Trivia: Moon-faced, dreamy eyed, and radiating the kind of lo-fi intensity that made him a natural for the kind of Thoughtful Young Man roles in which he made his name during the early years of his career, Tobey Maguire has proven to be one of the most thought-provoking actors of his generation. Whether portraying a disaffected young suburbanite in The Ice Storm (1997) or a geek turned superhero in Spider-Man (2002), Maguire always gives the kind of nuanced, engaging performances that have the effect of making the viewer believe that short of actually spinning webs from his wrists, there is very little he can't do.Maguire was born in Santa Monica, CA, on June 27, 1975. The son of a construction worker and secretary, he was raised predominately by his mother after his parents divorced when he was almost two years old. The two led an itinerant lifestyle, living with relatives all over the country. Maguire's childhood ambition was to become a cook, but his mother, once an aspiring actress herself, encouraged her son to go into acting. Following a sixth grade drama class, the young actor began getting roles in commercials, which led to a starring turn in the short-lived 1992 sitcom Great Scott!The following year, Maguire made his film debut in This Boy's Life, which starred Robert De Niro and a very young Leonardo Di Caprio. After a small part in 1994's S.F.W. and a lead in the same year's largely unseen Revenge of the Red Baron, Maguire attracted favorable notice for his role in the 1995 Oscar-nominated short The Duke of Groove, in which he co-starred with Uma Thurman.1997 proved to be Maguire's breakthrough year, as he worked with two widely respected directors on two high-profile projects. The first was Ang Lee's critically lauded adaptation of the Rick Moody novel The Ice Storm; in a film filled with exceptional performances, Maguire held his own amongst a cast that included Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, and Christina Ricci, and won acclaim for his portrayal of the dutiful and discontented Paul Hood. His other 1997 film, Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry, received mixed reviews, but Maguire's presence in an Allen film further bolstered his career.The year 1998 was another good year for the actor, who had a lead role in the highly acclaimed Pleasantville, in which he starred as a teenager who gets transported into the world of a '50s TV show. He also made a cameo appearance as a bedraggled hitchhiker in Terry Gilliam's adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. With a rising profile and coveted spot on the 1998 cover of Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood issue, Maguire was emerging as one of the more solid and worthwhile young actors in an industry where too many young performers fall prey to the lure of glitz over grit.His reputation was further established with his turn as the protagonist of The Cider House Rules, Lasse Hallström's 1999 Oscar-nominated adaptation of John Irving's novel about a young man who comes of age under the tutelage of an abortionist played by Michael Caine. Maguire's similarly strong work as a troubled but brilliant young writer in Wonder Boys (2000) undoubtedly helped him to win the attention of director Sam Raimi, who eventually cast the actor in the role of Peter Parker, the awkward teenager who becomes the eponymous, web-spinning hero of Spider-Man. The film, which was released in 2002, broke box-office records with its opening weekend draw of more than 110 million dollars, and finally separated Tobey Maguire from his mainstream status as Leonardo DiCaprio's basketball buddy into a mega-star in his own right. Its success catapulted Maguire -- who beefed up his skinny frame for the role and managed to assuage the misgivings of even the most die-hard Spidey fans with his astute performance -- into the rarefied realm of the A-list, complete with the promise of a multimillion-dollar paycheck for his future work, and led to his role as producer of 2002's The 25th Hour, as well as the wildly successful Seabiscuit. In 2004, Maguire returned to his role of Peter Parker in the hotly anticipated Spider-Man 2 and then finished up his superhero contract with the final installation of the trilogy, Spider-Man 3 (2007).Maguire would spend the ensuing years enjoying a selective career, appearing in Brothers, The Details, and The Great Gatsby.

