Trivia: Although she has also proven herself as a dramatic actress, Meg Ryan used her blonde hair, blue eyes, and effervescent personality to greatest effect in romantic comedies of the 1980s and '90s. Initially getting her start on television, Ryan became a star with her titular role in the smash 1989 comedy When Harry Met Sally, earning both fame and permanent notoriety for her ability to fake an orgasm for Billy Crystal during a scene in a New York restaurant.The daughter of a casting agent, Ryan was born Margaret Mary Emily Anna Hyra in Fairfield, Connecticut on November 19, 1961. Raised in New York, she went on to study journalism at New York University. In need of money to pay for her night classes, Ryan turned to acting to raise some extra cash. With her mother's help, she landed a role on a short-lived television series, and then made her film debut in Rich and Famous. The 1981 film -- director George Cukor's last -- cast Ryan as Candice Bergen's daughter, and proved to be a positive enough experience that the young actress was soon looking for more work. A lucky break led to her being cast in the daytime drama As the World Turns, on which she performed from 1982 until 1984.After appearing in Amityville 3-D (1983), Ryan secured more auspicious work when she was cast as the wife of doomed flyboy Goose (Anthony Edwards) in Top Gun (1986). Although her role was minor, the film's success paved the way for more work for the actress, and the following year she starred in Innerspace, a comedy that cast her as Dennis Quaid's girlfriend. Her onscreen status as Quaid's love interest soon became off-screen reality, and after starring together in D.O.A. (1988), the two married in 1991.In 1989, Ryan had her breakthrough role as Sally Albright in Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally. The following year, she starred opposite Tom Hanks in Joe Versus the Volcano. Although the film received a lukewarm critical and commercial reception, it began an onscreen collaboration between Ryan and Hanks that would prove to be very successful in future films. Before she next appeared onscreen with Hanks, Ryan took an uncharacteristic turn towards the purely dramatic, playing Jim Morrison's drug-addicted wife Pamela in Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991). She received wide critical praise for her portrayal, proving that she was capable of extending her range beyond light comedy. She further demonstrated her capabilities in the dark 1993 drama Flesh and Bone. Her performance as a hitchhiker received strong notices, although the film, which cast her opposite husband Quaid, was largely ignored by audiences.That same year, Ryan returned to romantic comedy, starring opposite Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle. Nominated for a Golden Globe for her work, she then starred in another romantic comedy, I.Q., the following year. However, 1994 also brought more dramatic roles with Restoration, a period drama that cast Ryan as Robert Downey, Jr.'s doomed love, and When a Man Loves a Woman, in which she played an alcoholic. After further bucking her bubbly persona with a turn as a Gulf War solider in Courage Under Fire (1996) and a somewhat nasty portrayal of a vengeful ex-girlfriend in Addicted to Love (1997), Ryan again starred opposite Hanks in You've Got Mail (1998). Another romantic comedy, it put the actress back in her most successful milieu and was popular among critics and audiences alike. That same year, Ryan had further success starring opposite Nicolas Cage in the romantic drama City of Angels, and essayed the unlikely role of a world-weary exotic dancer in Hurlyburly.2000 saw Ryan return to comedy, starring alongside Lisa Kudrow and Diane Keaton in Keaton's Hanging Up and also serving as the producer of the supernatural thriller Lost Souls. However, it was Ryan's offscreen activities that same year that truly aroused the public's notice and allowed her to break away from her perky, girl-next-door persona more effectively than any number of dramatic film roles could ever hope to: following the news of her affair with Proof of Life co-star Russell Crowe, Ryan and husband Quaid filed for divorce. Ironically, this real-life drama mirrored the premise of Proof, a romantic drama in which the wife (Ryan) of a man kidnapped in South America enlists the help of a "freelance hostage negotiator" (Crowe) to find her husband, only to enter into an adulterous affair with the negotiator.In 2001, Ryan took a short break from feature films in order to participate in a documentary titled In the Wild: The White Elephants of Thailand, though she would return to the top of the romantic-comedy It-list in the whimsical Kate and Leopold alongside then rising romantic lead Hugh Jackman. In 2002, Ryan provided interview footage with fellow acting colleagues Whoopi Goldberg, Diane Lane, Teri Garr, and Holly Hunter, among others, in Searching for Debra Winger, which was directed by Rosanna Arquette. In 2003, the actress reappeared on the scene for the release of In the Cut, a throwback to '70s psycho-sexual thrillers, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. In 2004, Ryan stared in Charles S. Dutton's feature-length directorial debut, which is based on the real-life story of Jackie Kallen, a small-time Michigan woman turned successful boxing manager. For her next film, Ryan joined the cast of the 2007 ensemble drama In the Land of Women, and then headlined another ensemble production, The Women, a poorly recieved update of the 1939 George Cukor film with the same name. 2009's Serious Moonlight, directed by Cheryl Hines, would be her last film before she took a long hiatus from acting.

