Trivia: A suave, darkly handsome actor reminiscent of the young Sean Connery in looks and charisma, Clive Owen first came to international attention with his sinuous, understated portrayal of the amoral protagonist of Mike Hodges' Croupier (1998). A flop in Britain, where Owen had long been a staple of various BBC TV series, the film was a sleeper hit in the States, its success duly generating a flurry of interest in the relatively unknown actor who lent the film its seductive intensity. A product of Coventry, Warwickshire, Owen got a bumpy start in his chosen career, living on the dole for two years after he left school. Fortunately, respite arrived in the form of an acceptance to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1984, and following his graduation from RADA, the young actor joined the Young Vic Theatre Company, where he performed a number of the classics. Owen broke into TV in 1986 with a guest appearance on the series Boon, and subsequently made his film debut in Beeban Kidron's Vroom (1988), a road movie co-starring David Thewlis and Diana Quick. More television work followed in the form of Chancer, a popular miniseries that cast Owen as its heroic protagonist. The actor also found himself increasingly busy with big-screen performances, turning in a complex portrayal of a man involved in an obsessive and incestuous relationship with his sister (Saskia Reeves) in Close My Eyes (1991). Owen received one of his biggest roles to date in Sean Mathias' 1997 screen adaptation of Martin Sherman's Bent, a Holocaust drama in which Owen starred as a bisexual concentration camp inmate who falls in love with a fellow prisoner (Lothaire Bluteau). Although the film earned a substantial degree of critical acclaim and boasted the talents of such luminaries as Ian McKellen and Mick Jagger, it failed to garner much commercial notice. Owen finally broke through to an international audience with Hodges' Croupier, earning almost unanimous acclaim for his portrayal of a struggling writer who becomes caught up in an intricate scam after taking a job in a casino. He subsequently starred as a prisoner who takes up gardening in Greenfingers, a comedy that also starred Helen Mirren and had its premiere at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. The actor also remained active on the stage, even as his screen work thrived, starring in the original 1997 London production of Patrick Marber's highly feted Closer, and performing alongside Rachel Weisz and Paul Rhys in Sean Mathias' acclaimed revival of Noël Coward's Design for Living at London's Donmar Warehouse.The new millennium saw Owen appearing in an eclectic range of projects. In 2001, he starred as the only recurring character in BMW's Hire series of ambitious short films by directors such as Ang Lee and Guy Ritchie and also appeared in Robert Altman's acclaimed Gosford Park. Following a memorable supporting performance opposite Matt Damon in 2002's popular The Bourne Identity, Owen moved up to a starring role as an international relief worker who has an affair with Angelina Jolie in 2003's Beyond Borders. The next year, he took on the title role in King Arthur, Antoine Fuqua's non-fantasy retelling of the legendary story, with then it-girl Keira Knightley as his Guinevere. Both Beyond Borders and King Arthur failed to garner much of an audience, with the latter especially disappointing in light of its 120-million-dollar budget. Despite buzz about the possibility of Owen taking over the James Bond role in the iconic series, his prospects as a Hollywood leading man seemed to be faltering. Also in 2004, Owen appeared stateside in a smaller-budget U.K. film from Croupier director Mike Hodges called I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, about a former gangster investigating the mysterious death of his younger brother. Starring an impressive cast that included Charlotte Rampling, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, and Malcolm McDowell, the film was well-received by critics but relegated to only small arthouse exposure in the States. Later that year, Owen appeared in the big-screen adaptation of Closer, directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring such big names as Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman. In 2005, Owen joined an even more star-studded cast with a role in Robert Rodriguez' adaptation of Frank Miller's comic Sin City, and he would also star opposite Julianne Moore in Savage Grace and Jennifer Aniston in Derailed.His biggest success to date came in early 2006, when he played the criminal mastermind behind a savvy bank heist in director Spike Lee's first blockbuster genre picture, The Inside Man. He would follow that with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men, a futuristic thriller where Owen plays a man protecting a pregnant woman at a time when no human beings have been born in nearly two decades. Owen also took a part in Shekar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age, a sequel to his Oscar nominated biopic Elizabeth.Owen would spend the following several years enjoying his leading man status with films like Killer Elite, Shadow Dancer, and Blood Ties.

