Trivia: An actor of unusual talent, Edward Norton attained almost instant stardom with his film debut in 1996's Primal Fear. For his thoroughly chilling breakthrough performance as a Kentucky altar boy accused of murder, Norton was credited with saving an otherwise mediocre film and further rewarded with Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. Remarkably disconnected from all of the hype that is usually associated with fresh talent, Norton has gone on to further prove his worth in such films as American History X, The People vs. Larry Flynt, and Fight Club.The son of a former Carter Administration federal prosecutor and an English teacher, as well as the grandson of famed developer James Rouse, Norton was born in Boston on August 18, 1969. He was raised in the planned community of Columbia, MD, and from an early age was known as an extremely bright and somewhat serious person. His interest in acting began at the age of five when his babysitter, Betsy True (who went on to become an actress on stage and screen), took him to a musical adaptation of Cinderella. Shortly after that, Norton enrolled at Orenstein's Columbia School for Theatrical Arts, making his stage debut at the age of eight in a local production of Annie Get Your Gun. Although young, Norton already exhibited an unusual amount of professionalism and took his subsequent roles seriously. After high school, he studied astronomy, history, and Japanese at Yale, and was also active in the university's theatrical productions. After earning a history degree, Norton spent a few months in Japan and then moved to New York, where he worked for the Enterprise Foundation, a group devoted to stopping urban decay. Again, Norton continued acting at every opportunity and eventually decided to become a full-time actor. In 1994, he appeared in Edward Albee's Fragments after deeply impressing the distinguished playwright during an audition. Norton then joined the New York Signature Theater Company, which frequently premieres Albee's plays. With a number of off-Broadway credits to his name, Norton won his role in Primal Fear after being chosen out of 2,100 hopefuls. He nabbed the part after telling casting directors in a flawless drawl that he was a native of eastern Kentucky, the same area where the character came from; legend has it that the actor watched Coal Miner's Daughter to learn the accent. The intensity of Norton's screen test readings stunned almost all who saw them, and the actor became something of a hot property even before the film was released. The same year, Norton was cast as Drew Barrymore's affable fiancé in Woody Allen's tribute to Hollywood musicals, Everyone Says I Love You. Like all of the other actors in the film (excepting Barrymore), Norton did his own singing, further impressing audiences and critics alike with his versatility. Then, as if two completely different films in one year weren't enough, Norton again wowed audiences that same year with his portrayal of a determined defense attorney in Milos Forman's widely acclaimed The People vs. Larry Flynt. In 1998, Norton turned in two more stellar performances. The first was as Matt Damon's low-life buddy, the appropriately named Worm, in Rounders. The fact that Norton's work was more or less overshadowed by the film's lackluster reviews was almost negligible when compared to the controversy surrounding his other major project that year, American History X. Norton's stunningly powerful portrayal of a reformed white supremacist won him an Oscar nomination, but the film itself was both a box-office disappointment and the subject of vituperative disassociation on the part of its director Tony Kaye, who insisted that Norton and the studio had edited his film beyond recognition. Despite such embittered controversy, Norton managed to emerge from the mess relatively unscathed. After serving as one of the narrators for the acclaimed documentary Out of the Past the same year, he went on to star opposite Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter in Fight Club in 1999. Though that film garnered a mixed reaction at the box office, a stellar DVD release helped the film to form a solid fan base and Norton next moved on to the slightly more successful crime drama The Score (2001). After dropping a full-fledged bomb with his appearance as a naive children's show host in Danny DeVito's black comedy Death to Smoochy, Norton assisted love interest Salma Hayek by offering an uncredited re-write of the script. Norton would also make a brief appearance as Nelson Rockefeller in the film. Drawn to the mystique of screen villain Hannibal Lecter, Norton's next major film was that of FBI agent Will Graham in the well-recieved 2002 thriller Red Dragon. Though a virtual remake of Michael Mann's 1986 effort Manhunter, Red Dragon stood tall enough on its own terms to gain the respect of both fans of the previous version as well as fans of the book. His appearance as a drug dealer celebrating one last night on the town before serving a prison term in Spike Lee's 25th Hour drew decent enought reviews, though its ultimate take at the box office proved fairly disappointing. An appearance in the high profile 2003 remake The Italian Job caused something of a rift in industry headlines when Norton made it publicly known that his participation in the film was strictly a result of contractual obligation, and in 2005 the actor would return to quieter, more challenging territory with his portrayal of a delusional cowboy wannabe in Dahmer director David Jacobson's Down in the Valley. A headlining performance as a turn-of-the-century Vienna magician who uses his powers to win the love of the woman he longs for in the romantic fantasy The Illusionist found Norton making a particularly powerful impression opposite Paul Giamatti and Jessical Biel, and later that same year he would return to the screen in director John Curran's screen adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel The Painted Veil. Meanwhile, the sneaking suspicion that Norton wasn't quite living up to early career expectations was growing difficult to ignore; though his turn as Bruce Banner in 2008's The Incredible Hulk drew generally favorable reviews (it didn't hurt that the film itself was markedly more exciting than Ang Lee's misguided 2003 take on the material), Norton's next film Pride and Glory proved somewhat forgettable, and his quirky duel role in Tim Blake Nelson's Leaves of Grass only received a limited theatrical release before getting lost in the shuffle. Poor reviews for Norton's 2010 film Stone didn't help much to reinvigorate his career, and when it was announced that Mark Ruffalo would be taking over the role of Banner in Joss Whedon's all-star comic book romp The Avengers, some feared that the actor's previous rift with Marvel Studios had come back to haunt him.In 2012, when he took high-profile roles in two eagerly anticipated films -- Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom and Tony Gilroy's The Bourne Legacy, and two years later he earned rave reviews for his supporting turn as a monstrously egotistical and hugely talented actor in Alejandro Inarritu's Birdman, a part that earned him an Oscar nomination and a slew of other industry accolades.

