Trivia: Jennifer Lopez's first serious screen role in Gregory Nava's 1995 Latino melodrama My Family followed years of training in television movies and series. Like Rosie Perez, Lopez began her career as a Fly Girl -- a dancer on the sketch comedy series, In Living Color -- and appeared in music videos by Puff Daddy and Janet Jackson. Her big break came in 1997 when she appeared in the title role of Nava's Selena, the story of the successful Tejano singer who was tragically murdered in 1995. Lopez was at first cast as a femme fatale -- due in no small part to her classic Latina beauty (she was born in the Bronx to parents of Puerto Rican descent) -- and worked almost exclusively with acclaimed directors: Francis Ford Coppola (Jack, 1996), Oliver Stone (U-Turn, 1997), and Bob Rafelson (Blood and Wine, 1996). In 1998, she had one of her most acclaimed roles, starring opposite George Clooney in Out of Sight, Steven Soderbergh's adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel. Cast as a deputy federal marshal who falls for a charming criminal (Clooney), Lopez won raves for her tough, sexy performance, and in the process, she became the highest paid Latina actress in Hollywood history. That same year, she earned an introduction to a new generation of fans by lending her voice to the popular Antz (1998). The lavish but much more adult-oriented thriller The Cell (2000) followed shortly thereafter, bringing Lopez one of her first number-one openings. In an attempt to curry favor from the rom-com crowd, Lopez lightened things up a bit opposite Matthew McConaughey in 2001's romantic comedy The Wedding Planner. Though Lopez was consistently smooth in her frequent transitions from actress to songstress, her next role in the supernatural romance Angel Eyes (2001) failed to click with audiences and critics alike, and her role in the cathartic revenge thriller Enough (2002) likewise disappeared from theaters shortly after its release. Though Maid in Manhattan (2002) was ultimately relegated to a similar fate as her last few films, few could anticipate the outright hostility with which her 2003 comedy Gigli would be greeted. In the movie, Lopez was cast as a female gangster assigned to keep an eye on a kidnapper (played by then-real-life-boyfriend Ben Affleck) who is holding a psychologically challenged young boy hostage. The harsh public backlash against the film was likely due (at least in part) to over-saturated media coverage of the duo's tumultuous off-screen relationship. Though the film's failure wasn't exactly what one would call a career-ender for either star, their shoddy onscreen dynamic reportedly led director Kevin Smith to excise most of Lopez' role in the Affleck-starrer Jersey Girl.Finally, in 2005, it appeared the actress' string of bad box-office luck had possibly reached its end. Teaming up with Jane Fonda for the latter thespian's first feature in over a decade, Lopez scored a modest hit with the comedy Monster-In-Law. The Lasse Hallstrom-helmed drama An Unfinished Life followed later the same year with Lopez opposite heavy-hitters Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman. Lopez married singer Marc Anthony in 2006, and gave birth to twins in 2007. She subsequently worked less over the next few years, opting to spend time with her family. Lopez would get back into acting with the 2010 romantic comedy The Back-up Plan, but sadly, she and Anthony would separate in 2011. She continued to slip effortlessly between film, music and television, including taking a job as a judge on American Idol, setting up a residency in Las Vegas and starring and producing in her own show on NBC, Shades of Blue.