Trivia: A star in his native Australia thanks to his work on television and in musical theatre, actor Hugh Jackman became known to American audiences through his role as Logan/Wolverine in Bryan Singer's lavish adaptation of the popular Marvel comic X-Men (2000). Born of English parentage in Sydney on October 12, 1968, Jackman was raised as the youngest of five children. After earning a communications degree as a journalism major from Sydney's University of Technology, he attended the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts, where he studied drama. The fledgling actor got his first big break immediately after graduation, when he was offered a starring role on the popular TV series Corelli; his casting proved to be doubly serendipitous, as it provided him with an introduction to his future wife, actress Deborra-Lee Furness, with whom he would have a son. Jackman starred in a number of other TV series -- and also began to earn recognition for his work on the stage in such productions as Beauty and the Beast, Sunset Boulevard, and Trevor Nunn's acclaimed Royal National Theatre production of Oklahoma!, the latter of which featured the actor in an Olivier-nominated performance as Curly McLain. In 1999, a year after being nominated for the Olivier, Jackman was again honored, this time with a Best Actor nomination from the Australian Film Institute for his portrayal of a man estranged from his brother in the urban drama Erskineville Kings. The actor's winning streak continued when he was hired to replace Dougray Scott as Wolverine in Bryan Singer's high-profile adaptation of X-Men. The film, whose cast also included Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, James Marsden, and Halle Berry, opened to strong reviews and box-office to become one of the biggest hits of the summer. Jackman's rising international popularity was reflected by his casting in Tony Goldwyn's Someone Like You, a romantic comedy also starring Ashley Judd and Greg Kinnear. Jackman was hard to ignore in 2001, appearing just a few short months later in John Travolta's latest comback, Swordfish.2003 saw the return of the X-Men and, with them, Jackman's Wolverine in X2: X-Men United, a film that not only repeated the first film's financial success, but was considered by many to be the rare sequel that outdoes its predecessor. Sticking with the action genre, Jackman could next be seen in the title role of the 2004 ultra-big-budget film Van Helsing. Although Van Helsing was met with critical disdain, and underperformed at the box office, Jackman rebounded by earning rave reviews as the lead in the Broadway musical The Boy From Oz. That same year he hosted the annual Tony awards, again to great acclaim.Fans had numerous opportunities to see Jackman on the big screen in 2006. He took a humorous turn that summer as a possible serial killer in Woody Allen's comedy Scoop, and in fall he starred opposite Oscar winner Rachel Weisz in the stylish The Fountain as a man who searches through three different time periods concurrently, on a single spiritual journey. That same autumn, Jackman could also be seen in the dark fantasy The Prestige, playing a turn of the century magician who some speculate performs real magic, and before winter, audiences were hearing his vocal work in a pair of animated films, Flushed Away and Happy Feet. 2006 also proved to be the year Jackman announced he would produce and star in a big-screen adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.Jackman would spend the following years appearing in numerous films, like X-Men: First Class, Butter, and Real Steel. He would enjoy one of his biggest successes playing Jean Valjean in Tom Hooper's adaptation of the stage musical Les Miserables, a role that earned Jackman a Best Actor nomination from the Academy, his first Oscar nod.

