Trivia: Whereas many stars are bitten by the acting bug early in life, Gabriel Byrne did not become interested in the craft until he was in his late twenties. Since then, he has worked steadily as a leading and supporting actor in a wide variety of Hollywood and international films, gaining a reputation as one of th e most reliably solid performers on either side of the Atlantic. As a youth, the Dublin-born and bred actor aspired to become a Catholic priest. He was thus sent to a seminary in England, where he studied for four years. His time there came to an abrupt end after the 16-year-old Byrne was caught smoking and expelled. Upon returning to Ireland, he worked at assorted jobs, eventually receiving a scholarship to Dublin's University College. After studying linguistics and archeology, Byrne worked as an archeologist for three years and then taught Spanish and Gaelic at a Catholic girls school for four years. During his teaching tenure, Byrne appeared in an amateur theatrical production and was good enough to attract the interest of an actor from the highly regarded Abbey Theatre, who encouraged him to try acting professionally.After appearing in a few more community theater productions, Byrne became a member of the Abbey Theatre. He also began to work in television, and in 1979 made his film debut in The Outsider. Although his film roles were steady -- albeit small -- TV was where he was most recognizable, particularly thanks to his work in the popular Irish series Bracken. Another notable television role was that of Christopher Columbus in an American miniseries of the same name. Byrne's film career during the 1980s was decidedly uneven. Although there were a few hits, such as the 1981 Excalibur, the number of misses was substantial. One of those misses was the 1987 film Siesta, in which he starred opposite Ellen Barkin. Although the film failed to do well, it did result in a marriage between Byrne and his co-star. The two married in 1988, and during the course of their marriage they collaborated on one film, the children's adventure Into the West (1993). They divorced in 1993.Byrne's film career did not take flight until he starred as an Irish mobster in the Coen brothers' memorable Miller's Crossing (1990). The film helped to establish him as an actor to be taken seriously, and since 1993 -- when he starred in The Point of No Return -- Byrne has enjoyed steady work, appearing in three to four films per year, notably, Little Women (1994), Dead Man (1995), The Usual Suspects (1995), Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997), and The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), in which he and Jeremy Irons, Gérard Depardieu, and John Malkovich starred as the Three Musketeers. In 1999, Byrne starred as a priest asked to investigate the case of a woman (Patricia Arquette) who has developed Christ-like wounds in Stigmata. That same year, he took on an entirely different role, playing Satan himself in the action-thriller End of Days.In 2000 Byrne had a huge success on Broadway as the lead in a revival of Moon for the Misbegotten, a role which earned him a Tony nomination. The next year he had a major role in David Cronenberg's psychological drama Spider. He continued to work steadily in projects including the 2004 adaptation of Vanity Fair, and got good notices for his work in 2006's Jindabyne. In 2008 he took the lead part as the psychiatrist on HBO's In Treatment, a role that earned him a pair of nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Trivia: Endowed with the kind of dark, puppy-eyed, lanky looks that have often gotten him cast as sensitive, shy young men, actor Josh Charles first became known to audiences as sensitive, shy prep school boy Knox Overstreet in Dead Poets Society (1989). A native of Baltimore, where he was born September 15, 1971, Charles made his entrance into acting through stand-up comedy, which he began performing at the age of eight. He made his film debut in fellow-native son John Waters' Hairspray (1988), and following the success of Dead Poets Society the next year, earned a reputation as a member of the '90s version of the Brat Pack.Charles' subsequent film appearances were sporadic and in projects of wildly varying quality; ranking among his better-known work are Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991), Threesome (1994), and the made-for-television Norma Jean and Marilyn (1996). In 1998, Charles was cast as one of the leads in the highly acclaimed TV show Sports Night, a sitcom revolving around the goings-on of a late night cable sports news program. Though Sports Night did indeed gain positive critical notice and a loyal fanbase for its smart writing and multi-dimensional characters, it was unfortunately cancelled before it really had a chance to fully develope. Hollywood did however take notice of Charles' talents as an actor, and the quality and substance of the roles he was being offered slowly began to rise. Following a pair of low-key roles in such indie dramas as Meeting Daddy (2000) and Our America (2002), Charles was cast in the high-profile action thriller S.W.A.T. Over the next several years, Charles would remain active on screen, appearing on TV series like In Treatment and The Good Wife and films like The Ex and Weakness.