Trivia: One who graduated from obscure actor to Hollywood icon in just a few years, Matt Damon became an instant sensation when he co-wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting with longtime buddy and collaborator Ben Affleck. A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was born on October 8, 1970, Damon grew up in prosperous surroundings with his tax preparer father, college professor mother, and older brother. At the age of ten, he befriended Affleck, a boy two years his junior who lived down the street. Educated at Cambridge's Rindge and Latin School, Damon landed his first role in a Hollywood production before the age of 18, with a one-scene turn in Mystic Pizza (1988). Not long after, Damon gained acceptance to Harvard University, where he studied for three years before dropping out to pursue his acting career. During his time there, he had to write a screenplay for an English class, that served as the genesis of Good Will Hunting. Arriving in Hollywood, Damon scored his first big break with a plum role in School Ties opposite Affleck. As the film was a relative flop, Damon's substantial role failed to win him notice, and he was back to laboring in obscurity. It was around this time, fed up with his Hollywood struggles, that Damon contacted Affleck, and the two finished writing the former's Harvard screenplay and began trying to get it made into a film. It was eventually picked up by Miramax, with Gus Van Sant slated to direct and Robin Williams secured in a major role, opposite Damon as the lead. Before Good Will Hunting was released in late 1997, Damon won some measure of recognition for his role as a drug-addicted soldier in Courage Under Fire; various industry observers praised his performance and his dedication to the part, for which he lost forty pounds and suffered resulting health problems. Any praise Damon may have received, however, was overshadowed the following year by the accolades he garnered for Good Will Hunting. His Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay win alongside Damon, and strong performance in the film virtually guaranteed industry adulation and steady employment, a development that became readily apparent the following year with lead roles in two major films. The first, John Dahl's Rounders, cast Damon as a card shark with a serious gambling addiction, who risks his own personal safety when he becomes entangled with a reckless loser buddy (Edward Norton). Damon's second film in 1998, Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, brought him even greater recognition. As Ryan's title character, Damon headlined an all-star line-up and received part of the lavish praise heaped on the film and its strong ensemble cast. The following year, Damon signed for leads in two more highly anticipated films, Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley and Kevin Smith's Dogma. The former cast the actor against type as the title character, a psychotic bisexual murderer, with a supporting cast that included Cate Blanchett, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Dogma also allowed Damon to cut against the grain of his nice-guy persona by casting him as a fallen angel. One of the year's more controversial films, the religious comedy reunited him with Affleck, as well as Smith, who had cast Damon in a bit role in his 1997 film, Chasing Amy. Damon next delivered noteworthy performances in a pair of low-grossing, low-key dramas, The Legend of Bagger Vance and All the Pretty Horses (both 2000), before appearing in director Steven Soderbergh's blockbuster remake of the Rat Pack classic Ocean's Eleven the following year. 2002 found the actor vacillating between earnest indie projects and major Hollywood releases. Behind the camera, Damon joined forces with filmmaker Chris Smith for the Miramax-sponsored Project Greenlight, a screenplay sweepstakes that gave the winner the opportunity to make a feature film and have the process recorded for all to see on an HBO reality series of the same name. Toward the end of 2001, Damon scored a box office triumph with director Doug Liman's jet-setting espionage thriller The Bourne Identity. With this effort, Damon proved once again that he could open a film with just as much star power as his best friend and colleague. Better yet, Bourne reinforced Damon's standings with the critics, who found his performance understated and believable. The press responded less favorably, however, to Damon's reunion project with Van Sant, the experimental arthouse drama Gerry (2003). Also in 2003, Damon starred opposite Greg Kinnear in the Farrelly Brothers' broad comedy Stuck On You, as the shy half of a set of conjoined twins.In 2004, Damon reprised the role of Jason Bourne in The Bourne Supremacy. As the actor's biggest leading-man success to date, it reinforced Damon's continued clout with audiences. Staying on the high-powered sequel bandwagon, he reunited with Brad Pitt and George Clooney for the big-budget neo-rat pack sequel Ocean's Twelve later that year. 2005 was somewhat lower-key for the actor, as he toplined Terry Gilliam's disappointing The Brothers Grimm and joined the sprawling ensemble of Syriana. After working seemingly non-stop for a few years, Damon claimed only a call from Martin Scorsese would get him to give up his resolve to take some time off. Sure enough, that call came. The Departed, an American remake of the Hong Kong mob-mole thriller Infernal Affairs, co-starred Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio. Playing the squirmy, opportunistic cop to DiCaprio's moral, tormented mobster, Damon underplayed his part to perfection while holding his own opposite his two co-stars. Damon then took the lead role in the Robert De Niro-directed CIA drama The Good Shepherd. In 2007, the actor once again returned to box office franchises for the sequels Ocean's Thirteen and The Bourne Ultimatum, the latter of which netted him -- by far -- the largest opening-weekend take of his career to that point. 2009 was another great year for the hard-working star. His turn as the unstable federal informant in Steven Soderbergh's wicked comedy The Informant! earned him rave reviews, and his supporting work in Clint Eastwood's Invicus, as the leader of the South African rugby team, earned Damon nominations from the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy. In 2010 he reteamed with Eastwood for the supernatural drama Hereafter, and continued working with the best filmmakers of his time by landing a supporting role in the Coen brothers remake of True Grit. Meanwhile, Damon tried his hand at small screen work with a memorable recurring role as Carol, an airline pilot and sometime boyfriend of Liz Lemon, on the NBC situation comedy 30 Rock and a lauded turn opposite Michael Douglas' Liberace in the TV movie Behind the Candelabra. Damon had long since established himself as an A-list movie star, however, and would continue to star in big screen projects for years to come, including notable titles like Contagion, The Adjustment Bureau, and We Bought a Zoo. Damon next turned in performances in three films set in outer space: Neill Blomkamp's Elysium (2013), a supporting role in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2014) and an Oscar-nominated spin in Ridley Scott's The Martian (2015).

