Trivia: With his doe eyes and April-fresh skin, Freddie Prinze Jr. seemed a natural leader of the late-'90s Hollywood teen invasion. Noted as much for his looks as for his acting, Prinze has proven to have a natural appeal that has endured him to legions of fans.The beginning of Prinze's life was a turbulent one, as his father, the actor Freddie Prinze (best known for his starring role on NBC's Chico and the Man) committed suicide when the younger Prinze was only ten months old. Born in Los Angeles on March 8, 1976, Prinze moved with his mother to Albuquerque, NM, shortly after his father's death. Growing up in New Mexico, Prinze was a poor student who decided to follow in his father's celluloid footsteps. After his high-school graduation in 1994, Prinze took off for Los Angeles with little money and few prospects. However, he soon found work in Hollywood, first appearing in various television shows, including an episode of Family Matters and a few afterschool specials.The actor first broke into film as Claire Danes' boyfriend in To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (1996). The part was a small one, but helped Prinze to secure his next and more sizeable role in The House of Yes (1997), a wicked little black comedy that starred Parker Posey as Prinze's deliciously unstable sister. The film's release was mainly limited to art houses, unlike Prinze's next film, I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). The film was a huge commercial, if not critical, success that propelled Prinze into, if not the limelight, then the hearts of many girls and more than a few boys everywhere. Following this triumph, Prinze went on to do a couple of forgettable films before the 1998 sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. The combined impact of that film and the success of Prinze's next major project, She's All That, gave the actor even greater fame and caused least one writer to dub him the next Leonardo Di Caprio. Unfortunately, Prinze's following endeavor, Wing Commander (1999), proved to be an unmitigated disappointment, serving to illustrate the extreme fluctuations of success in Hollywood. Prinze's growing popularity, however, seemed to survive relatively unscathed, judging by the slew of websites erected in his name.If there was any question that the actor's popularity was waning in the wake of Wing Commander's lackluster performance, that doubt would soon be confirmed with hard numbers, as a triple threat of romantic comedies unceremoniously removed the teen-crowd superstar crown from Prinze's head. The cookie-cutter offerings Down to You and Boys and Girls (the latter of which reteamed him with She's All That director Robert Iscove) attempted to posit Prinze as a collegiate heartthrob, but both films' mix of moony romance with gross-out gags did little to attract moviegoers of any age. Anticipation for his next starring role, alongside Jessica Biel and Matthew Lillard in 2001's Summer Catch, was understandably low; the film was even saddled with a late-August release, traditionally reserved by studios as a "dumping ground" for unpromising product. As it turned out, Summer Catch's mixed reviews proved more forgiving than its paltry $19 million take.Prinze's next project brought him out of the romantic comedy trend and into the doghouse, or at least the Mystery Machine. Re-teaming with his usual foil Lillard and starring -- yet again -- opposite his longtime love interest Sarah Michelle Gellar, Prinze took on the role of Fred in the live-action adaptation of Scooby-Doo in 2002. Though almost universally panned by critics, the film reversed Prinze's dwindling status as a box-office draw by appealing to a demographic he'd yet to conquer: preteens. Not one to look a gift franchise in the mouth, Prinze signed on for another installment, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, and took nearly two years off between the blockbusters as he tied the knot with Gellar.

Trivia: Born October 4, 1979 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the doe-eyed, fine-boned Rachael Leigh Cook has invited frequent comparisons with the young Audrey Hepburn. The actress began her career at the age of ten as a model, and then broke into acting in 1995 with her role as Mary-Ann Spier in The Baby-Sitters Club. Her next memorable appearance was in The House of Yes (1997), where she played the young Parker Posey. Coincidentally, Freddie Prinze Jr., with whom she would later co-star in She's All That, was also in the film, although they had no scenes together.After The House of Yes, Cook acted in a few forgettable films, the exception being Living Out Loud (1998), in which she played the young Holly Hunter. It was her next film, 1999's She's All That, that garnered her significant attention. As Laney Boggs, Cook went from geek to chic under the tutelage of the most popular boy in school (Prinze Jr.). As the film was essentially billed as an update of My Fair Lady (1964), the comparisons between Cook and Audrey Hepburn seemed particularly apt. Only time will tell if these comparisons extend beyond physical appearance to career trajectory. Taking to the stage (on the screen at least) with her turn in the live adaptation of Josie and the Pussycats, audiences would soon find the attractive actress travelling back in time to the old west in Texas Rangers. An attempt to revive the western from celluloid oblivion, the film documented the true story of the founding of the Texas Rangers and found Cook cast alongside popular actors James Van Der Beek and Oded Fehr. Cook continued to work steadily through the early 2000s, including a recurring role on the show Las Vegas in 2005 and a supporting role in the film Nancy Drew (2007). She also did a stint on prime time drama Psych, in which she played Abigail Lytar, elementary school teacher and ex-girlfriend of the leading character Shawn Spencer (James Roday). In 2012, Cook took on a starring role, opposite Eric McCormack, in the TNT crime drama Perception, playing FBI agent Kate Moretti, which ran for three seasons.

Trivia: Making a career out of playing either sociopaths or the hyperkinetically weird, Matthew Lillard has established himself as one of the more promising, to say nothing of idiosyncratic, actors of his generation. Originally hailing from Lansing, MI, where he was born on January 24, 1970, Lillard was raised in California. His first break came in the form of Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College (1993), in which he was credited as Matthew Lynn. More auspicious work followed in John Waters' lovably warped Serial Mom (1994), which cast Lillard as the gore-obsessed son of the decidedly unhinged Kathleen Turner. The role was one of the first in which Lillard played the type of superficially normal yet profoundly wacked-out character that was to become his trademark. It was followed by a minor role in the Drew Barrymore/Chris O'Donnell doomed love vehicle Mad Love (directed by Antonia Bird in 1995) and a cyberpunk turn in Hackers (also 1995). Next up was the film that would make him famous, Wes Craven's Scream (1996). The film, in addition to simultaneously parodying and reviving the teen horror genre, helped to enhance the careers of more than a few of its actors, including David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell, and Skeet Ulrich.Lillard's next project of any acclaim (following such disappointments as Dish Dogs, The Curve, and Senseless, all made in 1998) was Robert Towne's Without Limits (1998), the critically lauded, if little-seen, story of the life of runner Steve Prefontaine (played by Billy Crudup, with Donald Sutherland as his coach). Lillard's subsequent film, SLC Punk! (1999), met with similarly good reviews, with praise being singled out for both Lillard's performance and that of his co-star, Michael Goorjian. The film told the story of two punks growing up in staid Salt Lake City during the Reagan years, and contained the type of small-budget charm lacking in Lillard's next two projects, Wing Commander and She's All That. Both films featured Lillard co-starring with Freddie Prinze Jr., as well as a score of bad reviews. However, while the former also succumbed to dismal box-office performance, the latter met with widespread success, virtually guaranteeing future work for Lillard and his young co-stars. Following the release of such efforts as Summer Catch and 13 Ghosts (both 2001), Lillard would take on the role of the fragile-nerved Shaggy in the live-action adaptation of the enduring cartoon Scooby-Doo in 2002. He appeared in The Baker and The Escapsit in 2008, and in 2011 he was cast in the well-reviewed made-for-cable series Homeland. That same year he appeared in the period pot comedy Your Highness.

Trivia: With looks suggesting a closet full of football trophies, the blond, blue-eyed Paul Walker has made a name for himself with a number of high-profile projects, including the successful teen flicks She's All That and Varsity Blues.Hailing from Glendale, CA, where he was born on September 12, 1973, Walker got his start at a young age, modeling and acting in various TV shows including Charles in Charge, Diff'rent Strokes, and Who's the Boss. His film debut came in the 1986 horror spoof Monster in the Closet, which complemented a part in the short-lived 1986 sitcom Throb. After high school, where he was active in a variety of sports, Walker opted to study marine biology at a series of California community colleges. Realizing his real love was acting, Walker resumed his long-dormant career in 1993, with a role on the CBS soap The Young and the Restless. This was followed by a lead role in Tammy and the T-Rex, which also starred an unknown Denise Richards. In 1998, after starring in the desultory Meet the Deedles, Walker won a secondary role as the object of Reese Witherspoon's pent-up passion in the critically acclaimed Pleasantville. His onscreen success continued with the following year's She's All That and Varsity Blues, both of which allowed the actor to capitalize on the craze for teens on the screen. In 2001, Walker tackled a leading role as he put the pedal to the metal with burgeoning star Vin Diesel in The Fast and the Furious. A throwback to the forgotten drive-in exploitationers of the past, adrenalized and pumped-up for the new millennium, The Fast and the Furious brought Walker into edgier thriller territory as a youthful undercover FBI agent drawn into the world of underground racing gangs. Taking to the road once again, Walker appeared later that year as a teen stalked by a maniacal trucker while on the way to pick-up his dream girl (Leelee Sobieski) in Joy Ride.In 2003, Walker reprised his Fast and the Furious role for the sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, before signing on to appear alongside Penelope Cruiz, Susan Sarandon, and Alan Arkin for veteran actor Chazz Palminteri's big screen directorial debut, the ensemble drama Noel. The low-key movie provided a fore into films of a more subdued, dramatic nature, but the young actor wouldn't stay away from the thriller genre for long. In 2005 he appeared with Jessica Alba in the underwater adventure Into the Blue, and by 2006 he starred in the crime drama Running Scared. Walker kept the adrenaline pumping but widened his target audience for his next film, the Disney feature Eight Below. Walker starred as an Antarctic explorer who is forced to leave his beloved sled dogs behind when his life is in danger, but remains determined to rescue them. The movie was more family friendly than his other recent efforts, but before long he would be back to the grown-up fare that seemed to suit him. He next took a role in the John Herzfeld action flick The Death and Life of Bobby Z, in which he played opposite Laurence Fishburne as a convict who agrees to pose as a deceased drug dealer during a hostage switch. The edgy crime film was right up his alley, but Walker would change gears again for his next film, playing one of the six soldiers who raised the American flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima during WWII, in the Clint Eastwood movie Flags of Our Fathers. He was the lead in the 2006 action film Running Scared, as well as the star of the old-fashioned adventure film Eight Below. In 2009 he returned to his signature franchise with Fast & Furious, and followed that up with the crime film Takers, and then Fast Five, which became a huge hit. Walker continued to apppear in The Fast and the Furious franchise films before ironically losing his life as a passenger in a car crash at age 40 in 2013.

Trivia: Started modeling at the age of 9. Won a Young Hollywood Award in 2000 in the Best Bad Girl category for her performance in She's All That. Appeared in the 3 Doors Down music video "Let Me Go" alongside fellow actor Jesse Metcalfe in 2005.

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: One of the Culkin clan of child actors, Kieran Culkin emerged from older brother Macauley Culkin's considerable shadow in the late 1990s. Born and raised in New York, Culkin made his movie debut playing his sibling's cousin in the blockbuster family comedy Home Alone (1990). Along with returning for the sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Culkin bolstered his presence as a cute foil playing Steve Martin's young son in Father of the Bride (1991) and Father of the Bride Part II (1995). Despite his parents' well-publicized custody battle over their acting brood in the mid-1990s, Culkin continued to work steadily, finally graduating to starring status in The Mighty (1998). As a physically challenged boy who forms a deep bond with an illiterate classmate, Culkin displayed his dramatic abilities as well as comedic, proving that he could be more than just an adorable face. Culkin followed up his lead turn with prominent supporting roles as another little brother in the teen romantic comedy She's All That (1999), Meryl Streep's teenage son in Music of the Heart (1999), and one of the orphans in The Cider House Rules (1999).After playing at the Sundance Film Festival, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys earned strong reviews for Culkin's performance as one of the imaginative, restless Catholic schoolboys grappling with adolescence and dour nun teacher Jodie Foster in the 1970s. A rare teen film with a brain, Altar Boys became an art house success. Delving into the rarified world of the genteel poor, and enhancing Culkin's status as an "alternative" teen lead, Igby Goes Down starred Culkin as the titular alienated son who must deal with harridan mother Susan Sarandon and superficial brother/romantic rival Ryan Phillippe while pondering whether he'll suffer the same fate as his schizophrenic father Bill Pullman.

Trivia: New Zealander Anna Paquin made her stage bow in the coveted role of a skunk in a grade school play. After attracting attention for her work in a TV commercial, Paquin was selected from some 5,000 applicants to portray Holly Hunter's precocious daughter in director Jane Campion's dour period piece The Piano. The film was completed in 1992 when Paquin was nine. She kept busy for the next year or so in a series of American TV ads for a computer company, portraying an androgynous "young DaVinci" type. In 1994, an amazed 11-year-old Paquin rushed on the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion to accept the best supporting actress award for her performance in The Piano. Paquin played her first adult role in Hurly Burly (1998).

Trivia: An actor since the age of six, when he began appearing in TV commercials, Elden Henson got his first big break in 1998 when he was cast as a warm-hearted giant opposite Sharon Stone and Kieran Culkin in The Mighty. Often cast as social misfits, the red-haired, stocky actor was born in Rockville, MD, on August 30, 1977. Two years later he entered show business as a model, and at the age of six moved to Los Angeles with his family in order to better pursue his career.After getting bit parts in Jaws: The Revenge (1987) and Turner and Hooch (1989), Henson won a more substantial role in the 1992 preteen hockey comedy The Mighty Ducks, and also appeared in the film's 1994 and 1996 sequels. Following his recognition in The Mighty, which earned him some positive critical notices, he became part of the late-'90s teen flick trend when he was chosen for supporting roles in the Freddy Prinze Jr./Rachael Leigh Cook romantic comedy She's All That (1999) and Idle Hands (1999), a schlocky teen murder ditty that had the misfortune of being released in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre.In 2001, Henson won one of his most substantial roles to date in Manic, a teen-ensemble drama directed by first-time filmmaker Jordan Melamed. Set entirely in a teen psychiatric ward, it cast Henson as an angry young man in the company of Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, as well as the always reliable Don Cheadle. That same year he further increased his exposure by appearing opposite Julia Stiles, Josh Hartnett, and Mekhi Phifer in O, Tim Blake Nelson's modern-day prep school take on Shakespeare's Othello.

Trivia: A young R&B star who makes music under only his first name, Usher Raymond has also forged a secondary career (fully billed) as an actor. Born in Tennessee, Raymond moved to Atlanta with his family at age 12. Under the eye of his choirmaster mother, Raymond nurtured his singing talent in the church choir, but it was at a local talent show that Raymond caught the attention of LaFace Records impresario Antonio "L.A." Reid. A success with his first album at age 16, Raymond added acting to his repertoire in 1997 as part of the cast of fellow one-name teen music star Brandy's hit sitcom Moesha. Continuing to make the most of the late-1990s teen entertainment explosion, Raymond made his feature film debut in 1998 in the Robert Rodriguez-Kevin Williamson high school horror movie The Faculty. Though the success of his second album made Raymond Billboard's 1998 Artist of the Year, he maintained his dual career with a small part in the popular, teenage Pygmalion retread She's All That (1999) and his first starring role in the urban high school drama Light It Up (1999). Though Raymond proved he had the acting talent and presence to topline a movie, Light It Up did not exactly brighten the box office. Undeterred, Raymond next joined the all-star cast of the splashy TV miniseries Geppetto (2000) and co-starred with James Van Der Beek and Ashton Kutcher in the teen-dream big-screen Western Texas Rangers (2000).

Trivia: Gabrielle Union had planned on attending law school, but began acting after the modeling agency she interned with as a college junior asked to represent her. She then won a series of small roles in television and film, including Love and Basketball, 10 Things I Hate About You (both 1999), and a part on the short-lived series City of Angels (2000). But her career really took off after her breakthrough portrayal of a sassy cheerleading captain from Compton in the late-summer surprise hit Bring It On (2000).It's ironic that cheerleading would be the activity that helped launch Union's star. The Omaha, NE, native was born October 29, 1973, and spent much of her youth playing sports, from soccer to basketball to track. She attended high school in Nebraska, where she was an all-star point guard, and, after graduating, moved to Los Angeles to attend school at U.C.L.A.After graduating with honors, Union chose to forego law school, stay in L.A., and concentrate on her acting career, which took off after her sparring with cheerleading rival Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On. After that film's release, Union won a substantial role in The Brothers and was slated to appear with an all-star cast in Welcome to Collinwood, as well as in Oscar-winner Stephen Gaghan's directorial debut Abandon. Her future film line up looking ever more impressive, Union took her biggest role to date as the acerbic titular character in the comedy Deliver Us from Eva, and continue to perform in films including Cradle 2 the Grave and Bad Boys II.In 2012, Union took on a supporting role in the comedy Think Like a Man, an adaptation of author and comedian Steve Harvey's self-help book of the same name.

Trivia: First making an impression on the collective filmgoing consciousness as the resident bad-ass of the teen horror flick The Faculty (1998), Clea Duvall has managed to stand out among the crowd of young actors who gained seemingly overnight fame during the late '90s. Strong-jawed and sharp-eyed, Duvall developed an interest in acting at an early age. Born in Los Angeles on September 25, 1977, she attended the Los Angeles High School of the Arts and got her professional start on television, making occasional appearances on a variety of shows including E.R. and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After minor work in a couple of independent films, Duvall nabbed her role in The Faculty, starring as a moody goth girl alongside such up-and-comers as Elijah Wood, Shawn Hatosy, and Josh Hartnett. The film was a fairly substantial box-office success, and in 1999 Duvall could be seen in no less than three more films. In The Astronaut's Wife she played Charlize Theron's sister, while Girl, Interrupted cast her as a resident of a mental hospital occupied by the likes of Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. Duvall also starred as an unwilling patient of another kind of rehab in But I'm a Cheerleader: a comedy-satire about Megan (Natasha Lyonne), a high school cheerleader who is sent to a sort of straight rehab camp for gay teens, Duvall played a tattooed young lesbian who teaches Megan how to cheer for the other team. In 2003 she co-starred with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts in the award-winning drama 21 Grams, and played a leading role in the HBO series Carnivale. Though the show was canceled after only two seasons, Duvall received no small amount of praise for her turn as a member of a traveling circus during The Great Depression. She played a small supporting role in Zodiac (2007), a docudrama chronicling the gruesome story of the serial murderer known as the Zodiac killer. In 2012 she took on another supporting role in Argo, docudrama depicting the efforts to save a group of American diplomats after militants seize control of the U.S. embassy in Tehran during the height of the Iranian Revolution.

Trivia: As a child actor, Tim Matheson was billed under his fuller family name of Matthieson. His first weekly TV co-starring assignment was opposite Robert Young in the 1961 "dramedy" Window on Main Street. The young actor's voice became familiar to a generation of cartoon fans via his "role" as the title character in Hanna-Barbera's Jonny Quest. The handsome Matheson appeared on-screen during his maturation years on such western series as The Virginian, Bonanza, and The Quest. He remained busy in films during this period, scoring his biggest 1970s success as party animal Otter in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). Matheson also kept his hand in the voiceover business, providing the truculent mutterings of "Blood" the dog in Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog (1975) and recording the narration for the 1985 revival of Disney's Fantasia. His adult TV appearances have included weekly stints on the TV series Tucker's Witch (1982), Just in Time, (1988) and Charlie Hoover (1991). Turning to directing in 1985, Matheson has been active in episodic television, music videos and direct-to-cassette movies. In 1989, he became CEO of the National Lampoon Company, though he still manages to find time for the occasional acting assignment, appearing in everything from the theatrical feature Drop Dead Fred to the live-action prologue for one of the "thrill rides" at Disneyworld.

Trivia: If awards were bestowed for versatility, the graceful and congenial African-American actress Debbi Morgan would take first place. A veritable decades-long mainstay in the casts of A-list dramatic features, soap operas, acclaimed prime-time series dramas, big-screen exploitationers, sitcoms, and telemovies, Morgan has proven herself equally adept at each, while the number of roles she tackles each year suggests a die-hard craftswoman with no signs of slowing down. Born September 20, 1956, in Dunn, NC, Morgan moved with her family to New York City at the age of three. Despite the family's residence in a South Bronx housing project, they managed without difficulty. Five years into the move, Morgan's father died, which forced her mother, Lora, to support the two children (Debbi and younger sister Terry) as a secretary; she funded the girls' parochial educations through the end of high school. The photogenic Debbi sought out an entertainment career in her teens -- initially against the wishes of her mother. Lora issued stringent objections, terrified that Debbi -- a high-honors student -- would drift in with a bad element and engage in aberrant behavior. This never occurred; Debbi rapidly launched herself as an actress -- first in a series of commercials, then onto the Broadway stage (in the 1975 play What the Wine Sellers Buy) and in feature films (with a role in, regrettably, the Richard Fleischer-directed debacle Mandingo). After moving to L.A. in her early '20s, Morgan commenced series television work, with guest appearances on such ethnically oriented sitcoms as What's Happening!!, Good Times, and Sanford. Morgan's crowning network achievement arrived at the tail end of the '70s, with her acclaimed portrayal of Elizabeth (Alex Haley's aunt) in the smash miniseries Roots: The Next Generations. After a stint on the CBS series Trapper John, M.D. during the early '80s, Morgan discovered, through her agent, that the producers of the wildly popular daytime soap All My Children needed a young African-American actress to portray the romantic interest of the character Jesse (Darnell Williams). Morgan auditioned for the role and signed instantly, recurring on the series, intermittently, for 14 years. During the early to mid-'80s, Morgan also memorably essayed the part of Ruth Owens, the love interest of track star Jesse Owens (Dorian Harewood), in the critically praised epic telemovie The Jesse Owens Story (1984); in fact, Morgan's plaintive, emotionally charged protests regarding Owens' discriminatory treatment gave the film several of its most memorable scenes and images. Morgan continued her TV work throughout the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s, with guest appearances on a myriad of series programs -- everything from The Cosby Show to Boston Public and Charmed. During the late '90s, however, Morgan broke from the small screen and made two enduring contributions to A-list features. She played Aunt Mozelle in Eve's Bayou, actress-cum-director Kasi Lemmons' acclaimed, finely wrought gothic drama of Southern life, and Mae Thelma Carter, the wife of wrongfully accused and incriminated boxer Rubin Carter (Denzel Washington), in Norman Jewison's Oscar-nominated biopic The Hurricane (1999). More recently, Morgan portrayed Twana in director Michael Schultz's cinematization of T.D. Jakes' play, Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004).

Trivia: Perhaps the most enigmatic -- and unpredictable -- member of the Arquette acting dynasty, Alexis Arquette appeared in a huge variety of colorful supporting roles that highlighted both his range and eccentricity as a performer. Born Robert Arquette, the grandson of vaudevillians, son of veteran character actor Lewis Arquette and poet Mardi Arquette, and brother of Rosanna, Patricia, David, and Richmond Arquette, she was born in L.A. in 1969. Like her siblings, Arquette broke into film at a young age, making his screen debut with a minor role in Down and out in Beverly Hills in 1986 and had her first breakthrough as Georgette, a sensitive young man with a crush on a neighborhood thug in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990).Arquette went on to portray characters ranging from a gay university student in Threesome (1994) to an unfortunate gunman summarily dispatched by John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction (1994) to a Boy George-esque musician in The Wedding Singer (1998). She also did a memorable turn as himself in Wigstock: The Movie (1995), a documentary about New York's famed Outfest in which the actor flaunted plenty of glorious plumage, to say nothing of attitude. Arquette's role in the film was particularly appropriate, considering his well-known second job as a drag performer by the name of Eva Destruction. After decades of doing drag and pushing gender-bending limits, Arquette official began male-to-female transitioning in 2006. She later confirmed that she often changed the gender she identified with from day-to-day. Arquette died in 2016, at age 47.

Trivia: Lead actress Patricia Charbonneau was first seen on screen in Desert Hearts (1986).

Trivia: Though bloodline practically obligated her to make a brief attempt at a career as a screenwriter, actress Katharine Towne (daughter of famed Chinatown scribe Robert Towne), soon realized that though she had been going through the motions of a writer, her true calling was in acting. Dropping her pen and enrolling in acting classes, Towne soon began to realize and refine her ambitions, making her debut in one of her father's few directorial efforts, Without Limits, in 1998, and launching a successful career as an actress.Born in Hollywood, in July 1978, and raised in Los Angeles, Towne (married to Queer As Folk star Charlie Hunnam) turned to television in 1999, with a role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Appearing the same year in such popular teen films as She's All That and Go, and the following year in The In Crowd, Towne appeared as Harrison Ford's daughter in the supernatural thriller What Lies Beneath (2000) before returning to television for a stint in M.Y.O.B. and The Near Future. After getting laughs in Evolution (2001), Towne took a turn for the surreal in director David Lynch's Mulholland Drive.

Trivia: Started dancing in New York, demonstrating acrobatic skills that earned him the nickname "Flex." Tried stand-up comedy in several Manhattan clubs before relocating to Los Angeles in 1995 to focus on acting. Made his TV-acting debut in the short-lived Fox series Where I Live. Was nominated for NAACP Image Awards for his acting on the sitcom One on One and in 2004's Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story.

Trivia: Born July 8th, 1977, by the time Milo Ventimiglia graduated from high school in 1994, the bright lights of Hollywood had already shone their way to his Orange County home, and within the next year, the young actor was making his first onscreen appearance with a walk-on role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The part was the first of many, as Ventimiglia proceeded to spend the late '90s and early 2000s with similar roles in movies like She's All That and on shows like CSI. In 2004, Ventimiglia nabbed what most actors would consider a big break when he landed a recurring role on the hit series American Dreams, but a much bigger break was still in store. He joined the regular cast of the WB series Gilmore Girls in 2005, playing the part of Jess Mariano and making millions of viewers familiar with his face. The boost to his star-power no doubt influenced casting directors, who cast him as the son of Sylvester Stallone in 2006's Rocky Balboa, and then as a young man who discovers he harbors superpowers on the smash-hit sci-fi series Heroes. Ventimiglia appeared in the sci-fi action thriller Gamer in 2009, and took on a supporting role in the 2012 Adam Sandler vehicle That's My Boy.

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: At 6'2", with a handsomeness best-termed "rugged," the towering and burly Paul Johansson originally developed his ability in sports -- unsurprising, given his physical stature and the fact that he was the child of hockey demigod Ching Johnson, a key player on the 1954 Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. Born in Spokane, WA, but raised in the Vancouver area, Johansson landed all-Canadian status as a basketball player for the University of British Columbia, where he was, by his own account, ejected from five games against the University of Saskatchewan for overly aggressive behavior (in 1987). Johansson had his eyes on a stint in the Olympics and full-time work in the NBA (and in fact, the Atlanta Hawks offered him a spot on their team) when he suddenly realized that he no longer cared seriously about a sports career. Seeking fulfillment and actualization elsewhere, Johansson planned (with the help of his UBC English degree) to launch himself as a writer, and traveled to Los Angeles with friend Jason Priestley with that goal in mind. Instead, he soon discovered a love of acting, and a recurring role on the soap Santa Barbara (as Greg Hughes) followed. Johansson appeared on the Ferris Bueller-like series Parker Lewis Can't Lose from 1991-1992 (as an impossibly hip counterman) and as Sally Field's husband in the 1991 Soapdish, prior to his portrayal of Austin Peale in the blockbuster Western series Lonesome Dove (1994-1995) and its follow-up, Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years (1995-1996). Alongside on-camera appearances in such projects as Highlander: The Raven (1998), Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999), and John Q. (2002), Johansson moved quietly into writing and directing, first with the 1997 short film Conversations in Limbo (based on an Oscar Wilde story), then with the direct-to-video coming-of-age picture The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie, co-starring Gena Rowlands and James Caan. Johansson also starred in the popular teen series drama One Tree Hill, as Dan Scott. He directed and acted in Atlas Shrugged Part 1, a 2011 adaptation of Ayn Rand's 1957 novel of the same name.

Trivia: Born Kimberly Jones in 1975, rapper Lil' Kim (her stage name) grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant borough of Brooklyn, NY. Just after her ninth birthday, her parents divorced and she fell into the custody of her father, who threw her out of the house several years later. She thus spent her teenage years in a state of virtual homelessness, living with friends and on the streets, but her life turned a promising corner when she encountered maestro rap producer Biggie Smalls. Smalls immediately sensed her ability to rap, reinvented her as Lil' Kim, and signed her to a recording contract, first as a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A., then as a solo artist. In the recording sphere, Kim distinguished herself with an unabashed sexually provocative image and some of the most explicit and graphic lyrics by any female performer in the rap genre.In terms of cinema, it was perhaps inevitable that Lil' Kim would make her strongest impression in urban material, not unlike rap contemporaries Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube. Thus, even though she first bowed in the Freddie Prinze, Jr.-headlined teen comedy She's All That (1999), Kim fell into a niche with projects including Juwanna Mann (2002), the adult-oriented animated feature Lil' Pimp (2003), and the urban comedy Nora's Hair Salon (2004). In 2008, Kim joined Leslie Nielsen, Drake Bell, and others for the genre spoof Superhero Movie. She served a one-year prison sentence for her knowledge of a shooting.

Trivia: Although his screen appearances, particularly that of his role as aide to the president on the TV series The West Wing, have earned him career success, Dule Hill's real love of the spotlight relates more closely to his love of tap dancing than of performing in other genres. Born in Orange, NJ, on May 3, 1974, and raised in Sayreville, NJ, Hill began dancing at the age of three. His Jamaican parents enrolled him in dance school as a young child, and he branched out into film and theater by the time he finished high school. After gaining attention as an actor for appearing in a Corn Pops commercial, as a high school senior, he played the role of Harlem in his first feature film, Sugar Hill, in 1993. That same year, he also had a small part in the TV movie Hallelujah, and on the series City Kids. His childhood theater experience would prove beneficial, as he chose to leave college before the end of his third year to perform Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk on Broadway.In 1997, he played the young Donald in the drama The Ditchdigger's Daughters, which explored the complex themes of race in America, as well as fatherhood. He appeared in the made-for-TV murder mystery Color of Justice, also relevant to racial issues, that year also. Switching to a more light-hearted genre, he played Preston in the teen romantic comedy She's All That, starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook, in 1999.His recurring role on The West Wing, the drama series about political life in the White House, rounded off his widespread attention, along with his role in 2000's Men of Honor, the war drama starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr. Having appeared with the ranks of several established Hollywood stars, Hill's dramatic talent grew increasingly apparent. In 2002, he appeared in a supporting role in Holes, a fantasy comedy-drama for tweens. The film aslo stars Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, and Patricia Arquette. Hill returned to television in 2006 for the USA Network's Psych a detective show in which he played Burton Guster, the straightman sidekick to James Roday's psychic detective, Shawn Spencer. The popular show ran for 6 seasons and continued to air new episodes in 2012.