Trivia: Best known for her role as Deputy Clementine Johnson on the series Reno 911! between 2003 and 2009, actress and comedian Wendi McLendon-Covey has also garnered fans as a member of the popular Groundlings improv troupe. Following her run on Reno 911!, McLendon-Covey began making more appearances on the big screen, in films like 2010's Public Relations and 2011's Bridesmaids -- the later of which found the emergnig actress scoring her biggest mainstream hit to date. Meanwhile, the former Reno 911! star could once again be seen on the small screen thanks to a recurring role on the hit sitcom The Rules of Engagement.

Trivia: The gifted young comedian Patton Oswalt first carved a name for himself as a bit player in television programs, where he seemingly made the perfect everyman. Even those who fail to recognize the comic's agnomen doubtless encountered him as early as the mid- to late '90s, on such hit programs as NewsRadio, Dr. Katz, Mr. Show, and Seinfeld. (He was particularly memorable in the latter, as the video-store clerk who refuses to proffer a customer's address to a conniving George Costanza.) Oswalt also penned sketches for the long-running series MADtv and frequently lent his voice to Comedy Central's Crank Yankers, as one of the program's below-the-belt prank callers. Beginning in 1996 (and for at least four years thereafter), Oswalt began touring the country with his standup act and hitting comedy clubs; in 1997, he hosted his first standup special on HBO and received a positive response. Unabashedly iconoclastic and atheistic, with many routines devoted to excoriating Christianity and what he perceives as the hypocrisies of middle-American values, Oswalt buries his anti-establishment cynicism beneath a deceptively soft exterior (setting himself apart from, say, the more openly caustic and rave-happy George Carlin). Whatever the subject at hand, Oswalt displays a quick wit, a fearlessness to speak his mind, and an ability to unveil ironies behind practically everything. Regardless of one's personal convictions, Oswalt is also frequently hilarious, with his well-known impersonations of such personalities as Robert Evans and Nick Nolte absolutely unparalleled and definite high points in his routines, as are his riffs on pornography and bizarre sexual proclivities. In 1998, Oswalt landed his second recurring role on a television series, and his highest billing up through that time: that of Spence Olchin, one of the three buddies of Kevin James' Doug Heffernan, on the sitcom The King of Queens; he remained with the series for several seasons. Scattered movie roles followed -- typically bit parts at first, such as that of the scuba diver who experiences a bizarre death in the prologue of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999) and Hedges in Blade: Trinity (2004). Around 2004, Oswalt took a temporary siesta from acting, and re-launched himself into the arena of standup comedy. He and several friends (Brian Posehn, Zach Galifianakis, and Maria Bamford) formed the "Comedians of Comedy" troupe and mounted a coast-to-coast tour; that ensemble headlined an eponymous 2005 concert film. Oswalt issued his first standup album, Feelin' Kinda Patton, in 2004; it drew critical raves and impressive sales. He followed it up with a joint effort alongside Galifianakis, the 2005 recording Patton vs. Alcohol vs. Zach vs. Patton, and the 2006 concert film Patton Oswalt: No Reason to Complain. A sophomore solo recording, Lollipops and Werewolves, appeared in the summer of 2007.That same year, Oswalt voiced the character of Remy -- a French rat with a refined culinary instinct who single-handedly overturns Parisian haute cuisine -- in the Pixar animated film Ratatouille. It marked Oswalt's first reception of premier billing in an A-list feature and his debut work for Pixar.In 2009 he had the lead in the underrated indie drama Big Fan, as a man assaulted by the best player on his favorite football team, appeared in The Informant, and recorded the stand-up special My Weakness Is Strong. In 2011 he had a memorable turn in A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, released the stand-up concert Finest Hour, and earned the best reviews of his career playing opposite Charlize Theron in Young Adult.Oswalt's most consistent work, though, was in television. He amassed a slew of memorable TV roles, with one-offs, recurring gigs and voice-over roles. A seasons-long arc on United States of Tara coincided with other gigs on Bored to Death and Caprica. In 2013, he had a highly-regarded and publicized guest stint on Parks and Recreation, playing a character giving a filibuster on Star Wars. That same year, he started a recurring role on Justified and began doing narration work on The Goldbergs (playing an older version of the main character, Adam Goldberg). The following year, he played identical brothers on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., allowing Oswalt to return even if his character had been killed. In 2015, he played the VP's Chief of Staff on Veep. Oswalt also voices several characters on shows like BoJack Horseman and We Bare Bears.

