Trivia: Harboring an awesome wellspring of determination, Australian émigré actress Poppy Montgomery moved from down under to Los Angeles in 1993 (at the tender age of 18) and, with no connections or leads to her name, bought a copy of a book called How to Make it in Hollywood. In that text, Montgomery read an anecdote about one of Julia Roberts' early managers, who had helped engineer some of the actress' early successes. Montgomery searched diligently until she found the manager's telephone number, then so plagued him with calls, one after another, that she ultimately wore down his resistance; he put Montgomery in touch with a manager who helped launch her career. The self-assurance evident in this "breakout strategy" had taken root early in Montgomery's life; born June 19, 1975, in Paddington, New South Wales, Australia (a suburb of Sydney), Montgomery realized as a young girl that she only wanted to spend her life acting. Once in Hollywood, she refused to be snubbed or overlooked. As an ingenue in Los Angeles, Montgomery sustained smaller turns for seven years, including a role on NYPD Blue and performances in the Eddie Murphy comedy Life and the Garry Marshall tearjerker The Other Sister, until late 2000, when she landed the highly coveted lead role of Marilyn Monroe in the autobiographical miniseries about the superstar, Blonde, adapted from the book by esteemed belletrist Joyce Carol Oates. Though critics felt the telemovie uneven, most singled out Montgomery and raved over her interpretation.This unique, inherent ability to reach down deep into a character and understand her on the most intuitive level shone through again and again in Montgomery's work, and doubtless enabled her to land a recurring role on the CBS drama Without a Trace, about the day-to-day searches of a missing-persons unit headed by Anthony LaPaglia. When she received the call about Without a Trace, Montgomery had contributed exemplary work to two otherwise unsuccessful series -- Elizabeth Waclawek in The Beat (2000) and Ellie Sparks in Glory Days (2002) -- and needed a boost. The program, of course, became a massive hit, thanks in no small part to Montgomery's fine work. In the series she portrays FBI agent Samantha Spade with marked believability. As one season of Without a Trace after another unfolded, Montgomery worked with equal emphasis in film and television. Her cinematic roles included Allison in the Gen-X indie comedy How to Lose Your Lover (2004) and Nadine Roberts in David Ocañas' metaphysical thriller Between (2004); in 2005, Montgomery played Generosa Rand, the issue-ridden (and possibly homicidal) wife of wealthy investment banker Ted Ammon, in the made-for-television true crime saga Murder in the Hamptons. TV would prove a good fit for Montgomery, and she would find additional success with series like Without a Trace and Unforgettable.

Trivia: Possessing the sort of bland, familiarly handsome looks that make him equally effective at creating both instantly likable and inexplicably repelling characters, actor Dylan Walsh, born November 17th, 1963, generally specialized in the former. When he took to the latter, however, the unexpected change of pace could make for an extremely effective performance. Although audiences may recognize his face from such high-profile Hollywood fare as Congo (1995) and We Were Soldiers (2002), his most affecting roles have been in low-budget independent fare such as the low-key 2001 drama Jet Boy. A California native who graduated from Annandale High School in Virginia, Walsh wowed audiences as Atticus Finch in a high school stage production of To Kill a Mockingbird, giving signs of great things to come from the burgeoning actor. Subsequently gaining his footing as an actor with a recurring role on television's Kate and Allie, his first feature credit came with the 1989 Patrick Dempsey comedy Loverboy. His career truly beginning to gain momentum in the early '90s, Walsh's appearances in Betsy's Wedding (1990) and Nobody's Fool (1994) showed an actor just waiting for his breakthrough role. Although he would take the lead for the eagerly anticipated jungle adventure Congo, the film's dismal fate at the box office certainly didn't do anything for his career. Subsequent efforts such as Divided by Hate (1997) and Chapter Zero (1999) showed an actor capable of much more than what he was given with which to work. Admittedly taking roles just to pay the bills, Walsh was offered the lead in Calgary filmmaker Dave Schultz's dark psychological drama Jet Boy. Cast as a shady, morally ambiguous undercover cop who befriends a street smart orphan while attempting to take down a big-time drug dealer, the role offered some contrast to Walsh's recent performances, and simultaneously proved that he was fully capable of handling a leading dramatic role. Due to the success of Jet Boy, his career was somewhat reinvigorated and subsequent parts in We Were Soldiers and Blood Work paid testament to an actor regaining his footing after a few early falters. In 2003, Walsh donned scrubs for the critically acclaimed television series Nip/Tuck. In 2006 Walsh could be seen back up on the big screen as the buttoned-down boyfriend of Sandra Bullock's haunted character in the fantasy-flavored romantic drama The Lakehouse. Walsh changed his tune for The Stepfather (2009), which starred the actor as a sociopathic murderer. In 2010, he joined the cast of Secretariat in a supporting role as the husband of housewife-turned-horse racer Penny Cherry (Diane Lane).

