Trivia: Born in Los Angeles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt grew up in front of the camera as a child and teen actor. Winning his first major role at age seven in the TV movie Stranger on My Land (1988), Gordon-Levitt appeared in a number of TV movies and series during the late '80s and early '90s, including a recurring role on the hit sitcom Roseanne from 1993 to 1995. After making his feature film debut as the young version of Craig Sheffer in A River Runs Through It (1992), the young actor garnered further notice as the boy whose prayers are answered in the sleeper Angels in the Outfield (1994) and as Demi Moore's son in The Juror (1996). Gordon-Levitt achieved considerable TV fame, though, when he was cast in NBC's critical and popular hit Third Rock From the Sun (1996-present). As old/young alien Tommy Solomon, he cracked wise with multiple Emmy-winner John Lithgow and attracted teen fans. Making the most of the late-'90s teen movie resurgence during the series' hiatuses, Gordon-Levitt appeared in the teen slasher sequel Halloween: H20 (1998) and starred as one of the romantic schemers in the popular Shakespeare-via-high school comedy 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). After voicing the lead in the expensive animated flop Treasure Planet, Levitt made a conscious decision to shed his TV image. He appeared in a series of challenging indie films including Mysterious Skin, Brick, and The Lookout, and succeeded in redefining his public image. He appeared in Spike Lee's Miracle At St. Anna and the Iraq War drama Stop-Loss in 2008. The next year he starred in the big-budget action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, but earned better reviews and more respect as the lead in the hit indie romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer. He was cast opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception the next year, and earned arguably the best reviews of his career in 2011 when he starred in the cancer comedy 50/50 as a young man learning to cope with an unexpected, and possibly lethal, illness. He would team with director Chriotpher Nolan again in 2012 as part of the cast in The Dark Knight Rises, and Steven Spielberg cast him as Robert Todd in the director's long gestating biopic Lincoln. Levitt made his feature-length directorial debut in 2013, with Don Jon, which he also wrote and starred in.

Trivia: Though he has never achieved the high profile or widespread acclaim of a Robert De Niro, Jeff Daniels ranks as one of Hollywood's most versatile leading men and over his career he has played everything from villains and cads to heroes and romantic leads to tragic figures and lovably goofy idiots, in movies of almost every genre. Daniels has also worked extensively on television and stage, where he first distinguished himself by winning an Obie for a production of Johnny Got His Gun. Blonde, cleft-chinned, and handsome in a rugged all-American way, Daniels made his screen debut playing PC O'Donnell in Milos Forman's Ragtime (1981). His breakthrough came when he was cast as Debra Winger's inconstant husband in Terms of Endearment (1983). Daniels has subsequently averaged one or two major feature films per year with notable performances, including: his memorable dual portrayal of a gallant movie hero/self-absorbed star who steps out of celluloid to steal the heart of lonely housewife Mia Farrow in Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo (1984); his turn as a man terrified of spiders who finds himself surrounded by them in the horror-comedy Arachnophobia; and his role as Union officer Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who led his troops into doom in Gettysburg (1993). In 1994, Daniels took a radical turn away from drama to star as one of the world's stupidest men opposite comic sensation Jim Carrey in the Farrelly brothers' hyperactive Dumb and Dumber. This lowest-common-denominator comedy proved one of the year's surprise hits and brought Daniels to a new level of recognition and popularity. Since then, Daniels has alternated more frequently between drama and comedy. His television credits include a moving portrayal of a troubled Vietnam vet in a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, Redwood Curtain. Daniels still maintains his connection to the stage and manages his own theatrical company. Before launching his acting career, he earned a degree in English from Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, MI. The later '90s found Daniels turning homeward and venturing into new territories through his labor of love, the Purple Rose Theater. Located in the small town of Chelsea, MI, the bus garage turned playhouse was designed to give Midwestern audiences the opportunity to enjoy entertainment generally reserved for big-city dwellers. Though he continued to appear in such films as Fly Away Home (1996) and Pleasantville (1998), Daniels made his feature directorial debut with the celluloid translation of his successful Yooper stage comedy Escanaba in da Moonlight (2000). Set in the Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P., hence "Yooper"), the tale of redemption by means of bagging a buck mixed the regionally accented humor of Fargo with the eccentricities inherent to northerners and served as an ideal directorial debut for the Michigan native. A modest regional success, Daniels would subsequently appear in such wide releases as Blood Work and The Hours (both 2002) before returning to the director's chair for the vacuum-salesman comedy Super Sucker (also 2002). Later reprising his role as Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain from Gettysburg, Daniels once again went back in time for the Civial War drama Gods and Generals (2002). In 2004 he appeared in the adaptation of fellow Michigander Mitch Albom's best-seller The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and the next year he earned rave reviews for his role as a self-absorbed academic and terrible father in The Squid and the Whale. He continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including the Robin Williams vehicle RV, the indie thriller The Lookout, and Away We Go. He portrayed a Senator in the American remake of the British miniseries State of Play in 2009, and three years later he was cast as the lead in Aaron Sorkin's first cable series, The Newroom, playing the host of a cable news program who decides to tell it like it really is.