Trivia: Appeared in advertisements for McDonald's and Friendly's restaurants, and SeaWorld. The SeaWorld advertisement was spoofed on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno to make it appear as if Sean and his onscreen little brother were actually looking at Osama bin Laden in a large fish tank. Was cast as the 11-year-old Adam in the sitcom The Goldbergs, which is based on the life of series creator, actor-comedian Adam Goldberg. Auditioned for his role on The Goldbergs on a Wednesday, received a callback on Thursday and began shooting the pilot on Friday. Has a voiceover role in the animated series Clarence.

Trivia: Audiences were charmed by Troy Gentile from the very beginning, when he played the younger version of Jack Black in the 2005 comedy Nacho Libre. The young star would also appear in a remake of The Bad News Bears that same year, and would collaborate with Black again the next year, appearing in Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny. In 2008, the actor continued to carve out his niche as a pint-sized source of outrageous comedy with a role in the Owen Wilson movie Drillbit Taylor. Then in 2009, he made a more family-friendly appearances in Hotel for Dogs.

Trivia: Won the Texas Music Project Lone Starz Rising competition for the State Fair of Texas 2008. Since 2009, served as an ambassador for the Texas Music Project, a nonprofit organisation that helps promote music education in Texas schools. Her song "The Magic of a Friend" is on the soundtrack of Disney's animated 2009 film Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. As part of the group Lakoda Rayne, competed in the first season of The X Factor (2011). Sang the American national anthem at a New Orleans Saints game and a Dallas Mavericks game. Cowrote the song "Power of a Girl" to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts of America.

Trivia: George Segal kicked off his performing career as a boy magician in his Long Island neighborhood. An accomplished banjoist, Segal played with Bruno Lynch and His Imperial Jazz before enrolling at Columbia University. After three years' military service, Segal resettled in New York in 1959, and that same year was cast in his first off-Broadway play. Entering films with 1961's The Young Doctors, Segal quickly established himself as one of Hollywood's most accomplished young character actors; in 1967, he received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Nick in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. When one compiles a list of favorite films from the late 1960s-early 1970s, one usually spends a great deal of time exclaiming "Hey! Segal was in that, too." He played a hustling POW in King Rat (1965), a Cagneyesque hood in Saint Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), ulcerated homicide detective Mo Brummel in No Way to Treat a Lady (1968), a neurotic New York Jewish intellectual in Bye Bye Braverman (1968), a straight-laced bachelor in love with a foul-mouthed hooker in The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), and a repressed lawyer saddled with an outrageously senile mother in Where's Poppa? (1970). During this same period, Segal had an arrangement with the ABC TV network, permitting him to star in television adaptations of classic Broadway plays: he was cast as George opposite Nicol Williamson's Lenny in Of Mice and Men, then switched gears as vicious escaped criminal Glenn Griffin in The Desperate Hours. Throughout this busy period in his life, Segal fronted the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band, cutting several records and making a number of memorable Tonight Show appearances. In 1973, Segal's successful screen teaming with Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class enabled him to demand a much higher price for his film services; unfortunately, many of the films that followed--The Black Bird (1975) and The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976) in particular--failed to justify Segal's seven-figure price tag. In the 1980s, Segal starred in two well-written but low-rated TV weeklies, Take Five (1987) and Murphy's Law (1989). His film career was lifted from the doldrums in the late 1980s with such plum roles as the pond-scum father of Kirstie Alley's baby in Look Who's Talking (1989) and the "pinko" comedy writer in For the Boys (1991). Segal's projects of the 1990s have included the syndicated TV adventure series High Tide (1994) and such film roles as the bemused husband of abrasive Jewish mama Mary Tyler Moore in the 1996 Ben Stiller vehicle Flirting with Disaster. In 1996, Segal found renewed success on television playing a well-meaning but rather duplicitous publisher whose estranged daughter comes to work for him in the razor-sharp NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me. Though he worked less frequently during the 21st century, he appeared in a variety of projects including The Linda McCartney Story as the main character's father, Fielder's Choice, 2012, and Love and Other Drugs.