Trivia: As legend has it, Charlize Theron was discovered by an agent while fighting with a bank manager on Hollywood Boulevard. Eighteen and starving, Theron purportedly got into the argument after the manager refused to cash her check. The outburst caught the agent's attention, and eight months later Theron got her first acting job. She subsequently went on to become one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood, thanks to a fortuitous combination of talent and the blonde, statuesque good looks so fervently adored by the camera. Born August 7, 1975, Theron was raised on a farm in Benoni, South Africa. Trained as a ballet dancer, she was sent to Milan at 16 to become a model following the death of her father (which, it was later revealed, occurred after he was shot by Theron's mother, who was defending herself from his drunken abuse). After tiring of modeling, Theron returned to her first love, dancing, which resulted in a move to New York to dance with the Joffrey Ballet. Unfortunately, her career was halted by a knee injury, which led Theron -- at her mother's behest -- to travel to Los Angeles to try her luck with acting. After a long, unprofitable struggle, fate smiled upon Theron in the form of the aforementioned bank encounter. Following an inauspicious bit part in 1994's Children of the Corn III, Theron won her first dose of recognition with 2 Days in the Valley (1996). The film wasn't particularly successful, but it did give her both much-needed exposure and critical praise. The film also served as the stepping stone to her first leading role, that of Keanu Reeves' embattled wife in The Devil's Advocate (1997). The film drew poor reviews, but Theron managed to win widespread praise for her performance. Her next project, Trial and Error (1997), surfaced briefly before disappearing with nary a trace, but the subsequent Mighty Joe Young (1998) netted Theron more positive notices. Her ascent was confirmed with her casting in Celebrity, Woody Allen's 1998 cameo-fest that also featured turns from everyone from Kenneth Branagh to Winona Ryder to Leonardo DiCaprio to Isaac Mizrahi. In her portrayal of a perpetually aroused supermodel, Theron shone in a role seemingly designed to allow her to flaunt her natural attributes and little else. She was rewarded with more substantial -- not to mention multilayered -- work in The Cider House Rules (1999), Lasse Hallström's Oscar-winning adaptation of John Irving's novel. As a troubled young woman with secrets to hide, Theron received star billing alongside Michael Caine and Tobey Maguire.In the wake of The Cider House Rules came a few highly publicized but ultimately disappointing projects, including John Frankenheimer's Reindeer Games (2000), Robert Redford's The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), and Sweet November (2001), the last of which reunited her with erstwhile co-star Keanu Reeves. Theron was also reunited with Woody Allen in his The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), another widely anticipated film that, despite a high-profile cast and stylish period design, was both a critical and commercial underachiever.None of this, however, nudged Theron from her A-list status, something that was confirmed by her casting in the flashy, star-studded 2003 remake of The Italian Job, a much-beloved 1969 comedy caper starring Michael Caine. The 2003 version featured Mark Wahlberg in the starring role, with Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, and Mos Def, among others, backing him up. That same year, Theron switched gears and dove headfirst into the "serious actress" category with her starring role in Monster, the crime drama based upon the real-life story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who, in the late '80s, murdered seven men in Florida. Co-starring Christina Ricci as Wuornos' lover, the film promised to show audiences a side of Theron that certainly hadn't been hinted at in her previous portrayals of models, girlfriends, and Southern debutantes. It was evidently successful as Theron was showered with more than a dozen awards including an Oscar following her first-ever Academy Award nomination.2005 would be a decidedly mixed year for Theron. She first appeared in the live-action adaptation of the cult animated series Aeon Flux, a film that was nearly unanimously maligned by critics and largely avoided by audiences. Luckily, she also starred in the well-received docudrama North Country. Playing a woman who successfully battled sexual harassment, Theron was honored with her second Oscar nomination for the performance.In 2007 Theron earned critical praise for her supporting role as a detective in In the Valley of Elah, and joined the star-studded cast of The Road in 2008. Theron took a lead role the following year in Young Adult (penned by Juno collaborators Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman) as a recently divorced author who returns to her hometown with her sights set on winning back her high school sweet heart. Young Adult was received well by both box office and critical standards. 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman featured Theron as the diabolical queen, while Prometheus (2012) found the actress playing the cold but complex character of corporate representative Meredith Vickers. In 2014, she took on a out-of-character comic role, playing the romantic lead in Seth Macfarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West, before returning to top form in Mad Max: Fury Road the following year.