Trivia: Jennifer Aniston makes a good case for proving that acting talent can be absorbed by osmosis. From her father John Aniston's stardom on Days of Our Lives to her godfather Telly Savalas, the actress was surrounded by plenty of inspiration from an early age. As Aniston attended the Rudolph Steiner School as a child, she was interested in many forms of art and proved to be a talented painter, eventually having one of her pieces displayed at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Acting also appealed to her, and became her primary focus after graduating from New York's prestigious High School for the Performing Arts in 1987. She took roles in off-Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave before she began honing her skills in television acting with appearances on shows like Quantum Leap and Herman's Head. Before long, Aniston's film and television résumé had grown into a laundry list of one-time appearances, short-lived series, and B-level movies. By 1994, the handful of bit parts and failed shows on Aniston's résumé had established her as a working actress but created little foreshadowing about her future as a star. Her upcoming audition for the role of Monica Gellar in a pilot for a sitcom at that point titled "Friends Like These," however, would prove to be quite auspicious. The role in question would eventually be filled by Courteney Cox, as Aniston changed her mind and opted to try out for Rachel Green, a young suburbanite living on her own for the first time and working as a coffee-shop waitress in New York City. The rest, as they say, is history -- "Friends Like These" would become Friends, the hugest sitcom in years, quickly making Aniston America's sweetheart. Friends' obsessive following churned up a particular interest in Aniston's signature hairstyle. The shag cut known as "The Rachel" could be seen on heads all over the country. Even as the fad fell out of popularity in the salons, Aniston's star continued to rise. Still adored on one of the most popular television shows in history, she moved to the big screen in romantic comedies like She's the One (1996), Picture Perfect, 'Til There Was You (1997), and The Object of My Affection (1998). In the late '90s, she also began dating actor Brad Pitt. Talk of Pitt's recently ended engagement to actress Gwyneth Paltrow quickly dissipated as "Gwen and Brad" turned to "Jen and Brad." The two young stars became the ultimate Hollywood power couple and celebrated with a star-studded wedding in July of 2000. The new millennium found Aniston at the top of her game. Raking in a million dollars an episode for her role on the still popular Friends and married to one of the hottest men in Hollywood, she seemed to have it all. Secure in her A-List position, she took the opportunity to work on low-profile films and cult hits, such as 1999's Office Space, and 2000's Rock Star. Aniston's talent for dramatic roles was finally given a proper outlet when she played the lead in 2002's The Good Girl, which found critics surprised and impressed with her range. She made no attempt to shy away from comedy, however, starring alongside Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty, and Ben Stiller in 2004's Along Came Polly. In 2004, as Friends began what would be its final season, Aniston's immediate future was filled with tremendous turmoil and change. Only a week into 2005, she and husband Brad Pitt legally separated, surrounded by rumors that Pitt had sparked a serious romantic connection with his Mr. and Mrs. Smith co-star Angelina Jolie. The media leapt onto the story, desperate to sate the public's curiosity about how such a seemingly perfect union could come to an end. Rumors swilled about the circumstances of their break-up, citing everything from disagreements over children to taste in interior decorating. Aniston's steady poise and willowy figure created a division in the public perception between herself and the more curvaceous and risqué Jolie.Media frenzy buzzed around the breakup long after she and Pitt officially filed for divorce in March. Vendors even started selling T-shirts reading "Team Aniston" and "Team Jolie," though most of the public seemed to side with the slighted Aniston. The actress plowed ahead, however, marking 2005 by starring with Clive Owen in the gritty thriller Derailed and with Shirley MacLaine and Kevin Costner in the comedy Rumor Has It.... 2006 brought the ensemble film Friends With Money, as well as another movie that would help put her divorce in the past...in more ways then one. While Pitt made headlines by becoming legal guardian of Jolie's adopted children and father to a baby Jolie gave birth to in Namibia, Aniston starred alongside