Trivia: By the time Dale Midkiff won an acting award in high school, he had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do with his life. After attending Salisbury College, Midkiff headed to New York, where he landed a few off-Broadway jobs. He was fortunate enough to receive star billing in his very first film, Streetwalkin'. He went on to rack up a number of impressive credits, including the role of Elvis Presley in the made-for-TV biopic Elvis and Me. Dale Midkiff's most celebrated role was 22nd-century cop Darien Lambert in the weekly sci-fi crime series Time Trax (1993-95),an assignment that earned him the pinnacle of mid-1990s fame: his own site on the World Wide Web.

Trivia: One of today's best character actors, the inexhaustible Joe Pantoliano boasts over 100 film, television, and stage credits. A favorite of directors Richard Donner, Steven Spielberg, Andrew Davis, and Andy and Larry Wachowski, he is also a dependable scene stealer with more than his share of memorable roles -- including killer pimp Guido in Risky Business (1983), bumbling criminal Francis Fratelli in The Goonies (1985), double-crossing bail bondsman Eddie Moscone in Midnight Run (1988), cynical U.S. Marshall Cosmo Renfro in The Fugitive (1993), turncoat Cypher in The Matrix (1999), and shady sidekick Teddy in Memento (2000). Born on September 12, 1951 in Hoboken, NJ, the actor is the only son of Dominic, a hearse driver, and Mary Pantoliano, a part-time seamstress/bookie. When he was 12, Pantoliano's mother left his father for her distant cousin Florio, though the couple never officially divorced. Pantoliano and his younger sister Maryann grew up throughout northern New Jersey with their mother and Florio, whom they eventually came to regard as their stepfather. Pantoliano suffered from severe dyslexia, and at age 17, he was still reading at the third-grade level. After seeing the youngster perform in his senior play, Up the Down Staircase, Florio convinced him to pursue acting professionally. Pantoliano moved to Manhattan, where he worked as a waiter while juggling acting classes and auditions. In 1972, he landed the coveted role of stuttering Billy Bibbit in the touring production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Four years later, Pantoliano moved west to try his luck in Hollywood. After making his television debut in the sitcom pilot McNamara's Band, he landed a recurring role in Rob Reiner's summer replacement series, Free Country. Reiner then tapped Pantoliano to co-star with him in James Burrows' television movie More Than Friends (1978). This led to the part of Angelo Maggio -- a role originated by fellow Hoboken-ite Frank Sinatra -- in NBC's miniseries adaptation of James Jones' From Here to Eternity (1979). After making his major feature-film debut in The Idolmaker (1980), Pantoliano guest starred on Hart to Hart, M*A*S*H, and Hardcastle and McCormick, as well as appeared on the Los Angeles stage in Orphans. He also landed a sizable part opposite a young Tom Cruise in the surprise hit Risky Business (1983). The comic ruthlessness with which Pantoliano's pimp tortures Cruise quickly earned the character actor a loyal cult following. He gave standout performances in Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) and the off-Broadway play Visions of Kerouac, before thrilling audiences again in the Spielberg-produced adventure The Goonies (1985). Scores of plum roles followed: Pantoliano joined Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines in Running Scared (1986), portrayed Lou Diamond Phillips' music producer in La Bamba (1987), re-teamed with Spielberg in Empire of the Sun (1987), and acted opposite Robert De Niro in Midnight Run (1988). He then topped these performances off with an unforgettable turn opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Harrison Ford in The Fugitive (1993), delivering a funny, fiery tour de force that was pure Pantoliano right down to the name he chose for his character, Cosmo -- his grandfather's name. By the mid-'90s, Pantoliano had a recognizable name and a devoted fan base. While making numerous television guest appearances, he starred with Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon in directors Andy and Larry Wachowski's debut thriller, Bound (1996). Pantoliano's edgy performance as a doomed money launderer impressed the Wachowskis so much that they created the character of Cypher in The Matrix (1999) exclusively for him. Shortly afterward, his co-star in the sci-fi spectacular, Carrie-Anne Moss, insisted that director Christopher Nolan hire Pantoliano for the third lead in his sleeper-hit Memento (2000). In 2001, at the behest of producer David Chase, Pantoliano joined the cast of the landmark HBO series The Sopranos. While earning a well-deserved Emmy as psychopathic mobster Ralphie Cifaretto on the hit show, the actor published Who's Sorry Now: The True Story of a Stand-Up Guy, a bittersweet memoir about his New Jersey childhood. He also put the finishing touches on his directorial debut, Just Like Mona (2002), and began filming his role as reporter Ben Urich in the comic book adaptation Daredevil (2003). Over the course of the next decade, the versatile actor continued his trend of turning in memorable supporting performances on film and television, with turns in films like Bad Boys II and Pecy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief offering the most exposure. Meanwhile, in 2009, Pantoliano got personal with his fans as the director of No Kidding, Me Too!, a playful yet poignant documentary exploring the devastating effects of mental illness, and the steps being taken to eradicate it.