Trivia: Whether on stage or the big screen, Delroy Lindo projects a powerful presence that is virtually impossible to ignore. Though it was not his first film role, his portrayal of manic depressive numbers boss West Indian Archie in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992) is what first attracted attention to Lindo's considerable talents. Since then, his star has slowly been on the rise and the actor has had steady opportunity to display his talent in a number of diverse films.The son of Jamaican parents, Lindo was born in London, England, on November 18, 1952. He was raised in Lewisham, England, until his teens, when he and his mother moved across the Atlantic to Toronto. Following a move to the U.S. a short time later, he became involved in acting, eventually graduating from San Francisco's renowned American Conservatory Theater. After graduation, he landed his first film role, that of an Army sergeant in More American Graffiti (1979). He would not appear in another film for a decade, spending the intervening years on the stage. In 1982, Lindo debuted on Broadway in Master Harold and the Boys, directed by the play's author, Athol Fugard. Six years later, he earned a Tony nomination for his portrayal of Harold Loomis in Joe Turner's Come and Gone.Although possessing obvious talent and the potential for a distinguished career, Lindo found himself in something of a rut during the late '80s. Wanting someone more aggressive and appreciative of his talents, he changed agents (he'd had the same one through most of his early career). It was a smart move, but it was director Spike Lee who provided the boost that the actor's career needed. The director was impressed enough with Lindo to first cast him in Malcolm X and then as patriarch Woody Carmichael in his semi-autobiographical comedy Crooklyn (1994), a role for which Lindo earned some long overdue praise. 1995 proved to be another big year for the actor, as he landed substantial supporting roles in two major films, playing a mercurial drug dealer in Barry Sonnenfeld's Get Shorty and another drug dealer in Lee's Clockers. The following year, he could be seen in yet another villainous role in Feeling Minnesota. However, he also proved that he could portray the other side of the law, in the Mel Gibson thriller Ransom, in which he played an FBI agent, and John Woo's Broken Arrow, which cast him as a colonel. He made good as baseball player Satchel Paige in the upbeat Baseball in Black and White that same year, winning himself an NAACP Image nomination in the process.Following a turn as a jaded angel opposite Holly Hunter in Danny Boyle's A Life Less Ordinary (1997), Lindo returned to a more earthly realm, further proving his talent for playing shadesters in The Cider House Rules (1999), in which he portrayed a cider house foreman who impregnates his daughter, and Romeo Must Die (2000), a loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet that cast him as a vengeful mob boss. Following roles in Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000), Heist (2001), and The Last Castle (also 2001), Lindo re-teamed with Romeo star Jet Li for another high-kicking action opus, The One, in late 2001. Supporting roles in such high profile Hollywood films as The Core, Sahara, and Domino kept Lindo in the public eye over the course of the following decade, and in 2009 the actor lent his voice to the character of Beta in the runaway Pixar hit Up.

Trivia: Displaying the type of understated, dark-eyed good looks that make him a natural candidate for an art house pinup, Paul Rudd impressed filmgoers throughout the latter half of the 1990s with his talent for turning in performances marked by thoughtful insight and an unassuming charisma. Since his turn as Alicia Silverstone's endearingly self-righteous stepbrother in the 1995 film Clueless, Rudd has enjoyed a sort of low-key fame that has allowed him to branch out both in film and on the stage.The son of British-born parents, Rudd came into the world via Passaic, NJ, on April 6, 1969. Because of his father's job in the airline industry, Rudd and his family traveled a great deal, eventually settling in Kansas City, KS. After graduating from high school, Rudd attended the University of Kansas, where he majored in theater. Following his graduation, he was accepted as a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts/West in Los Angeles. His studies there led to a three-month theater workshop at Oxford University's British Drama Academy, where he was tutored by the producer and editor Michael Kahn. During his time in England, Rudd also co-produced the Globe Theatre's Bloody Poetry, in which he starred as the poet Percy Shelley, and then performed the title role of Hamlet, in a production directed by Ben Kingsley. Back in the States, Rudd made his television debut in 1992, in the series Sisters. As Ashley Judd's boyfriend Kirbie Philby, Rudd stayed with the show until 1995. During this time, he also appeared in other television productions, including the short-lived series Wild Oats (1994). In 1995, he made his big-screen debut in Amy Heckerling's Clueless, a film that met with a lavish dose of unanticipated success. Although much of the limelight was reserved for the film's star Alicia Silverstone, Rudd also received a fair amount of press, as well as the adulation of a new generation of fans who warmed to the actor's unconventional appeal. The same year, he played the lead in the sixth Halloween installment, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. The year 1996 proved to be one of hits and misses, as it included his leading part in the straight-to-video Overnight Delivery, co-starring Reese Witherspoon, and the highly successful William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, in which he played against type as the arrogant Dave Paris. The same year, Rudd starred in the obscure but critically praised Canadian independent The Size of Watermelons, before going on to make the equally obscure, critically trashed The Locusts (1997). Theatrically, however, 1997 provided positive experience in the form of a Broadway production of Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo, in which Rudd had a lead role. There were further positive experiences for Rudd in 1998, as in addition to his principal role in the well-received The Object of My Affection, he starred in the high-profile Lincoln Center production of Twelfth Night, which co-starred Helen Hunt and was directed by Nicholas Hytner, his Object director. Rudd continued his theater work the following year, with Neil LaBute's Bash, an off-Broadway show that also featured Calista Flockhart and Ron Eldard. In addition, he had a starring role in 200 Cigarettes, a film remarkable for both its enviable ensemble cast (including Christina Ricci, Ben Affleck, and Martha Plimpton) and the overwhelmingly desultory reviews it received. However, even the most savage of critics were able to single out Rudd for praise, further reflecting the actor's ability to make a favorable impression in even the most unfavorable of films.After a turn as Nick Caraway in a made-for-television adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Rudd showed off his ability pull off broad-comedy in the largely improvised 2001 parody film Wet Hot American Summer. He changed gears considerably for his next project, The Shape of Things which saw him reteam with director LaBute.In 2004, Rudd again flexed his skills as a comedic scene-stealer with a supporting role in the 70s-era Will Ferrell vehicle Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Keenly aware that he was very much on to a good thing, Rudd kept the laughs coming in Tennis, Anyone...? and The Baxter before hitting yet another comedy homerun in the 2005 Steve Carrell comedy The 40 Year Old Virgin. The movie moved Rudd several notches up on the radar of comedy fans, and he followed it up with memorable turns in many more laugh-fests over the coming years, including Knocked Up in 2007, Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008, Role Models in 2009, and I Love You, Man in 2009. Having made himself a favorite comic actor in the industry, Rudd was soon able to pick and choose increasingly perfect roles for his style, starring in 2010's Dinner for Schmucks with Steve Carrell in 2010, and Our Idiot Brother with Zooey Deschanel in 2011. The following year, on the heels of the big screen comedy Wanderlust and a recurring role on television's Parks and Recreation, Rudd reprised his role from Knocked Up in writer/director Judd Apatow's semi-sequel This is 40.

