Trivia: Trained at HB Studio, rough-edged American actor Ray Sharkey quickly graduated to movies and television. Sharkey's first film was The Lords of Flatbush (1974), a street-gang drama that also featured early appearances by Henry Winkler and Sylvester Stallone. The actor's breakthrough film was 1980's The Idolmaker, in which he played rock 'n' roll entrepreneur Bob Marcucci; that same year, he was Phil in the low-budget but highly praised Willie and Phil. Sharkey's best known role was as Atlantic City gangster Sonny Steelgrave on the TV series "Wiseguy" (1987-90). Shortly after finishing work on the 1992 Burt Reynolds vehicle Cop and A Half, Sharkey made public the fact that he had contracted AIDS through indiscriminate drug use; he died less than one year later.

Trivia: An actor of remarkable intensity whether playing comedy, drama, or classical-stage roles, Marton Csokas first became familiar to stateside audiences as Borias on the hit television series Xena: Warrior Princess. And though American audiences may not have been privy to his early stage and screen work, his performance in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring made him a familiar face. Born in New Zealand in June 1966, Csokas' early schooling didn't exactly encourage creativity, and the future actor didn't discover his passion for the stage and screen until his late teens. While studying literature and art history for a year at Canterbury and Christchurch, Csokas became involved with a writer's club and theater company before graduating from the New Zealand Drama School and co-founding the The Stronghold Theater. Steadily gaining experience and harboring a growing passion for classical-stage drama, the actor landed a role in the television series Shortland Street before making his feature debut in Jack Brown Genius (1994). Numerous small film roles followed, and, after becoming a recognizable star in his native country, Csokas began to familiarize himself with American television audiences with Xena and such small-screen features as The Three Stooges (2000). His experience in the fantasy world of Xena prepared him well for his role as Celeborn in the first Lord of the Rings movie in 2001, and American audiences later saw the versatile actor as a villainous criminal mastermind bent on world domination in XXX (2002). He appeared in director Alex Proyas' decidedly upbeat Garage Days the same year and in Richard Donner's time travel fantasy Timeline in 2003.

Trivia: Was born in Scotland; moved to New Zealand when he was 7. Performed in many television production in New Zealand before landing the role of Hades in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in 1995; reprised the role in the successful spin-off Xena: Warrior Princess from 1996 to '98. Moved to Australia in 1995 to further his career. Has performed extensively in the theatre, including The Sydney Opera House Playhouse's production of The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) in 2004 and The Sydney Theatre Company's production of The Splinter in 2012. Returned to his New Zealand roots with his 2015 role in the mini-series, 800 Words.