comedy and character actor extraordinaire Vince Vaughn in The Break-Up. The comedy cast the two as an ex-couple going to war over which of them should keep their beloved condo, but the real life connection between the actors was quite the opposite. Though reluctant to speak about their relationship publicly, Aniston and Vaughn appeared quite clearly to have become a couple, bolstering the success of The Break-Up, and seeming to put Aniston's fans at ease regarding her personal life, even after she and Vaughan amicably split later that year. By 2007, Aniston's public image had left her divorce in the past, and was ready for new territory.Aniston found her next success in the 2008 tearjerking pet-comedy Marley & Me, opposite Owen Wilson. As the 2000's gave way to the 2010's, Aniston would all but completely cement her position as the number one actress in Hollywood when it comes to broadly appealing comedies, winning over audience after audience with He's Just Not That Into You, Love Happens, The Switch, Just Go With It, Horrible Bosses, and Wanderlust. She won rave reviews for her work in the film Cake in 2015, earning her a Golden Globe nomination.

Trivia: Alongside frequent collaborator Mathieu Kassovitz, Vincent Cassel emerged in the mid-1990s as one of France's most arresting and exciting new actors. Macho, hard-eyed, and appearing to be in constant preparation for a fight, Cassel embodied a kind of crude masculinity that recalled the likes of Jean-Paul Belmondo and served as a potent onscreen manifestation of the ever-tightening cultural tensions at work in late 20th century France. However, it is a testament to Cassel's talent that his onscreen persona has never verged into caricature, and thanks to his charisma and versatility, he has been able to work in films ranging from grim urban dramas to light romantic comedies.The son of celebrated actor Jean-Pierre Cassel, who made a career out of playing seductive bourgeois men, Cassel was born in Paris' Montmartre district on November 23, 1966. At the age of 17 he went to circus school and spent the next few years generally avoiding the acting scene, due in part to the fact that both his parents (his mother is a journalist) didn't want him to go into the movie business. Cassel was eventually sucked into films in 1991, when he landed a small role in Philippe de Broca's Les Clés du paradis. Two years later he enjoyed his first collaboration with Kassovitz in Metisse, an urban romantic comedy that cast Cassel as Kassovitz's older brother, a tough Jewish boxer.Cassel again stepped in front of the camera for Kassovitz in L'Haine (1995), in which he played a rough-hewn Jewish kid roaming the mean streets of Paris in the company of two friends and a gun. The film was a surprise international success, winning a Best Director Award for Kassovitz at Cannes and a number of French Césars. For his part, Cassel received Best Actor and Most Promising Young Actor César nominations for his portrayal of a young man undone both by his own flaws and those of society, something that raised his profile considerably in his native country and abroad. The actor began popping up in such English language productions as Merchant-Ivory's Jefferson in Paris (1995) and as the leading man in a number of French films, including L'Appartement (1996), a romantic comedy in which he starred alongside Romane Bohringer, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, and Monica Bellucci. Cassel and Bellucci would continue to collaborate onscreen (in such films as Come Mi Vuoi, 1996) and off, marrying in the late 1990s.Cassel's CV grew rapidly as the century drew to a close, with the actor dividing his time between French films and such international productions as Elizabeth (1998), in which he played the mincing Duc d'Anjou, and Jez Butterworth's Birthday Girl (2000), a romantic drama that cast Cassel and Kassovitz as the cousins of an English bank clerk's (Ben Chaplin) Russian mail-order bride (Nicole Kidman). The following year Cassel recieved what was perhaps his biggest stateside exposure to date with the American release of the highly stylized kung-fu-horror-action-costume adventure flick Brotherhood of the Wolf. In 2002 he appeared opposite his wife yet again in the controversial Irreversible. Two years later he was the bad guy in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Twelve. He starred in the thriller Derailed in 2005. In 2007 he teamed up with David Cronenberg for the well-reviewed crime thriller Eastern Promises, and he would go on to a huge critical success playing the demanding ballet troupe leader in Black Swan. In 2011 he would again work with Cronenberg in the historical drama A Dangerous Method.

