Trivia: A square-jawed blonde with steely blue eyes, actor Neal McDonough had essayed every role from psychopath to dunce before roles in HBO's Band of Brothers and Minority Report (2002) found him gaining a reputation as the man to cast if a script called for a dependable, all-American tough guy. Though his screen presence has been growing steadily in the first years of the new millennium, it wasn't long ago that McDonough was considering abandoning his career as an actor. A native of Dorchester, MA, easygoing McDonough attended Barnstable High School before graduating from Syracuse University and later training as an actor at the London Academy of Dramatic Arts and Sciences. Taking to the stage following his graduation, it wasn't long before McDonough was appearing in such productions as Waiting for Lefty and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and in 1991 he took home a Best Actor Dramalogue Award for his role in Away Alone. McDonough began his move into film with a minor role in 1990's Darkman, and the same year appearances in such popular television series as China Beach and Quantum Leap ensured that his face would remain a familiar one to audiences. Following a turn as Lou Gehrig in the 1991 made-for-television feature Babe Ruth, McDonough's television career began to take off, and through the mid-'90s he found frequent work on the small screen with the exception of such features as Angels in the Outfield (1994). A childhood dream came true for the lifelong Star Trek fan when he was cast in the Star Trek: First Contact (1996), and that same year McDonough voiced Dr. Bruce Banner in the animated television series The Incredible Hulk. His career shifting increasingly toward feature work in the late '90s, McDonough took on memorable roles in such features as Circles (1998) and the quirky pseudo-horror film Ravenous (1999). Though the frustration of never receiving a truly gratifying role caused him to reconsider his chosen career, McDonough's big break was just around the corner. Cast as 1st Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton in director Steven Spielberg's acclaimed HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, McDonough's role as the troubled soldier who suffers a nervous breakdown in the chaos of war finally gave the actor a chance to flex his chops and caught the attention of series producer Spielberg, who immediately approached him for a role in Minority Report. Cast as the best friend of Tom Cruise's character, McDonough was now a recognizable Hollywood figure and was quickly developing a solid screen persona. Subsequently returning to the small screen for the television series Boomtown, McDonough was cast in the role formerly occupied by Jimmy Smits, who dropped out at the last minute. As McDonough began preparation for roles in Timeline (2003) and Walking Tall (2004), it seems as if the dependable actor might finally be edging toward leading-man status. Though that may not have been the case when McDonough accompanied his onscreen brothers into the woods to expose the skeletons in the family closet in the 2005 drama American Gothic, a more amiable turn as a dedicated friend attempting to help his best pal find a man to father her child in the comedy drama Silent Men went a long way in making the actor a bit more likeable to viewers. The following year McDonough could be seen treading water opposite Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher in the Coast Guard drama The Guardian. He continued to work steadily in a variety of films including Clint Eastwood's Flags of our Fathers, The Hitcher, I Know Who Killed Me, 88 Minutes, and Traitor. In 2008 he joined the cast of the successful ABC drama Desperate Housewives in that program's fifth season.

Trivia: A handful of Hollywood actors and actresses become so eclipsed by one role, in the eyes of viewers, that it threatens to overshadow their ability to extend themselves into alternate parts. This is particularly true of American thespian Gabrielle Carteris. As the oldest member of "teens" on the blockbuster FOX series Beverly Hills 90210, Carteris -- then 29 -- "played young" (read: a character around half her age) to portray high-school newspaper editor Andrea Zuckerman. Though Carteris only remained on 90210 for five years out of its decade-long run, and then attempted to scale new heights, her involvement in subsequent projects often seemed, for better or worse, to pull her back to Andrea. Gabrielle and her twin brother, James, began life in Phoenix, AZ, in 1961 -- the only children of restaurant proprietor Ernest Carteris and realtor Marlene Carteris. Six months after the children were born, their parents split, and Marlene moved to San Francisco, Gabrielle and James in tow, where she opened a boutique for children's apparel; her parents moved into the household to help raise the children. Gabrielle attended high school in Marin County, CA, in the late '70s -- a self-admitted loner, introvert, and bibliophile who practiced ballet on the side and toured Europe as a mime at age 16. Carteris attended Sarah Lawrence College in the early '80s (graduating in 1983), then held down roles on the daytime soap opera Another World (as a troubled teen) and in ABC Afterschool Specials. In 1990 -- at the exact same time that she met her husband-to-be, stockbroker Charles Isaacs -- Carteris auditioned for the Zuckerman role, under the aegis of mega-producer Aaron Spelling -- and everything fell into place. Within the context of the series, model student Andrea graduated from high school, had multiple affairs, got pregnant outside of wedlock, married Jesse Vasquez (Mark D. Espinoza), and gave birth to a premature, underweight baby -- and then, when Carteris announced her departure from the show in 1995, moved with Jesse to Connecticut, where she enrolled in a pre-med program and he accepted a teaching post at Yale. In actuality, Carteris intended to parlay her 90210 success into other areas, beginning with a daytime talk show, Gabrielle (1995). Unfortunately, that program failed to catch fire and folded after approximately one year. In successive years, Carteris' two highest-profile assignments did not carry her off in new directions, but capitalized on her 90210 run. The first -- an appearance on the WB's satirical reality series The Surreal Life (2003) -- threw Carteris and other celebrities of declining infamy (MC Hammer, Corey Feldman, Emmanuel Lewis) into a household and studied their interactions over a two-week period. The second -- an hour-long special entitled Beverly Hills 90210: Ten Year High School Reunion -- followed up on the cast members ten years after their characters graduated from high school and three years after the end of the series run.

Trivia: Became interested in acting at the age of 10 and began studying performance art, singing and dancing at the Summer Musical Workshop in Washington, D.C. Performed in numerous theater productions during middle and high school. In 2001, played a soldier in a stage production of Shakespeare Theatre Company's The Oedipus Plays at the Landsburgh Theatre. Received the Andrew Carnegie Undergraduate Award for artistic merit while studying at Carnegie Mellon. In 2010, performed in an off-Broadway production of Black Angels Over Tuskegee at St. Luke's Theatre. Participated in a celebrity reading of Orson Welles' Vodou Macbeth at the Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble Gala Fundraiser in 2011. Operates a production company, Conservatory Media Group, the mission of which involves assisting underprivileged youth to receive access to training in the arts. Is co-owner of a mens' clothing line, Robert James Pradia, that specializes in bow ties, hats, cuff links and other accessories.