summit Entertainment hosted screenings of the first two films in "The Twilight Saga" film series in twelve cities throughout the United States. The event was streamed live from Philadelphia and San Diego, and included cast member appearances and special previews of "Eclipse".


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Nordstrom and Summit Entertainment joined together to sell a fashion collection inspired by the film, as was done for the previous installment. Created by Awake Inc., the collection was based on Ashley Greene's character, Alice, and Kristen Stewart's character, Bella. The "Eclipse" collection became available on June 4, 2010. In a similar style to its "New Moon" marketing, Burger King started promoting the film on Monday, June 21, 2010. Their promotion heavily focuses on the "Team Jacob vs. Team Edward" aspect of the film.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Tickets for "Eclipse" went on sale on various online movie ticket sellers on Friday, May 14, 2010. The official red carpet premiere for the film was held on June 24, 2010, at the Nokia Plaza in Los Angeles. An official United Kingdom premiere was held in Leicester Square, London on July 1, 2010. However, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner were not present.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: "Eclipse" opened in 4,416 theaters and 193 IMAX screens. With that, early predictions forecasted the film will gross anywhere from $150 million to $180 million within its first six days of release, putting the record set by "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" in danger of being broken. "Eclipse" accounted for 82 percent of Fandango's online ticket sales, reaching the top five on May 14, 2010. MovieTickets.com stated that "Eclipse" was the top advance ticket seller on its site, with more than 50 percent of daily ticket sales. The film was the top advance ticket seller as of June 2010. Early ticket sales for the film also have broken records for Gold Class Cinemas, where more than 8,500 "Twilight" fans have reserved tickets; the Fairview, TX location sold out their showings of "Eclipse" for June 30.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: The film was re-released into theaters on September 13, 2010 in recognition of lead character Bella Swan's birthday.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" was released on DVD in the United States on December 4, 2010. The Two Disc Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray discs include special features such as: eight deleted and extended scenes, music videos by Muse and Metric from "" and commentaries by Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, Stephenie Meyer and Wyck Geoffery. It was released on December 1, 2010 in New Zealand and Australia. There is also a "gift set" Two-Disc Collector's Edition which features a unique packaging and 6 collectible photo cards. In North American DVD sales, the film has currently grossed $164,676,695 and has sold more than 9,424,505 units.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: "Eclipse" set a new record for the biggest midnight opening in the United States and Canada in box office history, grossing $30.1 million in over 4,000 theaters. The record was formerly held by the previous film, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon", with $26.3 million in 3,514 theaters. It held the record until the summer of 2011, when it was broken by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2", which made $43.5 million. "Eclipse" also had the highest midnight gross of "The Twilight Saga" film series until it was topped in November 2011 by its successor, "" ($30.3 million). The movie also surpassed "" in total grosses for a midnight screening in IMAX. "Eclipse" garnered more than $1 million at 192 theaters, while "Revenge of the Fallen" earned $959,000, until it was beaten five months later by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1" with $1.4 million. The film grossed $68.5 million on its opening day in the United States and Canada, becoming the biggest single-day Wednesday opening over "Revenge of the Fallen" $62 million, and the third biggest single-day opening ever at the time. As of 2011, the film has the third-highest opening-day gross of the series behind "New Moon" ($72.7 million) and "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" ($72.0 million). Furthermore, the film earned $9 million at various IMAX locations during its first week.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: After six days of release in the United States and Canada, the film ended Independence Day with a total of $176.4 million, including $64.8 million during its first weekend. In its second weekend, the film fell 51%, a better standing than its predecessors, grossing an estimated $31.7 million.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: The film opened overseas with $16.2 million, beating records set by the film's predecessor in Russia with an estimated $3.9 million (since surpassed by "" which earned $5 million), in Italy with an estimated $3.1 million, in the Philippines, grossing $1.2 million, and in Belgium, where it grossed an estimated $1.1 million. It is the third-best opening day ever in Italy; in the Philippines, "Eclipse" topped "Spider-Man 3" for best opening day ever, and was the highest opening day ever in Belgium. In three days, "Eclipse" topped the box office with $121.3 million and during its first weekend it earned $71.3 million.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Overseas in its second weekend, the film grossed $70.6 million from 9,440 screens in 63 markets, a 1% drop from its first weekend. The film opened in the United Kingdom at number one, grossing $20.7 million from 523 locations (including previews), the market's biggest opening of 2010 (until "Toy Story 3" surpassed it) and about $1.7 million more than "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" grossed in its opening weekend in November 2009. The film also debuted at number one in France, grossing $13.3 million, which marks the third-largest opening in the country for a 2010 film (behind "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1" ($20.7 million) and "Alice in Wonderland"'s ($15.4 million). The film opened at number one in South Korea with $4.9 million.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: The film ended its box-office run in the U.S.A. and Canada on October 21, 2010 having grossed $300,531,751, surpassing its predecessor "", which grossed $296,623,634 a few months before, to become the highest-grossing film of the franchise and the highest-grossing romantic fantasy, werewolf and vampire movie of all time at the American and Canadian box office. It is the fourth movie of 2010 to reach $300 million and ranks 46th on the all-time chart in the U.S.A. and Canada. Compared to its predecessor overseas, it has grossed $393,047,815 against 's $413,203,156. Therefore, internationally, "Eclipse" remains the second-highest-grossing film in the franchise with $693,579,566 against "New Moon" $709,826,790. "Eclipse" highest-grossing markets except the U.S.A. and Canada are the UK, Ireland and Malta ($45,709,785), Germany ($33,087,955), France and the Maghreb region ($32,987,421), Italy ($19,984,000), Brazil ($30,499,010) and Australia ($28,566,737).


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Reviews for the film were mixed, but more favorable than "". Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 48% based on 244 reviews, with a rating average of 5.46/10. The site's general consensus is that, "Stuffed with characters and overly reliant on uninspired dialogue, "Eclipse" won't win "The Twilight Saga" many new converts, despite an improved blend of romance and action fantasy." Review aggregation website Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film holds a rating score of 58/100 based on 38 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: "The Hollywood Reporter" posted a positive review of "Eclipse", saying the film "nails it". Peter Debruge of "Variety" reports that the film "finally feels more like the blockbuster this top-earning franchise deserves".


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Rick Bentley of McClatchy Newspapers stated the film was the best in "The Twilight Saga" so far, suggesting that, "The person who should be worried is Bill Condon, the director tapped for the two-part finale, "Breaking Dawn". He's got a real challenge to make movies as good as "Eclipse"." "The New York Times" praised David Slade's ability to make an entertaining film, calling it funny and better than its predecessors, but wrote that the acting has not improved much. Giving the film 4.5 out of 5 stars, Betsey Sharkey from the "Los Angeles Times" praised David Slade's method of blending his previous works to form a funny movie. She stated, ""Eclipse" eclipse[s] its predecessors." The film was also listed in 49th place by Moviefone on its list of the 50 best movies of 2010.


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Roger Moore of the "Orlando Sentinel" gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, stating, "The dullness of the performances really stands out when somebody like Bryce Dallas Howard, or Anna Kendrick turn up and liven up their scenes." While calling the film "too chatty and too long", he did compliment David Slade's directing and noted that the movie will please the fans. Michael Phillips of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, stating that David Slade's pacing is "everything like molasses running uphill". He also criticized the characters, the actors portraying them, the big close-ups of hand-held devices, and called Howard Shore's score "gunk". Wesley Morris from the "Boston Globe" stated, "If the first two movies were "get a room," part three is "get a therapist". He said the second and third film "repeat that discovery [in "Twilight"] without truly deepening it...the movies are interesting without ever being good."


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: A mixed review said that while ""Eclipse" restores some of the energy "New Moon" zapped out of the franchise and has enough quality performances to keep it involving", the film "isn't quite the adrenaline-charged game-changer for love story haters that its marketing might lead you to believe. The majority of the 'action' remains protracted and not especially scintillating should-we-or-shouldn't-we conversations between the central triangle."


