Trivia: The son of actor Richard Cusack and younger brother of comic actress Joan Cusack, John Cusack started his career at the age of eight, under the guidance of his theatrically active mother. He made his stage bow with Evanston's Pivan Theatre Workshop and quickly went on to do commercial work, becoming one of Chicago's busiest commercial voice-over artists.Although Cusack began to emerge as an actor during the heyday of the Brat Pack, and appeared in a number of "teen" movies, he managed to avoid falling into the narrowly defined rut the phenomenon left in its wake. After making his film debut in 1983's Class, he had a brief but painfully memorable appearance as a member of Anthony Michael Hall's nerd posse in Sixteen Candles (1984). Bigger and better opportunities came Cusack's way the following year, when he achieved a measure of stardom with his portrayal of a sexually anxious college freshman in The Sure Thing (1985). The same year, he gained further recognition with his starring roles in Better Off Dead (which also granted him a degree of cult status) and The Journey of Natty Gann.Cusack spent the rest of the 1980s carving out a niche for himself as both a solid performer and something of a lust object for unconventional girls everywhere, a status aided immeasurably by his portrayal of lovable underachiever Lloyd Dobler in Cameron Crowe's 1989 ....Say Anything. He also began winning critical acclaim for his parts in more serious films, notably as a disgraced White Sox third baseman in John Sayles' Eight Men Out (1988) and as a con artist in Stephen Frears' The Grifters (1990).Cusack enjoyed steady work throughout the 1990s, with particularly notable roles in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), which featured him as a struggling playwright; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), in which he starred as a journalist investigating a murder; Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), which cast him as the film's protagonist, a neurotic hit man; and the impressively cast The Thin Red Line, in which he played a World War II soldier. Just about all of Cusack's roles allowed him to showcase his quirky versatility, and the films he did to close out the century were no exception: in 1999 he first starred as an air-traffic controller in the comedy Pushing Tin and then appeared as Nelson Rockefeller in Cradle Will Rock, Tim Robbins' exploration of art and politics in 1930s America; finally, in perhaps his most unique film to date, he starred in Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich as a puppeteer who discovers a way to enter the mind of the famous actor. The wildly original film turned out to be one of the year's biggest surprise hits, scoring among both audiences and critics. Cusack had yet another triumph the following year with High Fidelity, Stephen Frears' adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel of the same name. The actor, who co-wrote the script for the film in addition to starring in it, earned some of the best reviews of his career for his heartfelt comic portrayal of Rob, the film's well-meaning but oftentimes emotionally immature protagonist. The next year he played opposite Julia Roberts in the showbiz comedy America's Sweethearts. In 2002 he took a lead part in the controversial Hitler biopic Max, and he did a brief cameo for Spike Jonze in Adaptation.The next year he had a couple of hits with the John Grisham adaptation The Runaway Jury, and the psychological thriller Identity. In 2005 he was the lead in the black comedy The Ice Harvest opposite Billy Bob Thornton, as well as the romantic comedy Must Love Dogs.He earned solid reviews in 2007 for the Iraq War drama Grace Is Gone, playing the husband of a woman who dies while serving in the military., and in that same year he starred in the Stephen King adaptation 1408. In 2008 he appeared in and co-wrote the political satire War, Inc. The next year he was the lead in the disaster film blockbuster 2012.Cashing in on his status as an eighties icon, he had a hit in 2010 with the R rated comedy Hot Tub Time Machine, and in 2012 he portrayed Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven.

