Trivia: An actress whose piercing, pale blue eyes could give even Meg Foster a run for her money, Emily Deschanel has come quite a long way since being listed as one of Interview magazine's "Six Actors to Watch" back in 2001. The firstborn daughter of Oscar-winning cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Weir (their second was starlet Zooey), Emily received her B.F.A. in theater from Boston University before launching her career on the stage and screen. Early roles in It's a Shame About Ray and Rose Red found the rising starlet gradually gaining her footing before the cameras, and as her confidence as an actress increased, so did her screen time. By the time Deschanel appeared in such features as Cold Mountain and The Alamo, viewers were already beginning to pick up on her talent, while she could also still be seen acting on-stage, frequently appearing in plays for the Interact Theatre Company. In 2003, Deschanel appeared in minor capacity as a receptionist in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, with her role in Ghost House Pictures' 2004 frightener Boogeyman serving to prove that she was much more than just another pretty face.As the 2000's rolled on, Deschanel would prove to be an even bigger force on the small screen, playing forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, partner of FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), on the popular Fox crime drama series Bones.

Trivia: Look up the words "handsome" and "brooding" in any dictionary and chances are you'll have a pretty good description of actor David Boreanaz. Tall, dark, and possessing the sort of alluring charisma that suggests an Abercrombie and Fitch model from the dark side, Boreanaz flourished on the small screen in the early 2000s when his Buffy the Vampire Slayer role was spun off into the supernatural-flavored series Angel.Born in Buffalo, NY, and raised in Philadelphia, Boreanaz was inspired at age seven to pursue a career in acting after witnessing the legendary Yul Brynner's performance in The King and I. In the years that followed, the aspiring actor would strive to keep the dream alive, and when it came time for higher education, Boreanaz opted to study his craft at Ithaca College in New York. The allure of a life in films soon drew Boreanaz to Los Angeles, although it wouldn't take him long to realize that struggling actors were a dime a dozen in sunny California. Dreams of his name in lights soon gave way to realities such as earning a living by parking cars and handing out towels at a sports club -- and uncredited parts in such films as Aspen Extreme and Best of the Best 2 (both 1993) certainly weren't paying the rent. A one-time role on Married...With Children as daughter Kelly's (Christina Applegate) motorcycle-riding boyfriend gained the struggling actor modest exposure -- and his luck would soon change in the most unexpected (though somewhat typical by Hollywood standards) way. While Boreanaz was walking his dog in Hollywood, a manager was taken by his captivating intensity, and a subsequent introduction to casting agent Marcia Shulman almost immediately ensured his landing the role of the vampire Angel on the soon-to-be-hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Two years after the premiere of Buffy, Boreanaz's character proved popular enough to earn his own eponymously titled spin-off series, and the show proved a solid hit for the WB until it was inexplicably canceled in mid-2004. Of course, by this point, Boreanaz could rest fairly easy thanks to roles in such features as Valentine (2001) and I'm With Lucy (2002). Fans who couldn't get enough of the actor's dark side could look forward to his role as the villainous Luc Crash in The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2004).Soon however, Boreanaz found another compelling small-screen role, playing Special Agent Seeley Booth on the hit detective series Bones.

Trivia: A Boston native whose early work included stints with the Dallas Theater Center and New York's Mint Theater Company, actor T.J. Thyne studied his craft with theaters throughout the United States and British Columbia before receiving his B.F.A. in acting from the USC School of Theater. Numerous television roles were quick to follow after Thyne hit the audition circuit with unusual ferocity, and by the year 2000, Thyne had racked up nearly 50 small-screen credits thanks to appearances on such shows as Home Improvement, Party of Five, Walker, Texas Ranger, and Just Shoot Me. In 2002, Thyne founded the Los Angeles-based Theater Junkies Productions with the aim of producing for both stage and screen; their popular short film Validation subsequently screened at film festivals across the country. Memorable supporting roles in such high-profile features as Erin Brockovich Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Ghost World, How High, and Something's Got to Give made Thyne an increasingly familiar face to movie fans, though it was the actor's casting as bug expert Dr. Jack Hodgins in the hit Fox forensics drama Bones that would transform him into a bona fide television star. Thyne has also done frequent commercial work, with his role as a Shania Twain-singing Chevy truck passenger proving a particularly memorable television spot.

