Lee Pace Is 46, Has A Husband And A Hit TV Show… And Is Hotter Than Ever
Lee Pace, the 46-year-old actor, has become something of a phenomenon online, dropping the occasional shirtless photo that sends the internet into a collective meltdown. But Pace isn’t just eye candy. He’s also one of the most compelling gay actors working today.
From Juilliard to galactic emperor.
Pace grew up in Houston, Texas, and moved to New York at 17 to study at Juilliard. That classical training shows in everything he does. He’s built a career playing compelling characters from pie-maker Ned in Pushing Daisies, the tech visionary Joe MacMillan in Halt And Catch Fire, or the villainous Ronan in Guardians Of The Galaxy.
His current role as Brother Day in Apple TV+’s Foundation might be his most impressive yet. The series, based on Isaac Asimov’s novels, casts Pace as multiple clones of Emperor Cleon across different generations. Each version is distinct. Season one’s Cleon XIII undertook a brutal religious pilgrimage. Season two’s Cleon XVII was undone by his own ego. Season three’s Cleon XXIV preferred getting high in pleasure gardens to ruling.
In September 2025, Apple renewed Foundation for a fourth season, with production set to begin in early 2026. Pace also serves as an executive producer on the series.
His personal life is equally settled.
Pace confirmed his marriage to Matthew Foley, an executive at fashion house Thom Browne, in a 2022 interview with GQ Hype. The couple met through a mutual friend. “I said to my friend, Nick, ‘You know a lot of people, who do you have for me?’ And it luckily has worked out,” Pace recalled.
In married life, he’s been refreshingly candid. “What I’ll say about being married, it was once described to me as an endless sleepover with your weirdest friend. In our experience, that is absolutely true,” he told GQ. “If you’ve found one person you can be weird around, hold on tight.”
He also shared that he and Foley are considering starting a family.
“I’d love to have kids. I think there’s nothing better than little kids running around.”
Pace came out publicly in 2018, describing himself as “a member of the queer community” after an earlier interview where he’d been cagey about his personal life.
The daddy discourse.
The internet has a fondness for calling certain actors “daddy”. Asked about that label in a November 2025 Bustle interview, Pace was characteristically dry. “Well, I’d rather that than the opposite,” he said. When pressed on whether fans call him that directly, he replied, “I don’t think they do it to my face.”
His occasional shirtless Instagram posts suggest he knows exactly what he’s doing. And honestly? We appreciate the effort.
What’s next for Pace.
The actor has several projects lined up. He stars opposite Glen Powell in The Running Man, an Edgar Wright adaptation of the Stephen King novel about a deadly reality show competition. Pace plays Evan McCone, a masked villain who hunts contestants for sport.
On playing villains, Pace told Bustle, “I’m bad at heart, so it allows me the opportunity to show my true self. Evil in every way.” Then, leaning into it, he added, “The fun thing about a mask is that you can really get into the things you want to do.”
He’s also part of Practical Magic 2, reuniting Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing from the original 1998 film. Pace is keeping tight-lipped about his role. “I can’t answer any questions about Practical Magic 2,” he told Bustle, before breaking into a laugh.
Pace has a way of disappearing into roles. He can go from brooding emperor to horror-comedy scene-stealer (as he did in 2022’s Bodies, Bodies, Bodies) without missing a beat.
When asked what his 17-year-old self would think of his career now, he was philosophical. “You just get older and you know things that you didn’t know before, and then you forget them, and then you learn new things and realise you’re an idiot the whole time. We’re all idiots.”
