Trivia: Despite his confident good looks and his role as the son of Zeus on television's popular Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Ryan Gosling ironically used to get chuckles by donning a Speedo and flexing like a professional weightlifter as a scrawny six-year-old. Born in London, Ontario, Canada, in November 1980, and raised in nearby Cornwall, Gosling was withdrawn for private schooling early on due to harassment by his classmates. Quickly learning the value of confidence, the bright youngster focused his energy into acting and landed a two-year role on The Mickey Mouse Club at age 12. Soon moving on to television commercials and roles in such films as Disney's Frankenstein and Me (1996), Gosling returned to television in 1997 for the short-lived Breaker High before finding more sturdy television ground in his Hercules role the following year. Since then, the actor has tackled increasingly challenging roles such as his turn as a conflicted Jewish student in The Believer (2001) and as a teen who commits murder in the name of mercy in The United States of Leland (2002). That same year, the increasingly busy Gosling starred in both The Slaughter Rule, and alongside Sandra Bullock in the crime thriller Murder by Numbers.Though he was racking up credibility as a serious young actor in indie features, Gosling became an unlikely box-office heartthrob with the 2004 summer-season romance The Notebook. Starring opposite another young break-out Canadian actor, Rachel McAdams, Gosling added some depth to the otherwise treacly adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' popular tome of enduring love before and after World War II. Rather than parlay his newfound fame into leading-man action roles, Gosling chose a route not unlike Edward Norton before him, alternating between indie features and challenging, bigger-budget Hollywood productions. This strategy didn't yield great dividends with the spooky 2005 misfire Stay, but it did bring Gosling high praise for the 2006 Sundance Festival favorite Half Nelson. A slice-of-life drama focusing on a young, cocaine-addicted, inner-city middle-school teacher and the student with whom he forms a bond, the film offered Gosling the opportunity to play another intense, conflicted young man in a natural, effortless style, a performance aided in large part by his bracing young co-star Shareeka Epps. Helped by glowing reviews, the micro-budgeted Half Nelson became an arthouse success through awards season, when Gosling's name was mentioned by numerous critics' organizations in year-end honors. Though ignored by the Golden Globes, the dark-horse Gosling was recognized among a formidable group of Best Actors when Oscar nominations were announced.Having cemented himself as one of the most formidable actors of his generation, Gosling next signed on for a quirky 2007 drama called Lars and the Real Girl, about a small town man who falls in love with a life sized doll. His performance in the film earned him a Golden Globe nod, but Gosling still had other goals he wanted to pursue. He spent the next few years playing and recording with his band, Dead Man's Bones, which released a self-titled debut in 2009. When Gosling returned to acting the following year, it was for a heart-wrenching independent relationship drama called Blue Valentine, opposite Michelle Williams. Based on a short film, the movie told the story of a relationship by showing its beginning and its end. Gosling was nominated for yet another Golden Globe, but was still up for a challenge. For his next project, he took on the thriller All Good Things, playing an upper class husband who turns violent and psychotic in All Good Things. Next on the docket was 2011's Drive, which found Gosling playing a stunt man turned getaway driver, quickly followed by the political thriller The Ides of March, opposite George Clooney. Shortly afterward, Gosling took on a supporting role in the award-winning romantic comedy Crazy Stupid Love, which follows a divorced man as he finds his footing in life once again.Gosling expanded his producing credits in 2013, with Only God Forgives, in which he co-starred, and released his directorial debut, Lost River, in 2014. In 2015, he co-starred in the Oscar-nominated The Big Short, and, the following year, teamed with Russell Crowe for The Nice Guys.

Trivia: The physically stunning actress Emma Stone first made her mark among American audiences as an ingenue, via her involvement in the massively successful comedy Superbad (2007). The actress's combination of deadpan comic timing and undeniable beauty made her an instant hot property in Hollywood, and she was soon appearing in comic fare like The House Bunny and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, as well as the hugely successful horror comedy Zombieland (2009). By 2010, Stone had earned top billing status, and was starring in her own comedy -- a hilarious modern take on the Scarlet Letter called Easy A. The following year found Sone's star rising even further in the realm of comedy with roles in Friends with Benefits and Crazy, Stupid, Love, but it also proved to be the year in which the young actress branched more full force into drama, starring in the much anticipated adaptation of the Kathryn Stockett novel The Help. She became part of a superhero franchise when she took over the part of Gwen Stacy in 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man, and she took a part in the period crime film Gangster Squad that same year.Stone enjoyed a very busy 2014 that involved her returning to the part of Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and being tapped to star in Woody Allen's period comedy Magic in the Moonlight. However, her turn as the self-destructive daughter of a middle-age actor trying to make a comeback on the stage in Birdman earned her the first Oscar nomination of her career, getting a nod in the Best Supporting Actress category.