Trivia: Displaying the kind of off-kilter charm that makes him a natural for leading roles in independent films and character parts in mainstream features, Liev Schreiber has made a name for himself on both circuits. Born October 4, 1967, in San Francisco, Schreiber was raised on New York's Lower East Side. A graduate of Hampshire College in Massachusetts, he initially wanted to become a writer, but later decided to try his hand at acting, training at both London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Yale School of Drama.Schreiber's first acting job was on Broadway, where he appeared in In the Summer House. More theater work followed and in 1994, the actor made his film debut in the Steve Martin comedy Mixed Nuts. The film was an unequivocal flop, although Schreiber's role as a rather muscular transvestite proved to be one of the picture's few memorable features. His next project, the 1995 indie Denise Calls Up, fared a little better; despite almost non-existent box-office ratings, it was rewarded with critical approval. Following more minor film work, he landed the role of a British bouncer in the successful indie flick Party Girl (1995), which also starred nascent indie queen Parker Posey. Schreiber got an introduction to a more mainstream audience thanks to his role as killer Cotton Weary in Wes Craven's mega-hit Scream, a role he reprised in the film's sequel, Scream 2 (1997). The same year, Schreiber had leading roles in two more independent films, The Daytrippers (which again paired him with Posey) and Walking and Talking, as well as a secondary role in the bloated Mel Gibson thriller Ransom. Deftly straddling the divide between Sundance and the studio, Schreiber went on to make three major mainstream pictures in 1998: Phantoms, with Rose McGowan and Ben Affleck; Twilight with Susan Sarandon, Paul Newman, and Gene Hackman; and Sphere with Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, and Dustin Hoffman. The following year, Schreiber returned to more familiar territory with his role in Tony Goldwyn's small but successful drama A Walk on the Moon. As the man Diane Lane cuckolds for Viggo Mortensen, Schreiber mined endless possibilities from what could have been a narrow role, giving his character the sort of charming, good-intentioned inadequacy that became one of the actor's trademarks.In 2000, Schreiber returned to the role of Cotton Weary a third time to close out the Scream franchise. It was around this time that he also began doing a considerable amount of voice-over work, mainly for PBS's NOVA series. As the decade progressed, Schreiber continued to be a presence in bigger mainstream projects, such as the 2002 adaptation of Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears. Two years later, he could be seen in another high-profile, politically tinged thriller, this time opposite Denzel Washington in director Jonathan Demme's remake of The Manchurian Candidate.In 2005 he made his directorial and screenwriting debut with Everything Is Illuminated, and appeared in the critically acclaimed, Golden Globe-winning HBO movie Lackawanna Blues, a life-affirming film about a selfless black woman (played by S. Epatha Merkerson) in 1950s segregated New York who provides a home and a guiding hand to the youths who come to live at her boarding house. His 2006 project would be quite a departure from this sweet, poignant tale, as Schreiber took the role of Robert Thorne in John Moore's remake of the 1976 horror classic The Omen. Heavily publicized for its "666" release date (June 6th, 2006), the film pleased horror fans, as did Schreiber's performance as husband to Julia Stiles and father to the infamous Damien, a little boy who seems to harbor an evil that at best makes him disturbingly cold and at worst, places him at the crux of the devil's own plan for hell on Earth. Schreiber next went into production on The Painted Veil, an adaptation of the novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Playing the playboy whom Naomi Watts cuckolds her husband with, the actor immersed himself in the part for the drama. Meanwhile, a return to the stage in the lauded revival of Glengarry Glen Ross not only earned Schreiber a Tony award, and in 2005 he made his debut as a film director and screenwriter with the indie Everything Is Illuminated. Always up for new challenges, he played the role of the comic-book supervillain Sabertooth in the 2009 summer blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In addition to his acting, Schreiber also has a lucrative career narrating documentaries and commercials.