Trivia: Heavyset comedian Jeff Garlin started doing standup comedy at his Florida college before he returned to his hometown of Chicago, IL, and joined the cast of Second City. In 1992, he made his film debut in the Dolly Parton comedy Straight Talk, followed by small roles in other features and made-for-TV movies. In 1997, he starred in his own HBO half-hour comedy special and guest starred on Everybody Loves Raymond a couple times before playing the reoccurring role of Marvin on NBC's Mad About You. After bit parts in the comedies Senseless and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Garlin made the successful switch back to television. This time he tried directing and producing in addition to playing Larry David's manager, Jeff Greene, on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, which would become his most recognizable role. He then hosted the short-lived variety show Late Friday and joined the cast of What About Joan for its second and final season. He made a brief return to film for Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal and then gained co-star status with Eddie Murphy for Daddy Day Care in 2003. In 2006 he wrote, directed, and starred in the sweet indie comedy I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, and two years later joined the Pixar family providing the voice of the ship captain in the highly-successful Wall-E. As he continued working on Curb, he found working on animated films to his liking and lent his voice to Cars 2, Toy Story 3 and ParaNorman.

Trivia: Was student-council president of his elementary school for 2011-12. Provides the voice of B-Dawg in Super Buddies, a 2013 entry in the Disney talking-dogs franchise. Was involved in the production of a short documentary called iPad that was entered in the 2013 International Family Film Festival Youth Fest! Father is an executive producer of NBC's The Biggest Loser. Enjoys making YouTube videos.

Trivia: Grew up in Ohio, but moved to Los Angeles with his family at age 9 to pursue a professional acting career. As a youngster, studied dance at Center Stage Dance Academy in Ottawa, OH. Made feature-film debut in Jake Squared (2013), starring Elias Koteas and Jennifer Jason Leigh. In 2015, made Los Angeles stage debut in Stephen Belber's comedy The Power of Duff (2013) at the Geffen Playhouse. In addition to dance, other interests include gymnastics, piano, guitar, singing and songwriting.

Trivia: Few actors could aspire to make such memorable marks on the worlds of film, television, and animation as early in their career as rising young star Sam Lerner, but after getting his start on the stage in productions of Annie, The Music Man, and Insect Show that's exactly what Lerner would do as his star began to ascend thanks to roles in Malcolm in the Middle, Envy, and Monster House. His career launched thanks to a series of small roles in such popular sitcoms as Malcolm in the Middle, Two and a Half Man, Oliver Beene, and The King of Queens, Lerner was soon venturing into feature territory with a supporting role in the Ben Stiller/Jack Black comedy misfire Envy. Though that film would ultimately self-destruct at the American box office before going straight-to-video overseas, the failure had little to do with the performance of the young star, and it wasn't long before Lerner made an impressive come-back in 2006 with a key role in the box-office hit Monster House. Cast as a suburban adolescent who, along with his two best friends, is forced to do battle with a malevolent dwelling with a mind of its own, Lerner discovered just how large of a process computer animation could be when, after eight weeks of shooting, the film took an additional two before it hit the multiplex screens.

