Trivia: Best known for portraying time traveler Dr. Sam Beckett in the popular sci-fi series Quantum Leap, Scott Bakula is also a noted Broadway actor and occasional movie star, though it is in the last venue that he has had the least amount of success. The son of a musician, Bakula is said to have started his own rock band when he was in the fourth grade. He also sang with the St. Louis Symphony before attending the University of Kansas. Bakula launched his acting career as a teen in regional theater and as a stage actor specializes in musical comedy. He made his Broadway debut in 1983 in Marilyn: An American Fable. He started showing up regularly on television as a guest star on such series as My Sister Sam and Designing Women during the 1980s. In 1986, Bakula starred in an unsuccessful television series, Gung Ho! Two years later he headlined another unsuccessful one, Eisenhower and Lutz. In 1988, Bakula was nominated for a Tony for his work in Romance, Romance. The following year, he was cast in Quantum Leap and has since gained a cult following; in 1992, he won a Golden Globe and was nominated four more times. Bakula was also nominated for a quartet of Emmys. Bakula made his feature-film debut starring opposite Kirstie Alley in Sibling Rivalry (1990). Other notable film appearances include L.A. Story (1991) and My Family/Mi Familia (1995). In 1993, Bakula had a recurring role on the CBS sitcom Murphy Brown as a love interest of Candice Bergen. He has also appeared in a number of television movies and in 1996, he had a stint in another short-lived series, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.Though he worked steadily in movies, television turned out to be his next great success when, in 2001, he took the part of Capt. Jonathan Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise, a program that lasted four seasons.In 2009 Bakula would star alongside Ray Romano and Andre Braugher in the well-respected comedy/drama series Men of a Certain Age, and landed in one of the best films of his career, Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!.

Trivia: Though he has proven to be a natural, allegedly Lucas Black's ambition is not to be an actor when he grows up. Born and raised in Alabama, Black became a professional actor when an open casting call landed him a bit part in Jon Avnet's The War (1994). After starring on TV's American Gothic (1995), Black definitively caught the audience's attention with his pivotal role in Billy Bob Thornton's award-winning drama Sling Blade (1996). Resisting child actor treacle, Black turned in a genuinely charming and moving performance as the young boy who befriends Thornton's mentally challenged ex-con. Despite the acclaim, however, Black opted to stay home in Alabama rather than go Hollywood. Black continued to act throughout his high school years, playing supporting roles in the racial drama Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) and the big-screen version of The X-Files (1998), and starring in the TV movie Flash (1997) and as the politically aware Peejoe in Crazy in Alabama (1999). In Thornton's second directorial effort All the Pretty Horses (2000), Black's performance as the young drifter who gets Matt Damon into trouble once again revealed his ability to hold his own against -- indeed outshine -- Hollywood's best. Black, however, has asserted that his ultimate goal is to become a professional fisherman. High profile roles as everything from a piano savant in Killer Diller to a high school football star in Friday Night LIghts and a fresh-faced Marine in Jarhead proved without question that Black had the acting range needed to craft and impressive and enduring career, and in 2006 Black put the peddle to the metal as a troubled teen whose trip to Tokyo finds him mastering the art of the drift in the adrenaline-charged sequel The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Trivia: Born in Guyana on December 25, 1952, actress CCH Pounder made her first film appearance as a nurse in Bob Fosse's All That Jazz (1979). Pounder went on to play a small part in Prizzi's Honor before her first big role as truckstop owner Brenda in Bagdad Cafe. Her first TV-series assignment was as husband-murderer Dawn Murphy in the short-lived FOX sitcom Women in Prison. Many dramatic TV movies followed, including Leap of Faith, Third Degree Burn, Murder in Mississippi, and the two-part CBS miniseries Common Ground. On the big screen, she had supporting parts in Postcards From the Edge, Kurt Baker's version of The Importance of Being Earnest, and the romantic comedy Benny & Joon. After appearing in Sliver and Robocop 3, she returned to television for the role of Dr. Angela Hicks on ER, earning her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress. She left the show in 1997 and went on to countless TV movies (Final Justice, Netforce, A Touch of Hope, just to name a few), as well as a couple feature films (Face/Off, End of Days) and TV miniseries (House of Frankenstein, To Serve and Protect). In 2001, she narrated the PBS documentary series Race: The Power of an Illusion and played a judge in Allison Anders' independent drama Things Behind the Sun. In 2002, she was back on television as Detective Claudette Wynn on the FOX police drama The Shield.Pounder continued to work on The Shield until the series concluded in 2007, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for her role as Detective Wynn. The actress appeared in 2009's psychological horror The Orphan, and voiced Mo'at, the spiritual leader of the Omaticaya clan, in James Cameron's mega-blockbuster Avatar the same year. 2009 would prove a rewarding year for Pounder, as her guest appearances on the BBC/HBO series No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency would earn her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

Trivia: Was part of the comedy troupe Commedus Interruptus in college. Co-founded the comedy troupe Summer of Tears with Todd Waldman in 2004. Won the U.S. Comedy Art Festival's jury prize for best sketch comedy in 2007 with Summer of Tears. Was a writer for ABC's Happy Endings.