Trivia: A prodigious musical performer often tagged as neo-soul, John Legend (born John Roger Stephens on December 28th, 1978 in Springfield, OH) began learning piano and singing gospel tunes at age five. Upon finishing high school early (at age 16), Legend enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and caught his first taste of commercial success given his prominent appearance as a pianist on the 1998 Lauryn Hill tune "Everything Is Everything". After college, Legend moved to New York and struck gold in the Manhattan-area music scene, with session appearances on albums by artists including Kanye West (who gave Legend his stage name), Alicia Keys, and Janet Jackson; Legend's debut solo album, Get Lifted, emerged in late 2004 and made him an instant sensation. The immediate follow-ups -- 2006's Once Again and 2008's Evolver -- received equal acclaim. The majority of Legend's early on-camera appearances were, unsurprisingly, tied to his music. These included the concert films John Legend: Live at the House of Blues (2005), Tony Bennett: An American Classic (2006), and John Legend: Live from Philadelphia (2008). With the 2008 comedy Soul Men, however, Legend branched out into acting roles; he was cast opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac as musician Marcus Hooks. Legend continued to straddle the music and film worlds, appearing on soundtracks, including winning an Academy Award (shared with Common) for Best Song for "Glory" from the film Selma (2014).

Trivia: Jonathan Kimble Simmons was originally a singer, with a degree in music from the University of Montana. He turned to theater in the late 1970s and appeared in many regional productions in the Pacific Northwest before moving to New York in 1983. He appeared in Broadway and off-Broadway shows and also did some television -- his early roles included the portrayal of a white supremacist responsible for multiple murders in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. In that same vein, Simmons first gained wide exposure as Vern Schillinger, the leader of an Aryan Brotherhood-type organization in prison in the HBO series Oz. Parlaying his small-screen notoriety into feature film opportunities, Simmons had a small part in the 1997 thriller The Jackal and played a leading role in Frank Todaro's low-budget comedy Above Freezing, a runner-up for the most popular film at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. Also in 1997, Simmons increased his television prolificacy by taking on the role of Dr. Emil Skoda, the consulting psychiatrist to the Manhattan district attorney's office in the series Law and Order. By 1999, Simmons was showing up in such prominent films as The Cider House Rules and the baseball drama For Love of the Game, directed by Sam Raimi. The director again enlisted Simmons for his next film, 2000's The Gift. After a supporting turn in the disappointing comedy The Mexican, Simmons teamed with Raimi for the third time, bringing cigar-chomping comic-book newspaperman J. Jonah Jameson screaming to life in the 2002 summer blockbuster Spider-Man. In 2004, he would reprise the role in the highly anticipated sequel, Spider-Man 2. That same year, along with appearing alongside Tom Hanks in the Coen Brothers' The Ladykillers, Simmons continued to be a presence on the tube, costarring on ABC's midseason-replacement ensemble drama The D.A.His career subsequently kicking into overdrive, the popular character actor was in increasingly high demand in the next few years, enjoying a productive run as a voice performer in such animated television series' as Justice League, Kim Possible, The Legend of Korra, and Ultimate Spider-Man (the latter of which found him reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson), as well as turning in memorable performances in Jason Reitman's Juno, Mike Judge's Extract, and as a hard-nosed captain in the 2012 crime thriller Contraband. Meanwhile, in 2005, he joined the cast of TNT's popular crime drama The Closer as Assistant Chief Will Pope -- a role which no doublt played a part in the cast earning five Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Ensemble Cast. Simmons continued to work steadily in movies, returning to the Spider-Man franchise in 2007. That same year he co-starred as the father of a pregnant teen in Juno, which led to him being cast regularly by that film's director Jason Reitman in many of his future projects including Up In the Air and Labor Day. It was Reitman who got Simmons the script for Whiplash, Damien Chazelle's directorial debut. The actor took the part of an abusive, but respected music teacher and the ensuing performance garnered Simmons multiple year-end awards including a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the Academy.

Trivia: Actress Rosemarie DeWitt premiered onscreen in the early to mid-2000s and essayed a series of bit roles -- initially in A-list features such as Cinderella Man (2005) and Off the Black (2006). She scored a lead opposite Ron Livingston on the small screen, as a federal agent in the hostage-crisis drama Standoff (2006), but unfortunately, that program folded after a rather short life span, and DeWitt returned to supporting turns -- notably a colorful characterization as Midge Daniels, the bohemian mistress of a successful ad executive during the early '60s on AMC's serialized drama Mad Men (2007). In 2008 DeWitt co-starred with Anne Hathaway in director Jonathan Demme's drama Rachel Getting Married, and landed a supporting role in the first two seasons of The United States of Tara (2009-2010), a Showtime drama following a suburban woman living with Dissociative Personality Disorder. In 2011 she co-starred and consulted for Your Sister's Sister, a drama wherein she portrayed a heartsick young woman who bonds with a man grieving the death of his brother. She co-starred with Jennifer Garner and Dianne Weist in The Odd Life of Timothy Green the following year.

Trivia: Played Romeo in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's 2008 all-male production of Romeo and Juliet. Made TV appearances on Cold Case, ER and CSI: Miami before his October 2009 debut as All My Children's Damon Miller, a role he held until January 2011. First appeared on the big screen in the 2010 crime drama Twelve. Debuted on Broadway in 2012 in Death of a Salesman, playing Happy Loman opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman's Willy Loman. Cowrote the 2015 indie film The Submarine Kid.