Trivia: Her early experience a testament to the dangers of premature publicity, Gretchen Mol was all but declared Hollywood's new "it" girl before her career had even left the gates. After appearing in only a handful of films, Mol was chosen to star as Matt Damon's girlfriend in John Dahl's Rounders. A highly touted film that also starred Edward Norton, it was endlessly publicized before its 1998 release. Mol was made part and parcel of this publicity, and her blonde, milk-fed looks were the subject of numerous magazine articles, including a memorably provocative Vanity Fair September cover story. Rounders, however, turned out to be a sizable disappointment, and the slavish attention surrounding its female lead virtually evaporated. Mol continued to work steadily though, apparently refusing to disappear with the hype that had initially surrounded her.Born in Deep River, Connecticut, on November 8, 1973, Mol entertained performing ambitions from a young age, studying musical theatre in addition to receiving a regular public school education. Following her high school graduation, she moved to New York, where she did a stint at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and began performing in a number of stage productions. To support herself, Mol also worked a number of odd jobs, the most fortuitous of which was as a coat-check attendant at a popular industry restaurant. There she was "discovered" by an agent, who subsequently got her work in commercials and on the TV sitcom Spin City. Mol made her film debut with a supporting role as a phone-sex operator in Spike Lee's Girl 6 (1996) and went on to do bit work in Abel Ferrara's The Funeral (1996), Mike Newell's Donnie Brasco (1997), and Stephen Kay's The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997). Although these projects afforded Mol the opportunity to work with the likes of Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, Claire Forlani, and Adrien Brody, she was quickly being typecast into "girlfriend" roles that capitalized more on her looks than acting abilities. She did do more substantial work in Music From Another Room (1998), opposite Jude Law, but the film went virtually unnoticed by critics and audiences.After 1998, which in addition to the Rounders debacle, also featured Mol as part of the all-star ensemble cast of Woody Allen's much anticipated -- and much lambasted -- Celebrity, the actress continued to work, albeit far from the limelight's glare. She again collaborated with Allen on Sweet and Lowdown (1999), portrayed actress Marion Davies in Tim Robbins' star-studded ensemble drama Cradle Will Rock (1999), and starred opposite Ray Liotta and Joseph Fiennes in Paul Schrader's Forever Mine (1999). Mol also directed some of her energy towards television, portraying Madge Owens in the 2000 remake of Picnic and starring alongside Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in Alfonso Arau's 2001 small-screen adaptation of The Magnificent Ambersons. A turn as one of the most iconic pin-up models of the 1950s followed in Mary Harron's The Notorious Betty Page, an on the heels of a high-profile role on the short-lived cop drama Life on Mars, Mol joined the cast of the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire. Created by Terence Winter (The Sopranos) and produced by Martin Scorsese, the lavish period crime series earned numerous critical accolades in its first few seasons, including two consecutive Screen Actor's Guild awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, in 2011 and 2012.