Trivia: Was a member of '80s hip-hop group Groove B. Chill. Paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a November 2001 motorcycle accident in South Carolina. Has served as a spokesman for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. Established the Daryl Mitchell Foundation, which was founded on the principles of awareness, education and advocacy for those impacted by spinal-cord injuries.

Trivia: Was honored as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts by the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program during her senior year in high school. Wrote two articles that were published in The Juilliard Journal while in college. Made her New York stage debut in the Delacorte Theater's production of The Merchant of Venice in 2010. In 2013, made her Broadway debut in Christopher Durang's production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike as Cassandra, a role that she originated. Is involved with an anti-racism organization, A People's Institute for Survival and Beyond.

Trivia: Brooklyn, NY, native Vanessa Ferlito grew up amid somewhat challenging circumstances as an only child (the daughter of two Italian-American hair salon owners) whose father died before she reached the age of three. She developed acting aspirations early in life and broke into the entertainment business via television, with guest spots and recurring roles on crime-themed series programs including CSI: New York and The Sopranos -- where her unmistakably ethnic, weathered but voluptuous look lent her time and again to effective portrayals of molls, mistresses, and other gritty urban female types. She landed her most prominent early feature roles in Spider-Man 2 (as a co-star in Mary Jane's play) and Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof segment of the 2007 two-episode omnibus Grindhouse (as one of the low-down women stalked and murdered by Kurt Russell's psychopath Stuntman Mike). After the Tarantino project, Ferlito joined co-stars Debra Messing and Alfred Molina for the gentle comedy Nothing Like the Holidays and worked with Tyler Perry on the farce Madea Goes to Jail (2009).

Trivia: Actor Lou Diamond Phillips is no stranger to the dramatic ups and downs and surprises of his profession. Just look at the way he burst onto the Hollywood scene in 1987 with the surprise hit biopic La Bamba after years of working in Fort Worth theater and small Texas-produced independent films. His portrayal of doomed '50s rocker Ritchie Valens won him acclaim. His next role, that of a troubled gangleader who is reluctantly inspired to change by a charismatic math teacher in Stand and Deliver (1988) -- which was actually finished before La Bamba's release -- and his portrayal of young outlaw Jose Chavez Y Chavez in Young Guns (1988) made it seem that Phillips' youthful prediction that he would become a major star would indeed come true. But then Phillips showed up in a long line of box-office and direct-to-video bombs and he disappeared into obscurity and he seemed destined to remain there for the rest of his career. Phillips is one of Hollywood's most distinctive actors and is known for his intense performances. He is a tall, slender man with raven-black hair, deep-brown almond-shaped eyes, and cheekbones reminiscent of ancient Mayan statues. His distinctly "ethnic" looks come from his rich family heritage. Phillips claims he is part Hawaiian, Filipino, Cherokee, and Scots-Irish. His dark complexion and exotic looks have relegated him to "ethnic" roles in Hollywood. Phillips was born Lou Upchurch in the Philippines, the son of a naval aircraft mechanic, and raised in Flour Bluff, a small town near Corpus Christie, TX. Though he received scholarships to the U.S. Naval Academy and to Yale, Phillips preferred to attend the local University of Texas at Arlington so he could remain close to his high school friends. While at school, Phillips found a growing passion for acting and after appearing in several drama club productions and in a local comedy troupe, believed himself destined for stardom. When real stars came to town, he would go to elaborate lengths to meet them. For example, when his idol Robert DeNiro came, Phillips dressed up as a bellboy and snuck up to the great actor's hotel room. After college, Phillips joined Fort Worth's tiny Stage West theater and stayed there for four years. During that period, Phillips appeared in such made-in-Texas independent films as Trespasses (1987) for which he also wrote the script. He associate-produced another of these films, Dakota.After the only moderate success of Young Guns, Phillips' career faltered with films such as First Power (1989), the dismal Young Guns 2 (1990), and the laughably self-important Shadow of the Wolf (1992). Phillips made an inauspicious directorial debut with Dangerous Touch (1993), following it up with Sioux City (1994). Though he worked steadily in films through the decade, Phillips was almost a forgotten quantity in Hollywood. In 1995, Phillips' career took a surprising and unexpectedly successful turn when a casting director spotted Phillips and brought him in to audition for the role of King Mongkut in a new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I. Despite having only worked relatively briefly on-stage, Phillips was personally approved by the Rodgers estate to play the part. Phillips realized that in taking it, he would be expected to fill the shoes of the great Yul Brynner who originated the role. It did not help that many critics did little to hide their surprise and dismay at the audacious casting of Phillips, who was determined to find new nuances in the Siamese King's relationship with British schoolteacher Anna. Phillips also made important changes for the character, especially in his appearance. Despite the naysayers' dire predictions for the musical's revival, Phillips succeeded in his goals and the show became a smash hit. Among the benefits of his reemergence has been renewed interest in Phillips from Hollywood. Though he never really left, Phillips had a "comeback" when he starred opposite Denzel Washington in Courage Under Fire (1996).2009 found Philips crowned the winner of NBC's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, and after donating his winnings to the Art Has Heart Foundation he proved a better chef than Coolio on Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off in 2012. Once again donating his winnings to a good cause (in this case the Shaer OUr Strength charity), the respected actor and longtime poker player proved to be a real class act.