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun Times" gave the film a more positive review than for the first two films in the saga, but still felt the movie was a constant, unclever conversation between the three main characters. He criticized the "gazes" both Edward and Jacob give Bella throughout the movie, and noted that the mountain range that appears in the film looks "like landscapes painted by that guy on TV who shows you how to paint stuff like that." He also predicted that a lack of understanding for the film series in general would not bode well with the audience, stating, "I doubt anyone not intimately familiar with the earlier installments could make head or tails of the opening scenes." He gave the film 2 stars out of 4. Steve Persall of the "St. Peterburg Times" called the movie "just monstrously bad", and said, ""Eclipse" leaves the sputtering story arc in idle, with only an uneasy truce between the vampire and werewolf clans amounting to anything new" and rating it grade C−. "The Guardian" columnist Peter Bradshaw gave the film a one-star rating in a review that lampooned Bella's continued abstinence, among other plot elements. Bradshaw, dubbing the series "The epic of the unbroken duck", wrote that "Bella Swan is starting to make Doris Day look like the nympho from hell", and concluded that "it could be time to sharpen the wooden stake."


title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

text: Summit Entertainment announced it would adapt "Breaking Dawn" into a two-part film in June 2010. "" was released on November 18, 2011 and "" on November 16, 2012 with Bill Condon directing.


title: Breckin Meyer

text: Breckin Erin Meyer (born May 7, 1974) is an American actor, musician, writer and producer, known for his roles in films such as "Clueless" (1995), "Road Trip" (2000), "Rat Race" (2001), and "" (2004), he's also known for providing voices for the television series "Robot Chicken" (2005–present) and for voicing Joseph Gribble in "King of the Hill" (2000–2010). He portrayed lawyer Jared Franklin in "Franklin & Bash" (2011–2014).


title: Breckin Meyer

text: Meyer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Dorothy Ann (née Vial), a travel agent and former microbiologist, and Christopher William Meyer, a management consultant. He has lived in California, Texas, West Virginia, and New Jersey. He has an older brother, Frank, and a younger brother, Adam. Meyer attended elementary school with Drew Barrymore (and was apparently her first kiss) and also attended Beverly Hills High School. Through his elementary school, he came into contact with Barrymore's agent, who signed Meyer. As a little boy, he was mostly seen in television advertisements, and also appeared as a child participant in the game show "Child's Play". He also slept in a closed coffin for several years in high school.


title: Breckin Meyer

text: Meyer played several roles as a druggie, starting with his debut in "" (1991), in which he was dispatched in a video game. His breakthrough screen role was in the teen hit "Clueless" (1995) as the skateboarding stoner. Meyer offered similar characterizations in "The Craft" and John Carpenter's "Escape from L.A." (both 1996). He played the best friend of an Olympic hopeful in the biopic "Prefontaine" (1997) and a high-school student yearning to leave his hometown in "Dancer, Texas Pop. 81" (1998).


title: Breckin Meyer

text: In "54" (also 1998), a look at life in the famous '70s nightspot Studio 54, the actor was cast as a busboy married to the coat check girl (Salma Hayek) and pursued by a bartender (Ryan Phillippe). Meyer is close friends with Phillippe, with whom he and Seth Green share a production company.


title: Breckin Meyer

text: Meyer would subsequently appear in films including "Go" (1999) and "The Insider" (1999) before graduating to a full-fledged leading role in the DreamWorks hit "Road Trip" (2000), in which he again played a character traveling cross country, a college student hoping desperately to retrieve a videotape of himself having sex with another girl, which was accidentally mailed to his long-distance girlfriend.


title: Breckin Meyer

text: He re-teamed with Amy Smart in yet another racing cross country film, this time as part of the multi-plot ensemble of "Rat Race" (2001), a sort-of homage to the all-star screwball chase films of the 1960s, such as "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Meyer put in a supporting turn as Meg Ryan's character's brother in the whimsical fantasy-comedy "Kate & Leopold" (2001). Meyer also took on the role of Jon Arbuckle, the hapless owner of the famed comic strip cat in the film adaptation of "" (2004).


title: Breckin Meyer

text: Meyer also starred in "Blue State" (2007) with Anna Paquin in which he plays a passionately liberal guy on the campaign trail for John Kerry in the 2004 elections. He drunkenly pledges to move to Canada if Bush wins the election, and on his journey meets a mysterious young woman, played by Paquin. He co-starred with Matthew McConaughey in "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" (2009). Meyer starred opposite Emily Kinney and Giselle Eisenberg in the independent dark comedy "The Enormity of Life" (2021) about a suicidal man struggling with life and love.


title: Breckin Meyer

text: Meyer regularly does writing and voice work on "Robot Chicken", and was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on the "" specials. He also voiced the adolescent Joseph Gribble on the animated series "King of the Hill" and starred on the Adult Swim series "Titan Maximum".


title: Breckin Meyer

text: Meyer is also a musician, playing drums in the punk band The Street Walkin' Cheetahs and with Tom Morello's The Nightwatchman, as well as Ben Harper, Cypress Hill, Slash and Perry Farrell at L.A.'s Hotel Café.


title: Breckin Meyer

text: Meyer is the drummer for Tom Morello's alter ego The Nightwatchman's back-up band The Freedom Fighter Orchestra. He toured with Morello on The Nightwatchman's 2008 Justice Tour. He appears in Street Sweeper Social Club's video for "100 Little Curses" and "Promenade".


title: Breckin Meyer

text: Meyer married screenwriter and film director Deborah Kaplan on October 14, 2001, and has two daughters with her. They divorced in 2014.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Carlos Alberto Vela Garrido (born 1 March 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer who captains and plays for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Described as a versatile player who can play as a forward, winger, and attacking midfielder, he is known for being a creative player and prolific scorer.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela started his career at Mexican club Guadalajara, where he caught the eye of various European clubs after finishing as the top scorer at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, eventually joining Premier League club Arsenal that year. After joining Arsenal, he had loan spells at Spanish clubs Salamanca and Osasuna, as well as fellow English club West Bromwich Albion, settling with Real Sociedad in 2011, initially on loan and then permanently the following season. In his six-year spell with "La Real", Vela played in 250 matches and scored 73 goals. In January 2018, he joined Los Angeles FC, winning the Supporters' Shield and the MLS Golden Boot in his second year, and setting a new league record for most goals in a season, with 34. He was also voted Most Valuable Player. In 2022, Vela would win a second Supporters' Shield as well as lift the MLS Cup.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela made his debut with the senior Mexico national team in 2007 in a friendly match against Brazil, and scored his first goal for his country in a friendly against Guatemala. He participated in Mexico's CONCACAF Gold Cup victory in 2009, and participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Vela rejected all subsequent call-ups for more than three years, including friendlies, World Cup qualifiers, and various major tournaments including the 2014 FIFA World Cup, citing various reasons for his refusals. In November 2014, Vela made his return to the national team and participated in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Carlos Alberto Vela Garrido was born 1 March 1989 in Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico to Enrique Vela, an iron welder from Campeche, and Nella Garrido, a stay-at-home mother from Tabasco. His father played semi-professional football but an injury caused by a torn ligament caused him to retire. Vela's father enrolled him into local football teams. Vela's first club was Ko Cha Wolis, which translates to "Kicking Round Ball" in Mayan. He learned a lot and made significant development and progress during his time spent there, according to Félix Alcalá, his coach at the time.


title: Carlos Vela

text: In school, Vela played both basketball and football simultaneously, which caused many problems between his coaches. His father made him decide to focus on only one sport at the age of 12, in which Vela chose football. Enrique Vela was frustrated at the fact that his son was not being scouted due to living in Cancún. Around the same time, José Luis Real of C.D. Guadalajara's youth system sent scouts to Cancún in 2001, where Vela caught their eye. He was summoned to a youth tournament in Buenos Aires with Guadalajara as a small trial period with unpaid expenses.


title: Carlos Vela

text: In 2003, during a local competition held in Ciudad Victoria, Vela was seen and was presented with offers with local teams of the Primera División. He eventually joined Guadalajara in 2003, though he never received a call up to the club's first-team squad, thus not being able to make his professional debut in Mexico.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela's career started with Guadalajara, alongside his brother Alejandro. After winning the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship with Mexico and finishing as the top scorer with five goals, Jorge Vergara, owner and club president of Guadalajara, agreed to sign him. Since Vela's family lived in the then-recently-storm-stricken Cancún, he asked that the club help relocate them as a condition of his signing. Vela had previously shown his great affection to his father, whose birthday fell on the day on which Mexico beat Brazil in the final of the U-17 World Cup, by carrying the cup to his father and dedicating his Golden Boot to him.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela attracted interest from a number of European clubs, and eventually Arsenal won the race for his signature in November 2005 on a five-year deal for a £125,000 fee that rose to £550,000 after he played 50 first-team games. However, since English work permit restrictions for non-EU citizens prevented him from playing in England, Arsenal quickly loaned him out to Spanish club Celta Vigo in February 2006, but he was returned right away with no games played.


title: Carlos Vela

text: At the end of the season, Vela was sent to Spanish Segunda División club Salamanca, on loan for the 2006–07 season. He had a successful stay there, creating many of Salamanca's 53 goals, eight of which he scored himself.


