Trivia: Judith Hoag may be most well known for playing April O'Neil in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie in 1990, but the adventurous actress wracked up long list of appearances in countless other projects both before and after that role, pursuing her interest in performing, rather than in fame. Hoag was raised in Massachusetts, where she got involved in local and school theater when she was just 13. By the time she was out of high school, she was ready to move to New York and start her career. She began playing guest roles on TV shows and in commercials, and this would prove to be the kind of work that would sustain her career for years to come. In addition to her memorable role in the Ninja Turtles movie, Hoag would go on to appear in one or two episodes of Roseanne, Murder, She Wrote, Mad About You, Melrose Place, The X-Files, ER, Carnivàle, Big Love, and many, many more. In addition to her many TV appearances, Hoag continued to act in commercials, selling everything from restaurants to copy machines.

Trivia: Stone-jawed and puppy-eyed, Elias Koteas has the enviable ability to call on both his distinctive looks and talent to portray a variety of complex, often troubled characters. Koteas is one of Canada's most prominent and well-respected actors, and during the late '90s, he began to amass international critical attention for his work in a number of high profile films, including David Cronenberg's Crash (1996) and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998).Koteas, who is of Greek ancestry, was born in Montreal on March 11, 1961. His father was a mechanic for the Canadian National Railways and his mother worked as a hatmaker; Koteas himself planned to be an architect until his teenage introduction to acting changed his plans. He was particularly inspired by Nick Nolte's performance in the TV miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man; little did Koteas know that two decades later, he would be starring opposite Nolte in The Thin Red Line. After beginning his education at Montreal's Vanier College, Koteas left to study at New York's prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1981. Following his graduation, he went to New York's Actors Studio, where he studied under Ellen Burstyn and Peter Masterson. The actor made his film debut in the Mary Steenburgen drama One Magic Christmas in 1985 and went on to do supporting work in a variety of films that included Francis Ford Coppola's Gardens of Stone (1987), Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), and She's Having a Baby (1988). In 1989, he earned a Genie Award nomination (Canada's equivalent of the Oscar) for his portrayal of the title character of Malarek: A Street Kid Who Made It; two years later, he earned additional acclaim for his performance as a voyeuristic insurance adjustor in Atom Egoyan's The Adjuster. It was for his portrayal of an embittered DJ in another of Egoyan's films, Exotica (1994), that Koteas garnered his second Genie nomination; following this critical success, he began to appear in an increasing number of high profile productions.Koteas was subsequently featured to great effect as the creepy Vaughan in David Cronenberg's controversial Crash (1996), and he invested his brief but pivotal role as Holly Hunter's mystery man in the acclaimed Living out Loud (1998) with memorable charisma. In The Thin Red Line, he managed to stand out from his accomplished co-stars -- who included Nolte, Sean Penn, John Cusack, and Ben Chaplin -- as Captain Storos, an alienated, idealistic soldier who refuses his superior's orders to send his men on a suicidal attack plan. Over the next several years, Koteas would prove to be a consistent force on screen, appearing in films like Shooter, Shutter Island, and Let Me In, as well as the series Combat Hospital.

Trivia: Supporting player, onscreen from the '80s.

Trivia: Something of an old standby -- a stalwart -- whenever Hollywood needed to call on an Asian-American character actor during the '70s, '80s, '90s, and 2000s, James Saito made countless guest appearances on such blockbuster programs as M*A*S*H, The Fall Guy, and The A-Team, often without even so much as a character name. (The M*A*S*H appearances list him only as "South Korean" or "Korean Soldier.") From the early '80s onward, Saito's resumé started to incorporate a number of feature films; per the experiences of most character players, these pictures varied substantially in quality -- from the depths of Hot Dog... The Movie! (1983) to the heights of Buckaroo Banzai (1984) and Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995). In 2007, Saito landed one of his first regular series roles, as Dr. Chen on the spiritual drama Eli Stone.