Trivia: Bearing an unconventional appeal that may have something to do with the slaphappy grin permanently stretched across his face, Breckin Meyer has made a name for himself playing characters that have an almost criminally laid-back attitude as their common denominator. Although he got his big break as endearing stoner Travis Birkenstock in Amy Heckerling's 1995 comedy Clueless, Meyer had been acting since he was 11 years old. Born in Minneapolis, MN, on May 7, 1974, Meyer was raised in Los Angeles, where he had early encounters with fame in the form of elementary school with Drew Barrymore (in her autobiography, Little Girl Lost, she credited Meyer with giving her her first kiss when she was ten and he was 11) and high school with a host of young actors, including future Clueless co-star Alicia Silverstone. Meyer got his start in commercials and television, appearing on various shows, including The Wonder Years. He had his rather inauspicious film debut in 1991, as one of the disposable teens in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, and had bit parts in various forgettable films and an appearance on Fox's Party of Five before being cast in Clueless.Following the huge success of Clueless, Meyer went on to appear in another teen movie, The Craft (1996). After secondary roles in Touch and Prefontaine (both 1997), the actor had a fairly substantial part in 54, in which he got to play Salma Hayek's husband and wear a very small pair of shorts. The film, which starred Meyer's real-life friend Ryan Phillippe, flopped with remarkable gusto, and Meyer's other film that year, the independent Dancer, Texas Pop. 81, was released without fanfare. However, the actor had success the following year as part of an ensemble cast that read like a Who's Who of Hollywood's Young and Employed in Doug Liman's Go. Playing a white boy who believes he's black at heart, Meyer won laughs for his part in the widely acclaimed film, and his appearance in the company of young notables such as Katie Holmes, Sarah Polley, and Scott Wolf went some way toward further establishing the actor's reputation as a noteworthy young talent.A fine supporting player to this point in his fledgling career, Breckin would finally come into his own as the hapless college student racing cross country to intercept a decidedly questionable videotape in director Todd Phillips's breakout comedy Road Trip. Though a subsequent stab at the small screen as the lead in the sports comedy series Inside Schwartz ultimately did little to advance Meyer's career, later roles in the theatrical comedies Rat Race and Kate and Leopold served well to keep the amiable comic talent in the public eye. After providing the voice for the eponymous wooden puppet in Roberto Benigni's 2002 misfire Pinocchio, Breckin helped to bring everyone's favorite comic-strip cat to the big screen with his role as the lasagne-loving feline's hapless master Jon Arbuckle in the 2004 family comedy Garfield. Vocal work in such animated efforts as King of the Hill and Robot Chicken found the actor earning his keep even when not stepping in front of the cameras, and in 2006 Meyer would return to the silver screen to the delight of children everywhere in the kid-friendly sequel Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties. In the years to come, Meyer would also find success as a voice actor on shows like Titan Maximum, King of the Hill, Robot Chicken, and Franklin & Bash.

Trivia: With her wild curls, gawky build, and street-smart attitude, Natasha Lyonne presents a refreshing departure from the many blow-dried, plasticized young actors of her generation. Since appearing in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You in 1996, Lyonne has consistently wowed critics with her intelligent, no-nonsense portrayals of teenage girls who are anything but typical.Born into a conservative Jewish family on April 4, 1979, in New York City, Lyonne spent her childhood in New York and Israel. She broke into show business early with her role as Opal on Pee-Wee's Playhouse (1986). Her first film of any import (aside from Heartburn (1986), in which she had an uncredited role) was 1993's Dennis the Menace. It was her next film, Everyone Says I Love You, that won Lyonne initial recognition. Critics praised her portrayal of Woody Allen's daughter, praise that was magnified with her role in Tamara Jenkins' The Slums of Beverly Hills (1998). The film won almost unanimous critical praise, as did Lyonne's endearingly jaded portrayal of Vivian Abramowitz. The success of Slums was inversely proportional to that of Lyonne's next film, Krippendorf's Tribe, which also starred Richard Dreyfuss and Jenna Elfman. However, the disappointment of that movie was more than made up for by Lyonne's following project, the very successful American Pie. As the wise and weary Jessica, Lyonne, in the minds of many critics, stole the show with her all-too limited appearance. Fortunately, thanks to both the film's success and her consistently solid performances, it was virtually ensured that critics and audiences alike would be able to see a great deal more of her, though her roles in the sequels American Pie 2 and Scary Movie 2 amounted to little more than glorified cameos, almost unrecognizably so in the case of the latter.