Trivia: Jon Lovitz is a versatile comedic actor instantly recognizable for his distinctive voice, acerbic wit, pear-shaped body, and hangdog eyes. He studied at the University of California, Irvine, and participated in the Film Actors Workshop. He then went on to do guest spots on TV and had a recurring role on Foley Square. Lovitz also played small roles in Last Resort (1986), and Ratboy (1986), and also provided a voice for the animated feature The Brave Little Toaster (1987). He got his first real break as a regular on TV's Saturday Night Live, where his characters such as Tommy Flanagan of pathological Liars Anonymous, the great Shakespearean ham Master Thespian, and the Devil himself became quite popular. His stint on Saturday Night Live put him in demand as a character actor and television guest star. His friendship with director Penny Marshall helped him get roles in some of her earlier films such as Big (1988), and his role as the fast talking baseball recruiter Ernie "Cappy" Capadino in Marshall's A League of Their Own (1992) earned him widespread acclaim. Lovitz has also appeared as a guest voice on the TV animated show The Simpsons and played lead voice in the critically-acclaimed animated show The Critic on ABC and the Fox Network.In the years following SNL and The Critic, Lovitz remained active with comedic roles in film (High School High, Little Nicky) and television (NewsRadio, Las Vegas), though it his performances in such films as Todd Solandz's acerbic black comedy Happiness and opposite Kevin Spacey in the semi-comedic Jack Abramoff biopic Casino Jack that displayed more range most filmmakers had previously failed to capitalize on. And thought the comic actor was never known to be overtly political, his scathing criticisms of U.S. President Barack Obama on the issue of taxes made headlines across the country in 2012, resulting in an unusually serious appearance on FOX News in which he passionately defended his comments.

Trivia: Though he would remain one of the comedy world's best-kept secrets through the later half of the 1990s, improvisational comic-turned-actor David Koechner, (born August 24, 1962) later made a successful transition from SNL and Late Night With Conan O'Brien funnyman to supporting feature player roles when word of his talent spread, thanks to stellar supporting parts in such wide-release films as A Guy Thing and Anchorman. The Tipton, MO, native studied political science at the University of Missouri, with a subsequent career in the family business (manufacturing turkey coops) narrowly averted by a post-college move to Chicago. It was there that Koechner attempted to master his comic skills under the tutelage of improv master Del Close, with further studies at the Windy City's ImprovOlympic cementing the skills of the up-and-coming talent. A subsequent stint at Chicago's Second City Theater led to Koechner's lucky break when he was whisked away by SNL creator Lorne Michaels to become a player in the long-running weekly comedy mainstay. Though he would remain with SNL for merely one season, Koechner continued to impress on the small screen as a performer on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in the 1996-1997 season. As his reputation continued to grow due to appearances on such popular shows as Mad About You and Dharma & Greg, Koechner also made an impression in features thanks to small but memorable roles in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Man on the Moon, and My Boss's Daughter. Though he would continue to work in minor capacity on the small screen, Koechner seemed to be focusing on features at this point in his career, with a turn as a chauvinistic sportscaster in the 2004 Will Ferrell comedy Anchorman offering what was perhaps his most substantial feature performance to date. Koechner played a tobacco lobbyist in 2005's media satire Thankyou for Smoking, and reunited with Will Ferrell to for a supporting role in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby in 2006. In 2008 he joined the cast of Get Smart, the big-screen adaptation of Mel Brooks' popular 1960s-era comedy series, and proved himself no stranger to camp in Final Destination 5 (2011) and Piranha 3DD (2012).