Trivia: An idiosyncratic actor known for both his versatility and sinewy, off-kilter sexiness, Sam Rockwell is one of the stage and screen's most imaginative and least predictable performers. Once dubbed "the male Parker Posey" for his voluminous work in independent films, Rockwell has also earned notice for his work in more mainstream fare, including Frank Darabont's The Green Mile (1999).Born in Daly City, CA, on November 5, 1968, Rockwell enjoyed a steadfastly bohemian upbringing. The son of artists and actors, Rockwell moved to New York City with his parents when he was two. Three years later, his parents divorced, and he spent much of his youth traveling back and forth between them. Raised by his father in San Francisco, he spent his summers in New York with his mother, whose unconventional lifestyle -- replete with sex, drugs, and flamboyant hippies -- introduced Rockwell to some very adult pastimes at an extremely young age. It was through his mother that he became involved in theater, making his stage debut at the age of ten. He later attended San Francisco's High School of the Performing Arts, where, at the age of 18, he was chosen to star in Clown House (1988), an ill-fated thriller revolving around three brothers' fight to the death with a group of maniacal circus entertainers.Following his screen debut, Rockwell moved to New York and proceeded to make 20 more films, including Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990) and Tom Di Cillo's Box of Moonlight (1996). It was the actor's work in the latter film that first won him recognition: as The Kid, a coonskin cap-clad free spirit whose backwoods existence alters the mundane life of a burnt-out engineer (John Turturro), Rockwell gave an engaging performance that sparked industry attention; unfortunately, the independent film disappeared at the box office. The actor next garnered attention for his lead role in John Duigan's Lawn Dogs (1997), a tale about the unconventional friendship between a white trash lawn boy (Rockwell) and a ten year-old girl (Mischa Barton) with a heart problem. Employing a heavy helping of magical realism to tell its story, the film earned fairly positive reviews, and Rockwell drew particular praise for his complex, low-key performance.The actor subsequently appeared in a series of comedies that made good use of his quirky persona, most notably Safe Men (1998), which cast him and Steve Zahn as two singers of dubious quality who find themselves the unwitting targets of the Jewish mafia. In 1999, more mainstream audiences were introduced to Rockwell thanks to his memorable work in three films: A Midsummer Night's Dream, which cast him as the cross-dressing Francis Flute; Galaxy Quest, a comedy spoof in which Rockwell played a cast member of a failing circa-'70s sci-fi TV series; and The Green Mile, in which the actor got to fully exhibit his twisted versatility as Wild Bill, a death-row inmate whom Rockwell himself characterized as "a disgusting, racist, pedophile freak." Switching gears almost as much as humanly possible, Rockwell's following role in Galaxy Quest (1999) found him a quirky cast member of a Star Trek-like television sci-fi series. The contrast between Rockwell's ultra-lightweight Galaxy Quest characterization and his former role as a genuinely revolting criminal was a testament to his versatility, and though he would stick to comedy with Charlie's Angels, a series of small roles would follow before Rockwell teamed with actor George Clooney for Welcome to Collinwood and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (both 2002). Appearing as former host of the cult television sensation The Gong Show in the latter, Rockwell brought Chuck Barris' compellingly quirky (and partially fictionalized) biography to the screen under first-time director George Clooney. In addition to his work onscreen, Rockwell has continued to act on the stage, appearing in such productions as a 1998 off-Broadway run of Mike Leigh's Goosepimples.Over the next several years, Rockwell would remain a constant force on screen, appearing in films like The Assassination of Jesse James, Choke, Frost/Nixon, Choke, Moon, Conviction, Cowboys & Aliens, and The Sitter.