Trivia: Can play the cello and has appeared in a number of bands. Made her film debut in Machete Kills in 2013.

Trivia: Performed with a number of professional ballet companies after leaving the Royal Ballet School, including Semperoper Ballet, Ballet Ireland, and the New English Ballet Theatre. Worked as a model at the age of 20. Performed as part of Arthur Pita's The World's Greatest Show in 2014. Made her big screen debut as Kyoko in 2015 sci-fi thriller Ex Machina. Is an ambassador for Shiseido makeup. Made her television debut in 2018, with Netflix's Maniac.

Trivia: Is of Polish Jewish-Russian and Scottish-English-German descent.Credits include film and television.Loves horror films and the first scary movie she ever watched was Scream at a sleepover.In Happy Death Day (2017), her character gets killed multiple times.Known for her role in the horror film Happy Death Day (2017), and her supporting role in the musical La La Land (2016).

Trivia: Tall, lanky, and possessing one of the most affable grins in Hollywood, Tom Everett Scott is often considered a younger version of Tom Hanks, his director in That Thing You Do!. Ironically, this resemblance almost cost him his part in the film; after seeing Scott's audition tape, Hanks didn't want to hire him because of the resemblance, but the intervention of his wife, Rita Wilson, who saw the tape and thought Scott was "cute," saved the day and landed the young actor his breakthrough role.Scott was born September 7, 1970 in Brockton, Massachusetts. The third of four children, Scott was raised in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts by a civil engineer father and an insurance saleswoman mother. While a sophomore communications major at Syracuse University, he discovered his love of theatre and changed his major to drama. After graduation, he moved to New York City, did an obligatory stint as a waiter, and formed a theatre company, '"aTheaterco," with three friends. Scott toiled away in obscurity until 1993 when he got his first role, on the TV sitcom Grace Under Fire. He auditioned for That Thing You Do! and landed the leading role of Guy, a wide-eyed drummer for the one-hit-wonders the Wonders. The role brought Scott previously unheard-of opportunities, including the starring role in his next film, 1997's An American Werewolf in Paris, which co-starred Julie Delpy. 1998 proved to be a busy year for Scott, who was seen in three very different films, the most notable being One True Thing, in which he played Meryl Streep's son. Scott also had a turn in the independent drama River Red and the college comedy Dead Man on Campus. In 1999, Scott played a significant part in the romantic comedy The Love Letter, in which he co-starred with Tom Selleck, Kate Capshaw, and Ellen DeGeneres.

Trivia: Studied conducting under David Zinman and Murry Sidlin at Aspen Music Festival and under Leonard Slatkin at the National Conducting Institute in Washington, D.C. Appointed an American Conducting Fellow of the Houston Symphony in 2004, and an assistant conductor of Kansas City Symphony in 2006. Has been a guest conductor at many orchestras, including Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, and NHK Orchestra of Tokyo. Made his Broadway acting debut in the play Clybourne Park in 2012.

Trivia: The lithe and attractive African-American actress Valarie Rae Miller first attained public recognition as "Original Cindy" on the James Cameron-produced sci-fi actioner Dark Angel (2000-2002), starring Jessica Alba. After this stint, Miller branched out into big-screen supporting roles, with a marked emphasis on crime comedy (All About the Benjamins, Hollywood Homicide) and action thrillers (Crank). Miller would also enjoy roles on TV series like Smith, Reaper, and Men of a Certain Age.

Trivia: Was accidentally born in Queens, New York when his pregnant mother traveled from her home in the Dominican Republic to visit family, but complications led to his early birth in the U.S. Moved from Queens to the Dominican Republic at the age of 2 months old. Began pursuing acting as a career after graduating from college with a degree in marketing. Had his first professional acting jobs on Dominican television series, including Grandes Series Dominicanas, En La Olla and Trio en Alta Mar. Made his stage debut as Mauricio in a production of Pantallas at Santo Domingo's Great National Theatre. Moved to New York in hopes of furthering his career and began participating in workshops at the Actors Studio and the Gene Frankel Theatre. Played Ramfis Trujillo in a production of Feast of the Goat at Repertorio Español in New York in 2003. Has been featured in television commercials for Bank of America and Old Navy.

Trivia: Frequently referred to in the Australian press as "the next big thing" during the first several years of her career, Aussie ingenue Emma Booth hailed from Western Australia (the Perth end). Booth was poised to become a sensation among American audiences when she signed to play Jill (and received third billing) in the 2007 romantic comedy Introducing the Dwights, also known as Clubland. This little film -- about the son of a blue comedian and a country music has-been, and his romance with a sprightly newcomer (Booth) -- shot up to qualify as a sleeper hit of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Booth subsequently joined the cast of director Beeban Kidron's period comedy Hippie Hippie Shake, about controversial Oz magazine editor Richard Neville and his battles with the Obscene Publications Squad.