Trivia: Icon of British cool in the 1960s, leading action star in the late '70s, and knighted into official respectability in 1993, Michael Caine has enjoyed a long, varied, and enviably prolific career. Although he played a part in some notable cinematic failures, particularly during the 1980s, Caine remains one of the most established performers in the business, serving as a role model for actors and filmmakers young and old. The son of a fish-porter father and a charwoman mother, Caine's beginnings were less than glamorous. Born Maurice Micklewhite in 1943, in the squalid South London neighborhood of Bermondsey, Caine got his first taste of the world beyond when he was evacuated to the countryside during World War II. A misfit in school, the military (he served during the Korean War), and the job pool, Caine found acceptance after answering a want ad for an assistant stage manager at the Horsham Repertory Company. Already star struck thanks to incessant filmgoing, Caine naturally took to acting, even though the life of a British regional actor was one step away from abject poverty. Changing his last name from Micklewhite to Caine in tribute to one of his favorite movies, The Caine Mutiny (1954), the actor toiled in obscurity in unbilled film bits and TV walk-ons from 1956 through 1962, occasionally obtaining leads on a TV series based on the Edgar Wallace mysteries. Caine's big break occurred in 1963, when he was cast in a leading role in the epic, star-studded historical adventure film Zulu. Suddenly finding himself bearing a modicum of importance in the British film industry, the actor next played Harry Palmer, the bespectacled, iconoclastic secret agent protagonist of The Ipcress File (1965); he would go on to reprise the role in two more films, Funeral in Berlin (1966) and The Billion Dollar Brain (1967). After 12 years of obscure and unappreciated work, Caine was glibly hailed as an "overnight star," and with the success of The Ipcress Files, advanced to a new role as a major industry player. He went on to gain international fame in his next film, Alfie (1966), in which he played the title character, a gleefully cheeky, womanizing cockney lad. For his portrayal of Alfie, Caine was rewarded with a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination. One of the most popular action stars of the late '60s and early '70s, Caine had leading roles in films such as the classic 1969 action comedy The Italian Job (considered by many to be the celluloid manifestation of all that was hip in Britain at the time); Joseph L. Manckiewic's Sleuth (1972), in which he starred opposite Laurence Olivier and won his second Oscar nomination; and The Man Who Would Be King (1976), which cast him alongside Sean Connery. During the 1980s, Caine gained additional acclaim with an Oscar nomination for Educating Rita (1983) and a 1986 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Hannah and Her Sisters. He had a dastardly turn as an underworld kingpin in Neil Jordan's small but fervently praised Mona Lisa, and two years later once again proved his comic talents with the hit comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in which he and Steve Martin starred as scheming con artists. Although Caine was no less prolific during the 1990s, his career began to falter with a series of lackluster films. Among the disappointments were Steven Seagal's environmental action flick On Deadly Ground (1994) and Blood and Wine, a 1996 thriller in which he starred with Jack Nicholson and Judy Davis. In the late '90s, Caine began to rebound, appearing in the acclaimed independent film Little Voice (1998), for which he won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of a seedy talent agent. In addition, Caine -- or Sir Michael, as he was called after receiving his knighthood in 2000 -- got a new audience through his television work, starring in the 1997 miniseries Mandela and de Klerk. The actor, who was ranked 55 in Empire Magazine's 1997 Top 100 Actors of All Time list, also kept busy as the co-owner of a successful London restaurant, and enjoyed a new wave of appreciation from younger filmmakers who praised him as the film industry's enduring model of British cool. This appreciation was further evidenced in 2000, when Caine was honored with a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of an abortionist in The Cider House Rules. After launching the new millennium with both a revitalized career momentum and newfound popularity among fans who were too young to appreciate his early efforts, Caine once again scored a hit with the art-house circuit as the torturous Dr Royer-Collard in director Phillip Kaufman's Quills. Later paid homage by Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone when the muscle-bound actor stepped into Caine's well-worn shoes for a remake of Get Carter (in which Caine also appeared in a minor role) the actor would gain positive notice the following year for his turn as a friend attempting to keep a promise in Last Orders. As if the Get Carter remake wasn't enought to emphasize Caine's coolness to a new generation of moviegoers, his turn as bespectacled super-spy Austin Powers' father in Austin Powers in Goldfinger proved that even years beyond The Italian Job Caine was still at the top of his game. Moving seamlessly from kitsch to stirring drama, Caine's role in 2002's The Quiet American earned the actor not only some of the best reviews of his later career, but another Oscar nomination as well. Caine had long demonstrated an unusual versatility that made him a cult favorite with popular and arthouse audiences, but as the decade wore on, he demonstrated more box-office savvy by pursuing increasingly lucrative audience pleasers, almost exclusively for a period of time. The thesp first resusciated the triumph of his Muppet role with a brief return to family-friendly material in Disney's Secondhand Lions, alongside screen legend Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies, The Apostle). The two play quirky great-uncles to a maladjusted adolescent boy (Haley Joel Osment), who take the child for the summer as a guest on their Texas ranch. The film elicited mediocre reviews (Carrie Rickey termed it "edgeless as a marshmallow and twice as syrupy") but scored with ticket buyers during its initial fall 2003 run. Caine then co-starred with Christopher Walken and Josh Lucas in the family issues drama Around the Bend (2004). In 2005, perhaps cued by the bankability of Goldfinger and Lions, Caine landed a couple of additional turns in Hollywood A-listers. In that year's Nicole Kidman/Will Ferrell starrer Bewitched, he plays Nigel Bigelow, Kidman's ever philandering warlock father. Even as critics wrote the vehicle off as a turkey, audiences didn't listen, and it did outstanding business, doubtless helped by the weight of old pros Caine and Shirley Maclaine. That same year's franchise prequel Batman Begins not only grossed dollar one, but handed Caine some of his most favorable notices to date, as he inherited the role of Bruce Wayne's butler, a role he would return to in both of the film's sequels, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Caine contributed an elegiac portrayal to Gore Verbinski's quirky late 2005 character drama The Weatherman, as Robert Spritz, the novelist father of Nic Cage's David Spritz, who casts a giant shadow over the young man. In 2006, Caine joined the cast of the esteemed Alfonso Cuaron's dystopian sci-fi drama Children of Men, and lent a supporting role to Memento helmer Christopher Nolan's psychological thriller The Prestige. In 2009 Caine starred as the title character in Harry Brown, a thriller about a senior citizen vigilante, and the next year worked with Nolan yet again on the mind-bending Inception.