Trivia: With a rangy handsomeness that makes him look as if he would be equally comfortable branding cattle, Matthew McConaughey found fame shortly after making his screen debut in Richard Linklater's 1993 Dazed and Confused. After being cast in two high-profile 1996 films, Lone Star and A Time to Kill, the actor was soon being hailed as one of the industry's hottest young leading men, inspiring comparisons to such charismatic purveyors of cinematic testosterone as Paul Newman and Tom Cruise.A product of Texas, McConaughey was born in Uvalde on November 4, 1969 and raised in Longview. The son of a substitute teacher and a former member of the Green Bay Packers, he excelled in sports as a high school student and was voted "Most Handsome" by his senior class. After graduating, McConaughey spent some time working in Australia and then returned to the States to attend the University of Texas at Austin. It was there that he met producer and casting director Don Phillips, who introduced him to director Linklater, and, after directing from UT in 1993 with a degree in film production, McConaughey was cast in Dazed and Confused. Although his role as Wooderson, a slacker old enough to know better, was relatively small, McConaughey succeeded in winning a degree of immortality with lines like, "That's what I like about high school girls: I keep getting older, they stay the same age." After Dazed, McConaughey took on a number of supporting roles in films of varying quality, appearing in everything from 1994's Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre to 1995's Boys on the Side, in which he was cast as Drew Barrymore's straight-arrow cop boyfriend. The latter film won him some notice, heightened a year later when he was cast in John Sayles' acclaimed Lone Star. McConaughey made a distinct impression in his small but pivotal role as the town's beloved late sheriff, Buddy Deeds, and was duly given his first leading role in Joel Schumacher's 1996 adaptation of John Grisham's A Time to Kill. Although the film met with lackluster reviews, McConaughey managed to attract favorable attention, holding his own against Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, and Sandra Bullock.Finding himself elected to the throne of Hollywood Golden Boy, a status cemented by his appearance on the cover of the August 1996 Vanity Fair, McConaughey paradoxically followed his initial success with a string of small, largely unseen films before landing a starring role as a property lawyer in Amistad, Steven Spielberg's 1997 slave epic. The same year, he also starred in Contact, playing a New Age theologian in Robert Zemeckis' adaptation of Carl Sagan's best-selling novel. After again collaborating with Linklater in 1998 on The Newton Boys, in which he starred alongside Ethan Hawke, Skeet Ulrich, and Vincent D'Onofrio as the remarkably photogenic family of titular robbers, McConaughey banded together with off-screen pal Bullock on her directorial debut, the short Making Sandwiches, the same year. For all the hype surrounding the beginning of his career, by the time he was cast in the lead role of Ron Howard's EdTV, McConaughey had receded somewhat from the public eye, with many critics noting that despite his talent and physical attributes, the actor seemed to have trouble finding roles that would do him justice. But McConaughey's turn as the laid-back everyman who becomes an overnight celebrity when he allows his life to be broadcast on TV proved a relative success, with the actor winning praise for his endearingly dopey performance. The film itself garnered a number of positive reviews and gave a decent box office performance, and by the end of that year, McConaughey had his name attached to a number of projects, including those of his own production company, J.K. Livin'. In October 1999, McConaughey achieved notoriety of a different sort, when he was arrested for resisting transport after the Austin, Texas police responded to noise complaints about his late-night naked bongo-playing; drug charges against him were dropped for lack of a proper warrant.After submerging in a tense struggle to find a German Enigma machine in order to defeat the Nazis in the taut World War II thriller U-571 (2000), McConaughey sweetened things up a bit by co-starring alongside Jennifer Lopez in the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner (2002). A lightweight comedy that did little to further his appeal as an actor of dramatic or comic range, the film nevertheless kept McConaughey in the public eye and once again warmed him to a public unsure how to approach him after numerous rumors of bizarre behavior. McConaughey's performance as a cocky lawyer forced to re-evaluate his quest for happiness after a life-altering experience in 2001's 13 Conversations About One Thing forced critics and audiences to re-evaluate their approach to the eccentric actor, and he would next re-team with U-571 co-star Bill Paxton for the nail-biter sleeper Frailty (2001). In late 2001 and early 2002 the eccentric actor at last received favorable press after coming to the aid of both woman who fainted at the Toronto International Film Festival and a sound man who suffered a seizure during McConaughey's Access Hollywood interview for Reign of Fire (2002), and though the aforementioned film fared only moderately well at the box office, its kindly star seemed to be back in the public's good graces. McConaughey next opted to lighten things up a bit by co-starring alongside Kate Hudson in the romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. In 2005, McConaughey and Al Pacino co-headlined D.J. Caruso's gritty gambling thriller Two for the Money. McConaughey stars as Brandon Lang, a onetime collegiate football hero with a knack for picking winners, who unofficially signs on as the protege - and later the nemesis - of Pacino's seedy high-roller. The film brought in only moderate returns and received mixed reviews from the press, but McConaughey fared substantially better with 2006's romantic comedy Failure to Launch. In the latter, he stars alongside Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker as Tripp, a thirtysomething mama's boy whose parents coax him out of the house by setting him up with dreamgirl Paula (Parker). The film shot up to become the primo box office draw on its opening weekend and did incredible business thereafter. McConaughey would spend the 2000's enjoying leading man status, with memorable roels in We Are Marshall, Fool's Gold, Tropic Thunder, and Magic Mike.