Trivia: An actor whose well-scrubbed Midwestern good looks have served him well in a wide variety of roles, Bradley Whitford was born in Madison, WI, on October 10, 1959. Whitford developed an interest in acting while in high school, and after graduating in 1977, he attended Wesleyan University, where he majored in English and Theater. After completing his studies at Wesleyan, he went on to receive a master's degree in Theater from the Juilliard Theater Center, and began pursuing an acting career in New York. Whitford made his screen debut in 1985 in a low-budget thriller called Dead As a Doorman, but received a good bit more attention for a supporting role in a 1986 TV movie, C.A.T. Squad, directed by William Friedkin. In 1987, Whitford appeared in both the New York and Los Angeles productions of Sam Shepard's drama Curse of the Starving Class; while in L.A. with the play, Whitford was cast as Jack Ford in the TV movie The Betty Ford Story. After returning to New York, Whitford continued to alternate stage roles with film assignments, and by the early '90s was appearing in a steady stream of supporting roles in such films as Presumed Innocent, A Perfect World, and Philadelphia. However, Whitford soon began scoring more substantial roles on television, including a recurring role as Norman Gardner on the series NYPD Blue and a memorable turn as a distraught father-to-be on the Emmy-award winning "Love's Labor's Lost" episode of E.R. In 1999, Whitford's finally scored the role that made him famous when he was cast as Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the TV series The West Wing (created by Aaron Sorkin, whose play A Few Good Men had featured Whitford in its Broadway cast). Whitford's work on the series eventually earned him an Emmy Award in 2001; the same year, he was also recognized as part of the show's ensemble cast by the Screen Actor's Guild Awards (also honored with Whitford was John Spencer, who had appeared with him in the movie Presumed Innocent).Whitford appeared in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in 2005, as well as the critically acclaimed comedy drama Bottleshock in 2008. The actor enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in 2012 for his turn as a ruthless, yet oddly likable businessman in director Joss Whedon's popular horror comedy Cabin in the Woods.

Trivia: Trained at London's Webber-Douglas academy, Paxton Whitehead made his professional debut in 1956, and within two years was signed by the RSC. Crossing the Atlantic to appear in Canadian stage and TV productions, Whitehead made his Broadway bow in 1962's The Affair. He went on to appear with the American Shakespeare Company, to direct in regional repertory, and to function as artistic director of the Shaw Festival, a job he held down for ten years. His later Broadway credits include Crucifer of Blood (as Sherlock Holmes) and the 1980 revival of Camelot (as Pellinore). Whitehead's first film appearance was in the 1986 Whoopi Goldberg comedy Jumpin' Jack Flash. The following year, he starred as Dudley the Butler in the syndicated sitcom Marblehead Manor; one of his co-stars was Linda Thorson, with whom he'd appeared on Broadway in Noises Off. In 1995, Paxton Whitehead was starred as cable-TV exec Duke Stone in the WB Network situation comedy Simon, one of that fledgling network's few bonafide successes.

Trivia: New England native Spalding Gray was raised in Rhode Island and schooled in Massachusetts. As a writer and actor inclined to serious spells of depression, he humorously integrated his anxieties and experiences into stage performances. He was often seated at a desk with only a microphone, notebook, and a glass of water. Within this minimalist aesthetic, Gray's monologues were simultaneously funny, touching, and scary. His wholly authentic style was influenced by Allen Ginsberg, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and the American autobiographical movement. After studying at Emerson College, Gray attended a workshop at the Open Theater in 1969. Though he appeared in a string of sleazy, forgettable films during the '70s, he mostly worked in experimental theater. In 1977, he co-founded the Wooster Theater Group in New York City. Two years later, he performed his first monologue: Sex and Death at the Age of 14.Gray traveled to Thailand to play a bit part in Roland Joffé's war drama The Killing Fields, and that experience grew into Swimming to Cambodia, an Obie award-winning one-man stage performance and a 1987 feature film directed by Jonathan Demme. Gray also earned two Independent Spirit Award nominations for the film and finally found a lucrative way to merge his talents for both writing and acting. After a brief appearance in David Byrne's True Stories, he showed up in random feature films over the next decade. Often playing a doctor, priest, professor, or other man of influence, he appeared in everything from mainstream romantic comedies (Straight Talk) to weepy melodramas (Beaches) to dramatic thrillers (Diabolique). Gray returned to theater in the late '80s to play the Stage Manager in a Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. He also started writing a novel, Impossible Vacation, an experience that grew into Monster in a Box, a one-man stage performance and feature film directed by Nick Broomfield.During the '90s, Gray traveled to Malaysia to film John Boorman's Beyond Rangoon. He also showed up the independent films Drunks and Twenty Bucks. In 1993, he played a man who commits suicide in Steven Soderbergh's childhood drama King of the Hill. His memoir, Gray's Anatomy, was published by Random House a year later. That experience was made into a one-man stage performance and 1996 film directed by Soderbergh as the first original feature from the Independent Film Channel. During this time, Gray settled into home life with his wife and three children, and his experience as a stay-at-home dad grew into the monologue Morning, Noon and Night, which he performed at Lincoln Center in 1999. For his 60th birthday in 2001, he and his wife took a trip to Ireland that, unfortunately, ended with a car accident in which they were seriously injured. As his depression worsened, Gray wrote the monologue Black Spot about the experience. Following several suicide attempts, Spalding Gray was reported missing January 11, 2004. His body was found in the East River near Brooklyn March 7, 2004.

Trivia: Played soccer in college Is the only child of NPR's Susan Stamberg, the original host of All Things Considered. Developed a love for theater and acting when he was cast in a school production of Fiddler on the Roof. Did voice work in 1994 for the movie Normandy: The Great Crusade. First TV job was a guest role on Spin City. Gained industry recognition in 2003 for his two-episode guest appearance as a gay paintballer on Six Feet Under.

Trivia: Moved to Vermont from Puerto Rico as a child. Won Miss Teen USA in 1992. Lived in various foster homes for fourteen years before being adopted at 17. Co-authored a book titled Lost in the System in 1996, detailing her childhood in foster care. Appeared in the Ricky Martin video for "She's All I Ever Had."

Trivia: Catholic University was the alma mater of American actor Philip Bosco -- or would have been if he hadn't been expelled. Bosco would not collect a college degree until age 27, after a long stint as an Army cryptographer. Most comfortable in classical stage roles, Bosco has found it expedient to don modern garb for most of his movie work. After a one-shot screen appearance in 1968's A Lovely Way to Die, Bosco didn't step before the movie cameras again until 1983, making up for the lost years with supporting appearances in such films as Trading Places (1983), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), Three Men and a Baby (1987), Working Girl (1988) and Shadows and Fog (1992). Philip Bosco won a Tony Award for his performance in the popular door-slamming farce Lend Me a Tenor.

Trivia: Writer, actress, and comedian Kristen Schaal honed her skills working in the New York improve and stand-up scene in the early 2000s. In addition to winning the Best Alternative Comedian Award at the 2006 HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, along with a number of other awards, Schaal began cultivating a career onscreen, appearing on shows like The Education of Max Bickford and Ugly Betty, and in movies like Norbit. Her notoriety increased in 2007, when she took on the role of obsessive fan Mel on the comedy series Flight of the Conchords. Schaal would soon find herself part of the Hollywood comedy scene, appearing in numerous movies over the next few years, including Shrek Forever After, Get Him to the Greek, Toy Story 3, Dinner for Schmucks, and Going the Distance. She appeared in The Muppets in 2011, then was cast to voice one of the main characters in the animated series Bob's Burgers.

Trivia: A director known for making sophisticated dramas that chronicle people's emotional and moral struggles in the face of an often hostile outside world, James Mangold first earned acclaim for Heavy, his 1995 film debut. The poignant and often wordless account of an overweight pizza chef's (Pruitt Taylor Vince) unrequited longing for a young waitress (Liv Tyler), the film was a success among critics and art house audiences, winning the Grand Jury Prize for Best Director at the 1995 Sundance Festival.Raised in New York's Hudson Valley (where he would later film Heavy), Mangold, the son of minimalist painter Robert Mangold, attended the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied film and acting. He broke into the film business at the tender age of 21 as the recipient of a prestigious writer/director deal with Disney. However, he was eventually dropped by the studio for, in his words, refusing to play Hollywood's "very elaborate chess game." Mangold subsequently supported himself through a series of odd jobs and endured a phase of unemployment. He eventually decided to go to Columbia University's film school, where he began working on Heavy under the guidance of director Milos Forman. Inspired in part by the upstate New York town where he was raised and in part by a very overweight friend he once had, Mangold set out, in his words, "to make a film about a large man who's invisible." With a cast that, in addition to Vince and relative newcomer Tyler, included Debbie Harry and Shelly Winters, Heavy evolved into a beautifully-stylized film full of richly somber moments and almost poetic silences.Following the critical success of Heavy, Mangold embarked on a project that appeared to be an ostensible departure from his first. Cop Land (1997), which Mangold wrote while making Heavy, was a cop drama set in a New Jersey town populated largely by commuting members of the NYPD. Although much of the film focused on police corruption, its central character, the town's half-deaf sheriff (Sylvester Stallone, who gained 38 pounds for the role), was similar to Heavy's protagonist in his inability to fit in with his peers and his desire to get what he cannot have, in this case, work in the city. Starring Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, and Janeane Garofalo (all of whom worked for scale pay instead of their usual salaries), Cop Land was accepted into the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival and premiered in the U.S. to strong reviews. Continuing his tradition of documenting the inner struggles of conflicted individuals, Mangold next set about adapting Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted for the screen. Kaysen's powerful memoir of the 18 months she spent in an exclusive mental hospital during the late 1960s, its fragmented, episodic narrative proved a challenge to adapt, and the finished product led many critics to comment that it was a challenge to which Mangold had failed to rise. However, the film proved to be a showcase for some of the most talented actresses of the day, including Winona Ryder, Brittany Murphy, and Angelina Jolie, who won a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe, Oscar, and Screen Actors Guild Award for her portrayal of Lisa, the charming sociopath who befriends Ryder's protagonist. Mangold next set to work on the time-traveling romantic comedy Kate & Leopold, starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman. The film received a luke-warm response, not to mention an embarrassing last-minute re-edit to correct a plot point that would make Meg Ryan's character her own ex-boyfriend's great great great grandmother. Mangold would quickly put these tousles with mediocrity behind him, however, with 2005's acclaimed biopic Walk the Line.Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon starred in this tremendously successful film as legendary country music couple Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. A long project in the making, Cash reportedly chose Phoenix for the part before his death in 2003. Both leads performed their own vocals for the movie, as well as learning the guitar and autoharp, respectively, and took home Golden Globes for their performances. The film itself was also honored with the award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy at the event, a tremendous success for Mangold. Over the next several years, the filmmaker would direct the critically acclaimed western 3:10 to Yuma, the superhero spin-off The Wolverine, and the TV series Men in Trees.

Trivia: A graduate of the Juilliard School, Viola Davis built an exceptional background in theater productions and has continued to perform on-stage throughout her television and film career. Making her feature-film debut in 1996 as a nurse in The Substance of Fire, she followed that up with several TV movies and guest-star appearances on dramatic series like Law & Order and NYPD Blue. She went on to play another nurse in City of Angels, a hospital drama with a predominately African-American cast that didn't last long on CBS. She began collaborating with Steven Soderbergh for Out of Sight, and went on to star in two of the director's next few films, Traffic and Solaris. In 2001, she appeared in Kate and Leopold and in Oprah Winfrey's television presentation of Amy & Isabelle. The next year she played parts in both Far From Heaven and Denzel Washington's directorial debut, Antwone Fisher.Davis continued to work steadily in a variety of notable projects including Steven Soderbergh's Solaris, Syriana, and played a notable part in the television movie biopic of American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino. However, in 2008 she landed the small but crucial role of the mother in John Patrick Shanley's adaptation of his award-winning play Doubt. Although her screen time is minimal, her indelible performance garnered her Best Supporting Actress nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy. Davis became a well known entity almost instantly, and was soon filling her docket with projects like 2009's State of Play, 2010's Knight and Day and Eat Pray Love, and an arc on the series United States of Tara.Davis next appeared in the box office hit 2011 big screen adaptation of Kathryn Sockett 's period novel The Help, garnering still more praise as well as Best Actress nominations from the Academy, BAFTA, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Golden Globes, and the Screen Actors Guild. Her performance was still making waves when the critics began lauding her agian, this time for her role in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close that same year.