Trivia: Michaela Conlin knew she wanted to be an actress from the tender age of six, and from the time she appeared in her first play that same year, there was no turning back from her future on the stage and screen.A native of Allentown, PA, who honed her skills in community and regional theater before studying acting at New York City's Tisch School of the Arts, Conlin earned her B.F.A. while simultaneously appearing in productions at the Playwrights Horizons Theater School and the Atlantic Theater Company. Later, she would travel to Amsterdam to take part in the Experimental Theater Wing's International Training Program. While Conlin's first screen role after graduation was grounded firmly in reality (she was chosen to appear in a documentary film detailing the lives of young actors in New York City), it was only after moving to Los Angeles that her career truly began to catch on. Roles in MDs, JAG, and The D.A. quickly helped to establish Conlin as a rising small-screen talent, and in 2005 she signed on to play Angela Montenegro in the Fox forensic crime drama Bones. She made her first post-Bones jump to the big screen playing a detective in the legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer.

Trivia: Canadian-born Tamara Taylor first caught the eyes of fans with a recurring role on the '90s series Party of Five. She would make numerous appearances on various shows over the coming years, but Taylor's next big break came in 2006, with a starring role on the crime series Bones playing Dr. Camille Saroyan.

Trivia: Many know Illinois native John Francis Daley for his memorable role as high school freshman Sam Weir on the cult hit series Freaks and Geeks. An actor from the age of nine, Daley appeared in the touring production of the Broadway musical Who's Tommy? before branching into screen acting. He would go on to appear in films like Waiting and on the series Kitchen Confidential, later scoring another leading role on the popular crime show Bones, playing psychologist Lance Swees. He turned his talents to work done behind the camera, co-writing the script for the hit 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses.

Trivia: With her role as a memorably over-caffeinated college freshman on television's critically praised Undeclared, youthful actress Carla Gallo has endeared herself to former campus dorm-rats nationwide. And though her actual age may betray the naïve nature of those making the leap from the high school hallways to the college campus, Gallo has succeeded in making her television alter ego believable, in part by drawing on the vivid recollections of her college career. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Gallo attended the LaGuardia School of Performing Arts before setting her sights on Cornell University. Like her television counterpart, Gallo dabbled in numerous potential careers before pursuing a career as an actress, though the lure of the theater was too magnetic to resist and the formerly undeclared student graduated a few short years later with a Theater Arts degree. Being nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her feature debut in 1994's Spanking the Monkey proved to be a good start for the fledgling thespian, and though it would be five more years until her next feature role, Gallo would next appear in The 24-Hour Woman in 1999. With small-screen appearances in both E.R. and Law & Order priming her for her work on Undeclared, the actress approached the series on a positive note after hitting it off early on with series creator Judd Apatow. As someone who encouraged improvisation, Apatow often drew on Gallo's previous college experiences to make the character more multidimensional and believable. Thinking back to the frantic all-night cram sessions of her college days, Gallo recalled a session in which her synapses fired on overdrive due to an oversaturation of caffeine. Apatow encouraged her to expand on such recollections (recollections that often found their way into the show), which were a key factor in his aspiration to create a realistic portrayal of the college experience, warts and all.

Trivia: A native of Toronto, Ontario, fair-haired actress Katheryn Winnick began her movie career behind the camera, as a martial arts trainer for the stars. (She earned dual black belts in tae kwon do and karate, and received her bodyguard license at an early age.) Winnick soon parlayed her glamorous countenance into acting, but expressed a highly vocal interest in challenging and demanding roles, and resisted being pigeonholed as simply a pretty face. Audiences first gained exposure to Winnick on television, with her involvement in such series as PSI Factor, Student Bodies, The It Factor, and Oz. Around 2003, the actress segued smoothly into feature roles. These included bit parts in the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy 50 First Dates (2004), the Matthew McConaughey/Sarah Jessica Parker romantic comedy Failure to Launch (2006), and the slasher movie Amusement (2008).

Trivia: With his tough-guy image and stocky build, American actor Dylan Bruno carved out a niche for himself as a character player in steel-toed action and adventure movies, beginning in the late '90s. These ran the gamut from critically praised masterworks -- such as Steven Spielberg's much-ballyhooed war opus Saving Private Ryan (1998) -- to John Irvin's less successful WWII telemovie When Trumpets Fade, that same year. Perhaps afraid of limiting himself, Bruno made a conscious attempt to expand his range into alternate genres, but successive roles essentially constituted variations on this original typecast. For example, Bruno appeared in the gentle romantic drama Where the Heart Is (2000) -- about an expectant blue-collar mother (Natalie Portman) who moves into an Oklahoma Wal-Mart -- as the rough-hewn redneck boyfriend, Willy Jack Perkins, who deserts her. Similarly, Bruno appeared in the TV drama The Pennsylvania Miners' Story (2002) as one of the gritty working-class men of the title who find themselves trapped in a mine with a decidedly slim chance of survival. Bruno subsequently built up his television resumé during the mid-2000s. He was particularly memorable as Colby Granger, a military veteran-cum-federal agent, on the popular detective drama Numb3rs (2005).