title: Carlos Vela

text: After his loan spell with Salamanca ended, bigger clubs of La Liga, such as Levante, Osasuna, and Almería, were all interested in taking him on loan from Arsenal for whom he was still ineligible to play as he still had yet to receive a work permit. Eventually, a one-year loan move to Osasuna was agreed, with the option of an extension for another year. No permanent option, however, had been included in the deal. On 31 October 2007, he scored his first goal with Osasuna, in a match against Real Betis, a performance that went on to earn several plaudits from the Spanish press.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 22 May 2008, Vela was granted a work permit that allowed him to play in England. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger confirmed that Vela would be involved with the first team in the coming season and that he viewed Vela as a striker in Eduardo's mould.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela made his competitive debut for Arsenal on 30 August 2008 in their Premier League match against Newcastle United, coming on as a substitute for Robin van Persie in the 63rd minute. Arsenal won the match 3–0. In his full debut on 23 September 2008, against Sheffield United in the League Cup, Vela scored a hat-trick in a 6–0 win, with his second goal voted as one of Arsenal's "Greatest 50 Goals". The match was also notable for featuring Arsenal's youngest ever side, with an average age of 19.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 8 March 2009, in the FA Cup Fifth Round tie against Burnley, Vela scored the first goal in a 3–0 win by chipping the ball over the keeper and into the goal. He scored his first goal in the Premier League for Arsenal away to Portsmouth on 2 May 2009 making him just the second Mexican player to score a goal in the Premier League. On 28 April, Vela was excluded from Arsenal's training session as a precaution due to the 2009 swine flu outbreak. Two of Vela's friends from Mexico visited him over the weekend and Arsenal were asked to keep him away. He returned to training the next day, however, after being given the all-clear.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela missed Arsenal's pre-season campaign of the 2009–10 season after suffering an ankle injury which kept him out until September. He returned to action on 22 September by coming off the bench in Arsenal's 2–0 win by assisting the first and scoring the second goal against West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup. On 21 November 2009, he made his first appearance of the season in the Premier League away to Sunderland, playing 21 minutes after coming on as a substitute for Eduardo. Vela renewed his contract with Arsenal on 10 December 2009. On 4 May 2010, Vela played his 50th game in an Arsenal shirt, against Blackburn Rovers. On 9 May, he scored the fourth goal of Arsenal's victory over Fulham.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela scored his first goal of the season against Bolton Wanderers in a 4–1 home win on 11 September 2010. On 15 September, Vela scored two goals in the UEFA Champions League when Arsenal beat Portuguese side Braga 6–0.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 28 January 2011, Vela joined West Brom on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season. He made his debut on 1 February 2011 in a 2–2 draw against Wigan Athletic, playing 58 minutes of the game. He scored his first goal coming in as a substitute for the Baggies in his third match for the club with a 92nd-minute equaliser against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 20 February 2011. Vela once again scored for West Brom in the dying minutes of a game against Stoke City to salvage a 1–1 draw after coming on as a late substitute.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 15 August 2011, Arsenal announced that Vela would be loaned out to Spanish club Real Sociedad, subject to a medical. After passing the medical exams, he was officially presented on 17 August 2011. On 4 December 2011, Vela scored a bicycle kick goal to equalise for Real Sociedad, his second of the season, against Málaga before teammate Diego Ifrán scored a late winner to make the score 3–2. Vela scored the only goal for Real Sociedad in a 2–1 loss to Barcelona, making it his third goal for the season.


title: Carlos Vela

text: In early February 2012, rumours of Vela's future at Arsenal began to surface, claiming that he wished to stay in Spain with Real Sociedad. Vela has been quoted saying, "I don't want to return to Arsenal. I have asked my agent to negotiate with Arsenal to stay here."


title: Carlos Vela

text: After making over 30 appearances in all competitions and scoring 12 goals, Vela was officially transferred to Real Sociedad from Arsenal on 17 July 2012, for an undisclosed fee. The deal was confirmed by Arsenal on 10 August. He was given the number 11 shirt. During the 2012–13 season, Vela played predominantly on the right wing and scored 14 goals, as well as having nine assists. There had been speculation in the media that he would return to Arsenal, however no talks took place between the two teams.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela started the 2013–14 season, scoring once and assisting the other in the team's 2–0 win over Getafe. He scored twice, a header and a stoppage-time individual goal, to confirm Real Sociedad's progression to the group stages of the Champions League at Lyon's expense. On 23 November, he scored four goals in "La Real"'s 4–3 win over Celta Vigo.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 20 January 2014, it was announced that Vela had won La Liga Player of the Month for December after his performances against clubs such as Real Betis, Granada, Real Madrid, and Barcelona.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 5 May 2014, Vela scored in the 1–1 draw against Granada. The goal was Vela's 15th league strike of the season—surpassing his tally of 14 from the previous season—and his 20th in all competitions. He was nominated at the season's LFP Awards for the Best Forward in the league, losing out to Cristiano Ronaldo. On 24 June, Vela signed a four-year contract extension which will keep him at Real Sociedad until 2018.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela scored his first goal of the 2014–15 season in Real Sociedad's 4–2 win against Real Madrid on 1 September 2014. On 28 November, he scored all of the side's goals as they beat Elche 3–0 for new manager David Moyes' first victory at the club. These were three of his four league goals that month, which once again earned him the La Liga's Player of the Month award.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 31 January 2015, during Real Sociedad's 1–4 league defeat to Real Madrid, Vela was subbed off in the 17th minute due to a knee injury, which was later reported to be ligament damage, and would require surgery. Though initially reported that Vela would miss the remainder of the season, it was confirmed through a club statement that the injury was an internal meniscus tear and that Vela would be out for two months. He made his return on 22 March against Córdoba, being substituted on for Esteban Granero in the 66th minute and providing an assist in Real Sociedad's 3–1 win.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 25 October 2015, Vela scored his first two goals of the 2015–16 season in Real Sociedad's 4–0 win over Levante.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 9 March 2016, it was reported that Vela had been separated from the first team after he failed to report for training two days earlier, claiming he was suffering from gastroenteritis, though a photo began circulating on social media of him attending a Chris Brown concert in Madrid hours after the team's 1–1 draw against Levante. He was ultimately fined by the club and ruled out for the team's next match against Celta Vigo. Sociedad manager Eusebio Sacristán, however, named Vela in the squad for the match against Celta, appearing as a second-half substitute in the 0–1 loss.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 10 April 2017, Vela played in his 200th league match for Real Sociedad in the side's 3–1 victory against Sporting de Gijón, as well as becoming the foreign player with the second-most appearances for the club behind Darko Kovačević.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 8 August 2017, Real Sociedad announced an agreement with Major League Soccer for Vela to move to the league in 2018. Two days later, it was announced that he would join expansion team Los Angeles FC as their first Designated Player when the transfer window opened on 1 January 2018.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 20 December 2017, Vela played in his final match for Real Sociedad, scoring the final goal in the team's 3–1 win over Sevilla.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 8 August 2017, it was announced that Vela had been signed by Los Angeles FC, becoming the first designated player of the team and officially joining the team on 1 January 2018.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 4 March 2018, Vela made his debut with Los Angeles FC, providing an assist for Diego Rossi's goal in the team's 1–0 victory over Seattle Sounders FC. On 10 March, Vela would score his first goal with Los Angeles, scoring the final goal in a 5–1 thrashing against Real Salt Lake. On 31 March, Vela became the first player ever to score in the "El Tráfico" derby against LA Galaxy; he scored the first two goals of the game in Los Angeles' dramatic 3–4 defeat. On 13 April, he would score the first goal in a 2–0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps. A week later he would go on to convert a penalty during Los Angeles' 5–3 win over Montreal Impact. On 13 May, he would score Los Angeles' second goal in a 2–2 tie against New York City FC. A couple of days later he would score his teams' only goal against the Portland Timbers in a 2–1 loss.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 26 July 2018, after conducting a popular vote on Twitter, Vela was voted to captain the MLS side in the 2018 MLS All-Star Game against Juventus, where they initially tied the match 1–1 but went on to lose 5–3 in penalties. Following the departure of club captain Laurent Ciman, Vela was named as succeeding captain. On 22 September 2018, Vela provided two assists to Walker Zimmerman in the 2–0 victory over San Jose Earthquakes. On 12 October, in a league match against Houston Dynamo, he was involved in all of his team's goals in a 4–2 victory as he scored a brace and contributed two assists. In November 2018, he would be named into the MLS Best XI of 2018.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Prior to the beginning of the 2019 season, it was reported by "Mundo Deportivo" that there was interest from Spanish club Barcelona to acquire him on loan, with Vela eventually revealing "It was really close."


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 30 March 2019, Vela scored his first hat-trick with LAFC in their 5–0 away win against the San Jose Earthquakes. Vela scored both goals in a 2–3 loss to city rivals LA Galaxy on 19 July; his first goal was his 20th league goal of the season and he became the fastest player in MLS history to reach that milestone.


title: Carlos Vela

text: He was voted as captain for the second consecutive season via social media for the 2019 MLS All-Star Game against Atlético Madrid.


title: Carlos Vela

text: With his goal against Atlanta United FC on 26 July, Vela drew level with Erick Torres as the highest scoring Mexican in MLS history with 36 goals. On 17 August, Vela scored his 24th goal of the 2019 MLS season from the penalty spot in a 2–0 away win over Real Salt Lake, which saw LAFC clinch the playoffs. With this goal, Vela broke Sebastian Giovinco's 2015 MLS single-season record of most combined goals and assists, with his 39th point of the season (24 goals and 15 assists), one more than Giovinco's 38 (22 goals and 16 assists). On 25 September, Vela scored the opening goal in a 3–1 home win over the Houston Dynamo from the penalty spot; the victory saw LAFC clinch the Supporters' Shield. On 29 September, Vela scored his 31st goal of the 2019 MLS season in a 1–1 away draw against Minnesota United FC, equaling Josef Martínez's record for most goals in a single MLS season. He broke Martínez's record on 6 October, when he scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 home win over the Colorado Rapids. He finished the season with a record 34 goals and 15 assists, for a combined record of 49 points, which earned him the MLS Golden Boot award as the league's top-scorer.


