Trivia: Forest Whitaker attended college on a football scholarship, then, interested in Opera, transferred to U.S.C. on two more scholarships to study Music and Theater. He landed small roles on television and in two films, beginning with Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). He got his big break when he appeared in Oliver Stone's Platoon and Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money (both 1986). After a few more supporting roles, Whitaker got his first lead in Clint Eastwood's Bird (1988), in which he played the title role -- heroin-addicted jazz great Charlie Parker, a performance which won him the 1988 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award. Although now better-known as an lead actor, he was unable to greatly capitalize on his success and remained primarily a supporting player in films. He is the older brother of actor Damon Whitaker.

Trivia: A respected actor who became one of the more prominent figures in the growing African American cinema of the 1990s, Isaiah Washington has made his name in gritty crime dramas and romantic ensemble comedies alike. A native of Houston, Texas, Washington spent four years in the Air Force before studying drama at Washington, D.C.'s Howard University. Following graduation, he won a role in playwright Ntozake Shange's Spell 7 and then moved to New York to further pursue his career. He appeared in a number of stage productions, and he became one of the founding members of CityKids Repertory, a theatre group that visits high schools and community centers throughout New York.Washington began his screen career on television, appearing in the soap operas As the World Turns and One Life to Live. He made his big screen debut in Spike Lee's Crooklyn (1994), and he subsequently appeared in Lee's Clockers (1995), Girl 6 (1996), and Get on the Bus (1996), the last of which cast him as a gay man on his way to the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C.Some of Washington's other memorable credits during the '90s included the Hughes brothers' Dead Presidents (1995), the warmly received ensemble romantic comedy Love Jones (1997), Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight (1998), in which Washington gave a memorable turn as a scheming con's violent brother-in-law; Warren Beatty's Bulworth (1998), and Clint Eastwood's True Crime (1999), which cast Washington as a man awaiting execution on death row after being falsely accused of murder. In 2000, Washington could be seen starring opposite Chinese action star Jet Li in Romeo Must Die, an urban update of Romeo and Juliet set between rival Asian and African American gangs in Oakland, California.In 2005, Washington was cast as Dr. Preston Burke, one of the leads on the ABC medical-drama Grey's Anatomy. The show quickly became a runaway hit, garnering a large and loyal audience as well as Emmys and Golden Globes. However, through the show, Washington would soon gain a great deal of unwanted notoriety. In late 2006, a controversy exploded after an onset altercation between Washington and costar Patrick Dempsey, wherein the former allegedly used an anti-gay epithet to describe castmate T.R. Knight. Months of media coverage followed, and in June 2007, ABC announced that Washington was being cut from the show.Despite the controversy, it wasn't long before Washington was fielding offers from other networks. In July 2007, NBC announced that they'd nabbed him for an extended arc on the remake of The Bionic Woman.

Trivia: Though he has since dropped the age restrictive "Lil'" for the more mature Bow Wow, this rapper-turned-actor stands tall on both stage and screen no matter what moniker he assumes. Born Shad Gregory Moss in Reynoldsburg, OH, Lil' Bow Wow dropped his first rhymes at the tender age of three, and after hooking up with producer Jermaine Dupri, the young rapper released his debut album, Beware of Dog, in 2000. The following year, he brought his vocal talents to the small screen in Carmen: A Hip Hopera. After releasing his 2001 sophomore album, Doggy Bag, Lil' Bow Wow made his feature debut in the action comedy All About the Benjamins. Leading-man status followed with a starring role as an orphan who discovers a pair of magical basketball shoes in Like Mike (2002), showing that the pint-sized rapper's skills in front of the camera rivaled those behind the microphone. Following the release of his third album, Unleashed (2003), he returned to the screen in 2004 for the comedy Johnson Family Vacation; snagging the lead role in Director Malcolm D. Lee's nostalgic coming-of-age tale Roll Bounce the following year. Strapping on a pair of roller skates for the '70s-set family drama, Bow Wow's first leading role snagged impressive box-office totals in its first-weekend, indicating good things to come for the young rapper-actor hyphenate. 2006 would find the actor/hip-hopper adding the title of wheelman to his credits when he buckled-in for the rubber-burning sequel The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Trivia: Washington, D.C., native Taraji P. Henson didn't always know that her smoldering charisma and beautiful face would make her a professional actress. On the contrary, she originally studied electrical engineering when she enrolled at North Carolina Agric & Tech. She later transferred to Howard University, where she attended classes while working as a secretary at the Pentagon, and as a singer and dancer aboard a cruise ship. She eventually changed her academic focus to theater and graduated in 1995. Henson's career began with appearances on Homicide: Life on the Street and ER, but it really took off when she was cast in a major supporting role in 2001's Baby Boy and 2004's Hustle & Flow, in which she also showcased her vocal talents, singing on the track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" for the movie's soundtrack, which took home the Best Song Oscar that year. Henson later moved on to take major roles in Smokin' Aces and Talk to Me. Henson made the most of her work as the mother of the backward-aging man in David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and her performance garnered Best Supporting Actress nominations from both the Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy. She became an in-demand character actress after that success and appeared in a series of films including Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, the remake of The Karate Kid, Date Night, and Larry Crowne. In 2012, she was part of the ensemble in the hit comedy Think Like a Man, and later reprised her role in the sequel, Think Like a Man Too. Henson returned to television on the CBS crime drama Person of Interest, playing an NYPD detective. Her character was dramatically killed off in the third season, with Henson claiming she wanted to focus on her film career. However, she quickly took a role on the FOX musical drama Empire, playing breakout character Cookie Lyon.

Trivia: Rapper Lil' Wayne (born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.) starred in Cash Money Records' 2000 independent film, the New Orleans-set Baller Blockin', and made a cameo appearance in 2007's Who's Your Caddy?

Trivia: Although he had been appearing in both film and television productions since the mid-'80s, it took nearly two decades for actor Courtney B. Vance to finally receive recognition. The Detroit native was bitten by the acting bug while a student at Harvard, and though he had originally intended to study history, he felt the lure of the stage and was soon appearing in productions at Harvard before eventually joining the Boston Shakespeare Company. After graduation, Vance continued his acting career at the Yale School of Drama, and it was there that he first gained notice for his role opposite James Earl Jones in the August Wilson drama Fences. In 1987, Vance made his film debut in the war drama Hamburger Hill, and though he remained true to his stage roots in the ensuing years, screen roles kept rolling in. The actor climbed the credits throughout the 1990s with a series of supporting roles in The Hunt for Red October (1990), Beyond the Law (1992), and The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993). 1995 proved something of a breakthrough year for the rising star, with roles in Panther, Dangerous Minds, and The Last Supper offering him more screen time than ever. In 1996, Vance held his own as a minister opposite Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston in The Preacher's Wife. Drawing from his own faith -- which had recently been reawakened by the suicide of his father -- for the role, Vance also had memorable performances in Cookie's Fortune in 1999 and Space Cowboys the following year. He portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. in the dramatic miniseries Parting the Waters (2000) and made another solid impression on television viewers the next year with a role in the popular series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.Vance would stick with the series for five years, concurrently appearing on the long-running medical drama ER. By the time he had finished his run on both programs, he was on to the science fictions series Flash Forward from 2009-2010, before signing on to appear alongside Michael Biehn in the post-apocalyptic horror flick The Divide in 2011.

Trivia: A matriarchal supporting actress of film and television whose quick wit and instantly likable persona has served her well on stage and screen, Irma P. Hall has found frequent work in such African-American-oriented dramas as A Family Thing, Soul Food, and Beloved. Equally effective with comedic roles in such features as Nothing to Lose and The Ladykillers, the multi-talented educator, poet, and actress actually stumbled into a career before the cameras by accident -- impressing director Raymond St. Jacques at a poetry reading so much that the filmmaker requested she essay a role in his 1973 crime film Book of Numbers. Her acting career subsequently snowballed, and it didn't take long for the increasingly busy actress to make quite a name for herself on both the stage and screen. The Texas native's early career consisted of teaching foreign languages at public schools in her home state. An interest in acting eventually led the then educator and poet to co-found a small repertory theater in Dallas. In 1973, Hall's performance in Book of Numbers resulted in frequent small-screen work. Her career continued to blossom throughout the 1980s, and with feature-film work increasing in the 1990s, she became more recognizable than ever thanks to work in such features as Backdraft and Straight Talk. Despite the fact that the roles she essayed were frequently relegated to the supporting variety, her onscreen presence was undeniable, and Hall continued throughout the decade with roles in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Beloved. In A Family Thing, her role as a kindly blind African-American woman who helps her family warm to their newly discovered white relative earned Hall a Chicago Film Critics Association Award. An Image award for her role in the feature Soul Food followed in 1997 -- the same year she was voted "Chicagoan of the Year." The early 2000s found Hall flourishing on the small screen with roles in such series as Soul Food (a spin-off of the popular feature), A Girl Thing, and All Souls in addition to meatier parts in such made-for-television features as Miss Lettie and Me and An Unexpected Love. For her role as the perceptive landlady who catches wind of a criminal scheme in The Ladykillers, Irma P. Hall received the Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Unfortunately, Hall suffered a massive heart attack while driving shortly before the film was released into theaters -- resulting in an automobile accident. Hall was eventually able to overcome her injuries thanks to intense physical rehabilitation, and later that same year, she could be seen in both the family short Gift for the Living (based on O. Henry's tale The Gift of the Magi) as well as the Michael Mann thriller Collateral.

Trivia: Comes from an artistic family.At the age of seven, was cast to play a role on the movie The Gospel (2005) after a music executive heard her sing.Member of McClain, a music girl group, alongside sisters Sierra and Lauryn.GabesWorld Music, her family's music production company, is named after her little brother.Best known for playing Jazmine on Tyler Perry's House of Payne and the lead role in the Disney Channel series A.N.T. Farm.

Trivia: Actor Jackie Long made his mark with supporting performances in such big-screen outings as Idlewild (2006) and ATL (2006), then essayed a portrayal of Trotter in Tom Brady's farcical send-up of sports movies, The Comebacks (2007).

Trivia: His father was his basketball coach in high school. Attended UC Berkeley on a basketball scholarship after joining the team as a walk-on. Had a recurring role on One Tree Hill as basketball player Quentin Fields.

Trivia: A native of Mount Vernon, NY (born Jerry Brooks -- hence the initials), standup comic, comedy writer, and actor J.B. Smoove began his career as a dancer in an hip-hop ensemble, performing as J. Smoove. The performer transitioned to schtick early on and cut his chops in Manhattan-area clubs, then landed a few small roles in Hollywood features (including the 2001 Pootie Tang and the 2002 Mr. Deeds), before striking gold on Saturday Night Live as both a sketch writer and a sketch participant. Smoove culled greatest attention, however, for his recurring role during season six of Curb Your Enthusiasm; he played the über-confident, street-smart Leon Black, a member of an African-American family adopted by Larry David and his wife after their residence is decimated by a hurricane. Smoove later acknowledged that the popularity of the role "set fire" to his career and led to roles on the sitcoms Everybody Hates Chris and 'Til Death.

Trivia: Blonde, vivacious actress Bonnie Hunt made a memorable film debut as the waitress who drops toothpicks after she is inadvertently intimidated by autistic savant Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1989). The sixth of seven children, Hunt was born in Chicago, on September 22, 1964. Her love of acting began in high school and, though she wanted to become a professional actor, her father pushed her toward nursing, the profession she pursued after graduation. Even after her father passed away while she was in nursing school, Hunt continued with the program and upon graduation worked in the oncology ward of Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Working with so many terminally ill cancer patients had a profound effect on her, inspiring her not to wait to pursue her original dream. While still working as a nurse, she landed roles in small plays and began studying at the Second City Improvisational Theater. She worked for a time with a different improv troupe before being invited to join Second City's touring company in 1986. Within a few weeks, she had proven to be such a gifted comedienne that she was promoted to the troupe's first string of performers. Shortly after debuting in Rain Man, Hunt accepted an offer to work with Second City's Los Angeles-based troupe; two months later, she left the troupe and within a few days of her initial unemployment was offered the chance to star in a sitcom on NBC. However, the show, entitled Grand, lasted less than a season. She made a second attempt at television, playing Jonathan Winters' daughter on Davis Rules, but she again found herself unemployed when it was cancelled. In 1992, Hunt made her first appearance on Late Night With David Letterman. The appearance proved to be an important juncture for Hunt as she not only charmed the irascible Letterman, but wowed the audience with her witty stories. Hunt became a personal friend of the talk show host and made frequent return visits. Around 1993, Letterman produced the short-lived CBS sitcom The Building, which Hunt had created and for which she penned 20 episodes. Hunt herself starred along with cronies from her Second City days; with the show's first airing, she became the first woman to write and star in her own series.In film, Hunt had her first starring role in Beethoven (1992), followed by a cameo role as a White House tour guide in the romantic comedy Dave (1993). She has subsequently alternated between supporting and leading roles. One of her best-known parts was the sharp-tongued Laurel in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire (1996). She also appeared in Frank Darabont's The Green Mile (1999) as the wife of a prison security guard (Tom Hanks). In 2000, Hunt added feature film directing and screenwriting to her resume with Return to Me, a romantic comedy starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver. Hunt also took on a supporting role in the film which went on to become a modest sleeper hit. After trying her hand behind the camera, in 2002 Hunt decided to take her fourth shot at the small screen (1995's The Bonnie Hunt Show was a flop too), producing and starring in ABC's Life With Bonnie. A mix of traditional sitcom and improv, the show proved to be a hit and netted the actress consecutive Best Actress Golden Globe nominations.In the wake of the show's success, Hunt returned to film, starring alongside Steve Martin in 2003's Cheaper by the Dozen. The film saw Hunt play the mother of twelve children and proved to by quite a success, raking in well over $100 million at the box-office. A featured role in Tim Kirkman's episodic indie-drama Loggerheads preceded a trip back into the realm of Pixar magic when Hunt provided the voice of sexy Porche Sally in 2006's computer animation hit Cars. Hunt rejoined Pixar in 2010 to voice Dolly the doll in Toy Story 3, and reprised her role as Sally for Cars 2.

Trivia: Originally went to college to become a teacher and tutored elementary students throughout high school and college. Married with two children. Crossed paths with Tony Soprano as a compulsive gambler in the pilot episode of The Sopranos. Made his Broadway debut in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, opposite Eddie Izzard, in 2003. Originally read for the role of Johnston Green for Jericho.

Trivia: Character actor Lance E. Nichols spent the first two decades of his career (from the late '80s through the early 2000s) appearing as a number of standard urban professional types, including cops, taxi drivers, and physicians, with small guest appearances in such series programs as Cheers, Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, and NYPD Blue. Nichols took on a rare lead role in 2008, in Leslie Small's drama A Good Man Is Hard to Find, as Deacon Smith; as adapted from the popular gospel-themed stage production, the work dramatizes the stories of three African-American women battling personal and professional crises.

Trivia: Comedian Tim Heidecker is often recognized for his colllaborations with fellow comedian Eric Wareheim. The duo, who met while both were students at Philadelphia's Temple University, have created and starred in two successful Adult Swim series: Tom Goes to the Mayor (2004) and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007). The two have also released several comic albums; created and starred in the film Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012); and codirected a series of popular Old Spice commercials starring actor Terry Crews. Outside his collaborations with Wareheim, Heidecker has been featured in film roles (including 2011's Bridesmaids) and released additional comic albums, including a 2011 collection of onetime presidential candidate Herman Cain-inspired music.