Trivia: A graduate of Sarah Lawrence University and the University of Edinburgh, American actress Jane Alexander first gained national fame for her Tony-winning performance in the 1965 Broadway play The Great White Hope. She repeated her portrayal of the white mistress of a turn-of-century black heavyweight boxing champ (played by James Earl Jones) for the 1969 film version of Hope, which served as her film debut and earned her an Oscar nomination. The actress' subsequent theatrical-feature appearances have often been short in duration, but long on dramatic impact: most memorable was her single scene as a terrified Republican party bookkeeper ("If you can get Mitchell, that would be great!") in All the President's Men (1976). Alexander made the first of two TV-special appearances as Eleanor Roosevelt in Eleanor and Franklin, telecast in two parts on January 11 and 12, 1976; this was followed by Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (March 13,1977). While she surprisingly did not win an Emmy for either of these superlative performances, she finally attained the award for her supporting appearance in 1981's Playing for Time. Her best-remembered television appearance was as the California housewife faced with the enormity of a nearby nuclear attack in Testament (1983), which was slated for PBS' American Playhouse, then redirected for a theatrical premiere -- a move that enabled Alexander to receive her third Oscar nomination (the second was for 1979's Kramer vs. Kramer). On a lighter note, the actress was hilariously outre as Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper in the TV biopic Malice in Wonderland (1989). Well known for her diplomacy and her espousal of liberal causes, Alexander found herself in the position to exercise both of these traits when, in 1993, she was appointed chairperson of the beleaguered National Endowment for the Arts.Alexander would remain as active as ever over the coming decades, appearing most notably in films like The Cider House Rules, The Ring, Feast of Love, and Dream House, and on TV series like The Good Wife.