Trivia: A slender, olive-skinned actress whose elegant beauty is somewhat offset by a collection of vivid tattoos (including the King Lear quote "We all laugh at gilded butterflies" on her right shoulder blade), Megan Fox knew she wanted to be an actress from age three, and never once considered another line of work. A native of Memphis, TN, Fox began taking dance lessons when she was five years old and continued perfecting her graceful movements even after her family relocated to Florida five years later. At 13, the aspiring starlet enrolled in modeling and acting classes. It didn't take long for all of Fox's hard work to pay off, with a role in the 2001 Olsen twins comedy Holiday in the Sun marking the ambitious actress' official screen debut. Over the course of the next few years, Fox became a frequent fixture on television thanks to roles on What I Like About You, Two and a Half Men, and Hope & Faith. In 2004, Fox would torment a fledgling Lindsay Lohan in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, though it was Fox's performance as a human caught in the middle of an epic robot battle that would truly prove her calling card to Hollywood. Cast as the love interest of Shia LaBeouf in Michael Bay's 2007 blockbuster Transformers, Fox turned more than a few heads while fighting for the future of the human race. In 2008, Fox could be spotted opposite Kirsten Dunst, Simon Pegg, Jeff Bridges, and Gillian Anderson in the Robert B. Weide-directed comedy How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, before returning to the action franchise that launched her career in 2009 with the sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Next, Fox would take a stab at something quirkier, showing up in the Diablo Cody penned satirical horror flick Jennifer's Body and the fantasy-Western Jonah Hex in 2010, the same year she married Brian Austin Green. The next year she had a small but crucial part in the indie comedy Friends with Kids . She spoofed her own image as an international sex symbol with a cameo in 2012's The Dictator and had a supporting role in This is 40 the same year. In 2014, she took on the role of April O'Neil in the reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, reprising the role in 2016. Fox also returned to television, with a guest-arc on New Girl to compensate for Zooey Deschanel's absence after her pregnancy; she was so well-received she was invited back the following season to continue the role.

Trivia: After almost a decade of starring in failed pilots, Toronto-born Will Arnett finally hit pay dirt in 2003 when Fox picked up Arrested Development, an irreverent sitcom that cast him as a spoiled rich kid-turned-aspiring illusionist. While the show struggled in ratings, it won loads of critical praise and garnered an incredibly loyal fan base that helped keep it on the air for three seasons before Fox finally gave up and pulled the plug. In the wake of Arrested Development's cancellation, Arnett quickly and smoothly transitioned into big-screen work. His first starring role came in 2006 with the comedy Let's Go to Prison! Though the film failed to find success at the box office, Arnett's momentum wasn't hampered in the least. In 2007, his film career exploded with supporting roles in Blades of Glory, Hot Rod, and Ratatouille, and a starring slot opposite Saturday Night Live's Will Forte in The Brothers Solomon. That same year also saw Arnett starting a scene-stealing recurring role on NBC's 30 Rock and a memorable voice-over cameo in Edgar Wright's faux-trailer contribution to Grindhouse, "Don't."Thanks to his distinctive deep voice, Arnett found steady work in animated films including Ratatouille, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who, Monsters vs. Aliens, Despicable Me, and The Lego Movie. He had a failed sitcom, Running Wilde, in 2010 that was cancelled after just one season, but he quickly found himself as the lead on the NBC sitcom Up All Night opposite Christina Applegate, a show that did earn a second season before it too was cancelled. Arnett tried again with the CBS comedy The Millers in 2013 and also reprised his role in the resurrected fourth season of Arrested Development on Netflix.

