Aaron Eckhart wins Ray-Ban Visionary Award

Aaron Eckhart received the 2007 Ray-Ban Visionary Award at Harry O's, Park City, Utah. Presented by Antonio Miyakawa, Executive Vice-Chairman of the Luxottica Group and Robin Bronk, Executive Director of The Creative Coalition, the evening ended with a special performance by the All-American Rejects, a young rock group.

The Ray-Ban Visionary Award was set up in 2003 and awards the work and commitment of people gifted with creativity, leadership and extraordinary artistic passion, and whose works show imagination, inventiveness and originality.

At previous editions, awards were received by Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon, Colin Callender (chairman of HBO Films) and Mark Ordesky (Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of New Line Productions and chairman of Fine Line Features).

Aaron Eckhart, capable of amazing transformations to fit the roles he plays, wasn't just the star of 'The Black Dahlia' (2006) by Brian De Palma, he was also the cheerful and provocative spokesman and exponent of the 'Big Tobacco' lobbies, 'Thank You for Smoking' (2006), in which he weaves his plans through a labyrinth over super-conscientious defenders of health and opportunistic politicians while defending the rights of smokers. Eckhart's energetic performance in Jason Reitman's satire this year won him the Golden Globe nomination for best leading actor in a comedy or musical.

Aaron also starred in 'Conversations with Other Women' (2006), 'Suspect Zero' (2004), 'Paycheck' (2003), 'The Missing' (2003), 'The Core' (2003), 'Possession - A romantic story' (2002), 'The Promise' (2001), 'Erin Brockovich' (2000), 'Betty Love' (2000), 'Molly' (1999) and 'In the Company of Men' (1997).

The All-American Rejects, who have two platinum disks and a series of successful singles to their credit, streamlined their mix of rock, pop and mayhem. 'Dirty Little Secret', 'Move Along' and now 'It Ends Tonight', all from the 'Move Along' album, brought them fame and popularity with millions of fans.