title: Carlos Vela

text: In the playoffs, on 24 October, Vela scored twice and assisted once in a 5–3 home win over the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference semi-finals. Los Angeles were eliminated in the Western Conference Finals, following a 3–1 home defeat to the Seattle Sounders on 29 October, in which Vela's impact was heavily stifled by the opposing team, who kept the ball away from him; as such, he only managed one shot on goal during the entire match. Vela finished the 2019 season by claiming the MLS Most Valuable Player Award for his performances, winning by a significant margin over Galaxy rival Zlatan Ibrahimović and Atlanta United forward Josef Martinez.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 18 February 2020, Vela played his first professional match against a Mexican club, León, in the first leg of that year's CONCACAF Champions League round of 16 which ended in a 0–2 away loss. On 27 February, during the second leg of the round, Vela would score a brace, contributing to a 3–2 aggregate victory, helping LAFC qualify into the quarter-finals.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 1 March, Vela scored LAFC's only goal against newcomers Inter Miami CF, which his team won 1–0. On 6 July, Los Angeles FC announced that Vela would be not traveling with the club for the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando, Florida because of his wife's pregnancy. Vela returned to action with the team on 22 August, in a 2–0 loss to rivals LA Galaxy, but had to be substituted out due to an injury on his left knee, ruling him out for an indefinite amount of time. After two months, he returned to the playing field on 25 October facing LA Galaxy again, coming on as a second-half substitute and sealing the 2–0 victory with a chipped goal during stoppage time, thus becoming the leading scorer of "El Tráfico" history with 10 goals.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 16 December, following the CONCACAF Champions League's presumption after the COVID-19 pandemic, Vela scored a penalty to equalize for LAFC in their quarter-final victory against Mexican side Cruz Azul, as they came from behind to advance to the next round. On 19 December, after his side were down 0–1 with a man sent off, Vela scored a brace within the first two minutes of the second half in LAFC's semi-final match against Club América in a 3–1 victory, as they became the first MLS team to defeat three Mexican sides in the same Champions League tournament. Three days later, Vela played all 90 minutes in LAFC's 2–1 defeat to Tigres UANL in the final. He was subsequently included in the competition's best XI, having scored a total of five goals in the tournament.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 17 April 2021, Vela played his first match against new MLS club Austin FC. However, he was subbed at the 22nd minute due to injury. He returned on 16 May in a 2-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders. Vela came into the match at the 70th minute. On 23 June, Vela scored his first goal of the season against FC Dallas, which resulted in a 2-0 win for LAFC. During the match against Vancouver Whitecaps, Vela injured his right quad and was subbed at the 16th minute. As a result, Vela missed the 2021 MLS All-Star Game.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela played in the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, held in Peru, where he helped Mexico to victory. He would go on to score 3 goals in the group stage, 1 against Uruguay in a 2–0 win and 2 against Australia in a 3–0 win. He would also score Mexico's final goal in a 3–1 victory against Costa Rica during a.e.t. during the quarterfinals, and once reaching the final against Brazil, he scored Mexico's first goal in their 3–0 victory. He subsequently finished as top scorer with five goals, claiming the Adidas Golden Boot.


title: Carlos Vela

text: During his stay at Osasuna, Vela made his international debut for the senior national team on 12 September 2007, in a friendly match against Brazil, losing 3–1. On 18 October 2007, he scored his first senior international goal for Mexico in a friendly against Guatemala in Los Angeles.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 8 June 2008, Vela scored his second senior international goal in a friendly against Peru in the 20th minute to help Mexico to a 4–0 victory. A match later for Mexico, he scored in their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying opener against Belize making the match 1–0. In the return leg against Belize, he again scored the opening goal of the match and beginning the 7–0 rout in favour of "El Tri".


title: Carlos Vela

text: In July 2009, Vela represented Mexico at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He started in Mexico's opener against Nicaragua. Five minutes into the match, an opposing player tackled Vela and he fell awkwardly on his right leg. X-rays, however, showed he did not break anything and could play again in the tournament. Mexico advanced to the semi-finals against Costa Rica, where Vela would make his return in the 81st minute. After extra time, the game was tied 1–1 and went to penalties. After Guillermo Ochoa saved Froylán Ledezma's penalty, Vela scored Mexico's fifth penalty to send them to the final. In the final against the United States, Vela was brought on at half time with the score deadlocked at 0–0. Mexico went on to defeat the United States 5–0 with Vela providing the pass to Giovani dos Santos for the first penalty, creating the second goal, scoring the third and assisting the fourth.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 10 October 2009, during a World Cup qualifying match against El Salvador, Vela scored one goal and provided an assist in a 4–1 victory, helping Mexico for the tournament.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 3 June 2010, Vela scored his first international goal against a team from Europe, in a friendly match against Italy. He scored the first goal of the game with an assist from Giovani dos Santos. Mexico would win the match 2–1. In the opening match of the tournament against hosts South Africa, he was a starting left-winger, coming out on the 69th minute for Cuauhtémoc Blanco in a 1–1 tie. In the following group match against France, Vela was subbed off in the 31st minute for Pablo Barrera due to injury and would miss the following matches against Uruguay and Argentina.


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 21 September 2010, the Mexican Football Federation announced that Vela and teammate Efraín Juárez would be suspended from the Mexico national team for six months for their involvement in a party on 7 September in Monterrey following a game with Colombia. Vela and 12 other players were also fined 50,000 Mexican pesos (approximately US$3,953 as of 24 September 2010), used to help the flood victims in the Mexican state of Veracruz.


title: Carlos Vela

text: After his suspension, Vela returned to the national team after head coach José Manuel de la Torre called him up for a friendly match against Venezuela in March 2011, his final match with the national team for three years. He was omitted from that year's Gold Cup which Mexico went on to win. Vela was included in the preliminary roster for the 2011 Copa América but Arsenal refused to allow him to go, citing that it wasn't a CONCACAF tournament. He refused a call-up to participate in the 2012 London Olympics, which Mexico went on to win, due to wanting to establish himself with his new club Real Sociedad. He declined a third time to join the national team in March 2013 for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers against the United States and Honduras due to personal reasons.


title: Carlos Vela

text: After De La Torre was sacked, Vela declared his wish to return to play for Mexico. In September 2013, Víctor Manuel Vucetich called him up for World Cup qualifiers against Panama and Costa Rica; however, Vela declined once again to come back to the national team. Afterwards, Vucetich refused to make any more comments regarding Vela, calling it a "closed case". On 3 February 2014, new national team coach Miguel Herrera flew to Spain with officials from the Mexican Football Federation to meet with Vela and gauge his interest in representing the national team. After the meeting, Vela expressed that he was not "100 percent mentally ready to represent Mexico", subsequently ruling out his participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.


title: Carlos Vela

text: In November 2014, after a three-year absence, Vela accepted a call up from Miguel Herrera to the national team for the friendly matches against the Netherlands and Belarus. He scored twice on his return as Mexico defeated the Dutch 3–2 at the Amsterdam Arena on 12 November.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela was called up to participate in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, scoring in the team's opening match against Cuba on 9 July. On 15 July, Vela scored his second goal in the competition in Mexico's 4–4 draw against Trinidad and Tobago. In the quarterfinal and semi-final matches against Costa Rica and Panama, respectively, Vela received two yellow cards, meaning he would miss the final against Jamaica, in which Mexico achieved a 3–1 victory. He was also called up for the subsequent CONCACAF Cup – a play-off match to determine CONCACAF's entry into the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup – against the United States, appearing as an unused substitute in Mexico's 3–2 victory.


title: Carlos Vela

text: In May 2017, he was called up by Juan Carlos Osorio to be included in the roster to participate in the Confederations Cup in Russia. Appearing as a starter in Mexico's first group stage match against Portugal, he would provide a low cross assist for Javier Hernández to score Mexico's first goal in a match that was eventually tied 2–2. He would go on to appear in Mexico's final group stage match against Russia and third place play-off against Portugal.


title: Carlos Vela

text: In May 2018, Vela was named in Mexico's preliminary 28-man squad for the World Cup, and in June, was ultimately included in the final 23-man roster. On 23 June, in Mexico's second group stage match against South Korea, he scored their first goal via a penalty kick in the 2–1 victory; it was also his first World Cup goal for Mexico. He appeared in all group stage matches and the round of 16 loss against Brazil. Following the departure of manager Osorio, Ricardo Ferretti was appointed as interim manager of the national team and did not include him in the roster for the post-World Cup September friendlies. Vela insisted on respecting Ferretti's decision and wished them luck.


title: Carlos Vela

text: In January 2019, Gerardo Martino was named as the new manager for the national team and did not call up Vela for his first friendlies in March, stating he wanted to see other players in action and that the door is not necessarily closed on future call-ups, although it was unclear if Vela wanted to continue his international career. In May, it was reported that Vela was not interested in being called up for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. In November, he stated that he is willing to return to the national team if called up. In May 2020, he declared that the 2018 World Cup was his final appearance with the national team.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Regarded as a promising player in his youth, gifted with skill and natural flair, former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger described Vela as a player who is "...naturally gifted, quick, intelligent and with very good technique". He also labelled him as a "special talent", stating "I like [Vela's] intelligence and his pace. He scores goals but he can also create them."


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela's playing style has been described as being able to "beat his man off the dribble," and "his linking up with teammates presents danger. [Looking through his first season] shows his willingness to work combinations across the entire attacking third of the pitch."


title: Carlos Vela

text: A left-footed player, Vela is known for his speed, technique, and vision. Collin Carpio has noted that while Vela is typically deployed on the right wing, he can also play as a striker, commenting in 2016: "[w]hen he's in-form, the 27-year-old can be lethal cutting inside from the flanks, and he's proven that he can setup "[sic]" goals for his teammates."


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela became a father in November 2016 to a son Romeo, with his Spanish girlfriend Saioa Cañibano, whom he met during his time at Real Sociedad.


title: Carlos Vela

text: Vela has stated he is not passionate about football, saying, "I really like basketball, I've always said that I would one thousand times rather watch a basketball game than a football one."


title: Carlos Vela

text: On 4 March 2020, Los Angeles FC announced that Vela had obtained a green card, qualifying him as a domestic player for Major League Soccer roster purposes.


title: Carlos Vela

text: He appeared on the North American front cover of the "FIFA 11" video game along with Kaká and Landon Donovan. He would appear again on the "FIFA 20" MVP Edition. During the 2019 Major League Soccer season Vela appeared in a Target commercial alongside LAFC teammate Adama Diomande and other MLS players.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The M26 Pershing was a heavy tank/medium tank of the United States Army. The tank was named after General of the Armies John J. Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War I. It was used in the last months of World War II during the Invasion of Germany and extensively during the Korean War.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The M26 was intended as a replacement of the M4 Sherman, but a prolonged development period meant that only a small number saw combat in Europe. Based on the criteria of firepower, mobility, and protection, US historian R. P. Hunnicutt ranked the Pershing behind the German Tiger II heavy tank, but ahead of the Tiger I heavy and Panther medium tanks. It was withdrawn in 1951 in favor of its improved derivative, the M46 Patton, which had a more powerful and reliable engine and advanced suspension. The lineage of the M26 continued with the M47 Patton, and was reflected in the new designs of the later M48 Patton and M60 Patton.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The M26 was the culmination of a series of medium tank prototypes that began with the T20 in 1942, and it was a significant design departure from the previous line of U.S. Army tanks that had ended with the M4 Sherman. Several design features were tested in the prototypes. Some of these were experimental dead-ends, but many become permanent characteristics of subsequent U.S. Army tanks. This series of prototype vehicles began as medium tank project that was similar to, but more modern than the recently-introduced M4 Sherman, and ended several years later as the U.S. Army's first operational "heavy" tank.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The U.S. Army's first lineage of tanks evolved from the M1 Combat Car and progressed to the M2 Light Tank, M2 Medium Tank, M3 Lee, and finally the M4 Sherman. These tanks all had rear-mounted Continental air-cooled radial aircraft engines and a front sprocket drive. This layout required a driveshaft to pass under the turret, which increased the overall height of the tank, a characteristic shared with German tanks of World War II that also used this layout. The large diameter of the radial engines in M4 tanks added to the hull height. These features accounted for the high silhouette and large side sponsons that were characteristic of the M4 lineage.


title: M26 Pershing

text: In the spring of 1942, as the M4 Sherman was entering production, U.S. Army Ordnance began work on a follow-up tank. The T20 tank reached a mock-up stage in May 1942, and was intended as an improved medium tank to follow the M4. An earlier heavy tank, the M6, had been standardized in February 1942, but proved to be a failure. The U.S. Army had no doctrinal use for a heavy tank at the time.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The T20 was designed to have a more compact hull than the M4. The Ford GAN V-8, a lower silhouette version of the GAA engine used in later variants of the M4, had become available. The engine had originally been an effort by Ford to produce a V-12 liquid-cooled aircraft engine patterned after the Rolls-Royce Merlin, but failed to earn any aircraft orders and so was adapted as a V-8 for use in tanks; use of this lower profile engine together with the choice of a rear transmission and rear sprocket drive layout made it possible to lower the hull silhouette and eliminate the side sponsons.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The T20 was fitted with the new 76 mm M1A1 gun, the 3-inch M7 was considered too heavy at about . New stronger steels were used to create a weapon weighing about 1,200 lb (540 kg). The 3 inch front hull armor was thicker than the front armor of the M4. The glacis plate slope was similar at 46°. The T20's overall weight was approximately the same as the M4.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The T20 used an early version of the horizontal volute spring suspension (HVSS), another improvement compared to the less robust vertical volute spring suspension (VVSS) of the early versions of the M4. Later prototypes of the M26 tested a torsion bar suspension, which became the standard for future U.S. tank suspension systems.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The T22 series reverted to the M4 transmission because of problems with the early Torqmatic transmission used in the T20. The T22E1 tested an autoloader for the main gun, and eliminated the loader's position with a small two-man turret.


title: M26 Pershing

text: Through much of 1943, there was little perceived need within the U.S. Army for a better tank than the 75 mm M4 Sherman, and so, lacking any insights from the rest of the Army as to what was needed, the Ordnance Department then took a developmental detour into electrical transmissions with the T23 series.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The electrical transmission was built by General Electric, and had the engine driving a generator that powered two traction motors. The concept was similar to the drive system of the German "Porsche Tiger" (later rebuilt as the Ferdinand/"Elefant"). It had performance advantages in rough or hilly terrain, where the system could better handle the rapid changes in torque requirements.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The electrical transmission T23 was championed by the Ordnance Department during this phase of development. After the initial prototypes were built in early 1943, an additional 250 T23 tanks were produced from January to December 1944. These were the first tanks in the U.S. Army with the 76 mm M1A1 gun to go into production. However, the T23 would have required that the army adopt an entirely separate line of training, repair, and maintenance, and so was rejected for combat operations.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The primary legacy of the T23 would thus be its production cast turret, which was designed from the outset to be interchangeable with the turret ring of the M4 Sherman. The T23 turret was used on all production versions of the 76 mm M4 Sherman as the original M4 75 mm turret was found to be too small to easily mount the 76 mm M1A1 gun. The first production 76 mm M4 with the T23 turret, the M4E6, was built in the summer of 1943.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The T25 and T26 lines of tanks came into being in the midst of a heated internal debate within the U.S. Army from mid-1943 to early 1944 over the need for tanks with greater firepower and armor. A 90 mm gun mounted in a massive new turret was installed in both series. The T26 series were given additional frontal hull armor, with the glacis plate increased to . This increased the weight of the T26 series to over and decreased their mobility and durability as the engine and powertrain were not improved to compensate for the weight gain.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The T26E3 was the production version of the T26E1 with a number of minor modifications made as the result of field testing. In February 1945, the T26 was fielded in the European Theater, where its performance received early praise from Army Ordnance officials. The Army named the tank after Army General John J. Pershing when it was redesignated the M26 in March.


title: M26 Pershing

text: After World War II, some 800 M26 tanks were upgraded with improved engines, transmissions, and the improved 90mm gun M3A1. These were designated as the M26E1 and later redesignated as M46 Patton.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The M26 was introduced late into World War II and saw only a limited amount of combat. Tank historians, such as Richard P. Hunnicutt, George Forty and Steven Zaloga, have generally agreed that the main cause of the delay in production of the M26 was opposition to the tank from the Army Ground Forces, headed by General Lesley McNair. Zaloga in particular has identified several specific factors that led both to the delay of the M26 program and limited improvements in the firepower of the M4:


title: M26 Pershing

text: From mid-1943 to mid-1944, development of the 90 mm up-armored T26 prototype continued to proceed slowly due to disagreements within the U.S. Army about its future tank needs. The accounts of what exactly happened during this time vary by historian, but all agree that Army Ground Forces was the main source of resistance that delayed production of the T26.


title: M26 Pershing

text: In September–October 1943, a series of discussions occurred over the issue of beginning production of the T26E1, which was advocated by the head of the Armored Force, General Jacob Devers. Ordnance favored the 76 mm gun, electrical transmission T23. Theater commanders generally favored a 76 mm gun medium tank such as the T23, and were against a heavy 90 mm gun tank. However, testing of the T23 at Fort Knox had demonstrated reliability problems in the electrical transmission of which most army commanders were unaware. The new 76 mm M1A1 gun approved for the M4 Sherman seemed to address concerns about firepower against the German tanks. All participants in the debate were, however, unaware of the inadequacy of the 76 mm gun against the frontal armor of the Panther tank, as they had not researched the effectiveness of this gun against the new German tanks, which had already been encountered in combat.


title: M26 Pershing

text: Gen. Lesley J. McNair had agreed to the production of the 76 mm M4 Sherman, and he strongly opposed the additional production of the T26E1. In the fall of 1943, he wrote this letter to Devers, responding to the latter's advocacy of the T26E1:


title: M26 Pershing

text: General Devers pressed on with his advocacy for the T26, going over McNair's head to General George Marshall, and, on 16 December 1943, Marshall overruled McNair and authorized the production of 250 T26E1 tanks. Then, in late December 1943, Devers was transferred to the Mediterranean, where he eventually led the invasion of Southern France with the 6th Army Group. In his absence, further attempts were made to derail the T26 program, but continued support from Generals Marshall and Eisenhower kept the production order alive. Testing and production of the T26E1 proceeded slowly, however, and the T26E1 did not begin full production until November 1944. These production models were designated as the T26E3.


title: M26 Pershing

text: A single prototype of a T26 turret mounted on an M4(105) chassis was built by Chrysler in the summer of 1944, but did not progress into production.