Trivia: An earthy strawberry blonde who has skirted typical leading lady roles to build a respectable career out of commendable supporting performances, talented Kathy Baker has time and again proven her cinematic worth with indispensable turns in such films as Edward Scissorhands (1990) and The Cider House Rules (1999). A native of Midland, TX, who received a degree in French from the University of California at Berkley, Baker studied briefly at the California Institute of Arts before abandoning her further education to reside in Paris for a number of years. After returning stateside to make a name for herself on stage and screen, Baker found 1983 to be a pivotal year for her career when she won an Obie for her role in Sam Shepard's Fool for Love and made a lasting impression in director Philip Kaufman's space program drama The Right Stuff. Subsequent roles as a prostitute in Street Smart (1987) and a recovering alcoholic and victim of domestic abuse in Clean and Sober (1988) proved a testament to Baker's considerable onscreen skills; her performance in Street Smart earned her Best Supporting Actress awards from the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics as well as an Independent Spirits awards nomination.Baker was increasingly prevalent in quirky dramas throughout the 1990s, but it was her work on the small screen that earned Baker the majority of her recognition in that decade. Her winning performance as a small-town doctor and family woman proved a key component in the success of the small-screen drama Picket Fences during the show's 1992-1996 run, and though she would focus her attention on the series, Baker still made time to appear in such theatrical releases as Mad Dog and Glory (1993) and To Gillian in Her 37th Birthday (1996). Frequently alternating between high-profile releases and independent efforts, no matter what the quality of the films, Baker's performances were consistently solid. The new millennium once again found Baker scoring a hit with her role in the popular television comedy drama Boston Public, and though she only served a two-season stint on the series, she soon returned to television work with Murphy's Dozen on 2003. Her role as an overbearing mother tackled the issue of teenage pregnancy to surprising effect in the 2002 made-for-television effort Too Young to Be a Dad. Following a supporting performance in Robert Duvall's Assassination Tango (also 2002), Baker could be spotted in director Anthony Minghella's eagerly anticipated Civil War romance Cold Mountain (2003).

Trivia: Worked as a waitress in Steve Harvey's comedy club in Dallas. Appeared nude in public while being filmed for the music video for the song Window Seat; the video ends on the exact spot in Dallas where John F. Kennedy was shot. Known as the First Lady of Neo-Soul. Has appeared in numerous movies including Blues Bothers 2000 and Cider House Rules. Founder of the charity Beautiful Love Incorporated Non-Profit Development (B.L.I.N.D.) to serve inner-city youth through the arts. Is a practicing vegan.

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: Three-time Tony Award nominee Kate Nelligan has pursued a successful acting career in three separate English-speaking nations. While attending the University of Toronto, the Canadian-born Nelligan transferred to London, England's Central School of Speech and Drama. It was in Bristol that she first appeared on stage professionally with the Old Vic in 1973; one year later, she returned to London for her stage bow there. In 1975, Nelligan made her screen debut in The Romantic Englishwoman, but most American filmgoers saw her first as Lucy in the Frank Langella version of Dracula (1979). Several appearances in British made-for-TV movies followed in the early 1980s; most of these popped up on US TV screens courtesy of the burgeoning Arts & Entertainment cable network. In 1980 she made her first Canadian film, Mr. Patman. Kate Nelligan's most recent movie appearances have been in such American projects as Frankie and Johnny (1990), The Prince of Tides (1991), and Shadows and Fog (1992).

Trivia: Jamaican born hip-hop legend Heavy D was a major force in the rap world, leading influential rap group Heavy D & the Boyz, singing and rapping as a solo artist, and working as a producer with artists like Mary J. Blige and Soul for Real. He also extended his creative talents into the realm of television and movies, composing music for shows like In Living Color and The Tracy Morgan Show, as well as nurturing a serious acting career. Beginning with appearances on TV shows like Living Single and Roc in the early '90s, Heavy D developed an undeniable skill at acting that would eventually find him making memorable appearances in films like The Cider House Rules and The Tower Heist, and on TV shows like Boston Public and Bones. Heavy D died in November 2011 at age 44.