Trivia: After starting as an athlete herself, playing volleyball as a teenager, Bridgette Wilson began a show business career after winning the Miss Teen USA pageant in 1990, and would end up coming full circle to her athletic beginnings by marrying tennis player Pete Sampras in 2000. Wilson's athletic-yet-curvy frame and gorgeous face have often placed her as the beauty in films, which seems quite appropriate in consideration of her beginnings as a beauty queen. Born September 25, 1973, in Oregon, Wilson relocated to Los Angeles in 1990 after winning the crown as a teen, and took on her first role -- on the soap Santa Barbara -- the following year. Her debut on the big screen came alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1993's Last Action Hero, in which she portrayed Schwarzenegger's daughter. Two years later, she appeared in Higher Learning starring Michelle Pfeiffer, and would expand upon her beauty queen profile to include a disciplinarian leadership role in Mortal Kombat. Her image as the beauty, however, was maintained and furthered in her role as Adam Sandler's character's love interest in Billy Madison (also 1995), a role which also permitted her an exploration of her comedic talent. Through the 1990s, Wilson played numerous roles of varying status in films for television and theater, with a notable appearance as the cold Elsa Shivers in the teen horror movie I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997).In addition to her role on Santa Barbara, Wilson has made guest appearances on several television programs including Saved by the Bell, Frasier, and Murder, She Wrote. In 2000, she played Bridget Deshiell on the series The Street, and also revisited pageantry in her role as Miss Texas in the film Beautiful. Additionally, 2000 was the year she wed Pete Sampras.Wilson supported Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Lopez by graciously stepping aside to allow for their romance to blossom in The Wedding Planner in 2001. She played small roles in The Extremists and Buying the Cow the following year. She and Sampras had a son, Christian, in November 2002.

Trivia: Television and movie heartthrob Justin Chambers began life on a difficult course; along with his fraternal twin brother, he reportedly battled multiple bouts of pneumonia, which forced the two boys to spend lengthy periods of time in oxygen tents. As a young man, this Springfield, OH, native flipped burgers at Hardee's and sold orthopedic shoes, then signed with a modeling agency and tackled print work across Europe in the early '90s. The leap from modeling to acting was a relatively short and easy one, and in 1996, Chambers commenced supporting roles in big-screen feature films, telemovies, and prime-time series. He began with a handful of TV movies, as well as a prominent role in Barry Levinson's gentle coming-of-age period piece Liberty Heights (1999). Chambers big break would come in 2005, however when he landed the role of cocky but emotionally guarded Dr. Alex Karev on the popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy.

Trivia: In films from 1965, American actor Alex Rocco specialized in tough-guy roles, sometimes leavening his hard-bitten portrayals with a dash of roguish humor. Rocco's film assignments included such parts as gangster Legs Diamond in St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) and Moe Greene in The Godfather (1974). He has been a regular or semi-regular on a number of television shows, beginning with 1975's Three for the Road, in which he starred as free-lance photographer (and full-time family man) Pete Karras. Alex Rocco has since been seen in such TVers as The Facts of Life as Mr. Polniaczek, Sibs as Howie Roscio, The Famous Teddy Z as Al Floss, and The George Carlin Show as Harry Rossetti. He played the father of Jennifer Lopez's character in The Wedding Planner (2001) and was a recurring character on the short-lived series Magic City (2012-13). Rocco died in 2015, at age 79.

