Trivia: Studied piano and sang in the school choir while growing up, and in a three-hour medley of plays in a big sixth-grade show, roles included Bernardo in West Side Story and Conrad in Bye Bye Birdie. Is a founding member of Freestyle Love Supreme, an improvisational, hip-hop comedy troupe that has toured the U.S., Europe, Australia and Canada. Wrote earliest draft of In the Heights—which would win the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize—in 1999, during his sophomore year in college, where it was first produced. Presented In the Heights onstage in Waterford, Conn., in 2005, and off-Broadway in 2007, the latter winning two Drama Desk Awards (for Ensemble Performance and Choreography) out of nine nominations, before making its Broadway debut in 2008. Other accolades include the 2007 ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award and a 2007 Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance. Worked with Stephen Sondheim on Spanish translations for some lyrics and dialogue for a 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story. In 2009, performed at the inaugural White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word, hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his musical Hamilton in 2016.

Trivia: Rarely do beauty and talent combine in a form so complimentary to each other than in the case of actress Zoe Saldana. Whether gracefully gliding across the stage in dance, pounding the boards in a play, or lighting up the screen in such popular films as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the multi-faceted Saldana seems capable of achieving anything she puts her mind to. The New Jersey native was raised in Queens until the age of ten, when her family relocated to the Dominican Republic. The move proved a fateful blessing when young Saldana discovered her love of dance and enrolled in the ECOS Espacio de Danza Academy shortly thereafter, where she would study ballet, jazz, and modern Latin dance. Following her sophomore year in high school, Saldana and her family returned to the U.S. It was while completing her primary studies stateside that Saldana became involved with the Faces theater troupe, whose aim was to make a positive impact on teenage audiences by performing improvisational skits on such issues as substance abuse and sexuality. Involvement with another troupe, the New York Youth Theater, provided more traditional stage experience through such productions as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, and it was while performing with that troupe that a talent agent recognized great potential in the burgeoning actress. In 1999, Saldana received what seemed to be the ideal first film role when she was cast as a talented but snippy dancer vying for a spot at the fictional American Ballet Company in the dance drama Center Stage. Other film roles followed, including Get Over It, Snipes, and a featured part in the Britney Spears teen drama Crossroads, which offered Saldana's first major theatrical release. Widely panned by critics but performing moderately at the box office thanks to legions of Spears fans, Crossroads proved just the fuel needed to get Saldana's struggling feature career running. The following year, she was back on the big screen in Drumline, which found her once again utilizing her dance skills as a college dance major and love interest of the talented but conflicted protagonist. Though her subsequent role as the sole female pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean offered little screen time, her performance as the only woman able to cast a spell over Johnny Depp's charismatic Jack Sparrow offered one of the film's most memorable comic scenes. Back on the indie circuit, Saldana headlined the 2003 rock musical Temptation as a talented singer facing hard times. A brief turn as a by-the-books customs officer in Steven Spielberg's The Terminal found the charming Saldana slowly warming to an immigrant stuck in bureaucratic limbo (played by Tom Hanks).She was the female lead in Guess Who in 2005 and continued to work steadily. However, in 2009 she broke through in a big way when she was cast as Uhura in J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot, and later that year she was the female lead in James Cameron's mega-smash Avatar. She followed that up with the action film The Losers in 2010, and was front and center in another action spectacle, Columbiana, the year after that. She reprised her role in the sequel Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013, and played Gamora in the 2014 smash Guardians of the Galaxy, ensuring her place in yet another action franchise.

Trivia: Played the baritone and mellophone horn in his high school marching band. Got into acting during sophomore year of college after auditioning for the play Joe Turner's Come and Gone on a whim and landing the lead role. Planned to move to Washington D.C. and work in home security after graduation, before being persuaded to audition for the Yale School of Drama. Became friends with Sterling K. Brown when the pair were playing drag queens in Tarell Alvin McCraney's Wig Out at the Sundance Theatre Lab in 2007. Was part of the original Broadway cast of The Book Of Mormon.

Trivia: Raised in Chicago by his divorced mother, Michael Rooker lived a hand-to-mouth existence until his teens. Rooker successfully auditioned for the Goodman School, and upon graduation, appeared in Chicago-area stage productions. He made a spectacular film debut in the sociopathic title role of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, which was filmed in 1986 but not given a general release until four years later. Henry established Rooker as a gifted purveyor of "don't screw with me" roles, such as chief "Black Sox" conspirator Chick Gandil in Eight Men Out (1988). Michael Rooker's more rugged film assignments of the 1990s included Cliffhanger (1993) and Tombstone (1994).

Trivia: Made stage debut as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz in the fourth grade and TV debut in a 2004 episode of Rescue Me. Was a regular on the 2008-09 CW drama series Easy Money. Before joining the cast of Scandal, had guest roles on Shonda Rhimes' Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice; has also appeared on The Sopranos, NCIS, Leverage, The Closer, Ghost Whisperer and Castle. Is a founding member of the IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles.

Trivia: Was born in Africa.Made her TV debut in the 2012 episode "See Dad Overreact" of the sitcom See Dad Run.First major TV role was Gracie Walker in the Nickelodeon sitcom WITS Academy.Appeared in print ads for Universal Studios' Wizardly World of Harry Potter, Disney Cruise Line, American Girl, Wal-Mart, Beaches Turks & Caicos, AT&T and Mad Science, among others.Volunteers packing relief meals for FEMA, and sponsors an orphan in Uganda.

Trivia: Known to many as the humorless Stanley on TV's The Office, Leslie David Baker studied psychology at Loyola University and human services administration at Spertus College of Judica before making several small appearances in commercials and on shows like Scrubs. He also appeared in the movie Elizabethtown before joining the cast of The Office in 2006.

Trivia: Is the son of Cuban immigrants. In his youth, aspired to become a baseball player or a lawyer, or join the Coast Guard. Was a lifeguard in Miami as a teen. Met his future wife, Lilly, during a middle-school theater class when they were just 13. They continued their education together through junior high, high school, college and graduate school. Off-camera pursuits include writing; received writing credits on the Cold Case episodes "Stealing Home" (2009) and "Metamorphosis" (2010).

Trivia: Made his voice acting debut in 1979 at the age of 8 in an episode of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo.Played bass guitar in the rock band Boy Hits Car since their founding in 1993, but left in 2006.Has done brand endorsement work for Netflix, Nextel and Best Buy.Got the callback for Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters a year after his audition.Has voiced characters in cartoons, anime and animation, radio, commercials, films and video games.