Trivia: Jonathan Kimble Simmons was originally a singer, with a degree in music from the University of Montana. He turned to theater in the late 1970s and appeared in many regional productions in the Pacific Northwest before moving to New York in 1983. He appeared in Broadway and off-Broadway shows and also did some television -- his early roles included the portrayal of a white supremacist responsible for multiple murders in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. In that same vein, Simmons first gained wide exposure as Vern Schillinger, the leader of an Aryan Brotherhood-type organization in prison in the HBO series Oz. Parlaying his small-screen notoriety into feature film opportunities, Simmons had a small part in the 1997 thriller The Jackal and played a leading role in Frank Todaro's low-budget comedy Above Freezing, a runner-up for the most popular film at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. Also in 1997, Simmons increased his television prolificacy by taking on the role of Dr. Emil Skoda, the consulting psychiatrist to the Manhattan district attorney's office in the series Law and Order. By 1999, Simmons was showing up in such prominent films as The Cider House Rules and the baseball drama For Love of the Game, directed by Sam Raimi. The director again enlisted Simmons for his next film, 2000's The Gift. After a supporting turn in the disappointing comedy The Mexican, Simmons teamed with Raimi for the third time, bringing cigar-chomping comic-book newspaperman J. Jonah Jameson screaming to life in the 2002 summer blockbuster Spider-Man. In 2004, he would reprise the role in the highly anticipated sequel, Spider-Man 2. That same year, along with appearing alongside Tom Hanks in the Coen Brothers' The Ladykillers, Simmons continued to be a presence on the tube, costarring on ABC's midseason-replacement ensemble drama The D.A.His career subsequently kicking into overdrive, the popular character actor was in increasingly high demand in the next few years, enjoying a productive run as a voice performer in such animated television series' as Justice League, Kim Possible, The Legend of Korra, and Ultimate Spider-Man (the latter of which found him reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson), as well as turning in memorable performances in Jason Reitman's Juno, Mike Judge's Extract, and as a hard-nosed captain in the 2012 crime thriller Contraband. Meanwhile, in 2005, he joined the cast of TNT's popular crime drama The Closer as Assistant Chief Will Pope -- a role which no doublt played a part in the cast earning five Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Ensemble Cast. Simmons continued to work steadily in movies, returning to the Spider-Man franchise in 2007. That same year he co-starred as the father of a pregnant teen in Juno, which led to him being cast regularly by that film's director Jason Reitman in many of his future projects including Up In the Air and Labor Day. It was Reitman who got Simmons the script for Whiplash, Damien Chazelle's directorial debut. The actor took the part of an abusive, but respected music teacher and the ensuing performance garnered Simmons multiple year-end awards including a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the Academy.

Trivia: Dark-haired, quietly sensual actress Paz de la Huerta grew up with a single mother in Manhattan, attending the prestigious St. Ann school in Brooklyn and spending her summers in Spain with her father. In late adolescence, de la Huerta both established herself as one of the world's most sought-after runway and print models and started landing small roles in Hollywood features -- per her turn as a good-natured but troubled abortionist's patient (in The Cider House Rules [1999]), or (on a much different note) a conniving maid who seduces her rich employer's houseguest (in Griffin Dunne's Fierce People [2006]). The actress graduated to lead status with a powerhouse role as a manipulative, scheming country girl in the 2005 drama Steal Me, and appeared in the following year's "politically themed" slasher picture The Tripper (2007). Meanwhile, de la Huerta also co-authored scripts on the side. She acted in 2008's Choke, and the next year landed parts in the indie films The Limits of Control and Enter the Void. In 2010 she landed a juicy part as the lead character's regular squeeze in the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire.

Trivia: With her sunny smile and youthful exuberance, Skye McCole Bartusiak brightened the silver screen with her debut in the 1999 Stephen King miniseries Storm of the Century. Born in September of 1992 in Houston, TX, moved on to such popular features as The Cider House Rules (1999) and The Patriot, playing Mel Gibson's young daughter. In 2001 Bartusiak appeared in such popular features as Don't Say a Word and Riding in Cars With Boys. She had a recurring role in season 2 of 24, and continued to work in episodic television, TV films and indie features as she grew up. Her final feature role was in Sick Boy (2012). Bartusiak died in 2014 at age 21.

Trivia: Studied at the Actors Studio in New York City. Is an accomplished equestrienne and occasionally works at a stable. Appeared in three films that were nominated for 2003 Academy Awards: 21 Grams, Seabiscuit and Monster. Owns a ranch in California, where she keeps a horse and numerous dogs.