Trivia: It sounds apocryphal, but it's true: 13-year-old Kevin Pollak did begin his Bar Mitzvah speech with "A funny thing happened on the way to the temple..." In fact, Pollak's rabbi had encouraged him to do so: even at this early stage, the boy evinced a gift for comic timing. By 17, he was doing stand-up in his native San Francisco. He went on to play the West Coast comedy-club and improv circuit, and was briefly teamed with Dana Carvey, a professional collaboration that ended amicably when Carvey was hired by Saturday Night Live. Though Pollak himself didn't make it to SNL, he flourished as an impressionist, writer and film and TV supporting actor. He was given several opportunities to shine in such films as Barry Levenson's Avalon (1990), Mick Jackson's LA Story (1991) and Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men (1992). Reiner went on to team Pollak with Bob Amaral in the weekly TVer Morton and Hayes (1991) a hit-and-miss homage to the 2-reel comedies of the 1930s and 1940s (Pollak had previously played a featured role in the short-lived 1988 sitcom Coming of Age). Kevin Pollak's film career went into warp-drive in the 1990s, with such choice roles as Jacob in the two Grumpy Old Men flicks, Todd Hockney in The Usual Suspects (1995), Phillip Green in Casino (1995), and Boss Vic Koss in That Thing You Do (1996).His film and television career still going strong into the 2000s, Pollak found a way to work his passion for poker into his schedule as host of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown in 2003, and in 2009 he launched a weekly internet series entitled Kevin Pollak's Chat Show.

Trivia: American character actress Kathy Najimy specializes in offbeat, theatrical characters. A substantial and energetic woman with distinctive curly hair and exotic features, Najimy has appeared on-stage, in feature films, and on television. She has also voiced cartoons. Film credits include The Fisher King, Soapdish (both 1991), Sister Act (1992), and Jeffrey (1996). In 1996, she appeared -- over 100 pounds thinner -- for a brief but memorable recurring role as a manic-depressive psychiatrist on the CBS TV series Chicago Hope. In 1997, she became a regular on the Kirstie Alley sitcom Veronica's Closet. Beginning in 1997 she spent thirteen seasons voicing Peggy Hill, the wife to tried and true Texan Hank Hill on the animated series King of the Hill. During the run of the show she appeared in a variety of big-screen projects including Bride of Chucky, Rat Race, Scream Team, and Say Uncle. She landed a recurring role on the TV series Numb3rs, and joined the Pixar family when she lent her vocal talents to WALL-E in 2008.

Trivia: Joanna Gleason trained for an acting career at UCLA then made her Broadway debut in 1977's I Love My Wife, which earned her a Theatre World Award. She was later honored with an Emmy for her portrayal of several characters in the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Her film manifest includes a brace of Woody Allen pictures, Hannah and Her Sisters (1985) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). She was also seen on episodic TV as Morgan Winslow on Hello Larry (1979) and Nadine Berkus on Love and War (1992-95). She enjoyed a brief run on NBC's hit medical drama ER, and also appeared on such programs as Murphy Brown, King of the Hill, and Friends. She appeared in the Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy The Wedding Planner, and appeared in the 2008 remake of The Women.Joanna Gleason is the daughter of Canadian game-show host Monty Hall.

Trivia: Tall, bookish-looking American actor Charles Kimbrough attended Indiana University and Yale before his first off-Broadway appearances in All for Love and Struts and Frets. Beginning in 1966, Kimbrough and then-wife Mary Jane were principal players of the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, a troupe which included such celebrities-to-be as Michael Tucker and Judith Light. Kimbrough briefly abandoned Milwaukee for Broadway in 1969, garnering excellent revues for his appearance in the 1970 Stephen Sondheim musical Company. He returned to the Milwaukee Rep in the early '70s; so popular were Charles and his wife that, when they left Milwaukee for good in 1972, an original musical was specially commissioned for the Kimbrough's final rep appearance. Remaining active in plays, commercials, and films (The Front [1976], The Seduction of Joe Tynan [1977]), Kimbrough established himself as a reliable if not overly famous presence. Charles Kimbrough finally became a fullfledged celebrity in 1988 with his weekly appearances as newsmagazine anchorman Jim Dial on the Candice Bergen sitcom Murphy Brown.