Trivia: One of the top character actors of his era, John Turturro is a fixture of the contemporary American independent filmmaking landscape. Born February 28, 1957, in Brooklyn, NY, Turturro became fascinated by movies during childhood, and after graduating from college he won a scholarship to study at the prestigious Yale School of Drama. He first gained notice in regional theater and off-Broadway, earning an Obie Award for his starring role in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea. He made his film debut in Martin Scorsese's 1980 masterpiece Raging Bull but did not reappear onscreen prior to 1984's The Exterminator 2. That same year, he debuted on Broadway in Death of a Salesman.Small roles in diverse fare including Susan Seidelman's 1985 comedy Desperately Seeking Susan, Scorsese's 1986 drama The Color of Money, and Woody Allen's masterful Hannah and Her Sisters kept Turturro busy throughout much of the decade, but his breakthrough performance did not arrive until Spike Lee cast him as a bigoted pizzeria worker in 1989's Do the Right Thing. A scene-stealing turn in the Coen brothers' 1990 gangland drama Miller's Crossing followed, and in 1991 the Coens cast him as the titular Barton Fink, a performance which garnered Best Actor honors at the Cannes Film Festival. Subsequent lead roles were infrequent, although in 1992 he wrote, directed, and starred in Mac, a little-seen indie feature that won him a Golden Camera award for Best First Feature at the 1992 Cannes Festival. Supporting turns in acclaimed offerings including Quiz Show, Clockers, and Grace of My Heart (in which he expertly portrayed a Phil Spector-like music producer) followed before Turturro's next starring role, in Tom DiCillo's whimsical 1996 comedy Box of Moonlight. In 1998, the actor again collaborated with both Lee and the Coen brothers, working with the former on He Got Game and the latter on The Big Lebowski. Also in 1998, Turturro wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Illuminata, a comedy set against the backdrop of a struggling, turn-of-the-century New York theater company. The following year, he again took on the New York theater, appearing in Tim Robbins' Cradle Will Rock, an exploration of the relationship between art and politics set in 1930s New York.He remained an in-demand character actor, as well as an occasional director into the next century, starting the 2000s with a leading role in the chess drama The Luzhin Defence, reteaming with the Coen brothers for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and working with Adam Sandler on Mr. Deeds. In 2004 he worked for Spike Lee yet again in She Hate Me. In 2005 he wrote, directed, and acted in the blue-collar musical Romance & Cigarettes. He appeared in The Good Shepherd in 2006, and the next year he appeared in the sci-fi blockbuster Transformers. In 2008 he joined up with Lee yet again to play a soldier in his World War II film Miracle At. St. Anna, and teamed with Sandler again for You Don't Mess With the Zohan. The next year he appeared in the remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, and the Transformers sequel. He would return to that franchise for the third film in 2011, and that same year he would join the Pixar family voicing Lightnin' McQueen's rival in Cars 2.