Trivia: English actor Matthew Goode took his Hollywood bow on a prestigious note, as Casper, one of the key characters in the well-received Alliance Atlantis telemovie Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (2002). The film constituted a revisionist update of the Cinderella story, adapted from the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire, and premiered on ABC to stellar ratings, virtually guaranteeing success for Goode and his fellow players. The young actor achieved his next coup not long after, landing a role in the romantic comedy Chasing Liberty (2004), opposite pop diva and heartthrob Mandy Moore. In that movie, Goode portrayed a British playboy who falls for the first daughter of the U.S. president (Moore), wholly unaware of her identity -- meanwhile guarding a little secret of his own.Goode demonstrated his versatility as Tom Hewett in Woody Allen's deadly serious, British-borne thriller Match Point (2005) and returned to romantic comedy as a groom whose bride (Piper Perabo) falls for another woman on the day of their wedding, in the 2006 Imagine Me & You. Following a critically praised appearance in Scott Frank's 2007 caper thriller The Lookout (opposite Jeff Daniels and Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Goode hearkened back to England for a much-anticipated portrayal of Charles Ryder in the 2008 big-screen adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. He was also cast as Ozymandias in the hotly anticipated comic-book superhero film Watchmen (2009), adapted from the acclaimed Alan Moore graphic novel. He followed that up with an appearance in Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man. The romantic comedy Leap Year came the next year, and the Australian comedy drama Burning Man in 2011.

Trivia: A native of Sarasota, FL, Gugino spent most of her youth being shuttled by her mother to various locations in California. At age 15, she and her mom were living in San Diego, when Gugino was convinced to try a modeling career in New York City. She succeeded, but soon found the fast pace of high-fashion modeling too much for her and moved to Los Angeles, where she took advice from an aunt, model Carol Merril, and enrolled in acting classes to study under drama coach Gene Bua. Gugino soon made her film debut in the comedy Troop Beverly Hills (1986). More features followed, until she got her first supporting major role, that of Norma in the Robert De Niro/Leonardo Di Caprio drama This Boy's Life (1993), and later scored a co-starring role on the Michael J. Fox sitcom Spin City. As her star continued to rise, Gugino would spend the subsuquent years appearing in a wide variety of high profile projects, like Spy Kids, Out of Sight, Sin City, Night at the Museum, Sucker Punch, Watchmen, and Mr. Popper's Penguins. Gugino would also find major success on the small screen, with roles on shows like Entourage and Californication.