Trivia: Actress Judy Greer went to Winston Churchill High School in Livonia, MI, before studying theater at DePaul University. She made her film debut in Stricken, a low-budget horror movie shot on video in 1998, and, that same year, found her place in romantic comedies with Kissing a Fool, starring David Schwimmer. Continuing with comedies throughout her career, Greer then appeared with Rose McGowan in Jawbreaker and got a starring role in the independent romance The Big Split. In 1999, she showed up briefly as a reporter opposite George Clooney in Three Kings. On television, Greer would prove an uncanny knack for playing particularly memorable roles on shows with particularly rabid cult followings, like Arrested Development, Love Monkey, Mad Love, Miss Guided, Glenn Martin DDS, Archer, and Californication. She would also play a recurring role on the popular sitcom Two and a Half Men, and would appear in a number of feature films as well, like The Wedding Planner, Adaptation, The Village, 27 Dresses, and Love and Other Drugs.

Trivia: Born in the Midwest and educated in the military, actor Fred Willard has proven his talent for improvisational comedy on the stage, television, and the big screen. His characters are frequently grinning idiots or exaggerated stereotypes, but Willard's skillful timing has always added a unique spin. An alumni of Second City in Chicago, he's worked with many of the biggest-named comedians of his time. His early TV credits include a regular stint on The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour, a supporting part on the sitcom Sirota's Court, and the role of Jerry Hubbard, sidekick of TV talk-show host Barth Gimble (Martin Mull) in the satirical Fernwood 2Night. He went on to appear in subsequent incarnations of Fernwood and continued to work with Mull and his gang for the next few decades. In the early '80s, he hosted the actuality series Real People and co-hosted the talk show Thicke of the Night. Some of his small, yet memorable, performances in feature comedies included President Fogerty in National Lampoon Goes to the Movies; the garage owner in Moving Violations who's mistaken for a doctor; the air force officer in This Is Spinal Tap; and Mayor Deebs in Roxanne. Doing a lot of guest work on television, he was also involved in Martin Mull's The History of White People in America series and was the only human actor amid a cast of puppets on the strange show D.C. Follies. In the '90s, he worked frequently in the various projects of fellow satirists Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, and the like. He was travel agent Ron Albertson in Waiting for Guffman, TV announcer Buck Laughlin in Best in Show, and manager Mike LaFontaine in A Mighty Wind. He also appeared in Eugene Levy's Sodbusters, Permanent Midnight with Ben Stiller, and showed up in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. On television, he picked up a regular spots on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Roseanne (as Martin Mull's lover), and Mad About You, along with voice-over work on numerous cartoons. He also received an Emmy nomination for his role as Hank McDougal on Everybody Loves Raymond. Since 2000, he has shown up in quite a few mainstream commercial films, including The Wedding Planner, How High, and American Wedding; but he also played Howard Cosell in the TV movie When Billie Beat Bobby. Projects for 2004 include Anchor Man: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.IHe also joined up with his Mighty Wind and Waiting for Guffman castmates again in 2006 with For Your Consideration, a satire of Hollywood self importance injected with Willard's trademark clever silliness. The next year he appeared in the spoof Epic Movie, as well as the romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman. He was in the Pixar sci-fi film WALL-E, and had a role in the 2009 comedy Youth In Revolt. In 2012 he starred in Rob Reiner's The Magic of Belle Isle opposite Morgan Freeman.

Trivia: Earned a dance scholarship to UCLA. Studied theater abroad at King's College in London. Got her start in film as a dancer in such movies as The Big Lebowski (1998) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999). Landed her first speaking role in Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999). Played the recurring role of Rosalee on the NBC drama Grimm during the first season and was promoted to series regular for the second season. Involved with the Surfrider Foundation, which works to conserve the ocean and beaches.

Trivia: Born Peter de Sappe, this lead actor appeared onscreen from 1958.