Trivia: A former model, Dutch-born actress Famke Janssen had her screen breakthrough as Xenia Onatopp, James Bond's (literally) man-crushing foe in GoldenEye (1995). After earning fame and a certain dose of coy notoriety for her portrayal of the character, who was endowed with the unique ability to squash potential seducers to death between her thighs, Janssen went on to prove that she was more than just the latest variety of Bond babe.Born in Holland on January 1, 1964, Janssen launched her lucrative modeling career at an early age. Moving to New York when she was barely out of her teens, she soon tired of the vacuous nature of modeling and enrolled at Columbia University, where she studied literature and creative writing. Janssen made her screen debut in the 1992 drama Fathers and Sons. Following the success of GoldenEye, the actress began finding steady screen work, appearing in such films as Robert Altman's The Gingerbread Man (1998), in which she played Kenneth Branagh's ex-wife; Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998), which cast her as Branagh's girlfriend; and Robert Rodriguez's The Faculty, in which Janssen's part was furthered by alien brainwashing, instead of Branagh.After closing the century with another excursion into supernatural grotesqueries in the remake of The House on Haunted Hill (1999), Janssen began the 21st century on a somewhat more heroic note, playing one of the titular group of superheroes in Bryan Singer's adaptation of the popular comic book X-Men.

Trivia: One of the leading actors of his generation and an important figure in world cinema, John Malkovich made the term "icy calm" his trademark. After winning acclaim for his characterization of the scheming Vicomte de Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons, he became associated with a series of roles that, to put it plainly, essentially required him to be an evil bastard.The product of a large, highly intellectual family, Malkovich was born December 9, 1953, in Christopher, IL. Initially a portly youth, he underwent a self-imposed physical transformation, emerging as a star high school athlete. He went on to attend Eastern Illinois University, where he originally aspired to be a professional environmentalist. With his friend Gary Sinise, Malkovich helped co-found Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre in 1976. Seven years later, he won an Obie award when the Steppenwolf production of Sam Shepard's True West was brought to New York. He next appeared on Broadway with Dustin Hoffman in the 1984 revival of Death of a Salesman; when it was transformed into a television movie a year later, Malkovich won an Emmy for his efforts. While he was working on Broadway, he made his film debut, playing a blind transient in Places in the Heart (1984), which earned him an Oscar nomination. He also had a starring role in The Killing Fields the same year.Although certainly capable of projecting warmth and pathos, Malkovich became best-known for his ice-water-in-the-veins roles. In addition to praise for his performance in Dangerous Liaisons, Malkovich won recognition -- and Oscar and Golden Globe nominations -- for his portrayal of the chameleon-like political assassin in Wolfgang Peterson's In the Line of Fire (1993). Other sinister Malkovich characterizations include Kurtz in the 1994 TV-movie version of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the secretive Dr. Jekyll in Mary Reilly (1996), and Isabel Archer's dastardly husband in The Portrait of a Lady (1996). In 1999, Malkovich played what was undoubtedly his most unusual role -- himself -- in Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich. Both the subject of the film and one of its stars, he had the surreal duty of letting the film's other characters into his mind, something many audience members had no doubt been dreaming of doing for years. The film provided Malkovich's career with a sort of popular resurgence, and the following year found him essaying the role of a wild eyed F.W. Murnau in the dark horror comedy Shadow of the Vampire. The second feature by experimental filmmaker E. ELias Mehrige, Shadow of the Vampire took a magic realism approach to documenting the production of Murnau's legendary 1922 classic Nosferatu. In the years that followed Malkovich continued his trend of alternating roles in high-profile Hollywood fare with more artistically gratifying foreign films, and after turning up in the German miniseries Les Miserables (2000) and Je rentre a la maison Malkovich turned up opposite Vin Diesel in the box office flash Knockaround Guys (2001). In 2002 Malkovich picked up where Matt Damon left off in the thriller Ripley's Game before traveling back in time for the historical adventure drama Napoleon. After cracking up international audiences in Johnny English (2003), fans got to see Malkovich take on the role of a Stanley Kubrick imposter in the fact based Colour Me Kubrick. After a string of decidedly small films, Malkovich surfaced in 2005 in the sci-fi comedy blockbuster The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Based on the cult novel by Douglas Adams, the picture cast Malkovich as an alien guru and gave him a chance to flex some of his sillier chops. Subsequent roles in Art School Confidential, the Coen Brother's Burn After Reading, and Jonah Hex offered a bit of levity between performances in more serious-minded dramas like Disgrace and Secretariat, and on the heels of a memorable comic performance as an unhinged former assassin in the big budget action comedy Red, Malkovich could be spotted amidst an explosion of robot carnage in 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Maintaining his theatrical ties while tending to his successful film career, Malkovich appeared in the 1993 Broadway production State of Shock, and has periodically returned to Chicago to both act and direct in local presentations. For a number of years, he was married to fellow Steppenwolf alumnus Glenne Headly.