Trivia: Originally went to college to become a teacher and tutored elementary students throughout high school and college. Married with two children. Crossed paths with Tony Soprano as a compulsive gambler in the pilot episode of The Sopranos. Made his Broadway debut in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, opposite Eddie Izzard, in 2003. Originally read for the role of Johnston Green for Jericho.

Trivia: Wanted to be a stunt man after watching the Fall Guy as a kid, until he realized Lee Majors was only an actor playing a stunt man. First TV appearance was on Unsolved Mysteries. Made his big-screen debut in 1997 with a bit part in Robert Duvall's The Apostle. Proposed to his girlfriend while filming the pilot for NBC medical drama Trauma, having carried the ring around for two years, waiting for the right opportunity. Plays guitar, sings and writes music in his spare time.

Trivia: Family moved to Oakland when she was 2 years old. Father is East Indian and mother is Italian-American. Studied ballet at the Oakland Ballet Company. Was a member of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater in New York. Is a member of a theater group called Theatre Tribe. Enjoys hiking, jogging, yoga and bodysurfing.

Trivia: Redheaded leading lady Marilu Henner was born and educated in Chicago, where her mother ran a dance studio in the family garage. Henner also began her acting career in City of Broad Shoulders. She was one of the stars of the original community-theatre production of Grease, remaining with the show when it moved to New York in 1976 (During this period, she carried on a well-publicized romance with former Grease cast member John Travolta). She went on to garner excellent revues for her work in the Broadway production Over Here, an otherwise disappointing musical spoof of the 1940s starring the Andrews Sisters. Henner began making on-camera appearances in 1977, notably as a stripper in Joan Micklin Silver's Behind the Lines, and in a generously distributed "Ring Around the Collar!" TV commercial. From 1978 through 1983, Henner played Elaine Nardo on the popular TV sitcom Taxi. Though she never won the Emmy that she deserved for this role, she could take consolation in the fact that she was made an honorary New York City cabbie. Several film roles followed in such low-profile productions as Hammet (1983) and Johnny Dangerously (1984) before Henner re-entered the sitcom grind as Ava Evans Newton, wife of high-school athletics coach Burt Reynolds, on the long-running (1990-94) Evening Shade. In 1994, Henner hosted her own TV talk show, a career move that coincided with the publication of her autobiography By All Means Keep on Moving. Chatty and very candid, the book revealed that Henner had slept with virtually every male member of the Taxi cast (only Danny DeVito was bypassed because, unlike his hot-to-trot Louie DePalma character, he never asked). Marilu Henner has been married twice, to actor Frederic Forrest and producer/director Robert Lieberman. Still active on the small screen in the first decade of the new millennium, Henner could be spotted in guest roles on such popular shows as Providence, ER, Numb3rs, and Grey's Anatomy.