Trivia: A product of a blue-collar Chicago neighborhood, actor Michael Gross spent the first two years of high school as (by his own admission) a "greaser" and gang member. He straightened himself out in his last two years, graduating as senior class president and National Honor Society member. Gross played guitar with a folksinging group before gravitating to the theatre. He attended the Yale School of drama (one of his classmates was Meryl Streep), then worked in regional theatre before landing in New York. In 1982, Gross was cast as Steven Keaton, ex-radical patriarch of a clan that included Michael J. Fox and Justine Bateman, in the long-running sitcom Family Ties. Perhaps chafing a bit at the press attention given to his co-star Fox, Gross took every available opportunity to play an image-busting role, notably the scuzzy, cold-blooded killer in the 1985 TV movie In the Line of Duty: The FBI Wars. Michael Gross is the brother of comedienne and former Saturday Night Live regular Mary Gross. In the years to come, Gross would prove to be a truly prolific actor, appearing in films like El Sonoma, Broken Windows, and Stay Cool, as well as TV shows like Tremors, How I Met Your Mother, The Young and the Restless, and ER.

Trivia: At 6'2", with a handsomeness best-termed "rugged," the towering and burly Paul Johansson originally developed his ability in sports -- unsurprising, given his physical stature and the fact that he was the child of hockey demigod Ching Johnson, a key player on the 1954 Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. Born in Spokane, WA, but raised in the Vancouver area, Johansson landed all-Canadian status as a basketball player for the University of British Columbia, where he was, by his own account, ejected from five games against the University of Saskatchewan for overly aggressive behavior (in 1987). Johansson had his eyes on a stint in the Olympics and full-time work in the NBA (and in fact, the Atlanta Hawks offered him a spot on their team) when he suddenly realized that he no longer cared seriously about a sports career. Seeking fulfillment and actualization elsewhere, Johansson planned (with the help of his UBC English degree) to launch himself as a writer, and traveled to Los Angeles with friend Jason Priestley with that goal in mind. Instead, he soon discovered a love of acting, and a recurring role on the soap Santa Barbara (as Greg Hughes) followed. Johansson appeared on the Ferris Bueller-like series Parker Lewis Can't Lose from 1991-1992 (as an impossibly hip counterman) and as Sally Field's husband in the 1991 Soapdish, prior to his portrayal of Austin Peale in the blockbuster Western series Lonesome Dove (1994-1995) and its follow-up, Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years (1995-1996). Alongside on-camera appearances in such projects as Highlander: The Raven (1998), Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999), and John Q. (2002), Johansson moved quietly into writing and directing, first with the 1997 short film Conversations in Limbo (based on an Oscar Wilde story), then with the direct-to-video coming-of-age picture The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie, co-starring Gena Rowlands and James Caan. Johansson also starred in the popular teen series drama One Tree Hill, as Dan Scott. He directed and acted in Atlas Shrugged Part 1, a 2011 adaptation of Ayn Rand's 1957 novel of the same name.

Trivia: Began studying ballet at age 6; and left home at age 15 to become a ballerina with the San Francisco Ballet. Among her highlights: performing at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, Left ballet after three years to pursue acting; and supported herself as a bartender while taking acting classes. Is a trained stunt driver; and is also proficient with firearms. Served as Julia Roberts' body double in the opening scenes of the 1990 movie Pretty Woman. Supports an array of charities, including the National Hospice Palliative Care Organization; My Good Friend; The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research; and Project Angel Food.

Trivia: Especially to younger viewers, screen heartthrob Dean McDermott is probably best known for his portrayal of "himself" on the Oxygen Channel reality series Tori & Dean: Inn Love. That program bore witness to the adventures of McDermott and real-life wife Tori Spelling (90210 vet and the daughter of the late megamogul Aaron Spelling) as the pair opened and ran a B & B in sunny Southern California and awaited the arrival of a new baby. Fans may not realize that prior to this, McDermott's acting resumé extends back into the late '90s. At first, the Toronto-born actor maintained a low profile in mostly forgettable programmers, such as the Canadian sports drama Rookies (1989) and the Mr. T movie Straight Line (1988). He then landed a recurring role on the popular Alliance Atlantis satirical comedy Due South, as Const. Renfield Turnbull. After roles in the telemovies Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance (1996) and Brian's Song (2001), McDermott took a few steps up -- and then some -- with his enlistment in the cast of the glorious Kevin Costner Western Open Range (2003), as Doc Barlow. McDermott, however, culled a whole new legion of fans as a reality television star in Tori & Dean, which followed the celebrity couple as they started a family while running a California bed and breakfast.

Trivia: Best known as a distinguished thespian -- an actor with an aura of earnest authority about him -- Nigel Bennett actually held the status of a multihyphenate, prolifically working as not merely an actor, but an author, director, and occasional producer as well. In terms of dramatic roles, Bennett cultivated the majority of his professional experience on the British stage in a host of productions, including The Country Wife, Loot, Hamlet, and Art to name merely a handful. After a decade and a half spent in this arena, Bennett relocated to Canada in 1986 and shifted gears to focus on film and television work, frequently though not always essaying character roles. The many filmed projects in which Bennett appeared include the Gene Hackman/Anne Archer thriller The Narrow Margin (1990), the Anthony Hopkins/Aidan Quinn epic western Legends of the Fall (1994), and the direct-to-video sci-fi thriller Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996). In 2007, Bennett both produced and signed for a supporting role in the Chaz Thorne-helmed black comedy Just Buried (2007).

Trivia: Was the first theatre graduate of Ryerson Institute of Technology. Was a founding member of Obsidian Theatre in 2000. Appeared in the 2007 stage productions of Othello and Of Mine and Men at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Was the Toronto Sun's Performance Artist of the Year in 2011. Served as Vice President of the Board for the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre.

Trivia: Grew up in Vancouver. Attended the Royal Academy of Dance for eight years. Broke her ankle at 17 and gave up on her dream of becoming a professional dancer. Has made appearances in such TV shows as Tilt, Judging Amy and Drive.