Trivia: Mixed-blood and Filipino-born, Phillips was raised in Arlington, Texas, where he began acting at age 10. After receiving his college degree in theater, he studied film technique with Adam Roarke at the Film Actor's Lab in Dallas. Between 1983 and 1986 he worked at the Lab as an assistant director and instructor. Concurrently, he performed in several plays in Dallas and Fort Worth, including Doctor Faustus and Hamlet. From 1983-87 Phillips appeared in several small, independent, Texas-made films, beginning with Angel Alley; one of these, Trespasses (1987), he co-wrote, while he associate-produced another, Dakota (1988). His big break came when director Luis Valdez was casting the Hollywood biopic La Bamba (1987), which focused on early rock 'n' roller Ritchie Valens. Someone suggested Phillips for the role of Valens' brother, but after he auditioned he was selected by Valdez to play the lead. The film was surprisingly successful and Philips married its assistant director, Julie Cypher. With his performance as a barrio boy in Stand and Deliver (1988) he further established himself as a leading Hispanic star and representative of the Hispanic community. After playing an American Indian in the youth Western Young Guns (1988), he found himself fascinated with Indian culture and became a Cherokee blood brother. He wrote one of his films, Ambition (1991).

Trivia: Canadian actor Robert Joy has been appearing in films on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border since the 1970s. He has always been a welcome presence, even when the scripts took pains not to make him feel welcome. As Susan Sarandon's husband in Atlantic City (1981), Joy stuck around just long enough to be bumped off by drug dealers. And as demented socialite Harry K. Thaw in Ragtime (1981), Joy existed principally to shoot Stanford White (Norman Mailer) full of holes and then get thrown in the looney bin. One of Robert Joy's largest, and most unorthodox, film assignments was as the would-be political demagogue (and one-time flamenco dancer) in the Newfoundland-based The Adventures of Faustus Bidgood (1986). Over the next several years, Joy would continue to remain an ongoing force on screen, appearing in films like Joe Somebody, Pretty Persuasion, Land of the Dead, and Superhero Movie. He would find success with a starring role on the long running crime proceedural CSI: NY.

Trivia: After toiling for a decade in low-grade films and a host of TV shows, Teri Polo finally earned a helping of recognition, topped off with a dollop of critical appreciation, for her portrayal of Ben Stiller's would-be fiancée in Jay Roach's 2000 autumn blockbuster Meet the Parents. The casting of Polo as the daughter of über-WASP suburban gentry (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner) capitalized on her Pepsident-blond, all-American looks, and the film's success effectively provided the actress with the exposure that would allow her to move beyond the confines of weeknight television spots.The daughter of a stereo systems designer and a homemaker, Polo was born in Dover, DE, and raised there in the company of two older brothers. A ballet student from the age of five, she spent most of her childhood and adolescence in a dance studio, but after being rejected by a performing arts school at 17, Polo re-evaluated what she wanted to do with her life; her subsequent win in a Seventeen magazine modeling contest led to her decision to drop out of school and pursue an acting career in New York.Roles on TV shows ranging from the ABC soap opera Loving to Northern Exposure followed, as did starring work as the object of Ethan Hawke's affections in the thankless, straight-to-video comedy Mystery Date (1991). After moving to Los Angeles in 1995 to better pursue her career, Polo found more work on television, guest-starring on such shows as Felicity and Sports Night. With Meet the Parents in 2000, the actress' years of hard work seemed finally to have paid off, as she enjoyed mention in the national media and a crop of studio offers. She followed up that big success with Domestic Disturbance and Beyond Borders, but was back on board for the sequel Meet the Fockers in 2004. She was away from screens for three years after that, returning in Full of It, and the short-lived TV series The Wedding Bells. She appeared in The Hole, and in 2010 returned to her career defining role in Little Fockers.