Trivia: Australian actress Melissa George was born in Perth on August 6, 1976, the second of four children. As a child, she developed an interest in dancing and began studying jazz, tap, ballet, and modern dance at the age of seven. George's enthusiasm for dance eventually evolved into a passion for roller skating, and, after skating competitively in Australia, she represented her nation in several international events. At 16, George left skating behind when she quit school and began exploring the world of modeling; she was soon named Western Australia's Teenage Model of the Year. As a result of this honor, she auditioned for a role in the popular Australian soap opera Home and Away, and, in 1993, was cast as Angel Brooks. George's performance won her a sizable following in both Australia and Great Britain, but, after three years with the series, she left to pursue other projects. After appearing in several made-for-TV movies (and posing in the Aussie edition of Playboy), the actress landed a small role in the sci-fi thriller Dark City, and was cast as the female lead in an offbeat television pilot, Hollyweird, which, unfortunately, failed to sell. After a brief appearance in Steven Soderbergh's The Limey (as Terence Stamp's ill-fated daughter), George landed her first significant American role in the teen comedy Sugar & Spice, in which she played Cleo, a cheerleader-turned-criminal who has an unquenchable enthusiasm for Conan O'Brien; she also played a small but important role as mob-connected ingénue Camilla Rhodes in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, and appeared in the pilot of HBO's short-lived series adaptation of L.A. Confidential. In 2001, George was cast opposite John Stamos in the leading roles of the television series Thieves; despite positive reviews, however, the series lasted only three months. She got another chance to prove her mettle on American television in 2003, when she was cast in an American version of the popular British sitcom Coupling. Unfortunately, she only got to act in an unaired version of the pilot episode before her part was recast. The show failed anyway and George rebounded quickly, landing a prominent role in the 2003-2004 season of the popular spy series Alias as Lauren Reed, the new wife of Agent Vaughn (Michael Vartan) and romantic rival of Sydney Bristow (series star Jennifer Garner).After appearing the 2005 reboot of The Amityville Horror, George co-starred with Clive Owen and Jennifer Anniston in the psychological thriller Derailed (also 2005). The actress took another turn for the grisly Turistas (2006) to play part of an unlucky group destined to involuntarily donate their organs to a mad doctor. She found more success for her role in Music Within (2007), an inspirational biopic starring George as the free-spirited girlfriend of the film's subject, celebrated public speaker Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingstone). In 2008 she played an anesthesiologist who became romantically interested in her psychiatrist on the first season of HBO's lauded series In Treatment, and the same year was cast in 11 episodes of the fifth season of Grey's Anatomy. In 2011 she could be seen in the UK thriller A Lonely Place to Die, the TV movie Bag of Bones and on the Australian TV series The Slap. In 2012, she starred in the Cinemax series Hunter, and in 2013, joined CBS drama The Good Wife in a recurring role. She starred in the Australian miniseries The Slap in 2012, and reprised her role in the American remake in 2015.