Trivia: Though best known as an outspoken comedienne, Whoopi Goldberg is also a talented dramatic actress. By virtue of her distinctive appearance and a persona that is both no-nonsense and empathic, Goldberg has emerged as one of the most recognizable celebrities of the '80s and '90s.Born Caryn Johnson on November 13, 1955 in New York City, Goldberg began her long career when she was eight years old, performing with New York's Helena Rubenstein Children's Theater. She then went on to study with the Hudson Guild children's arts program and attended the prestigious High School for the Performing Arts. After graduating, Goldberg occasionally won small parts in Broadway productions such as Hair, Pippin and Jesus Christ Superstar, but also supported herself doing odd jobs like bricklaying and serving as a funeral parlor make-up artist. In 1975, Goldberg moved West and helped found the San Diego Repertory Theater, where she appeared in a number of plays, including Brecht's Mother Courage and Marsha Norman's Getting Out. After several stints with the Spontaneous Combustion improvisational troupe and work in avant-garde productions at Berkeley's Blake Street Hawkeyes theater, Goldberg devised The Spook Show, a one woman satirical production in which she played several characters. The show, which originated in San Francisco, eventually toured the U.S. and Europe, earning acclaim and the attention of director Mike Nichols. Nichols went on to direct a 1984 Broadway version of the show, which earned Goldberg Drama Desk and Theatre World awards, as well as a Grammy for the album recording.Goldberg made an auspicious Hollywood debut with her portrayal of Celie, the lead character in Steven Spielberg's controversial 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's novel. Goldberg's moving performance was rewarded with an Oscar nomination and Best Actress Golden Globe, as well as instant stardom for the actress. Although Goldberg's film career looked promising, the actress unfortunately spent much of the decade's remainder appearing in terrible action comedies such as Fatal Beauty and Burglar (both 1987) that did not do her comic gifts justice. Her one partial success during this period was her first action comedy, Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), which did relatively well at the box office and gave her a certain cult status. In 1988, Goldberg took a break from comedy with a memorable turn as a worldly Jamaican nanny in the otherwise unremarkable Clara's Heart. She also made numerous appearances in television specials, most notably as a co-host for the annual Comic Relief benefit for the homeless. Her attempt at sitcoms failed with the short-lived series Bagdad Cafe, but she did find greater television success with a small but crucial recurring role as the sagacious intergalactic bartender Guinan on the syndicated Star Trek: The Next Generation. Around the same time, Goldberg's film career underwent a sharp turn-around. She won acclaim playing a selfless housekeeper opposite Sissy Spacek in the provocative Civil Rights drama The Long Walk Home (1989), and then played an eccentric con artist possessing unexpected psychic powers in the 1990 smash hit Ghost. Goldberg's funny yet moving performance earned her her first Oscar and the widespread opinion that this marked her comeback performance. After a couple of missteps that had a few people rethinking this verdict, Goldberg scored again with the 1992 hit comedy Sister Act. Nominated for Golden Globes and two NAACP awards, the film spawned mass ticket sales and an unsuccessful 1993 sequel, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. Meanwhile, Goldberg also continued her television work with a 1992 late night talk show. A laid back affair that ran for 200 episodes, it was praised by critics but failed to secure high ratings and went on permanent hiatus after only six months. However, Goldberg continued to appear on TV with her recurring role as a Comic Relief co-host and as an MC for the Academy Awards ceremony, a role she reprised multiple times. At the same time, Goldberg continued to work in film, doing both comedy and drama and experiencing the obligatory highs and lows. Some of her more memorable roles included that of a single mother who discovers that Ted Danson, not a black genius, fathered her daughter in Made in America (1993), a lesbian lounge singer in Boys on the Side (1995), a white-middle-aged corporate executive in The Associate (1996), Angela Bassett's best friend in the 1998 hit How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and a private detective in the drama The Deep End of the Ocean (1999). In addition, Goldberg also appeared in two notable documentaries, The Celluloid Closet (1995), and Get Bruce! a piece about comedy writer Bruce Vilanch that also featured fellow comedians such as Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Nathan Lane and Bette Midler.As the new decade dawned, Goldberg could be seen in supporting roles in projects like Rocky and Bullwinkle and the ensemble comedy Rat Race. Then, in 2003, she tried her hand at a starring sitcom role for the first time with Whoopi. The show found Goldberg playing an irreverent hotel owner and was met with mixed reviews before being cancelled mid-season.In 2004, Goldberg focused her career on voice work with appearances in Doogal, The Lion King 1 1/2, and P3K: Pinocchio3000. She continued this trend in the following years with such films as Racing Stripes and Everyone's Hero. Then, in 2007, Goldberg returned to the small-screen, replacing Rosie O'Donnell on the ABC panel show The View. Goldberg lent her voice to Pixar's Toy Story 3 in 2010, and as the narrator for 2011's documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey.