Trivia: Best known for her Miss USA victory at the age of 20 in 1995, Shanna Moakler subsequently parlayed her fame into recognition as a centerfold model and a reality television star. A native of Providence, RI, Moakler grew up in a middle-class family as a dentist's daughter, then late in high school caught her first taste of fame with a 1992 Miss Teen USA victory at the age of 17. After high school, Moakler spent time in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles, planning to capitalize on her svelte figure, photogenic countenance, and Miss Teen victory by establishing herself as a print and runway model. Her plan worked beautifully, and in addition to culling a tremendous amount of attention in that sphere, Moakler re-entered the world of pageantry and won the 1995 Miss USA title.At that point, Moakler also began signing for scripted roles, essaying parts in such projects as the features Friends 'til the End (1997) and Love Stinks (1999). In 2001, she posed nude for Playboy and turned up in the December 2001 issue of that magazine as the Playmate of the Month. Her broadest fame, however, arrived courtesy of her relationship with -- and marriage to -- tattooed rock drummer Travis Barker, with whom she had two children. The pair divorced within a couple years, but in the interim starred together on the celebrity reality series Meet the Barkers, which chronicled the vicissitudes of their marriage. Following the Barkers' divorce, Moakler participated in season 3 of Dancing with the Stars as the celebrity half of a pair that also included Jesse DeSoto. They were eliminated second. In 2008, Moakler drew from her extensive pageant experience by serving as a judge on the reality series Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants.

Trivia: The granddaughter of John Barrymore and grandniece of Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore, Drew Barrymore was born in Culver City, California on February 22, 1975. From there, she didn't waste much time getting in front of the cameras, making her first commercial at nine months and her first television movie, Suddenly Love, at the age of two. Two years later, she made her film debut, appearing as William Hurt's daughter in Altered States (1980). At the advanced age of seven, Barrymore became a true celebrity, thanks to her role as the cherubic Gertie in Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. The huge success of that 1982 film endeared Barrymore to millions of audience members, but following leads in two more films, Irreconcilable Differences and Firestarter (both 1984), the young actress began to succumb to a destructive lifestyle defined by drugs, alcohol, and too much partying. A child expected to behave like an adult, Barrymore began drinking at the age of nine and started taking drugs a short while later.Unsurprisingly, observers began writing Barrymore off as just another failed child star when she was barely into her teens. She made a string of (largely forgettable) movies, many of which only reinforced her image as a has-been. However, in the middle of her teen years, Barrymore entered rehab, cleaned herself up, and wrote an autobiography, Little Girl Lost, which detailed her travails with drugs and alcohol. In the early 1990s, she entered another phase in her career, gaining notoriety for playing a series of vampy, trampy trailer-park Lolitas. In this capacity, she turned in memorable performances in Poison Ivy (1992), the 1993 made-for-TV The Amy Fisher Story, and Batman Forever (1995), all of which featured her pouting seductively and showing more thigh than all the Rockettes combined. Barrymore's on-screen antics were ably complemented by the off-screen reputation she