Trivia: Fans of Steven Spielberg's acclaimed Schindler's List (1993) will recognize actress Embeth Davidtz for playing the abused Jewish maid Helen Hirsch, while those who love Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series may remember her for playing the two-faced Sheila in the third Evil Dead installment, Army of Darkness (1992). Still others will recognize the actress for her strong work in such period dramas as Feast of July (1995) and Mansfield Park (1998).Born in Indiana but raised in South Africa, Davidtz is fluent in English and Afrikaans, having studied classical and contemporary drama in both languages. A graduate of Rhodes University, she made an auspicious theatrical debut with the country's National Theater Company, as Juliet in a production of Shakespeare's classic romantic tragedy, and she subsequently garnered considerable accolades for her theatrical work. Davidtz entered films playing the daughter of an interracial couple in the South African television movie A Private Life (1988) and went on to win the country's equivalent of an Oscar in the Afrikaaner psychological drama Night of the Nineteenth. As her early work might indicate, Davidtz has shown a preference for appearing in political dramas from her first days in film.A resident of the U.S. since 1991, Davidtz has appeared in numerous television movies and miniseries, including the 1992 crime thriller Deadly Matrimony. In 1995, she won more critical praise for her work as a young woman who causes a family crisis after being impregnated and deserted by her callous lover in an acclaimed adaptation of H.E. Bates' novel The Feast of July. As a change of pace, she played a kindhearted teacher in Danny DeVito's darkly comic adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel Mathilda (1996) and then it was back to straight political drama with Garden of Redemption (1997). In 1998, Davidtz co-starred with Kenneth Branagh, in Robert Altman's adaptation of John Grisham's novel The Gingerbread Man, as a low-rent caterer with more than her share of dirty secrets. That same year, she continued in a similarly sly vein as the conniving Mary Crawford in Patricia Rozema's controversial adaptation of Mansfield Park, injecting the proceedings with a savory dollop of manipulative eroticism.Over the coming years, Davidz would remain as active on screen as ever, appearing in films like Mansfield Park and Fracture, and on shows like Citizen Baines, In Treatment, Californication, and Mad Men.

Trivia: While she has appeared in a handful of feature films, Michelle Forbes is best known for her TV work in the 1990s. Born in Austin, TX, Forbes moved to New York when she joined the cast of daytime serial The Guiding Light in 1987. Moving to prime time after 1989, Forbes endeared herself to legions of Trekkies as Ensign Ro on Star Trek: The New Generation during the 1991-1992 season. Leaving the show to pursue feature films, the actress appeared in the Irish romance The Playboys (1992), co-starred with David Duchovny as the unwitting companions of Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis' homicidal couple in Kalifornia (1992), and helped send up the Hollywood snakepit in Swimming With Sharks (1994). Following a couple of B-films and a supporting turn in John Carpenter's over-the-top sequel Escape From L.A. (1996), Forbes returned to series TV on the highly praised NBC police drama Homicide: Life on the Street in 1996. Though her character was written out after 1998, Forbes returned for the final TV film Homicide: The Movie (2000). She seemed on track to add another well-regarded series to her resumé in 2000 as one of the doctors on duty in Peter Berg's edgy mental hospital drama Wonderland, but ABC showed little patience for the show's slow start and yanked it off the air after a couple of episodes. After Wonderland's quick disappearance, Forbes played photographer Jared Harris's wife in the fashion world feature Perfume (2001). Despite an illustrious ensemble cast, though, Perfume didn't fare much better than Robert Altman's ignominious haute couture flop Ready to Wear (1994). Finding better work in TV, Forbes appeared in the cable western The Johnson County War (2002) and joined the cast of Fox's much lauded real time CIA drama 24 in 2002, playing a tough, loyal aide to Dennis Haysbert's President Palmer. She continued her run of being part of well-respected TV shows with recurring roles in Battlestar Galactica, In Treatment, True Blood, and AMC's The Killing.