Trivia: An intense, versatile performer, William Fichtner, born November 27th, 1956, emerged as a memorable character actor through his work with some of the most notable filmmakers of the 1990s and beyond. After his military brat childhood, Fichtner studied criminal justice in college before moving to New York City to shift his focus to acting. Fichtner got his first major acting job on the serial As the World Turns in 1988 and played bit parts in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992) and Robert Redford's Quiz Show (1994). Steven Soderbergh gave Fichtner his first substantial film role as a small town hood in the neo-noir The Underneath (1994). After supporting turns in Kathryn Bigelow's Y2K fantasy Strange Days (1995) and Michael Mann's stylish police saga Heat (1995), Fichtner earned kudos for his psychotic hit man in actor Kevin Spacey's directorial debut Albino Alligator (1997). As a gentle blind scientist in Robert Zemeckis' empyreal sci-fi adventure Contact (1997), Fichtner further revealed his considerable range; among the hip ensemble cast in Doug Liman's time-bending rave comedy Go (1999), Fichtner managed to stand out with his humorously unsettling performance as a narcotics cop with an agenda. Fichtner finally achieved leading man status as one of Demi Moore's amours in Passion of Mind (2000), but Alain Berliner's first American effort failed at the box office. Moving easily between independent films and big-budget Hollywood, Fichtner next co-starred as one of the ill-fated swordfishermen in Wolfgang Petersen's adaptation of The Perfect Storm (2000). Maintaining his prolific ways after The Perfect Storm's success, and earning a place in Vanity Fair's 2001 photo spread of premier supporting actors, Fichtner took on a varied trio of roles in three major 2001 releases. After playing a small part as Josh Hartnett's dad in Michael Bay's overwrought $198 million disappointment Pearl Harbor (2001), Fichtner's turn as a gay detective in the lumbering comedy What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001) was one of the bright spots in an otherwise disposable movie. Back in his no-nonsense manhood style, Fichtner then appeared as a master sergeant involved in the troubled 1993 mission in Somalia in Ridley Scott's Oscar bait military drama Black Hawk Down (2001).After the ensemble carnage of Black Hawk Down, Fichtner moved to the small screen for a starring role as one of two maverick ER doctors in the ABC medical drama MDs (2002). A competitive time slot and poor reviews, however, hampered MDs' ratings. Though his foray into series television stumbled, Fichtner continued to rack up movie credits, appearing alongside Christian Bale and Emily Watson in the dystopian science fiction thriller Equilibrium (2002).In 2004, Fichtner appeared in Nine Lives, a critically successful episodic drama following the lives of nine women, and after participating in a variety of films throughout 2005 (The Chumscrubber, Empire Falls) and the television series Invasion Iowa, Fichtner joined the cast of the Academy Award-winning drama Crash. The actor continued to enjoy television success in the series Prison Break (2006-07), and played a conservative judge in an episode of The West Wing. Fichtner took on a role playing a bank manager in Gotham City for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008), and joined the casts of Date Night (2010), The Big Bang, and Drive Angry (all 2011).

Trivia: Modeled for Abercrombie and Fitch. Auditioned during season 3 of American Idol. Released his debut album, This Is Next Time, in 2005. Is uniquely credited as the character model for the animated character Beowulf in Robert Zemeckis' 2007 animated film of the same title.

Trivia: Left college to join the cast of Saturday Night Live; was the youngest female cast member in the show's history. Third generation of the Elliott family to be featured on Saturday Night Live: her father Chris was a cast member during the 1994-95 season, and her grandfather Bob Elliott appeared in a 1978 episode.