Trivia: From his first onscreen appearance opposite Winona Ryder in the 1996 coming-of-age tale Boys, Skeet Ulrich has invited comparisons with actors ranging from Johnny Depp to James Dean. With his cool stare and glacier-cut cheekbones, Ulrich has repeatedly been hailed as one of Young Hollywood's hottest, brightest stars, an accolade he has attempted to live up to with steady, if uneven, work.Born Brian Ray Ulrich on January 20, 1970, the actor was raised in North Carolina by his divorced father. Ulrich acquired his unusual nickname from a Little League coach who dubbed him "Skeeter" because he was small, like a mosquito. Following high school, Ulrich enrolled at New York University where he was "discovered" by playwright David Mamet, who invited him to join his celebrated Atlantic Theater Company as an apprentice. Ulrich performed in a number of productions, and during one of them, he was spotted by director Stacy Cochran, who cast him in an ABC Afterschool Special. Cochran then gave Ulrich his first screen role in Boys, in which he was cast as Winona Ryder's brutish boyfriend. 1996 proved to be a prolific year for the newly discovered actor, who followed his debut with performances in The Craft (which also featured his future Scream co-star, Neve Campbell), the Sharon Stone prison drama Last Dance, Albino Alligator, and, most notably, Scream, in which Ulrich played Campbell's unhinged boyfriend.1997 emerged as a quieter year for Ulrich, who appeared only in a small part (that, it should be noted, was much larger before the tyranny of the cutting-room floor) in James L. Brooks' critically acclaimed As Good As It Gets, and in the leading role in the largely unseen Touch. 1998 saw Ulrich take part in two more films: the obscure Vietnam drama A Soldier's Sweetheart (in which Ulrich starred with his future wife, Georgina Cates) and Richard Linklater's much-anticipated The Newton Boys, a film expected to mine box-office gold in part because of its ridiculously photogenic cast, which, in addition to Ulrich, included Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D'Onofrio. Despite such a powerful combination of tanned skin, flawless dentistry, and charmingly exuded testosterone, the film failed to find favor among critics or audiences. Ulrich's next feature, 1999's Chill Factor, met a similar fate, causing some to ponder what would come next for an actor who just three years earlier had been toasted as one of the most tantalizing samples that Hollywood had to offer. Ulrich fared somewhat better with Ride With the Devil: a Civil War drama directed by Ang Lee and co-starring Tobey Maguire, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Jeffrey Wright, and Jewel, it received a moderately favorable critical response.

Trivia: Equipped with classical training as a stage actor, American thespian Dallas Roberts cut his chops on and off Broadway during the 1990s and early 2000s before transitioning to film -- a shift that represented a broad stylistic and technical leap for the dramatist. Born and raised in the Houston area, Roberts first attended a Lone Star community college with an unclear idea of how he wanted to spend his professional life. Had he never discovered Juilliard, his life might very well have forked off in another direction; instead, Roberts -- directed toward acting at the behest of a collegiate drama professor -- applied to the hallowed New York conservatory and gained acceptance. Involvement in numerous theatrical productions on the Great White Way ensued, such as the 2002 Burn This (with Edward Norton and Catherine Keener) and Adam Rapp's Nocturne, for which Roberts received a Drama Desk Award nomination.Though a couple of unremarkable independent films preceded it, the Michael Mayer-directed, Michael Cunningham-scripted 2004 picture A Home at the End of the World (an adaptation of Cunningham's beloved novel) marked Roberts' first noteworthy cinematic achievement. The picture also shot Roberts instantly to third billing -- not an unpromising start for a cinematic newcomer. It concerns the relationship triangle that develops between Jonathan (Roberts), a thirtysomething gay man desperate to act as a father to his roommate's baby; the eccentric roommate Clare (Robin Wright Penn); and Jonathan's lifelong, heterosexual best friend, Bobby (Colin Farrell), who move to a house together in rural, upstate New York. Roberts, who reportedly felt a bit thrown by the lack of advance character preparation and dramatic adjustment in film (compared to theater) nonetheless delivered a bravura performance; the film itself received mixed reviews.Over the next several years, Roberts would enjoy a sustained level of fame and respect as an actor, appearing memorably in movies like Walk the Line (2005) , 3:10 to Yuma, and on TV series like The Walking Dead, Rubicon, The Good Wife, and Unforgettable.

Trivia: Began acting in school plays in second grade. Founding member of the Rude Mechanicals Theater Company in New York City. Starred in The Beat opposite Mark Ruffalo, in his only recurrent television role. Starred in interactive mystery series Push, Nevada, which was canceled before fans could solve it; Cecil gave remaining clues to fans during Monday Night Football commercial break. Credited as a still photographer in 2015 documentary Little House in the Prairie: The Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder.