Trivia: Already something of an established actor in his native Australia, Heath Ledger first came to the attention of American audiences in 1999 with his winning turn in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You, playing the rebellious Patrick Verona in the update of The Taming of the Shrew.Born in Perth, Western Australia on April 4, 1979, Ledger first became interested in acting while attending the all-boys Guilford Grammar School. He began his career performing onstage with the Guildford Theatre Company and was soon appearing in substantial roles on Australian television shows. The 1996 series Sweat featured him as a gay cyclist, while the following year's Roar cast him as a medieval Celtic prince--and also won him the beginnings of a fan base. After moving across the Pacific to Los Angeles, Ledger landed his lead role in 10 Things I Hate About You opposite Julia Stiles in 1999. The movie proved to be a summer hit, and it succeeded in introducing Ledger to a legion of new fans. That same year, he starred in Two Hands, an Australian action comedy that cast him as a Sydney teenager who finds himself in debt to an underworld kingpin, played by Bryan Brown. The film premiered at that year's Sundance Film Festival. Following a prominent role in Roland Emmerich's The Patriot (2000), Ledger brought Excalibur sensibilities into the new millenium with A Knight's Tale (2001). With its tradition shattering blend of modern slang and music balanced with the classic tale of jousting mayhem, A Knight's Tale served as an exciting star vehicle for the popular young actor. The young actor also garnered a fair amount of praise for his supporting role as a deeply depressed prison employee in the Oscar-winning film Monsters Ball (2001). Though the film did not fare well critically or otherwise, Ledger nonetheless proved himself a versatile actor in The Four Feathers (2002), in which he starred as a cowardly officer-in-training who resigns from the British Army shortly before being shipped off to Sudan. In the same vein, though The Order (2003) was shunned by critics, Ledger was praised for his intense performance as a tortured, knowledge-seeking priest. Australia's Ned Kelly (2003) featured a then 24-year-old Heath in the title role of sixteen-year-old outlaw Ned Kelly, and placed him among a skilled cast including Six Feet Under star and fellow Australian Rachel Griffiths, the Oscar-winning Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Naomi Watts. In 2005, Ledger captivated Hollywood with his sensitive turn as Ennis Del Mar in the gay-themed modern western Brokeback Mountain. Impressing audiences with his portrayal of the soft-spoken and tortured character struggling with his love for fellow cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), he went on to garner multiple awards for the role, including Best Actor wins from numerous film critics associations, as well as a coveted Oscar nomination.Ledger was busy in 2005 following Brokeback, with lead roles in the period films Casanova and The Brothers Grimm, as well as a turn as a heroin-addicted husband in Candy. His own engagement to Brokeback costar Michelle Williams made headlines and produced a daughter in late 2005, though the two ended their relationship the following year. Ledger had completed his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight (due out in July 2008) and was filming Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus when he was found dead in a New York City apartment building on January 22, 2008. It turned out that his final performance would be the most celebrated of his career. His turn as Gotham City's most deranged criminal helped make The Dark Knight one of the biggest box office hits in movie history, and earned him posthumous nominations for Best Supporting Actor from both the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy.

Trivia: Though he is best remembered for the humanity he brought to the title character of Robocop (1987), actor Peter Weller is a versatile actor who has played in a wide variety of films as both lead and supporting actor. Prior to coming to films, Weller had a distinguished theatrical career. Before that he studied with famed acting coach Uta Hagen. He made his screen debut as a determined lawman in Butch and Sundance: The Early Years (1979). He played romantic leads in his next two films before starring in W.D. Richter's 1984 cult favorite The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai. His role in this sci-fi satire eventually lead to Robocop, where he was chosen by the director for his "expressive lips." The film was quite successful, and Weller went on to play in a series of minor thrillers and one sequel to Robocop before playing an aspiring writer whacked out on drugs in David Cronenberg's disturbing noir fantasy Naked Lunch (1991). As bizarre as the film was, it gave Weller an opportunity to stretch and show his ability as a serious dramatic actor. Though the film was not a commercial success, he did garner much critical praise for his role.

Trivia: After roles on a handful of BBC television shows, British actor Mark Addy made a splash on the international film scene with his turn as a rotund exotic dancer in 1997's surprise hit The Full Monty. With the filmmaking boatloads of cash stateside and garnering a handful of Academy Award nods and Addy's ability to effortlessly adopt an American accent, it took little time before he was working on the U.S. side of the pond. Addy's first high-profile Hollywood role was a supporting gig playing Michael Keaton's pal in Jack Frost (1998), a family flick about a jazz musician who is reincarnated as a snowman. Two years later, Addy took on his first lead in an American film, filling the pelt worn previously by John Goodman, playing Fred Flintstone in the prequel The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. Unfortunately, the project failed to keep the franchise's flame burning. The next couple years saw Addy in more supporting roles in a series of projects that ranged from barely-profitable (A Knight's Tale) to downright unsuccesful (Down to Earth and The Time Machine), but in 2002 he landed the lead on the CBS sitcom Still Standing. With Addy starring opposite Jami Gertz, the show became a hit as the lead-in to the network's wildly popular Monday-night lineup.In between seasons of Still Standing, Addy continued to make time for the occassional big-screen project, popping up in such films as 2003's The Order and 2004's Around the World in 80 Days, the former of which reunited the actor with Brian Helgeland and Heath Ledger, the writer/director and star of A Knight's Tale. Addy married Kelly Addy in 1996. The couple has one daughter. He appeared as John Piggot in the highly-respected Red Riding trilogy, and followed that up with a role in 2010's Robin Hood as Friar Tuck. In 2011 he was cast in the initial season of HBO's Game of Thrones as King Robert Baratheon.