Trivia: Saturnine character actor Martin Landau was a staff cartoonist for the New York Daily News before switching to acting. In 1955, his career got off to a promising beginning, when out of 2,000 applicants, only he and one other actor (Steve McQueen) were accepted by Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. Extremely busy in the days of live, Manhattan-based television, Landau made his cinematic mark with his second film appearance, playing James Mason's henchman in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959). In 1966, Landau and his wife Barbara Bain were both cast on the TV adventure/espionage series Mission: Impossible. For three years, Landau portrayed Rollin Hand, a master of disguise with the acute ability to impersonate virtually every villain who came down the pike (banana-republic despots were a specialty). Unhappy with changes in production personnel and budget cuts, Landau and Bain left the series in 1969. Six years later, they costarred in Space: 1999 a popular syndicated sci-fi series; the performances of Landau, Bain, and third lead Barry Morse helped to gloss over the glaring gaps in continuity and logic which characterized the show's two-year run. The couple would subsequently act together several times (The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island (1981) was one of the less distinguished occasions) before their marriage dissolved.Working steadily in various projects throughout the next few decades, Landau enjoyed a career renaissance with two consecutive Oscar nominations, the first for Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), and the second for Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). Landau finally won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's 1994 Ed Wood; his refusal to cut his acceptance speech short was one of the high points of the 1995 Oscar ceremony. He would continue to work over the next several years, appearing in movies like City of Ember and Mysteria, as well as on TV shows like Without a Trace and Entourage.

Trivia: A veteran of film, television, and the stage, frequent movie tough-guy Michael Rispoli, with his stocky build and unmistakable East Coast dialect, is the virtual personification of New York attitude. Born and raised in Tappan, NY, Rispoli launched his acting career at New York's famed Circle in the Square. Subsequently appearing for many years on the New York stage, Rispoli would turn up in such mainstay productions as Twelfth Night, MacBeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Though he would play up his tough-guy image in such early film and television appearances as Household Saints (1993) and Above the Rim (1994), his penchant for humor would slowly find Rispoli expanding his cinematic territory into comedy and lighter material such as Hacks (2001) and Death to Smoochy (2002). Nevertheless, frequent small-screen appearances in Third Watch, Big Apple, and most notably in the award-winning HBO organized crime-themed The Sopranos has found Rispoli frequently returning to the character roles that he so excels at. After a memorable supporting role in the romantic comedy While You Were Sleeping (1995), Rispoli leapt into leading man territory in the little-seen but warmly regarded romantic drama Two Family House (2000). As a blue-collar Italian-American New Yorker confronted with racism when he becomes romantically involved with an Irish immigrant who births an African-American child, Rispoli displayed a warmth and depth not yet reached in his previous two-dimensional roles, hinting at a promising future for the talented actor. On the heels of prominant supporting roles in such features as Mr. 3000, The Weatherman, and Lonely Hearts, Rispoli continued to flourish in features when he appeared in the inspirational 2006 sports drama Invincible.