Trivia: Arts Educational Schools, London, was not her first choice, she also auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.Graduated with a First from Arts Educational Schools, London.Started her professional acting career performing in Royal Shakespeare Company productions.Signed with a U.S. representation agency after getting cast in the tv series Debris, she didn't have U.S. representation before that.Best known for her work in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), The Magicians and Crazyhead.

Trivia: Actress Zoe McLellan got her first break in the movie Mr. Holland's Opus in 1995. Like a lot of new actresses, she struggled to pay the bills with appearances on TV shows and in commercials, eventually scoring a role in the 2000 movie Dungeons & Dragons. Then the next year, she was cast as P.O. Jennifer Coates on the hit series JAG. She stayed with the show until 2005, then in 2007 she took a role on another series, this time playing Lisa George, the wife of lead character Nick George (Peter Krause), on Dirty Sexy Money.

Trivia: No stranger to emotionally and psychologically challenging roles, Doug Savant broke through the fear barrier that separates many actors from achieving their full onscreen potential. In the process, he tackled many characterizations somewhat removed from himself. These included a sociopathic rapist (in the 1995 TV movie Fight for Justice: The Nancy Cohn Story), a gay social worker (Matt Fielding on the prime-time soap opera Melrose Place), and -- most prominently -- a businessman-turned-stay at home dad (Tom Scavo, on the domestic black comedy Desperate Housewives). The latter, of course, required less of a stretch for Savant; it was perhaps ironic, then, that the Scavo characterization (opposite actress Felicity Huffman) reeled in Savant's largest audience and virtually turned him into a household name. Savant's resumé also includes brief appearances in such features as Secret Admirer (1985), Teen Wolf (1985), The Hanoi Hilton (1987), and Godzilla (1998). His second wife is actress Laura Leighton, whom he met on the set of Melrose.

Trivia: After bit parts in the John Woo martial arts extravaganza Face/Off (1997) and guest-starring appearances on the weekly series Ally McBeal and The Drew Carey Show, James Denton (also billed under his formal prename, Jamie Denton) achieved national recognition for his contribution to the darkly comic prime-time soap opera Desperate Housewives. In that program, Denton played Mike Delfino, the very eligible bachelor plumber, tossed like a volleyball in between sexy suburbanites Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) and Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher). The eldest child of a Nashville, TN, dentist, Denton attended Goodlettsville High School and junior college prior to enrolling in the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. At that institution, he majored in television and journalism, and graduated with honors, a degree in advertising under his arm. Grassroots experience acting in a number of regional plays -- including a local production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town -- imparted to Denton a permanent love of acting, and thus shifted his career path; he spent four years making a living by selling advertising to radio stations, but nothing could outshine the passion and drive he felt for acting. Thus, after a short theatrical stint in North Carolina, Denton set out for Chicago to pursue drama full-time. In the Windy City, Denton landed roles in such productions as A Streetcar Named Desire and Lapin, Lapin, and signed on as a semi-permanent member of the Griffin Theater and the Strawdog Theater Ensemble.Denton subsequently scored the key role of Mr. Lyle in the NBC fantasy-adventure series The Pretender, and worked on a number of other small-screen programs, including The Untouchables, Sliders, and Dark Skies. An even bigger TV role would come later, in the formof his role on Housewives. Shortly after the series premiered in October 2004, it rocketed up to become one of the most popular shows on television, and Denton would stick with the series as it was renewed for season after season.

Trivia: Made his TV debut in 1981 in the television movie Enter the Ninja (1981).Has performed in multiple Shakespeare's plays, including Othello and The Tempest.Has worked in multiple films directed by Roland Emmerich playing military personnel, including Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996) and Godzilla (1998).Has appeared in multiple shows from the JAG and NCIS universe, including JAG, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans.Best known for his work in NCIS: New Orleans, In the Dark and 9-1-1: Lone Star.