Age: 71
male
Michael Rooker (born April 6, 1955) is an American actor who mainly plays roles of antagonists. He first rose to prominence for portraying the titular role in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) and is best known for starring as Merle Dixon in the AMC series The Walking Dead (2010–2013) and as Yondu Udonta in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), followed by its sequels Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). He is a recurring collaborator of Guardians of the Galaxy director and co-CEO of DC Studios, James Gunn, appearing in all of his films to date, including Slither (2006), Super (2010), and The Suicide Squad (2021). Rooker's other notable roles include Chick Gandil in Eight Men Out (1988), Frank Bailey in Mississippi Burning (1988), Terry Cruger in Sea of Love (1989), Rowdy Burns in Days of Thunder (1990), Bill Broussard in JFK (1991), Hal Tucker in Cliffhanger (1993), Sherman McMaster in Tombstone (1993), Jared Svenning in Mallrats (1995), Detective Edward Kennesaw in Deceiver (1997), Detective Howard Cheney in The Bone Collector (1999), Detective Jake Riley in Replicant (2001), and Buddy in F9 (2021).
Every year, the tourists come to Bellmare — a quiet New England town hugging the edge of the Atlantic — and every year, they leave just before the salt air turns sharp and the sea turns mean. Locals call it “the salt season,” when everything slows, the wind howls, and secrets begin to stir. This year, a body washes up on the beach. No name, no ID, just a lighthouse key in their pocket. For Mara, a restless waitress with dreams of leaving, and Cal, a retired cop who drinks too early and remembers too much, the stranger’s arrival reopens wounds that never healed. The town, already worn thin by loss and time, tightens its grip. Everyone knows something, but no one wants to speak — not the woman who watches the shore every morning, not the mayor’s son who vanished for a week last winter, and certainly not the lighthouse keeper who swears the light’s been flickering on by itself. As Mara and Cal dig deeper — reluctantly at first, then with quiet obsession — they begin to unravel not just what happened, but what’s been happening. The past doesn’t stay buried in Bellmare. The tide always brings it back.