Trivia: After years of struggling in literary anonymity, novelist John Irving became that rare kind of writer: a creator of serious fiction whose work enjoyed both popularity and critical acclaim, and whose fame blossomed even more when his books began to be made into films -- even if the final onscreen products achieved only varying degrees of success. Born in 1942 in Exeter, NH, he attended the Phillips Exeter Academy (where his stepfather taught Russian history), a well-known New England prep school that eventually served as the model for the Steering School in The World According to Garp. While there, Irving discovered two of his great loves -- and, ultimately, literary metaphors: writing and wrestling. After graduation, he spent a year at the University of Pittsburgh before moving to Vienna, a setting that would find a place in many of his later stories. Irving traveled around Europe on a motorcycle, lived a bohemian lifestyle, and, at one point, met a man with a trained bear, an animal that would also become an important figure in a number of his tales. After returning to the U.S., Irving graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1965 and moved on to graduate school at the University of Iowa, where he studied with author Kurt Vonnegut and began work on his first novel. Irving received his M.F.A. in 1967 and returned to New England with his wife Shyla and son Colin; Setting Free the Bears was published the following year. Although it was critically well received, it sold less than 7,000 copies. Nevertheless, the money allowed the new novelist to buy a house in Vermont, where he lived until he returned to Vienna for three years (during which time a second son, Brendan, was born). While there, he worked with director Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back) on a film adaptation of Setting Free the Bears. At one point set to star Orson Welles, Jon Voight, and, later, Al Pacino, the project eventually fell through. Irving returned to the States, where, in 1972, he completed work on his second novel, The Water-Method Man. Drawing heavily on his experiences of living in Vienna, being a graduate student in Iowa, and exposure to the film industry with Kershner, this book also met with good reviews, but didn't sell much better than his first work. Irving spent the next three years as writer-in-residence and visiting lecturer back at the University of Iowa and contributed pieces to various magazines, but grew restless, bored, and sick of teaching. During this dark period, he published his third novel, The 158-Pound Marriage. Although his best-reviewed work to date, it nevertheless proved to be his worst seller. Tired of Iowa, Irving moved back to New England in 1975, continued to teach, and signed with a new publisher, E.P. Dutton; the first book he published with that company would change his life forever. In 1978, The World According to Garp became a huge commercial and critical success (selling more than 100,000 copies in hardcover), and Irving was suddenly both a famous, respected literary figure and a best-selling author. Garp was later made into a feature film starring Robin Williams and Glenn Close, both relative-newcomers at the time. Released in 1982, the movie by George Roy Hill (who also made Slaughterhouse Five from Vonnegut's novel -- another difficult adaptation) was received well. The book's success and Irving's new celebrity status had also allowed him to retire from teaching and devote his time to writing. His next novel, The Hotel New Hampshire, was published in 1981 and had an initial printing of 150,000 copies. Unlike Garp, however, the film adaptation on this book, Irving's fifth, was a star-studded affair. Featuring Jodie Foster, Beau Bridges, Rob Lowe, and Nastassja Kinski (who spends most of the film in a bear suit), the The Hotel New Hampshire film in 1984 was also a disaster -- even Irving gingerly distanced himself from it -- and left many of the author's fans wondering how such an awful film could have been made from such a wonderfully rich novel. In fact, as his books and stories became longer, more complex, and less frequent (Irving was slowly becoming known as something of a modern Charles Dickens), it was obvious that his stories, with their intricately woven plots, seemingly endless subplots, and detailed character development, just did not translate well to the big screen. Indeed, it would be 14 years until another movie was made from his work. While continuing to work on books, Irving spent more than a decade trying to develop more screenplays -- most notably of his 1985 novel The Cider House Rules -- and his struggles with this project, in particular, and the film industry, in general (dating back to developing a script for Setting Free the Bears), was documented in a 1999 memoir, My Movie Business. Ironically, although struggling for 13 years (and with four different directors) to make a film of Cider House, it was a later book, 1989's A Prayer for Owen Meany, that served as the basis for the next Irving film, Simon Birch (1998). But, again -- in addition to being another box-office disappointment -- the general consensus was that, as with The Hotel New Hampshire, Simon Birch did not exactly live up to the novel upon which it was based. After years of frustration, The Cider House Rules was finally filmed. Controversial and unabashedly pro-choice, the book was the author's most political to date, and when the movie (directed by Lasse Hallström [What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Chocolat]) was finally released in 1999, it was obvious that this adaptation carried more of Irving's personal stamp. Not only did he write the script (winning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay), but he also had a small role as the grumpy, disapproving stationmaster. Starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, and Michael Caine, the film -- although missing several elements and characters from the novel -- was the most successful screen translation of Irving's work to date. Caine also won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal as the ether-addicted, kind-hearted Dr. Larch, who runs an orphanage and illegal abortion clinic in Maine during the first half of the 20th century. Irving's eighth novel, A Son of the Circus, was published in 1994. Ironically, the story, set in India, began as a parallel screenplay (originally titled "Escaping Maharashtra") that was finished years before the book itself. Initially scheduled for production in 1997, and then again in 1999 -- both times starring Jeff Bridges -- the film fell through each time. In addition to his Oscar, Irving has won an O. Henry Award, a National Book Award, and received awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. In 1992, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2001. Divorced in 1982, Irving remarried five years later to Janet Turnbull, with whom he had a third son, Everett. He published his tenth novel, The Fourth Hand, in 2001. Irving's ninth work of fiction, A Widow for One Year, was adapted into the Tod Williams 2004 film Door in the Floor -- the fifth of his books to be made into a movie.

Trivia: Worked for Boston mayor Thomas Menino in the early 1990s; later worked as the director of Boston's film bureau. Also worked as a doorman and dabbled in stand-up comedy. Was discovered by director Ted Demme. Made his film debut in the 1998 drama Monument Ave. Produced the 2008 film Lonely Street.