Trivia: In the immediate aftermath of David Dobkin's Wedding Crashers (2005), many American filmgoers began to associate Isla Fisher largely (if not exclusively) with her vivacious turn in that blockbuster summer comedy as the feisty and slightly off-kilter Gloria, the sex-crazed daughter of treasury secretary William Cleary (Christopher Walken) and his wife (Jane Seymour). It was a testament not only to the memorable quality of the role but to Fisher's outstanding comic turn in it, as the seductress of gorilla Vince Vaughn. But this short, spunky actress had much more up her sleeve than simply the Gloria Cleary bit.Born in Oman but raised in Australia, Fisher published two teen romance novels in high school, then traveled to France and enrolled in a Parisian drama school, where she learned miming and juggling. Though Fisher's onscreen presence technically dates back to the late '80s, with a plum role in the small-screen Aussie soaper Home and Away, she took her Hollywood bow over a decade later, as Shaggy's girlfriend, Mary Jane, in the Raja Gosnell-directed Scooby-Doo (2002). Sandwiched in between forgettable features such as Dallas 362 (2003) and London (2005) came Fisher's portrayal of Heather in the David O. Russell "existential comedy" I Heart Huckabees (2005). The actress starred as the "unlikely" wife of Jason Biggs (American Pie) in the 2006 romantic comedy Wedding Daze, then geared up for choice parts in the sports comedy Hot Rod (2007) and the thriller The Lookout. She also signed to voice one of the characters in the 2008 animated feature Horton Hears a Who, adapted from the classic book by Dr. Seuss. Fisher joined the cast of the popcorn flick Confessions of a Shopaholic in 2009, and lent her voice to the cast of the animated children's feature Rango in 2011, as well as for director Peter A. Ramsey's Rise of the Guardians in 2012. Fisher co-stars with Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire for Baz Luhrmann's 2012 3D adaptation of The Great Gatsby. She had a supporting role in Life of Crime (2013) and later had a guest spot on the revived season 4 of Arrested Development.

Trivia: Became interested in acting during his last year in high school and claims he never had a "back-up plan" if it didn't work out. Studied English and history in college before dropping out to pursue acting. Made his film debut in 1995's National Lampoon's Senior Trip, in which he played the sensible class president traveling to D.C. with a group of troublemaking students. Decided to stay in Toronto, as opposed to moving to L.A., for his acting career so that he could remain active in the theater. Identified with his Flashpoint character as both he and the character are Italians who grew up in Toronto. Has a fondness for political and historical literature, and comic books.

Trivia: Her Dutch ancestry more than evident via her traditional Flemish look, fair-haired Canadian-born actress Laura Vandervoort seemed poised to scale untold heights when she took her dramatic bow in the early 2000s (at age 16). Initially, Vandervoort landed bit parts in direct-to-video outings such as Alley Cats Strike! (2000), Mom's Got a Date With a Vampire (2000), and Troubled Waters (2006), but she quickly signed for a lead, as Kara (aka Supergirl) in the seventh season of the series Smallville. Vandervoort next landed a very small part in the 2007 theatrical release The Lookout, written and directed by Out of Sight scribe Scott Frank. In the years to come, Smith would remain active on screen, appearing in movies like Ted and on the SyFy werewolf series Bitten.

Trivia: Prolific Canadian actress Alberta Watson is best known for her work in off-center independent films and the syndicated TV series La Femme Nikita. Born and raised in Toronto, Watson began performing in local theater productions as a teenager. After garnering a Genie nomination for one of her first films, the steamy In Praise of Older Women (1978), Watson earned parts in several Canadian features, including Stone Cold Dead (1980) and a starring role in Black Mirror (1981). Moving to the U.S. in the early '80s, Watson continued to work regularly, scoring co-starring roles with Scott Glen in Michael Mann's stylish World War II horror movie The Keep (1983); Susan Sarandon in the TV movie Women of Valor (1986); and in cult director Donald Cammel's second-to-last feature White of the Eye (1987). Watson found 1990s indie film success as the incestuous mother to Jeremy Davies' put-upon teen in neophyte director David O. Russell's unusual black comedy (and Sundance prize winner) Spanking the Monkey (1994). After playing a more conventional mother in Hackers (1995), Watson returned to Canada, appearing in the romantic drama Sweet Angel Mine (1996) and earning another Genie nomination for Shoemaker (1996). Watson marked her greatest artistic success the following year as a mourning mother and adulterous wife in Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter (1997). Her role as tough anti-terrorist strategist Madeline in the TV version of the female assassin drama La Femme Nikita brought her more attention and critical approbation. Following her 1997-2000 stint on the show, Watson added another Sundance Film Festival prizewinner to her credit (and another notable maternal role) with her performance as the title character's mother in the transgender rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001). In 2004, she joined the fourth season of 24 as the new director of CTU in Los Angeles. When La Femme Nikita was revamped as the CW series Nikita, Watson joined the cast in a recurring role, playing a senator. Watson died in 2015, at age 60.

