Michael Lewis

A career in financial journalism may not seem like the sure path to Hollywood, but beginning with the era-defining best-selling debut book Liar's Poker (1989), which drew on his background as a trader with Salomon Brothers to deliver a portrait of Wall Street traders as childish, exploitative and explosive, Michael Lewis has at every turn, to his advantage, taken the road less traveled. Lewis' star rose even higher when he shifted from a financial focus to sports, garnering praise for his portrayal of baseball and baseball management in Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (2003) and his look at football in The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (2006); the latter became the award-winning film "The Blind Side" (2009), while the film version of Moneyball (2011), starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman, was a hit as well.