Trivia: Versatile American actor Giancarlo Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, but grew up in Manhattan from the age of six. His mother was an African-American nightclub singer (who once shared a bill with Josephine Baker) and his father was an Italian stagehand. In show business most of his life, Esposito made his Broadway debut in a 1966 production of Maggie Flynn. His other stage credits include Sacrilege, Miss Moffatt, and Balm in Gilead. He won a 1981 Theatre World Award for his performance in Zooman and the Sign.On the big screen, Esposito started appearing in Spike Lee films during the late '80s in a wide range of roles with great character names. He was the frat leader Julian "Big Brother Almighty" in School Daze, the outspoken reactionary Buggin' Out in Do the Right Thing, the dandy pianist Left Hand Lacey in Mo' Better Blues, and the criminal Thomas Hayer in Malcolm X. Esposito's other film roles include an investigative journalist in Bob Roberts, an activist in Amos & Andrew, and a game show host in Reckless. In 1995, he earned an Independent Spirit award nomination for his supporting role of doting drug dealer Esteban in Boaz Yakin's debut drama Fresh. Esposito also appeared in Wayne Wang and Paul Auster's Smoke, along with the sequel Blue in the Face. The next year, he turned briefly to producing with the independent prison film The Keeper, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.On television, Esposito appeared on NYPD Blue, Law & Order, and the short-lived Fox comedy Bakersfield, P.D. In 1999, he earned an Image award nomination for his role as FBI Agent Michael Giardello on Homicide: Life on the Street. He also has contributed to the Fox television dramas The $treet and girls club. While teaching at the Atlantic Theatre Company, Esposito found time to portray real-life figures in the biopics Ali (as Cassius Clay Sr.) and Piñero (as Miguel Algarin). Projects for 2004 included James Hunter's feature Back in the Day and the television movie NYPD 2069. He played a detective in the thriller Derailed, and appeared in the indie drama SherryBaby. In 2008 he directed, starred in, and helped write the drama Gospel Hill. In 2010 he joined the cast of the highly-respected AMC drama series Breaking Bad, and appeared in the 2012 big-screen thriller Alex Cross.

Trivia: Hip-hop star-turned-actor Xzibit was born Alvin Joiner in Detroit, MI, later moving to New Mexico and Los Angeles with his family before releasing his debut album, At the Speed of Life. The releases 40 Days & 40 Nightz and Restless followed in quick succession, and after touring with the likes of Dr. Dre, Eminem, and Snoop Dogg Xzibit was a bona fide hip-hop heavyweight. In 1999, Xzibit began gravitating toward acting, with early roles in The Wash and 8 Mile serving well to show that he exuded as much charisma in front of the camera as he did in front of the studio microphone. More substantial roles in XXX: State of the Union, Derailed, and Gridiron Gang helped to solidify his reputation as a talented screen star, and starting in 2004, Xzibit would highlight some of the most outrageous machines ever to drive the two-lane blacktop as the host of MTV's Pimp My Ride.

Trivia: Extremely prolific British actor David Morrissey sounded off as a vociferous, intense player in English pictures such as Peter Greenaway's Drowning by Numbers (1988, as an unfortunate victim of mariticide), Stephen Gyllenhaal's drama Waterland (1992, as the simple-minded brother of Jeremy Irons), and Hilary and Jackie (1998, as a loving and devoted husband). He forsook British arthouse material for more mainstream Hollywood fare with key performances in the seamy Basic Instinct 2 (2006) and ascended to top billing as the male lead of Hilary Swank in The Reaping (2007), a religious-themed horror outing. That same year, Showtime tapped Morrissey to headline the series Meadowlands, as an English patriarch attempting at all costs to help his wife and children escape the family's crime-saturated past. Over the coming years, he would go on to find even more notable success on the zombie series The Walking Dead.

Trivia: At 8, was chosen to play an orphan in a 2000-01 national tour of Annie, and eventually starred in the title role in several productions. Made her Broadway debut in 2003 as Baby Louise in the Tony Award-nominated revival of Gypsy, starring Bernadette Peters and directed by Sam Mendes. In 2004, helped organize a reunion of Annie touring veterans for a production of the musical in Harleysville, PA, to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. After she got the part in Gypsy, her mother moved her and her siblings to Manhattan—where they lived for a time on Addison's $70,000 Broadway salary—so she could pursue her acting career. Made film debut in Derailed (2005) as the daughter of Clive Owen and Melissa George's characters. Appeared in the video for "Check Yes Juliet," a song by Florida pop-punk band We the Kings from their 2007 self-titled debut album.