Trivia: With his knack for staging visually flashy blockbuster mayhem, Michael Bay became the commercial leader among a new, 1990s generation of advertising-and-MTV-bred directors. Hollywood to the core, Bay has claimed that he was the illegitimate child of a popular director of the 1970s -- although he won't reveal who -- and was given up for adoption at birth. Raised in Los Angeles, he spent his childhood staging Super-8 action movies. He studied film at Wesleyan University and the Pasadena Arts Center, where a Coke commercial he shot as a student project attracted offers to make the real thing. His Coke, Nike, Budweiser, and award-winning "Got Milk?" ads resulted in a 1994 Director's Guild nomination for Best Commercial Director. He was then tapped by producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer to make the kind of slick escapism that defined their 1980s heyday; Bay's directorial debut, Bad Boys (1995), became a star-maker for Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.Bay made his movie name with his second feature, The Rock (1996). While the lead trio of Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, and Ed Harris lent a modicum of class to the over-the-top story concerning treason and Alcatraz, Bay's rapid edits, mobile camera, multi-colored lighting effects, and extreme camera angles never let the narrative energy flag. Popular beyond expectations, The Rock remade the idiosyncratic Cage into a 1990s action star and put Bay on the directorial A-list. Bay's third film, Armageddon (1998), proved that The Rock was no commercial fluke. Although it was the second "asteroid" movie in three months, Armageddon's adrenalized, effects-laden exploits and a cast mixing veterans with hip newcomers turned it into one of the summer's top hits. Armageddon's success set the stage for a bigger, more ambitious, and far more expensive Bay film the next time out: 2001's historical epic/action hybrid Pearl Harbor. Aiming to out-Titanic Titanic, Bay took the events of December 7, 1941, and grafted them onto a fictional love triangle as vapid as it was implausible. The film's budget -- at the time, it was rumored to be the most expensive production ever -- assured that its 40-minute recreation of the 90-minute bombing would indeed be spectacular (in a hyper-edited, Bay sort of way). Unsurprisingly, critics eviscerated the film. But, despite a huge Memorial Day weekend opening and a by other standards large 198 million dollars in U.S. grosses, the public didn't respond to Pearl Harbor, either, and it failed to become the mega-blockbuster it was designed to be.In the next few years, Bay returned to the franchise that made his name, reuniting Will Smith and the errant Martin Lawrence for the predictably profitable (if surprisingly overlong) Bad Boys II. However, venturing outside of his tough-guys comfort zone for the futuristic sci-fi thriller The Island in 2005, Bay experienced his first true flop. The film combined two stars whose ability to open a picture had not yet been tested -- Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson -- and a premise that seemed more Logan's Run than The Matrix. Bay's dystopian, clones-on-the-run vision came and went in America, although it had better staying power in the worldwide market, where its stars had more influence.Bay augmented his career by producing a string of slick, profitable horror remakes (The Hitcher, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and its prequel) as he geared up for a remake of his own, bringing the venerable animated kid's show The Transformers to the big screen in 2007. It was such a box-office behemoth that he would make numerous sequels to the project over the next few years. While those would take up the majority of his directorial duties, Bay continued to work as producer on horror film remakes of classics like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Trivia: Hollywood mogul Andrew Form began his ascent to the producer's chair courtesy of a much-coveted job as the assistant to Jerry Bruckheimer on such opuses as Bad Boys (1995), Crimson Tide (1995), and The Rock (1996). In subsequent years, Form distinguished himself as a producer in his own right; he co-formed the shingle Platinum Dunes with Michael Bay and onetime Bay assistant Bradley Fuller. At Platinum, Form specialized in early 21st century remakes of horror classics that downplayed subtlety, upped the ante on graphic violence and gore, and generally made hefty box office returns. Early projects included the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror. In 2008, Form continued this trend with a slate that included projected remakes of films including Rosemary's Baby, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th.

Trivia: A former executive assistant to Hollywood action stalwart Michael Bay, Brad Fuller made headlines when he created the Platinum Dunes production company alongside Bay and former Bruckheimer assistant Andrew Form. Under the aegis of Form and Fuller, Platinum largely specialized in lucrative remakes of Hollywood horror classics, which upped the ante on the gore quotient. These projects included The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Hitcher (2007), Friday the 13th (2009), and Rosemary's Baby (2009).