Trivia: Best known for her roles as the outrageous Mrs. Swan on MADtv and devoted wife Lois on the hit Fox series Family Guy, comedic female talent Alex Borstein has been keeping busy on screens both large and small ever since appearing in a handful of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers in the mid-'90s. Born in Highland Park, Chicago, and raised in the nearby suburb of Deerfield, Borstein moved to Los Angeles with her family in 1980 and eventually enrolled in San Francisco State University. It was there that the aspiring comic began trying her talent at improvisational theater, and shortly after graduation she would begin performing at the ACME Comedy Theatre. Small roles in The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and a short-lived spin-off were quick to follow, with her stint on MADtv beginning in 1997. While many fans cited her as a highlight of MADtv thanks to her outlandish characters and quick wit, Borstein was also eager to launch a film career and could frequently be seen in features such as Showtime, Bad Santa, and Catwoman. With a distinctive voice that seemed to lend itself well to animated performances, Borstein was cast as levelheaded housewife Lois on Family Guy in 1999. It was around this time that she also continued her small-screen trajectory with a handful appearances on the wildly popular family drama Gilmore Girls.In 2005, Borstein took a turn for the dramatic in the monochromatic period drama Good Night, and Good Luck, with subsequent television roles on Drawn Together and Robot Chicken serving well to balance out the seriousness of the critically acclaimed Edward R. Murrow drama. The following year, Borstein brought her popular stage show to viewers across the nation with the release of Drop Dead Gorgeous (In a Down to Earth Bombshell Sort of Way) on home video. In 2007, Borstein was paired with Good Night, and Good Luck star Jeff Daniels once again in the tense crime thriller The Lookout. As the years rolled on, Borstein would continue to remain a force on screen, appearing in movies like Killers, Dinner for Schmucks, and Ted.

Trivia: Husky American actor Bruce McGill made his film debut in Citizen's Band (1978), but it was his next film role, frat-brat "D Day" in National Lampoon's Animal House, that gained him a following. McGill repeated his D-Day characterization in the spin-off TV series Delta House (1979), then co-starred with David Hasselhoff in the 1980 weekly-TV version of the 1977 theatrical football comedy Semi-Tough. He went on to play a string of brusque authority types in films (Cliffhangers) and television (MacGiver, Live Shot). Fans of the fantasy series Quantum Leap (1989-93) may recall McGill's occasional guest shots, which ranged from mildly eccentric to truly weird. In 1987, Bruce McGill enjoyed one of his few feature-film leading roles in Waiting for the Moon. But it wasn't until the 1990s that casting directors really began to utilize McGill's unique range, and though he never won any awards, he shifted between film (A Perfect World, Timecop, The Insider) and television (Babylon 5, Star Trek: Voyager) with the skill of a seasoned pro. Any genre was fair game, and all were tackled with equal aplomb. At the dawn of the 2000s McGill seemed to shift his focus toward feature films, with roles in Ali, The Sum of All Fears, and Collateral helping to make him both a Michael Mann regular, and one of those welcomed faces that seems to turn up everywhere. Still TV just seemed to be in McGill's blood and after lending his voice to both Family Guy and The Cleveland Show he could be seen as a regular on the TNT detective series Rizzoli and Isles.

Trivia: Born June 21, 1979, native Minnesotan actor Chris Pratt scored his first big break on television as the troubled physician's son Bright Abbott on the WB series drama Everwood, opposite Treat Williams and others, and segued into film with a prominent role in the biting satire Strangers with Candy (2005) alongside Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert. Successive features included Deep in the Valley (2008), Wanted (2008), and Bride Wars (2009) (as the ineffectual fiancé of Anne Hathaway). In 2009, Pratt joined the NBC sitcom Parks & Recreation as a guest star, but his turn as the dim-witted Andy Dwyer was so well-received that he was promoted to series regular for season 2. While on the show, Pratt also juggled some major movie roles, co-starring with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill as baseball player Scott Hatteberg in the blockbuster Moneyball (2011) and appearing as a Navy SEAL in 2012's controversial Zero Dark Thirty.