was forming at the time: first she could be seen posing nude with then-boyfriend Jamie Walters on the cover of Interview magazine, then modeling for a series of racy Guess ads, flashing David Letterman during an appearance on The Late Show as a "birthday present" to the host, and finally posing nude for Playboy in 1995.In 1996, Barrymore's image underwent an abrupt and effective transformation from slut to sweetheart. With a brief but memorable role in Wes Craven's Scream and a lead in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You that featured her as a Kelly Girl for the '90s, Barrymore's career received an adrenaline shot to the heart. She began working steadily again, and she reshaped her offscreen persona into that of a delightful and sweet-natured girl trying to mend her ways. This new image was supported by her screen work, much of which featured her as a chaste heroine. Her starring role as the "real" Cinderella in Ever After (1998) was a good example, and it had the added advantage of turning out to be a fairly solid hit. Barrymore's other major 1998 film, The Wedding Singer, was another hit, further enhancing her reputation as America's new sweetheart. The following year, the actress all but put the final nail in the coffin of her wild-child reputation of years past, starring as the nerdy, lovelorn twenty-something reporter who bears the titular condition of Never Been Kissed. That movie not only marked a notable transition in Barrymore's reputation, but an advancement in her cinematic career as well. Expanding her role from actress to producer, Barrymore would continue starring in and producing such efforts as Charlie's Angels (2000), Donnie Darko (2001).Though some may have suspected that her millennial transition from sweetheart to skull-cracker in Charlie's Angels may have signaled a shift towards more action oriented roles -- and despite her return to the role in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) -- Barrymore once again charmed audiences with another emotional comedy, Riding in Cars With Boys in 2001, while Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) found Drew in the role of long-suffering girlfriend alongside Sam Rockwell's unlikely CIA operative. Though the film did not fare particularly well critically or otherwise, Barrymore took a nonetheless interesting turn as an apple-pie wife turned sinister in 2003's Duplex, and held her own against scene-chomper Ben Stiller. Barrymore teamed up with fellow Stiller-flick alumni Owen Wilson for 2004's Date School, and once again played Adam Sandler's sugar sweet girlfriend in director Peter Segal's romantic comedy Fifty-First Dates.2005 brought yet another openly fluffy romantic comedy with Fever Pitch, in which she played the straight-girl against Red Sox super-fan Jimmy Fallon, but she soon changed gears, signing on to appear in Lucky You, a gambling drama by Curtis Hanson. She was soon back to romcom terretory, with Music and Lyrics and He's Just Not That Into You, but also took on an extremly meaty character role in the 2009 HBO film Grey Gardens, in which she mimiced the particular speech and mannerisms of infamous shut-in "Little Edie" and met with major critical acclaim. Around this same time, Barrymore took on her first directorial effort, helming the modest, young-adult movie Whip It, which critics deemed a solid debut. Barrymore then took on a starring role alongside sometime boyfriend Justin Long in the 2010 comedy Going the Distance, before signing on to play an environmental activist in the feel-good period movie Big Miracle. She then took a career break in order to focus on her growing family before re-teaming with Adam Sandler in 2014 for the romcom Blended.