Trivia: After spending the 1980s playing a series of drug addict and character parts, Samuel L. Jackson emerged in the 1990s as one of the most prominent and well-respected actors in Hollywood. Work on a number of projects, both high-profile and low-key, has given Jackson ample opportunity to display an ability marked by both remarkable versatility and smooth intelligence.Born December 21, 1948, in Washington, D.C., Jackson was raised by his mother and grandparents in Chattanooga, TN. He attended Atlanta's Morehouse College, where he was co-founder of Atlanta's black-oriented Just Us Theater (the name of the company was taken from a famous Richard Pryor routine). Jackson arrived in New York in 1977, beginning what was to be a prolific career in film, television, and on the stage. After a plethora of character roles of varying sizes, Jackson was discovered by the public in the role of the hero's tempestuous, drug-addict brother in 1991's Jungle Fever, directed by another Morehouse College alumnus, Spike Lee. Jungle Fever won Jackson a special acting prize at the Cannes Film Festival and thereafter his career soared. Confronted with sudden celebrity, Jackson stayed grounded by continuing to live in the Harlem brownstone where he'd resided since his stage days. 1994 was a particularly felicitous year for Jackson; while his appearances in Jurassic Park (1993) and Menace II Society (1993) were still being seen in second-run houses, he co-starred with John Travolta as a mercurial hit man in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, a performance that earned him an Oscar nomination. His portrayal of an embittered father in the more low-key Fresh earned him additional acclaim. The following year, Jackson landed third billing in the big-budget Die Hard With a Vengeance and also starred in the adoption drama Losing Isaiah. His versatility was put on further display in 1996 with the release of five very different films: The Long Kiss Goodnight, a thriller in which he co-starred with Geena Davis as a private detective; an adaptation of John Grisham's A Time to Kill, which featured him as an enraged father driven to murder; Steve Buscemi's independent Trees Lounge; The Great White Hype, a boxing satire in which the actor played a flamboyant boxing promoter; and Hard Eight, the directorial debut of Paul Thomas Anderson.After the relative quiet of 1997, which saw Jackson again collaborate with Tarantino in the critically acclaimed Jackie Brown and play a philandering father in the similarly acclaimed Eve's Bayou (which also marked his debut as a producer), the actor lent his talents to a string of big-budget affairs (an exception being the 1998 Canadian film The Red Violin). Aside from an unbilled cameo in Out of Sight (1998), Jackson was featured in leading roles in The Negotiator (1998), Sphere (1998), and Deep Blue Sea (1999). His prominence in these films added confirmation of his complete transition from secondary actor to leading man, something that was further cemented by a coveted role in what was perhaps the most anticipated film of the decade, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), the first prequel to George Lucas' Star Wars trilogy. Jackson followed through on his leading man potential with a popular remake of Gordon Parks' seminal 1971 blaxploitation flick Shaft. Despite highly publicized squabbling between Jackson and director John Singleton, the film was a successful blend of homage, irony, and action; it became one of the rare character-driven hits in the special effects-laden summer of 2000.From hard-case Shaft to fragile as glass, Jackson once again hoodwinked audiences by playing against his usual super-bad persona in director M. Night Shyamalan's eagerly anticipated follow-up to The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable (2000). In his role as Bruce Willis' brittle, frail antithesis, Jackson proved that though he can talk trash and break heads with the best of them, he's always compelling to watch no matter what the role may be. Next taking a rare lead as a formerly successful pianist turned schizophrenic on the trail of a killer in the little-seen The Caveman's Valentine, Jackson turned in yet another compelling and sympathetic performance. Following an instance of road rage opposite Ben Affleck in Changing Lanes (2002), Jackson stirred film geek controversy upon wielding a purple lightsaber in the eagerly anticipated Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. Despite rumors that the color of the lightsaber may have had some sort of mythical undertone, Jackson laughingly assured fans that it was a simple matter of his suggesting to Lucas that a purple lightsaber would simply "look cool," though he was admittedly surprised to see that Lucas had obliged him Jackson eventually saw the final print. A few short months later filmgoers would find Jackson recruiting a muscle-bound Vin Diesel for a dangerous secret mission in the spy thriller XXX.Jackson reprised his long-standing role as Mace Windu in the last segment of George Lucas's Star Wars franchise to be produced, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). It (unsurprisingly) grossed almost four hundred million dollars, and became that rare box-office blockbuster to also score favorably (if not unanimously) with critics; no less than Roger Ebert proclaimed it "spectacular." Jackson co-headlined 2005's crime comedy The Man alongside Eugene Levy and 2006's Joe Roth mystery Freedomland with Julianne Moore and Edie Falco, but his most hotly-anticipated release at the time of this writing is August 2006's Snakes on a Plane, a by-the-throat thriller about an assassin who unleashes a crate full of vipers onto a aircraft full of innocent (and understandably terrified) civilians. Produced by New Line Cinema on a somewhat low budget, the film continues to draw widespread buzz that anticipates cult status. Black Snake Moan, directed by Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow) dramatizes the relationship between a small-town girl (Christina Ricci) and a blues player (Jackson). The picture is slated for release in September 2006 with Jackson's Shaft collaborator, John Singleton, producing.Jackson would spend the ensuing years appearing in a number of films, like Home of the Brave, Resurrecting the Champ, Lakeview Terrace, Django Unchained, and the Marvel superhero franchise films like Thor, Iron Man, and The Avengers, playing superhero wrangler Nick Fury.