title: M26 Pershing

text: Hunnicutt, researching Ordnance Department documents, asserts that Ordnance requested production of 500 each of the T23, T25E1, and T26E1 in October 1943. The AGF objected to the 90 mm gun of the tanks, whereas the Armored Force wanted the 90 mm gun mounted in a Sherman tank chassis. General Devers cabled from London a request for production of the T26E1. In January 1944, 250 T26E1s were authorized. General Barnes of Ordnance continued to press for production of 1,000 tanks.


title: M26 Pershing

text: According to Forty, Ordnance recommended that 1,500 of the T26E1 be built. The Armored Force recommended only 500. The AGF rejected the 90 mm version of the tank, and wanted it to be built with the 76 mm gun instead. Somehow, Ordnance managed to get production of the T26E1 started in November 1944. Forty primarily quoted from a post-war report from the Ordnance Dept.


title: M26 Pershing

text: Production finally began in November 1944. Ten T26E3 tanks were produced that month at the Fisher Tank Arsenal, 30 in December, 70 in January 1945, and 132 in February. The Detroit Tank Arsenal also started production in March 1945, and the combined output was 194 tanks for that month. Production continued through the end of the war, and over 2,000 were produced by the end of 1945.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The 90 mm M3 gun of the Pershing was similar to the German 88 mm KwK 36 used on the Tiger I. In an effort to match the firepower of the King Tiger's more powerful 88 mm KwK 43, the T15E1 90 mm gun was developed and mounted in a T26E1 in January 1945. This tank was designated T26E1-1. The T15E1 gun was 73 calibers in length and had a much longer high-capacity chamber allowing it to penetrate up to 330mm of armor. This gave it a muzzle velocity of with the T30E16 APCR shot and could penetrate the Tiger's frontal armor beyond . The model shown used single-piece ammunition and was the only Super Pershing sent to Europe. Firing trials with the T15E1 revealed that the length and weight of the single-piece ammunition made it difficult to stow inside the tank and load into the gun.


title: M26 Pershing

text: A second pilot tank was converted from a T26E3 and used a modified T15E2 gun that had two-piece ammunition. Twenty-five production models of the tank, designated T26E4, were built. An improved mounting removed the need for stabilizer springs.


title: M26 Pershing

text: Post-war, two M26 tanks had the T54 gun installed, which had the same long gun barrel, but the ammunition cartridge was designed to be shorter and fatter, while still retaining the propellant force of the original round. The tanks were designated as the M26E1 tank, but lack of funds cut off further production.


title: M26 Pershing

text: In May 1946, due to changing conceptions of the U.S. Army's tank needs, the M26 was reclassified as a medium tank. Designed as a heavy tank, the Pershing was a significant upgrade from the M4 Sherman in terms of firepower, protection, and mobility. On the other hand, it was unsatisfactory for a medium tank (because it used the same engine that powered the M4A3, which was some ten tons lighter) and its transmission was somewhat unreliable. In 1948, the M26E2 version was developed with a new powerplant. Eventually, the new version was redesignated the M46 General Patton and 1,160 M26s were rebuilt to this new standard. Thus the M26 became a base of the Patton tank series, which replaced it in early 1950s. The M47 Patton was an M46 Patton with a new turret. The later M48 Patton and M60, which saw service later on in Vietnam and the various conflicts in the Middle East and still serve in active duty in many nations today, were evolutionary redesigns of the original layout set down by the Pershing.


title: M26 Pershing

text: Development of the M26 during World War II was prolonged by a number of factors, the most important being opposition to the tank from Army Ground Forces. However, the tank losses experienced in the Battle of the Bulge against a concentrated German tank force composed of some 400 Panther tanks, as well as Tiger II tanks and other German armored fighting vehicles, revealed the deficiencies in the M4 Shermans and tank destroyers in the American units. This deficiency motivated the military to ship the tanks to Europe, and on 22 December 1944, the T26E3 tanks were ordered to be deployed to Europe.


title: M26 Pershing

text: Due to the repeated design and production delays, only 20 Pershing tanks were introduced into the European theater of operations before the Battle of the Bulge showed the serious mismatch between Allied and German armor. This first shipment of Pershings arrived in Antwerp in January 1945. They were given to the 1st Army, which split them between the 3rd and 9th Armored Divisions. A total of 310 T26E3 tanks were eventually sent to Europe before VE Day, with 200 being issued to the troops. The actual number that engaged in combat is unknown.


title: M26 Pershing

text: In February 1945, Major General Gladeon M. Barnes, chief of the Research and Development Section of Army Ordnance, personally led a special team to the European Theater, called the Zebra Mission. Its purpose was to support the T26E3 tanks, which still had teething problems, as well as to test other new weapons. In March, the T26E3 tanks were redesignated as the M26.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The 3rd Armored first used the M26 to engage the enemy on 25 February near the Roer River. On 26 February, a T26E3 named "Fireball" was knocked out in an ambush at Elsdorf while overwatching a roadblock. Silhouetted by a nearby fire, the Pershing was in a disadvantageous position. A concealed Tiger tank fired three shots from about . The first penetrated the turret through the machine gun port in the mantlet, killing both the gunner and the loader. The second shot hit the gun barrel, causing the round that was in the chamber to fire with the effect of distorting the barrel. The last shot glanced off the turret side, taking off the upper cupola hatch. While backing up to escape, the Tiger became entangled in debris and was abandoned by the crew. "Fireball" was quickly repaired and returned to service on 7 March.


title: M26 Pershing

text: Shortly afterwards, also at Elsdorf, another T26E3 knocked out a Tiger I and two Panzer IVs. The Tiger was knocked out at with the 90-mm HVAP T30E16 ammunition. Photographs of this knocked out Tiger I in Hunnicutt's book showed a penetration through the lower gun shield.


title: M26 Pershing

text: On 6 March, just after the 3rd Armored Division had entered the city of Cologne, a famous tank duel took place. A Panther tank on the street in the front of Cologne Cathedral was lying in wait for enemy tanks. Two M4 Shermans were supporting infantry and came up on the same street as the Panther. They ended up stopping just before the Cathedral because of rubble in the street and didn't see the enemy Panther. The lead Sherman was knocked out, killing three of the five crew. A T26E3 was in the next street over and was called over to engage the Panther. What happened next was described by the T26E3 gunner Cpl. Clarence Smoyer:


title: M26 Pershing

text: Four of the Panther's crew were able to successfully bail out of the stricken tank before it was destroyed. The action was recorded by a Signal Corps cameraman T/Sgt. Jim Bates.


title: M26 Pershing

text: On the same day, another T26E3 was knocked out in the town of Niehl near Cologne, by a rarely-seen "Nashorn" 88 mm tank destroyer, at a range of under . There were two other tank engagements involving the T26E3, with one Tiger I knocked out during the fighting around Cologne, and one Panzer IV knocked out at Mannheim.


title: M26 Pershing

text: The T26E3s with the 9th Armored Division saw action in fighting around the Roer River with one Pershing disabled by two hits from a German 150 mm field gun.


title: M26 Pershing

text: A platoon of five M26s, less one that was being serviced, played a key role in helping Combat Command B of the 9th Armored capture the Ludendorff Bridge during the Battle of Remagen on 7–8 March 1945, providing fire support to the infantry in order to take the bridgehead before the Germans could blow it up. In encounters with Tigers and Panthers, the M26 performed well. Some of the division's other tanks were able to cross the bridge, but the T26E3s were too large and heavy to cross the damaged bridge and had to wait five days before getting across the river by barge. Europe's bridges were in general not designed for heavy loads, which had been one of the original objections to sending a heavy tank to Europe.


title: M26 Pershing

text: A single Super Pershing was shipped to Europe and given additional armor to the gun mantlet and front hull by the maintenance unit before being assigned to one of the tank crews of the 3rd Armored Division. The new gun on the Super Pershing could pierce of armor at . The front hull was given two 38 mm steel boiler plates, bringing the front up to 38+38+102 mm of armor. The plates were applied at a greater slope than the underlying original hull plate. The turret had 80 mm thick rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) from a Panther upper glacis welded to the mantlet, covering the front. This added about five tonnes to the tank weight, requiring extra armor added to the turret for balance.


title: M26 Pershing

text: An account of the combat actions of this tank appeared in the war memoir "Another River, Another Town", by John P. Irwin, who was the tank gunner. Zaloga described three actions in his book. On 4 April, between Weser and Nordheim, the Super Pershing engaged and destroyed a German tank, or something resembling a tank, at a range of . According to Zaloga, it is possible this vehicle was a Jagdpanther from the 507th Heavy Panzer Battalion. On 12 April, the Super Pershing claimed a German tank of unknown type. On 21 April, the Super Pershing was involved in a short-range tank duel with a German tank, which it knocked out with a shot to the belly. Irwin described this German tank as a Tiger, but Zaloga was skeptical of this claim. The tank was likely a Panzer IV. After the war, the single Super Pershing in Europe was last photographed in a vehicle dump in Kassel, Germany, and was most likely scrapped.


title: M26 Pershing

text: In May 1945, as fierce fighting continued on the island of Okinawa, and M4 tank losses mounted, plans were made to ship the M26 Pershing tanks to that battle. On 31 May 1945, a shipment of 12 M26 Pershing tanks were dispatched to the Pacific for use in the Battle of Okinawa. Due to a variety of delays, the tanks were not completely offloaded on the beach at Naha, Okinawa until 4 August. By then, fighting on Okinawa had come to an end, and VJ Day followed on 2 September 1945.