Trivia: One of the most endearing goofballs to ever grace the stages of Saturday Night Live, affectionately offensive funnyman Adam Sandler has often been cited as the writer/performer who almost single-handedly rescued the long-running late-night television staple when the chips were down and it appeared to have run its course. Though his polarizing antics have divided audiences and critics who often dismiss him as lowbrow and obnoxious, Sandler's films, as well as the films of his Happy Madison production company, have performed consistently well at the box office despite harsh and frequent critical lashings.Born in Brooklyn on September 9th, 1966, it may come as no surprise that Sandler was a shameless class clown who left his classmates in stitches and his teachers with a handful. Never considering to utilize his gift of humor to pursue a career, Sandler eventually realized his potential when at the age of 17 his brother encouraged him to take the stage at an amateur comedy competition. A natural at making the audience laugh, the aspiring comedian nurtured his talents while attending New York University and studying for a Fine Arts Degree. With early appearances on The Cosby Show and the MTV game show Remote Control providing the increasingly busy Sandler with a loyal following, an early feature role coincided with his "discovery" by SNL cast member Dennis Miller at an L.A. comedy club. As the unfortunately named Shecky Moskowitz, his role as a struggling comedian in Going Overboard (1989) served as an interesting parallel to his actual career trajectory but did little to display his true comic talents.It wasn't until SNL producers took Miller's praise to heart and hired the fledgling comic as writer on the program that Sandler's talents were truly set to shine. Frequent appearances as Opera Man and Canteen Boy soon elevated him to player status, and it wasn't long before Sandler was the toast of the SNL cast in the mid-'90s. While appearing in SNL and sharpening his feature skills in such efforts as Shakes the Clown (1991) and Coneheads (1993), Sandler signed a recording contract with Warner Bros., and the release of the Grammy-nominated They're All Gonna Laugh at You proved the most appropriate title imaginable as his career began to soar. Striking an odd balance between tasteless vulgarity and innocent charm, the album found Sandler gaining footing as an artist independent of the SNL universe and fueled his desire -- as numerous cast members had before him -- to strike out on his own. Though those who had attempted a departure for feature fame in the past had met with decidedly mixed results, Sandler's loyal and devoted fan base proved strong supporters of such early solo feature efforts as Billy Madison (1996) and, especially, Happy Gilmore (1996).His mixture of grandma-loving sweetness and pure, unfiltered comedic rage continued with his role as a slow-witted backwoods mama's boy turned football superstar in The Waterboy (1998), and that same year found Sandler expanding his persona to more sensitive territory in The Wedding Singer. Perhaps his most appealing character up to that point, The Wedding Singer's combination of '80s nostalgia and a warmer, more personable persona found increasing support among those who had previously distanced themselves from his polarizing performances. As the decade rolled on, Sandler also appeared in the action-oriented Bulletproof (1996) and the even more affectionate Big Daddy (1999). In 2002, Sandler starred in a re-imagining of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, titled simply Mr. Deeds.Beginning in the late nineties, Sandler's Happy Madison production company launched such efforts as Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), Little Nicky (2000), The Animal and Joe Dirt (both 2001). Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo appeared in (2005), and Grandma's Boy in (2006). Despite critical castigation for scraping the bottom of the barrel with these efforts, Sandler's commercial instinct remained intact; the films all hit big at the box office and drew an ever-loyal base of fans who gravitated to any feature with Sandler's name attached.The early 2000s also saw Sandler attempting to branch out in a number of unusual directions, which included the animated "Hanukkah Musical" 8 Crazy Nights (2002). Sandler also began dipping his toes into the realm of drama with a starring role in the eccentric, critically acclaimed tragicomedy Punch-Drunk Love (2002), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Sandler also starred in the Jim Brooks-helmed comedy/drama Spanglish (2004), an unsually subdued and gentle turn away from the irascible types that Sandler usually played. The critical receptions were, again uneven, as reviewers loathed 8 Crazy Nights, justifiably praised Punch-Drunk across the board, and espoused mixed feelings about Spanglish.Perhaps well aware of the extent of these risks that he was taking with his career, Sandler continued to sustain his popularity with a steady (and reliable) stream of crowd-pleasing star vehicles throughout the early 2000s. 2002's self-produced Sandler vehicle Anger Management (which teamed him up with a maniacal Jack Nicholson); the 2004 effort 50 First Dates, in which he co-starred with fellow Wedding Singer alum Drew Barrymore; and the 2005 remake of Robert Aldrich's The Longest Yard all made box office gold. In 2006, Sandler starred in yet another hit: Click, a surrealistic comedy directed by Frank Coraci, co-starring Sean Astin, Kate Beckinsale and Christopher Walken. The film was a big hit and, having spent the past few years playing it safe, Sandler decided it was a good time to take another chance. He signed on to star with Don Cheadle in the 2007 drama Reign Over Me, playing a man who lost his wife and children in the 9/11 attacks, and is headed for complete self-destruction. The critics weren't as enamored with this dramatic attempt as they were with Punch-Drunk Love, but Sandler was mostly well received even when the film wasn't. Always tempering his risks with more predictable career moves, the actor next signed on to appear alongside King of Queens star Kevin James in the buddy movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, a comedy about two straight firefighters who pretend to be a gay couple to receive domestic partner benefits.On a seemingly never-ending roll with his broadly appealing comedic roles, Sandler next played an Israeli secret agent and skilled beautician in 2008's You Don't Mess with the Zohan. He followed this up with a turn in the kids comedy Bedtime Stories in 2009, before adding a dash of dramatic acting to a humorous role once more, with the 2009 Judd Apatow flick Funny People. For Sandler's next project, he reteamed with Cuck and Larry co-star Kevin James for the 2010 romp Grown Ups, before cozying up to Jennifer Aniston for the romantic comedy Just Go With It in 2011. Despite his beautiful co-star, Just Go With It did poorly at the box office, and so for his next movie, the funnyman chose a more bankable supporting actor: himself, playing both a man and his own annoying twin sister in the 2012 comedy Jack and Jill.