Trivia: Seemingly coming out of nowhere to essay the difficult role of famed shock-jock Howard Stern's wife in 1997's autobiographical Private Parts, actress Mary McCormack has since gone on to offer memorable performances in such fare as Mystery, Alaska (1999) and K-PAX (2001). A native of Plainfield, NJ, McCormack's interest in performing was piqued at an early age when the aspiring, 12-year-old actress gender-bent her way through a production of Menotti's Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. Since none of the local boys possessed the necessary vocal abilities, McCormack donned a hat and hit the notes needed to carry the play. Subsequently performing in regional theater before continuing her education at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, it was there that McCormack would major in English and painting while continuing to hone her stage skills. After earning her Comparative Arts degree from Trinity, McCormack decided to further her acting career by studying at the William Esper Studio. Performances at such New York theaters as The Atlantic Theater Company were quick to follow, as was her film debut in the 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street. Simultaneously appearing on the small screen in the popular crime series Murder One (1995), it wasn't long before Private Parts would offer a stratospheric boost to her onscreen career. A cinematic love letter to Stern's real-life wife, Private Parts offered the burgeoning actress a complex emotional role that proved without a doubt what she was fully capable of. Follow-up roles in such high-profile fare as Deep Impact (1998) and Mystery, Alaska (1999) didn't quite offer McCormack the chance to shine that Private Parts did, though it was obvious to all who viewed her subsequent roles that her star was on the rise. The millennial turnover found McCormack successfully alternating between drama (Madison) and comedy (High Heels and Low Lifes) before once again heading the Hollywood route with a supporting performance in K-PAX. An unconventional role in director Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal was quick to follow, and McCormack was soon beginning preparation for the television miniseries based on Soderbergh's Traffic (which was in turn inspired by 1989 U.K. series Traffik).She was the female lead in the creepy apocalyptic thriller Right at Your Door, and landed a small part in Christopher Guest's For Your Consideration. In 2008 she landed the lead role on the cable series In Plain Sight and enjoyed the most consistent success of her career.

Trivia: A uniquely gifted and versatile actor possessing the distinct ability to immerse himself in a role so convincingly that he becomes almost unrecognizable -- from a quality obsessed restaurateur (Big Night, 1996) to a master criminal bent on world domination (Spy Kids, 2001) -- one can always count on Tony Shalhoub to deliver a memorable performance no matter how small his role may be.Well-known to television audiences for his extended stint as a self-deprecating cabbie on the long-running series Wings, Shalhoub made the often-painful transition from television to film with a grace seldom seen. Born on October 9th, 1953 in Green Bay, WI, Shalhoub developed his passion for theater at the youthful age of six when he volunteered via his sister to play an extra in a high-school production of The King and I. Shalhoub was hooked. After earning his master's degree from the Yale Drama School and spending four seasons at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA, Shalhoub packed his bags for New York where he began a luminous career on Broadway. Broadway brought Shalhoub success not only in his career, but in his personal life as well: he was nominated for a Tony for his role in Conversations With My Father and he met his future wife, actress Brooke Adams, while acting in The Heidi Chronicles. It was not long after his Broadway success that Shalhoub made his feature debut, as a doctor in the 1990 AIDS drama Longtime Companion.Shalhoub's film career has been a testament to his range and a compliment to his abilities. Though prone to comedy, his dramatic roles have gained him just as much, if not more, recognition than his comedic roles. Winning the Best Supporting Actor award from the National Society of Film Critics for his well-researched role in Big Night (1996), Shalhoub expanded his dramatic film repertoire with roles in A Civil Action and The Siege (both 1998), while always maintaining his knack for humor (1997's Men in Black). Shalhoub's role as the ultra-mellow "anti-Scottie" in the Star Trek send-up Galaxy Quest (1999) proved that his comic persona was indeed still as sharp as ever. Sticking in the sci-fi/fantasy mold for his roles in Imposter and Spy Kids (both 2001), Shalhoub once again proved that he could do 180-degree character turnarounds with ease.Though Shalhoub would stay in sci-fi mode for his role in Men in Black 2, he would return to solid ground with his role as an obsessive-compulsive detective in the well-received television pilot Monk (2002). Directed by Galaxy Quest helmer Dean Parisot, the pilot for Monk successfully paved the way for the curiously innovative USA series to follow and found the actor warmly re-embracing the medium that had propelled him to stardom. As Monk's popularity continued to grow, Shaloub found success on the big screen in the role of a gifted psychologist for The Great New Wonderful (2005), and voiced the lovable Luigi in Cars (2006) and Cars 2 (2011). In 2007, he worked alongside John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson for the supernatural horror film 1408.