title: M26 Pershing

text: At the outbreak of the Korean War, only four tank companies equipped with the M24 Chaffee were operational under the U.S. Far East Command. In July 1950, when the M24 was revealed ineffective against North Korean tanks such as the T-34-85, the U.S. military hurriedly began to mobilize medium-sized tanks to deal with them. The Far East Command urgently maintained three M26 tanks, which were left unattended at the Tokyo ordnance depot, and organized into a provisional tank platoon, commanded by Lieutenant Samuel Fowler, and deployed them to the Korean Peninsula. However, while defending Jinju on July 31, all of these tanks experienced engine overheating and became immobilized due to insufficient maintenance on belts and cooling fans, and eventually all of them were self-destructed.


title: M26 Pershing

text: Around the same time, various tank battalions of the Army and a tank company from the 1st Marine Provisional Brigade, which were all fully organized armored training units, were dispatched to the Korean Peninsula along with the M26 Pershing tank. The 70th Tank Battalion at Fort Knox Kentucky had pulled World War II memorial M26s off of pedestals and reconditioned them for use, but had to fill out two companies with M4A3s. The 72nd Tank Battalion at Fort Lewis Washington and the 73rd Tank Battalion at Fort Benning Georgia were fully equipped with M26s. The 89th Medium Tank Battalion was constituted in Japan with three companies of reconditioned M4A3s and one of M26s from various bases in the Pacific; due to the shortage of M26s, most regimental tank companies had M4A3 Shermans instead. Two battalions detached from the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood Texas, the 6th Medium and 64th Heavy Tank Battalions, were fully equipped with M46 Patton tanks. The 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton California had all M4A3 howitzer tanks, which were replaced with M26s just days before boarding ships for Korea.


title: M26 Pershing

text: On August 17, one M26 of the U.S. Marine Tank Company destroyed three T-34-85s of the 109th Tank Regiment of the North Korean Army in a few minutes during their first contact at Obong-ri, Changnyeong. Then, during the Battle of the Bowling Alley, M26s of the 73rd Tank Battalion, which supported the ROK 1st Infantry Division during the Battle of Tabu-dong, destroyed 13 T-34-85 tanks and five SU-76M self-propelled guns. A total of 309 M26 tanks were fielded on the Korean Peninsula by the end of 1950, and 29 North Korean tanks were defeated by them during the same period. In particular, thanks to the 90 mm main gun, the M26 was evaluated to be more effective in tank combat than the M4A3E8. However, the M26 tank was gradually replaced by the new M46 tank in 1951 due to its chronic lack of mobility as the war evolved into battles between mountains.


title: M26 Pershing

text: A 1954 survey concluded that there were in all 119, mostly small scale, tank vs. tank actions involving U.S. Army and Marine units during the Korean War, with 97 T-34-85 tanks knocked out and another 18 probables. The M4A3E8 was involved in 50% of the tank actions, the M26 in 32%, and the M46 in 10%. The M26/M46 proved to be an overmatch for the T-34-85 as its 90 mm HVAP round could – at point blank range – punch all the way through the T-34 from the front glacis armor to the back, whereas the T-34-85 had difficulty penetrating the armor of the M26 or M46. The M4A3E8, firing 76 mm HVAP rounds that were widely available during the Korean War (unlike World War II), was a closer match to the T-34-85 as both tanks could destroy each other at normal combat ranges.


title: M26 Pershing

text: After November 1950, North Korean armor was rarely encountered. China entered the conflict in February 1951 with four regiments of tanks (a mix of mostly T-34-85 tanks, with a few IS-2 tanks, and some other AFVs). However, because these Chinese tanks were dispersed with the infantry, tank to tank battles with UN forces were uncommon.


title: M26 Pershing

text: With the marked decrease in tank to tank actions, the automotive deficiencies of the M26 in the mountainous Korean terrain became more of a liability, so some M26s were withdrawn from Korea during 1951 and replaced with M4A3 Shermans and M46 Pattons. The M45 howitzer tank variant was only used by the assault gun platoon of the 6th Medium Tank Battalion, and these six vehicles were withdrawn by January 1951.


title: M26 Pershing

text: After the end of World War II, U.S. Army units on occupation duty in Germany were converted into constabulary units, a quasi-police force designed to control the flow of refugees and black marketing; combat units were converted to light motorized units and spread throughout the U.S. occupation zone. By the summer of 1947, the army required a combat reserve to back up the thinly spread constabulary; in the following year, the 1st Infantry Division was reconstituted and consolidated, containing three regimental tank companies and a divisional tank battalion. The 1948 tables of organization and equipment for an infantry division included 123 M26 Pershing tanks and 12 M45 howitzer tanks. In the summer of 1951, three more infantry divisions and the 2nd Armored Division were sent to West Germany as a part of the NATO Augmentation Program. While M26 Pershings disappeared from Korea during 1951, tank units deploying to West Germany were equipped with them, until replaced with M47 Pattons during 1952–53. The 1952–53 tables of organization and equipment for an infantry division included 135 M47 Patton tanks replacing M26s and M46s.


title: M26 Pershing

text: In 1952, the Belgian Army received 423 M26 and M26A1 Pershings, leased free of charge as part of a Mutual Defense Assistance Program, then the official designation of U.S. military aid to its allies. The tanks were mostly used to equip mobilizable reserve units of battalion strength: 2nd, 3rd and 4th "Régiments de Guides"/"Regiment Gidsen" (Belgian units have official names in both French and Dutch); 7th, 9th and 10th "Régiments de Lanciers"/"Regiment Lansiers" and finally the 2nd, 3rd and 5th "Bataillon de Tanks Lourds"/"Bataljon Zware Tanks". However, in the spring of 1953, M26s for three months equipped the 1st Heavy Tank Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division, an active unit, before they were replaced by M47s.


title: M26 Pershing

text: In 1961, the number of reserve units was reduced and the reserve system reorganized, with the M26s equipping the 1st and 3rd "Escadron de Tanks"/"Tank Escadron" as a general reserve of the infantry arm. In 1969, all M26s were phased out.


title: M26 Pershing

text: As the U.S. Army units in West Germany reequipped with M47s in 1952–1953, France and Italy also received M26 Pershings; while France quickly replaced them with M47 Pattons, Italy continued to use them operationally through 1963.


title: Danny Dyer

text: Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in "Human Traffic", with other notable roles as Mick Carter in EastEnders, Billy the Limpet in "Mean Machine" and as Tommy Johnson in "The Football Factory". Following the success of "The Football Factory", Dyer was often typecast in "hard-man" roles, although it was this image that allowed him to present "The Real Football Factories", its spin-off, "The Real Football Factories International" and "Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men". Dyer has also worked in theatre, having appeared in three plays written by Harold Pinter, with whom he had a close friendship.


title: Danny Dyer

text: In 2013, he joined the cast of the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", in the role of Mick Carter. He had previously turned down a role in 2009, and in his autobiography, "Straight Up", said that he would not join the cast until he was "fat, bald and fifty". He won the Serial Drama Performance award at the National Television Awards in 2015, 2016, and 2019. In 2019, he began presenting the BBC game show "The Wall".


title: Danny Dyer

text: Danial John Dyer was born in the Custom House area of London on 24 July 1977, the son of Christine (née Meakin) and Antony Dyer. He has a younger brother, Tony (born 1979), and sister, Kayleigh (born 1986). His parents split up when he was nine and he was raised by his mother in Custom House. He began acting when he was a teen, and was bullied at school so badly by his peers that he lied about taking acting classes.


title: Danny Dyer

text: In 2016, Dyer's family history was the subject of a Series 13 episode of the BBC genealogy series "Who Do You Think You Are?", where it was revealed that his family hails from the Poplar area of London. Census records showed many of them working in the manual occupations connected to the docks on the River Thames. Further research found that Dyer is a descendant of Thomas Cromwell and of Elizabeth Seymour, the sister of Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour. Elizabeth married Cromwell's son Gregory Cromwell and, with the Seymour family's assertion to be descended from Edward III (Dyer's 25th generation ancestor), the line can be traced back to William the Conqueror and Charlemagne. In response, geneticist Adam Rutherford argued that an English person being descended from a Plantagenet king was "not remarkable", musing that "almost every Briton" can claim such descent.


title: Danny Dyer

text: Dyer was discovered at a local school by an agent who auditioned him for the part of Martin Fletcher in the Granada Television series "Prime Suspect 3" (1993), beginning his acting career at 16. He also appeared on television in episodes of "Cadfael" (1994), "A Touch of Frost" (1995), "Loved Up" (1995), "Thief Takers" (1996), "Highlander" and "Soldier Soldier" (both 1997). His many other television roles include appearances in the 2003 Channel 4 drama "Second Generation", directed by John Sen; as Malcolm, main character Michelle's stepfather, in "Skins"; as a football player in the second series of "Hotel Babylon"; and as Matt Costello in what was supposed to be the pilot episode for "Breathless", a BBC two-part television series in development from BBC Northern Ireland, renamed first "Blood Rush" and then "Kiss of Death", when it premiered on BBC One as a one-part drama on 26 May 2008.