Trivia: Although many thought his work in such features as Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and Reuben, Reuben might lead to a high-profile film career, Tom Conti never found the same success in his later work. Equally adept at comedy or drama, the longtime stage and screen actor gave lively, but finely tuned, performances regardless of the medium in which he appeared. Born to an Italian immigrant father and a Scottish mother in Paisley, Scotland, Conti was trained as a classical pianist at Glasgow's Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before shifting his attention to the stage. He made his stage debut with the Citizen's Theater in the late '50s and flourished in the theater for nearly a decade before making his first film in the 1975 musical drama Flame. As his sensitive and multi-layered portraits of deeply troubled characters began to earn the actor nods from the theater community, Conti began appearing in a series of memorable British television productions (highlighted by The Glittering Prizes [1976] and The Norman Conquests [1977]). In 1979, he was awarded a Tony for his portrayal of a paralyzed sculptor in a stage production of Whose Life Is It Anyway? Thanks to increased international exposure, he began to get more film roles, as well; they were usually only supporting parts in such movies as Galileo (1975) and Eclipse (1976), however, and he had still not landed a role that would leave a lasting impression. All that changed (at least temporarily) with an impressive pair of films in 1983. Conti's unforgettable portrayal of the eponymous character in the war drama Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence almost stole the spotlight from marquee draw David Bowie. That same year, Conti gave an Oscar-nominated performance as a drunken Scottish lothario in Reuben, Reuben. It should have turned the actor into a box-office draw, but superstardom continued to elude him, despite leading roles in such later efforts as American Dreamer (1984), Heavenly Pursuits (1985), and Shirley Valentine (1989). His turn as a Holocaust survivor in Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story earned Conti a Golden Globe nomination, and he alternated between the stage and screen in subsequent years. He starred in the CBS series The Wright Verdicts in 1995, but it was canceled after only a three-month run. Later roles in such features as Someone Else's America (1995) and Something to Believe In (1998) offered memorable screen appearances sandwiched between Conti's frequent stage roles. He continued to make both film and TV appearances in the '90s, including small-screen roles in such series as Deadline and Friends (in which he played Ross' snooty father-in-law Stephen).

Trivia: As a child, lived for seven years in Nigeria, where his parents were born and his family descended from royalty. Was a member of London's National Youth Music Theatre, which is where he met his wife. Played King Henry VI in a 2001 Royal Shakespeare Company trilogy of the Bard's plays, and was the first black actor to portray an English king in an RSC production. For his role in the British spy drama Spooks, he met with British-intelligence officers. Co-wrote a 2006 romantic comedy-drama for the BBC called Graham and Alice, about two London loners who decide to rob a betting shop. Fulfilled a bucket-list wish by working with Steven Spielberg on 2012's Lincoln. As part of the training for his role as a WWII Tuskegee Airman in 2012's Red Tails, he got to fly in vintage P-51 Mustangs. Appointed an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2016 New Year Honours.

Trivia: Rapper RZA (born Robert Diggs but alternately credited, at various junctures, as Prince Rakeem, Bobby Steels, The Rzarector, and The Abbott) initially rose to fame as a member of the rap group All in Together Now, then branched out into a career as a solo artist. Though he achieved tremendous commercial success in this capacity, RZA nonetheless made his most enduring musical impact not as a performer but as a producer, of the rap supergroup the Wu-Tang Clan. His spare, lean, and razor-sharp approach to rap production for the group laid the groundwork and set the bar for dozens of other rap acts throughout the 1990s. Cinematically, RZA placed his strongest emphasis on contributions to soundtracks, scoring and lending featured music to such opuses as the Jim Jarmusch-helmed crime drama Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004), and the urban farce Soul Plane (2004). Though RZA's acting roles officially began with a bit part in Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), he went on to grace the supporting casts of films as diverse as Scary Movie 3 (2003), Derailed (2005), and The Take (2007). Also in 2007, RZA tackled a supporting role as Moses Jones in Ridley Scott's period crime drama American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington.