Trivia: Born in early 1992, British performer Freddie Highmore shot to fame as a child star, via plum roles -- usually leads -- in family-oriented contemporary classics such as the 2004 Finding Neverland (as Peter Llewelyn Davies), Tim Burton's 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (as Charlie Bucket), and the 2006 Arthur and the Invisibles (as Arthur). From time to time, he also essayed child parts in adult-oriented films, such as Ridley Scott's gentle, heartfelt drama A Good Year and the music-themed drama August Rush, which co-starred Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Keri Russell, and Robin Williams. In 2007, Highmore opted for a unique turn as identical twins in Mark Waters' hotly anticipated, family-oriented fantasy The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008). He voiced Astro Boy in the 2009 movie of the same name, and appeared in the big-screen adaptation of Master Harold…and the Boys the next year.

Trivia: A graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and winner of the Theatre World award for her performance in the Broadway production of Prelude to a Kiss, Mary Louise Parker has developed into the Mae Marsh of the 1990s: the eternal victim. Poor, put-upon Parker seems to have "kick me" emblazoned on her forehead in most of her screen appearances. However, unlike silent star Marsh, Parker's characters usually enjoy a satisfying "worm has turned" moment -- one of her first major film roles was as the abused wife in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) A more self-reliant Parker was seen in the 1990 AIDS-related TV movie Longtime Companion, as the supportive "earth mother" to a group of urban homosexual men. Still, there's a foredoomed quality in Mary-Louise Parker's performances that can't be easily shaken. While her film career thrives, Parker is also busy on stage and occasionally television. Parker received a Tony nomination for her work in a Broadway production of Prelude to a Kiss. She also appears on productions all over the country. On television Parker appears in television movies such as Sugartime and Saint Maybe (1998).

Trivia: Irish-born screen performer Sarah Bolger began her career as a child star well before the age of ten in such releases as the made-for-television A Secret Affair (1999) and the theatrical features The Station Agent (2003) and Jim Sheridan's In America (2002). (She seemed particularly at home in the latter, as the daughter of the Gaelic immigrant family at the center of the story.) Bolger then graduated to lead status in 2006 when she played Sabina Pleasure in the family-friendly spy adventure Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker, and subsequently essayed another lead, as Mallory, in the family-oriented fantasy-adventure The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008).

Trivia: Youthful actor Andrew McCarthy went to prep school in New Jersey, lending to his classic, clean-cut good looks. A member the so-called Brat Pack of '80s Hollywood teen stars, McCarthy was usually cast as a good-guy leading man, basically sincere underneath his brooding teen angst. After studying theater at N.Y.U., he made his film debut in 1983 in the teen sex comedy Class with Rob Lowe and Jacqueline Bisset. In 1985, he appeared as the sulky writer Kevin in St. Elmo's Fire and the new Catholic school kid in Heaven Help Us. The next year, he was cast opposite Molly Ringwald as rich boy Blaine in John Hughes' Pretty in Pink. He later re-teamed with Ringwald for the dark romantic drama Fresh Horses. In 1987, he appeared opposite Kim Cattrall in the screwball comedy Mannequin and opposite Jami Gertz and Robert Downey Jr. in the addiction drama Less Than Zero. The same year, he portrayed Henry Hopper in the PBS American Playhouse production of Waiting for the Moon, based on the colorful lives of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. In 1989, McCarthy formed a winning comedy team with Jonathan Silverman for the goofy farce Weekend at Bernie's, a surprisingly funny hit. They re-teamed for the less-successful Weekend at Bernie's II in 1993. The next year, he appeared briefly in the critically acclaimed ensemble films The Joy Luck Club and Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. In 1999, he married his college girlfriend, actress Carol Schneider. His youthful good looks enabled him to play Bobby Kennedy in the 2000 television miniseries Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. As the following years passed, McCarthy would find success on the series Lipstick Jungle, as well as in movies like The Spiderwick Chronicles, Camp Hell, Main Street, and Snatched.

Trivia: One of England's most esteemed actresses, Joan Plowright was trained at the Old Vic. She made her regional stage debut in 1951 and her London stage bow in 1954. Two years later, she joined the English Stage Company, where she essayed her most popular role up to that time, Margery Pincher in Wycherly's The Country Wife. That same year, she appeared in her first film, Moby Dick. In the original 1958 stage production of John Osborne's The Entertainer, Plowright co-starred with Sir Laurence Olivier, whom she would marry in 1961, a union that lasted until Olivier's death in 1989. She appeared on screen with her husband in the film versions of The Entertainer (1960) and The Three Sisters (1970), the latter of which was also directed by Olivier. During the same period, Plowright and Olivier were mainstays of London's National Theatre. In 1961, Plowright won a Tony award for her Broadway appearance in A Taste of Honey. Her stage work was briefly curtailed in the mid-to-late '60s, allowing her time to raise her family. From 1982 on, Plowright began appearing in films with increasing regularity, demonstrating at least two traits she'd evidently picked up from Olivier: a propensity for elaborate foreign accents (the hero's Jewish mother in Avalon (1990) and the heroine's Yugoslavian mom in I Love You to Death (1990)) and a willingness to take assignments possibly only for the money (Mrs. Wilson in Dennis the Menace (1993)). While an Oscar win is long overdue (although she was awarded a CBE from the Queen in 1970), Plowright was nominated for her work in 1992's Enchanted April. Perhaps one of her most endearing portrayals in recent years was as the high school teacher in The Last Action Hero who runs a clip from Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948) for her class, introducing Olivier as "the fellow who did all those Polaroid commercials." In 1999, Plowright additionally endeared herself to moviegoers with her role as one of a group of high society women living in fascist Italy in Franco Zeffirelli's Tea with Mussolini.She continued to work steadily at the beginning of the 21st century appearing in a variety of projects including Rock My World, Callas Forever, and the Steve Martin/Queen Latifah comedy Bringing Down the House. In 2006 she voiced a part in the big-screen adaptation of Curious George, and two years later could be seen in the family fantasy film The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Trivia: One of the more underrated actors in Hollywood, tall, soft-spoken David Straithairn has earned almost consistent critical appreciation for his work in a number of films, most notably his many collaborations with director John Sayles. Born in San Francisco on January 26, 1949, Straithairn gained an entrance into acting via his days at Williams College. It was there that he met fellow student Sayles, and the two had their first collaboration with Return of the Seacaucus Seven. The 1980 film, which told the story of a group of friends reuniting after college, inspired a number of similar efforts, including The Big Chill. Following his debut, the actor -- whose additional performing experience came from his training at the Ringling Brothers Clown College -- appeared in supporting roles in a number of films, including Silkwood (1983) and Dominick and Eugene (1988). He continued to collaborate with Sayles, acting in The Brother From Another Planet (1984), Matewan, (1987), and Eight Men Out (1988). Straithairn was also introduced to television audiences with his role as bookstore owner Moss Goodman on the popular dramedy series Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.In the 1990s, Straithairn had prominent roles in a number of critically acclaimed films and television miniseries. In addition to his continuing work with Sayles, in 1991's City of Hope and Passion Fish (1992), the actor lent his talents to such films as Bob Roberts (1992), Sneakers (also 1992), The River Wild (a 1994 film which reunited him with Silkwood co-star Meryl Streep), and Losing Isaiah (1995). He also appeared in miniseries such as the 1991 O Pioneers! and In the Gloaming (1997), in which he played the father of an AIDS-stricken Robert Sean Leonard. In 1997, Straithairn had a memorable turn as a high-class pimp with a dodgy mustache in the wildly lauded L.A. Confidential and after a supporting role in Simon Birch (1998), once again collaborated with Sayles, this time playing a fisherman with a past in the 1999 Limbo. He remained one of the most respected character actors of his generation appearing as the father in the remake of The Miracle Worker, and starring in the drama Blue Car as a manipulative teacher. In 2005 he garnered an Oscar nomination and the biggest high-profile success of his career playing Edward R. Murrow in George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck. He followed up that success with appearances in such films as We Are Marshall, The Bourne Ultimatum, Howl, and Temple Grandin. In 2012 he was cast in Steven Spielberg's long-planned biopic Lincoln as William Seward.

Trivia: The genial and good-looking Canadian actor Kyle Switzer launched himself as a star in his early twenties, as a regular cast member of one of the more unusual series to grace the prime-time airwaves during the 2007-2008 TV season. Switzer co-starred in the Kevin Smith-created fantasy comedy Reaper, about a young man (Bret Harrison) unwittingly forced into the role of bounty hunter for Satan, and forced to "deliver" souls who have escaped from the pit of hell. Prior to this, Switzer landed a supporting role in the Canadian soaper 15/Love.

Trivia: Ron Perlman grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City, where his father was a radio/TV repairman and his mother an employee with the city's Department of Health. A profoundly unhandsome youth, Perlman was nonetheless very active in high school theater by virtue of his height (6-foot-2) and his deep, rolling voice. He continued studying drama at Lehman College and later at the University of Minnesota, where he graduated with a master's degree in theater arts. He went to work with New York's Classic Stage Company, an organization specializing in Elizabethan and Restoration plays. Perlman starred in several Manhattan and touring productions staged by Tom O'Horgan of Hair fame before accepting his first film role as a Neanderthal man in 1981's Quest for Fire. Emotionally drained, Perlman backed off from acting after finishing the movie, but was soon back in the groove, essaying such attention-getting roles as the hunchbacked Salvatore in The Name of the Rose (1986). Most often cast as brooding, inarticulate, villainous characters in films (such as Pap in 1993's The Adventures of Huck Finn), Perlman became best known for his performance as the beneficent, albeit hideously ugly, sewer-dwelling Vincent in the late-'80s TV series Beauty and the Beast. Though this remained the actor's defining role for years after the show's run had drawn to a close, he was busier than ever through the '90s. Appearing in everything from obscure arthouse hits (Cronos [1993] and The City of Lost Children [1995]) to voice-over work for television (Aladdin) and video games (Fallout, A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game) to overblown Hollywood blockbusters (Alien Resurrection), Perlman left few stones unturned in terms of flexibility and experimentation in new media. He continued this trend into the early 2000s, alternating between various arenas with remarkable ease and refusing to be pigeonholed, appearing in such high-profile releases as Titan A.E. (2000), Enemy at the Gates (2001), and Blade II (2002). Though his recognition factor seemed higher than ever, few could foresee the opportunity just ahead when Blade II and Cronos director Guillermo del Toro announced that Perlman would star in the film adaptation of Mike Mignola's popular comic book Hellboy, although it seemed highly unlikely that studios would invest the millions of dollars needed to bring the comic to life with an actor of such minimal "marquee value." They wanted Vin Diesel for the role, but del Toro, with the blessing and encouragement of character originator Mignola, eventually won out to have Perlman play the Nazi-creation-turned-superhero in the 2004 fantasy-action film.

Trivia: A blonde beauty who began her career as a ballerina, Izabella Miko moved between Poland and America before establishing herself in the Hollywood scene with roles in such popular features as Coyote Ugly (2000) and The Forsaken (2001).Born in Lodz, Poland, in 1981, Miko studied ballet, voice, and piano at Poland's Chopin Music School before a choreographer recruited her at the age of 14 to move abroad and join the School of American Ballet. Relocating to New York, Miko studied at the New York City Ballet and the Lee Strasberg Institute before a back injury brought her dancing career to a halt. Moving back to Poland and appearing in numerous films in the following few years, Miko moved back to the United States in the mid-'90s and, with her acting experiences intact, began to make a bid for the big time on the silver screens of Hollywood. She had a small recurring role on the HBO western series Deadwood, and went on to appear in Save the Last Dance 2, Dark Streets, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and 2010's big-budget spectacle Clash of the Titans.