title: Danny Dyer

text: Beginning in 2007, Dyer became the presenter of "The Real Football Factories" and "The Real Football Factories International", a TV documentary series on Bravo, for which he travels, in the former throughout the United Kingdom and in the latter throughout the world, to meet and interview football club fans and hooligans. In "Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men", "a gritty and hard-hitting documentary series that sees him venturing into the dark depths of the British underworld and hunting down some of the most notorious and feared men in Britain today", began airing on Bravo in the United Kingdom on 20 October 2008.


title: Danny Dyer

text: In April 2009, he turned down a role in "EastEnders", claiming that although he thought the role sounded good, he did not think he could cope with the pressure of additional publicity. In February 2012, Dyer appeared as a paramedic in an episode of "Casualty". In March 2013, Dyer appeared as a guest on "Celebrity Juice". Dyer appeared in the sixth series of "Hollyoaks Later" in October 2013, as The White Man. On 1 October 2013, the BBC announced that Dyer had been cast in "EastEnders" from Christmas 2013, as Mick Carter, the new landlord of The Queen Victoria pub. After he began appearing as Mick, Dyer revealed that he had been offered and had turned down the part of Carl White, who was eventually played by Daniel Coonan. In February 2017, it was announced that Dyer would be taking a "short break" from "EastEnders". In January 2022, it was announced that Dyer had quit "EastEnders" after over eight years in the role of Mick.


title: Danny Dyer

text: In June 2018, Dyer appeared as a guest panelist on "Good Evening Britain", a one-off spin-off show of "Good Morning Britain", to discuss Britain's exit from the European Union. Dyer described it as a "mad riddle that no one knows what it is" and called the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, a "twat". In August 2018, Dyer began narrating MTV reality series, "True Love or True Lies". In 2019, Dyer appeared in a history documentary, titled "Danny Dyer's Right Royal Family". The two-part series premiered on BBC One on 23 January 2019. Also that year, Dyer co-presented "True Love or True Lies" on MTV alongside daughter Dani, as well as beginning his presenting role on "The Wall" on BBC One. After he announced his departure from "EastEnders," it was subsequently confirmed that Dyer would also be leaving "The Wall."


title: Danny Dyer

text: Dyer is known for his "bad boy" or "hard man" roles in film. Dyer's first film role was in "Human Traffic" (1999). His subsequent movie work includes Mel Smith's "High Heels and Low Lifes" (2001) and starring roles in "Borstal Boy" (2000), "Mean Machine" (2002) and in four films by the British film director Nick Love: "Goodbye Charlie Bright" (2001); "The Football Factory" (2004); "The Business" (2005); and "Outlaw" (2007). Among other film roles, he also appeared as the character Steve in Christopher Smith's "Severance" (2006); as Hayden in "Adulthood" (2008); and as himself in the feature documentary "Tattoos: A Scarred History".


title: Danny Dyer

text: In 2008, he finished filming his roles as Pete and Tom in "City Rats" and "7 Lives", respectively. April 2009 saw the straight to DVD release of "City Rats". Later that year, Dyer completed filming on "Jack Said", a Brit noir thriller in which he played Nathan alongside Ashlie Walker, Terry Stone, David O'Hara and Simon Phillips, which was released in November 2009. This film is the prequel to "Jack Says", which was released in 2008, and starred Mike Reid.


title: Danny Dyer

text: In 2009, he shot several horror films including "Doghouse" under the direction of Jake West, and "Basement" under the direction of Asham Kamboj. He played one of the lead roles in the British vampire film "Dead Cert". In June 2010, he was cast for the lead role in the remake of the British horror film "The Asphyx", but it failed to secure production finance and was indefinitely shelved. Dyer co-starred with Anna Walton in "Deviation", a British dark thriller written and directed by J. K. Amalou.


title: Danny Dyer

text: In 2012, Dyer played the lead role in Ray Cooney's "Run For Your Wife". Upon release in 2013, it was savaged by critics, who described it as one of the worst British films of all time. The film took in a mere £747 during its opening weekend.


title: Danny Dyer

text: Dyer has performed on stage, most notably in two plays written and directed by 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter: as the Waiter in the London première of "Celebration" (2000), at the Almeida Theatre, which transferred to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, in New York, as part of the Harold Pinter Festival held there in July and August 2001; and as Foster in the revival of "No Man's Land" (1975), at the Royal National Theatre, in London, during 2001 and 2002. In March 2008, he played Joey in a revival of Pinter's "The Homecoming" (1964), directed by Michael Attenborough, at the Almeida Theatre, in London. He also performed in Peter Gill's play "Certain Young Men" (1999) in London. From 9 September 2009 to 3 October 2009, Dyer appeared as Sid Vicious in a new play called "Kurt and Sid" in London's West End at the Trafalgar Studios.


title: Danny Dyer

text: Dyer is the voice of in the video games "" (2002) and "" (2004). He also appears in The Twang's 2007 video for "Two Lovers".


title: Danny Dyer

text: "I Believe in UFOs: Danny Dyer", a documentary that sees Dyer journey to various "UFO hotspots" in the UK and the US in hope of experiencing a UFO sighting, was broadcast on BBC Three on 26 January 2010. In 2016, he appeared in drag in the Lucy Rose music video for "Nebraska". In 2020, he began co-hosting "Sorted with the Dyers", a podcast alongside daughter Dani.


title: Danny Dyer

text: In 2021, along with Will Mellor, Dyer recorded a new version of Vindaloo for NHS Charities. In January 2022, Dyer quit "EastEnders" so that he could accept an offer to appear on a Sky series.


title: Danny Dyer

text: In 2010, in his capacity as a celebrity agony uncle, Dyer wrote in "Zoo" that a young male reader could get over his recent break-up with a woman by "going on a rampage with the boys" or to "cut your ex's face, and then no one will want her". The comment was widely criticised by the media and the public, including the chief executive of the Fawcett Society, Ceri Goddard. Dyer later claimed that he was misquoted.


title: Danny Dyer

text: Dyer was quoted in a May 2011 article in "NME" as wanting to headbutt film critic Mark Kermode. Kermode had mocked and impersonated Dyer on a recent edition of his BBC Radio 5 Live show with Simon Mayo.


title: Danny Dyer

text: Dyer has been an outspoken critic of former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. In 2018, he referred to Cameron as a "twat" on live television, while also expressing contempt for Nigel Farage and Brexit. He voted for Brexit, but later changed his mind and considered himself to be a "poster boy" for the campaign to stop it.


title: Danny Dyer

text: Dyer resides in Debden, Essex. He began dating Joanne Mas in 1992 but they separated after the birth of their first daughter, future television personality Dani Dyer, in 1996; they began dating other people, but soon started an affair with each other and decided to reconcile. They eventually married on 3 September 2016, after she proposed to him in March 2015. They also have another daughter and a son.


title: Danny Dyer

text: Dyer has been open about his drug use. In his autobiography, he stated, "I've always taken drugs and I probably always will, but there's a difference between having the odd crafty bump up the snout as a reward for a job well done and letting it rule your life." He has advocated for the legalisation of cocaine because he argues that banning it has not worked.


title: Danny Dyer

text: A lifelong football player and follower, Dyer supports West Ham United FC. In December 2007, he became the chairman of Kent League's Greenwich Borough FC, appointed by fellow actor Tamer Hassan, president of the football club. He said, "I just love football and the chance of being involved with a club is like a dream come true." The appointment was actually a publicity stunt to raise the profile of the club.


title: Danny Dyer

text: In 2016, Dyer travelled to Sierra Leone to take part in Sport Relief. He said, "I don't know what to expect when I go over there, but I'm hoping that it will make some kind of difference. It's an honour to be asked."


title: Danny Dyer

text: In 2011, Dyer released an autobiography titled "Straight Up". In 2016, he released another autobiography titled "The World According to Danny Dyer: Life Lessons from the East End".


title: Shyla Stylez

text: Shyla Stylez became interested in entering the pornography industry in her teens, and later moved to Vancouver where she worked as both a stripper and a webcam model, and appeared in nude pictorials in adult magazines such as "Hustler" and "Swank". In her off-time, she would contact studios by email and phone to find out how to appear in films. She received her first AVN Award nomination as Best New Starlet in 2003.


title: Shyla Stylez

text: Stylez was involved in a sex scandal with former Orange County assistant-sheriff George Jaramillo, where she was noted as having had several sexual encounters with him.


title: Shyla Stylez

text: Stylez signed on as exclusive contract performer for Jill Kelly Productions and later married its CEO, Bob Friedland, on October 25, 2002. The couple divorced in August 2003, but Friedland held Stylez to her contract, making it impossible for her to shoot hardcore scenes for anyone else. In September 2004, she met Michael Whiteacre, who cast her in a series of softcore late-night films in 2004 and 2005. In August 2005, Jill Kelly Productions filed for bankruptcy.


title: Shyla Stylez

text: Stylez was nominated at the 2009 XRCO Awards for the Best Comeback. Stylez hosted the Los Angeles independent TV show "Un-Wired TV" in 2007.


title: Shyla Stylez

text: In 2008, she was nominated for more AVN Awards, including Best Supporting Actress, for Best Tease Performance, and for her performances in "My Plaything: Shyla Stylez" and "". In 2010, she was named by "Maxim" as one of the 12 top female stars in porn. Shyla Stylez was inducted into the Halls of Fame of the Urban X Awards and the AVN in 2011 and 2016, respectively.