Trivia: With her genuine smile, earthy beauty, and striking green eyes, Melina Kanakaredes staked her claim on daytime television in The Guiding Light before expanding her talents to numerous other popular series and, eventually, the silver screen.Born and raised in Akron, OH, the second-generation Greek-American was the third daughter of an insurance salesman and homemaker who began her career as an actress in a community theater production of Tom Sawyer at the age of eight. Later enrolling in Ohio State University to study music, dance, and theater but disheartened at poor inter-departmental relations, Kanakaredes opted for a conservatory education at Point Park College in Pittsburgh. Soon performing with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and appearing in commercials and industrial videos, Kanakaredes moved to New York after graduating magna cum laude and began working in dinner boat theater and off-Broadway productions. Taking her role as Greek immigrant Eleni Andros Cooper in The Guiding Light after being spotted by the William Morris Agency in 1991, Kanakaredes was nominated for two Emmys and soon began to expand to roles on NYPD Blue and OZ. Soon turning up in such features as The Long Kiss Goodnight and Rounders, the natural beauty began to gain even more footing in her feature aspirations with her turn in the Robert DeNiro heist-thriller The Score in 2001. Kanakaredes would spend the ensuing 2000's appearing frequently on TV, joining the cast of the police proceedural CSI: NY.

Trivia: Campaigned unsuccessfully for mayor and city council in Cambridge, MA. In the early 1980s, he hosted open-mike nights at the Ding-Ho restaurant in Cambridge. Comedians that performed there included Kevin Meaney, Jay Leno, Bob Goldthwait and Steven Wright. Has appeared in a number of films by the Farrelly brothers, including There's Something About Mary (1998), Me, Myself & Irene (2000), Stuck On You (2003) and Fever Pitch (2005).

Trivia: Actor Tom Aldredge is one of the few actors who are perhaps equally well remembered for careers on the screen and the stage. Aldredge made his Broadway debut in the musical The Nervous Set in 1959 when he was 31, and began making appearances on TV soon afterward, appearing in TV movies like The Mouse on the Moon and The Troublemaker in the early '60s. As the decades rolled on, Aldredge would continue to nurture his stage career, earning particular accolades for his performance in the Stephen Sondheim production Into the Woods. All the while, he racked up role after role in movies and on TV, playing memorable characters like Ozzie in 1973's Sticks and Bones and William Shakespeare on the CBS Festival of the Lively Arts for Young People in 1977 - for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award. He would also find no trouble picking up regular parts on television, co-starring in the series Ryan's Hope in the early 80s, and The Sopranos, Damages, and Boardwalk Empire in the 2000's. Aldredge passed away in July of 2011 at the age of 83.

Trivia: Character actor Merwin Goldsmith has enjoyed a long career on-stage, with occasional film and television appearances. Born in Detroit in 1937, his training includes work at the Bristol Old Vic and the Liverpool Playhouse in England in addition to a B.A. from UCLA. His Broadway shows include roles in Me and My Girl, Rex, Dirty Linen, Chemin De Fer, The 1940s Radio Hour, and Minnie's Boys. On the big screen, he has worked -- in both comedic and dramatic roles -- in Hercules in New York, Shamus, Cadillac Man, Boardwalk, Lily in Love, Quiz Show, It Could Happen to You, and Joe Gould's Secret, while his television roles have included appearances in Law and Order, The Zapruder Footage, Kennedy, and Goodtime Girls.

Trivia: Had to audition for high school in 1983, which required two three-minute monologues from a dramatic work; unable to find a script from a play, rented a VHS copy of The Odd Couple and memorized dialogue by the characters Oscar and Felix. Went to high school with Jennifer Aniston and Chastity Bono (now Chaz Bono). Made Broadway debut in a 2007 revival of Terrence McNally's The Ritz, starring Rosie Perez and Kevin Chamberlin. Other stage work includes Gilbert David Feke's Psychoneurotic Phantasies (1990), Eduardo de Filippo's Filumena (1996) and Ethan Coen's Happy Hour (2011).