Trivia: After beefing up his bank account as a sales clerk (handling everything from men's clothing to farm machinery), Canadian actor Len Cariou began his formal theatrical training at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre. Cariou's first professional appearance was in the chorus of the Canadian company of Damn Yankees. On Broadway from 1968, Cariou was prominently featured in such long-running musicals as Applause and A Little Night Music. In 1972, he was appointed artistic director of his old stomping grounds, the Tyrone Guthrie; and in 1979 he won a Tony award for his portrayal of the title character in the Stephen Sondheim musical drama Sweeney Todd. His film roles include Frederick in A Little Night Music (1978) and Nick Callan in The Four Seasons (1981). On television, Len Cariou was perhaps never busier than during the 1993-1994 season, when he appeared in five made-for-TV movies, including Charles Bronson's remake of The Sea Wolf. Over the coming years, Cariou would remain active on screen, appearing in movies like The Greatest Game Ever Played and on TV shows like Brotherhood, Damages, and Blue Bloods.

Trivia: Moved to Glasgow in the 1980s. Recorded the song "Diamonds Rap (We Are The Diamonds)" in 1986 to promote the Glasgow Diamonds American football team. Has performed in many plays at the Old Vic in London including Spooks and Inherit the Wind. Produced, directed and appeared in the feature-length documentary film U & Me & Tennessee: An American Romance in 2007. Has been a longtime supporter of Meher Baba, an Indian spiritual master who died in 1969 and claimed to be the Avatar, God in human form. Is an experienced theatre and film actor. Created the voice-over for one of the main characters in the video game, Crysis 2, in 2011. His son, Ross Matthew Birchard, is a music producer also known as Hudson Mohawke.

Trivia: A native of Talinn, Estonia, and the son of Estonian pop musician Tarmo Urb (of the Urb Brothers fame), model-cum-actor Johann Urb immigrated to Finland with his parents at the age of ten, and spent the remainder of his childhood in that country. Urb subsequently moved to New York City, where he modeled on a contract with the Ford Agency and formally studied drama at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Institute. The actor took one of his first feature bows in 2006, with a small supporting role opposite Dominique Swain (Lolita) in the gambling drama All In; that same year, he also essayed a lead in actor/director Brad Jurjens' gritty, direct-to-video action thriller The Bank Job. Urb achieved his most prominent Hollywood billing, however, two years later, in the Paris Hilton/Christine Lakin gross-out comedy The Hottie & the Nottie (2008). He had a role in the apocalyptic disaster movie 2012 in 2009, and that same year he was cast in the short-lived TV series Eastwick. He followed that up with parts in Hard Breakers and Resident Evil: Retribution.

Trivia: Attended Bradford's Scala Kids Stage School at the age of 7 for 12 years with his sister, Sarah-Jane Potts. Made his first TV appearance at the age of 10 in Children's Ward. Founded Keychain Productions in 2006 so he could collaborate with other filmmakers to produce original content. Was among the finalists at the 2012's Virgin Media Short Film Awards for the short Little Larry. Best known for his role as eccentric Connor Temple on ITV's British science fiction programme Primeval and Space's Canadian spin-off Primeval: New World. Also starred as the Hatter in the SyFy mini-series Alice and was a regular on the long-running programme Ideal. Was cast in 2019 in the role of astronaut Michael Collins in the Netflix series The Crown.

Trivia: Set a hospital record when he was born, weighing in at over 11 pounds. Was a Media Fellow while at DePauw University. Played a cadet during the first two seasons of Malcolm in the Middle. Appeared in the 2010 stage production of Pee-Wee's Playhouse in Los Angeles, opposite Paul Reubens; he later transferred with the show to Broadway. Had a recurring guest role on Gotham in season one, before being promoted to a series regular for season two.

Trivia: The fifth of 11 children. Attended Southwest Minnesota State University on a football scholarship; tried out for The Crucible after injuries sidelined him. Studied at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco after college. Made his Broadway debut in the play Mastergate in 1989. Received the 2002 Lucille Lortelle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor for the off-Broadway play Four. Supports a scholarship for SMSU, the Isiah Whitlock Jr. Fine Arts Theatre Endowment.

Trivia: Kevin Dobson labored as a trainman, brakeman and conductor for the Long Island Railroad in his pre-acting days. While he has done plenty of stage work, Dobson is best known for his TV accomplishments. He was signed in 1973 for what turned out to be a five-year run on Kojak, playing Telly Savalas' trusted assistant (and occasional punching bag) Detective Bobby Crocker; when Kojak was revived as an occasional series in 1989, Dobson guest-starred as Crocker (now a state prosecutor) in one episode. In 1981, Dobson starred in the San Francisco-filmed cop series Shannon, which lasted but a single season. The very next year, Kevin Dobson launched his longest series-TV stint in the role of attorney M. Patrick McKenzie, second husband of Karen Fairgate (Michelle Lee),on the prime-time serial Knots Landing.