Trivia: Supporting actor Carroll has worked on stage and in television and has been on screen from the '80s.

Trivia: Grew up in the Anacostia neighborhood in South-East Washington D.C.Also lived with his family in Togo, Senegal, Tanzania and Kenya in his youth.Aspired to be a dentist before deciding to act.Was inspired to pursue an acting career after seeing a theatrical performance of The Wiz.Made his feature film debut in the 1996 blockbuster Twister.

Trivia: A character-oriented actor who specialized in playing American everymen, Chris Messina emerged in the mid-'90s, landing guest appearances on series programs such as Law & Order and mounting supporting parts in Hollywood features including You've Got Mail and Rounders (both 1998). Messina gained even more exposure when he joined the cast of the quirky HBO comedy drama Six Feet Under during that program's fifth and final season. On that series, Messina played Ted Fairwell, a Republican attorney smitten with Claire Fisher (Lauren Ambrose) who (as the program reveals) will eventually marry her. After Six Feet wrapped, Messina hearkened back to feature portrayals, this time as a lead, in director Jennifer Westfeldt's (Kissing Jessica Stein) critically praised sophomore effort Ira & Abby (2006). The actor proved he could hold his own with a multilayered turn as a neurotic therapist's son who rushes headlong into marriage only to watch his confidence fall to pieces when he learns of his new wife's two ex-husbands. In 2008, Messina took on a supporting role in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, opposite Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson. In the years to come, Messina would enjoy continued success as an established actor, appearing in films like Ruby Sparks and Argo, as well as on TV series like The Mindy Project and The Newsroom.

Trivia: Perhaps Croatia's most recognizable actor, Goran Visnjic became known to an American audience in the late 1990s, thanks to his work in American films and television. The darkly handsome actor, whom Vogue dubbed "the Tom Cruise of Croatia," was born in Sibenik on September 9, 1972, to a bus driver and a food market worker. Like just about all of his compatriots, Visnjic was indelibly affected by the Bosnian War. Although he decided at an early age that he wanted to be an actor and trained at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, his country's terrible conflict resulted in Visnjic's joining the Croatian army when he was 18. He trained as a paratrooper, ultimately extending his service by three months in order to better defend his country.After Visnjic finished his time with the military, he returned to acting. He began gaining popularity in his country when, at the age of 21, he was cast as Hamlet in a production of the play at the prestigious Dubrovnik Summer Festival. The production earned wide acclaim, and Visnjic himself was the recipient of three national Best Actor awards, including an Orlando, the Croatian equivalent of a Tony.In addition to his work on the stage (he went on to portray Hamlet six years in a row), Visnjic also began appearing in Croatian feature films, and he made his American screen debut in Michael Winterbottom's Welcome to Sarajevo (1997). In 1998, he earned greater international recognition with his role in Practical Magic; although the film itself was a disappointment, Visnjic managed to make a sizable impression on audience members in his role as Nicole Kidman's ne'er-do-well boyfriend. The following year, the actor landed a recurring role on the popular TV medical drama E.R.; his profile further ascended with his casting in a number of feature films, including Committed (2000), a road trip comedy starring Heather Graham and Luke Wilson.

Trivia: A former New York City police officer who was inspired to take up acting after seeing a performance of A Few Good Men on Broadway, David Zayas subsequently enrolled in Ernie Martin's acting classes and began honing his craft while he wasn't fighting crime. Later, Zayas would sign on with the Labyrinth Theater Company alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz and appear in a variety of groundbreaking productions including In Arabia We'd All Be Kings and Jesus Hopped the "A" Train. Thirty plays later, Zayas was discovered by Tom Fontana and cast in the hit HBO series Oz. Zayas would stick with the series for three seasons, his role as the leader of the Latino prison population gradually drawing the eye of such acclaimed filmmakers as Martin Scorsese and James Gray. While roles in Bringing Out the Dead, The Yards, Bristol Boys, and 16 Blocks all served well to advance Zayas' career on the big screen (where he could usually be found playing a detective or police officer), he remained faithful to the stage by appearing in a Broadway production of Anna in the Tropics at the Royal Theater and could later be seen opposite Michael C. Hall in the Golden Globe-nominated Showtime series Dexter.