Trivia: An actress who has been noted equally for her talent and beauty, Sanaa Lathan first caught the attention of critics and audiences alike in a series of witty, thought-provoking late-'90s films about the lives of young African-Americans. Featured prominently in such ensemble pieces as The Best Man and The Wood (both 1999), Lathan won her first starring role in Gina Prince-Bythewood's widely acclaimed Love & Basketball (2000), playing a talented basketball player who finds her professional dreams complicated by her relationship with her boyfriend and her own expectations of herself. Lathan's work in the film, along with her performance that same year in Prince-Bythewood's HBO movie Disappearing Acts, announced the actress as a charismatic new talent to watch. Born on October 19, 1971, Lathan -- whose first name is Swahili for "work of art" -- was the second oldest of five children born to Broadway actress and dancer Eleanor McCoy and director/producer Stan Lathan. Surrounded by show business since day one, Lathan began training in dance and gymnastics at an early age. Following her parents' divorce, she grew up shuttling between her mother's home in New York and Los Angeles, where her father lived. During her undergraduate education at UC Berkeley, where she studied English and toyed with the idea of becoming a lawyer, Lathan became involved with the Black Theater Workshop. Thanks in part to her stage experiences with the Workshop, she was encouraged to try out for the Yale School of Drama, where she was ultimately accepted.Following her training at Yale, where she performed in a number of Shakespeare's plays, Lathan earned acclaim both off-Broadway and on the Los Angeles stage. Encouraged by her father to make L.A. her professional base, the young actress found early TV work on episodes of such shows as Family Matters, NYPD Blue, and Moesha. During that same period, she won raves and a Best Actress nod from the Los Angeles NAACP Theatrical Award Committee for her performance in To Take Arms.In 1998, Lathan earned a degree of big-screen recognition with her role as the mother of Wesley Snipes' title character in Blade. She followed this the subsequent year with back-to-back turns in The Best Man and The Wood. The former was a comedic ensemble piece starring Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Harold Perrineau Jr., and Monica Calhoun, and featured Lathan as Diggs' girlfriend; while the latter, another ensemble piece starring Diggs, Omar Epps, and Richard T. Jones, cast her as the love interest of Epps, who also happened to be her real-life boyfriend. In 1999, Lathan played yet another girlfriend, this time Eddie Murphy's, in Ted Demme's comedy Life. Lathan and Epps were reunited onscreen in Prince-Bythewood's Love & Basketball, this time playing a couple as passionate about basketball as they are about each other. The widely lauded film served as a break-out role for Lathan, who was finally able to play a leading character instead of the girlfriend of one. Her work in Love & Basketball earned her Best Actress nominations for both the N.A.A.C.P. Image Award and the Independent Spirit Award. That same year, Lathan earned additional acclaim for her work in the multicultural comedy Catfish in Black Bean Sauce and for her second collaboration with Prince-Bythewood, Disappearing Acts. Based on a novel by Terry McMillan, the HBO movie cast Lathan as an aspiring singer/songwriter in love with a carpenter, played by her Blade co-star Wesley Snipes. For her work in the film Lathan earned an Essence Award for Best Actress, as well as the added assurance of a very busy work schedule.

Trivia: Upon graduation from the Actor's Studio, Manhattan-born Lance Henriksen spent nearly two decades playing villains. An agreeable-looking fellow offscreen, Henriksen portrayed the foulest of murderers, rapists, perverts, extraterrestrials, and other antisocial types on the stage (Richard III) and screen. He made his first film, It Ain't Easy, in 1972 (although his studio bios list his screen debut as Dog Day Afternoon in 1975), then concentrated his skills on the melodramatic requirements of The Jagged Edge (1985), Johnny Handsome (1989), Jennifer Eight (1992), Dead Man (1995), and many others. In interviews, Henriksen claimed to "live" his parts while portraying them, which, he admitted, was a self-defeating practice. A close friend of director James Cameron, Henriksen posed for Cameron's preliminary character sketches for the robotic antagonist of the 1984 thriller The Terminator. The producers liked the sketches but not Henriksen, and the role instead went to Arnold Schwarzenegger. In compensation, Cameron saw to it that Henriksen was cast as a heroic android in his 1986 film Aliens.In the years that followed Henriksen gained reputation as an actor who could bring compelling nuance to even the most mundane of roles. Moving into the 1990s Henriksen did indeed appear in a number of forgettable films, but the ones that did leave an impression on audience did so with remarkable zeal. From his menacing role as the head of a tribe of nomadic vampires in Near Dark to a tortured portrayal of a vengeful father in Pumpkinhead, Henriksen's colorful characters consistantly elevated what may have been dismissive, two-dimensional players in the hands of a lesser actor. After reprising his role as Bishop in the troubled Alien 3, Henriksen packed heat as an over the top hunter of human's in Hong Kong action film director John Woo's American debut Hard Target. By this point the dedicated actor had earned a reputation for doing whatever it takes to make his characters truly memorable, and a scene in the climactic showdown of Hard Target found him continuing to chew scenery evern after he accidentally caught on fire (a scene that actually made it into the final cut of the film)! Henriksen's role as a cocky gunfighter in director Sam Raimi's The Quick and the Dead proved without question a highlight of his roles from the '90s. In 1996 Henriksen made quite an impression on television audiences as the lead character in producer Chris Carter's shortlived X-Files spin-off Millennium. As a former FBI profiler with a unique gift for peering into the minds of some of the nation's most feared criminals, Henriksen gained his most notable exposure to date and longtime fans ate it up. Unfortunately the series only ran for three seasons and Henriksen was back to his old bag of tricks in a seemingly undending series if B-movies. It certainly appeared as if Henriksen was becoming less choosy with his roles, and though the integrity he would bring to those roles generally helped him to stay afloat in a sea of forgettable efforts, it appeared as if the waters were finally threatening to overtake him. While it was indeed a relief to see Henriksen back on the big screen in Scream 3, there was little even he could do to make The Mangler 2 more watchable. Fortunately during this period, actors were becoming more prominant in video games, and Henriksen's distinct voice lent notable atmosphere to such efforts as Red Faction II and Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse. Henriksen's role in the suprisingly agreeable horror sequel Mimic: Sentinel helped to lend the movie some weight even if his actual screentime amounted to a little more than ten minutes, and if a wince of pain could be heard following the announcement of his involvement in Hellraiser: Hellworld fans could at least hold out hope for a return to the franchise that helped to launch his career in the long-anticipated Alien vs. Predator. Unfortunately, it didn't, though Henrickson continued to enjoy success in voice roles, among them including When a Stranger Calls (2006), a teen horror film in which he voiced the role of a serial killer who stalks his victims over the phone before hunting them down, and Superman: Braniac Attacks, in which he voiced the character of Brainiac (2006). Henrickson took on a starring role in Abominable (2006), which followed the effort to save a group of girls from death by Yeti. 2007 was another busy year for the actor, who worked in a slew of horror films including Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud and The Seamstress, as well as the crime thriller Bone Dry. In 2008 he joined the cast of Pistol Whipped, an action thriller following a down-and-out man hired to kill a notorious gangster. In 2011 he worked alongside Lauren Holly in Scream of the Banshee, another supernatural horror, and played Henry Gale in The Witches of Oz (2011), a fantasy adventure following the tales of an adult Dorothy Gale battling to keep the Wicked Witch of the West from crossing into her reality.

Trivia: Despite the fact that his excrement-flinging moment of glory in director Danny Boyle's flamboyant adaptation of the Irvine Welsh novel Trainspotting would forever leave an impression on adventurous filmgoers, and regardless of subsequent appearances alongside such Hollywood heavies as Ben Affleck in high-profile Hollywood releases like Pearl Harbor, actor Ewen Bremner has yet to achieve the level of success of Trainspotting cohorts Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle. An Edinburgh native whose art teacher parents actively supported his creative pursuits, Bremner first received widespread exposure when, at age 17, the theater workshop play in which he appeared transferred from Scotland to London's Royal Court. Subsequently making his feature debut with the U.K. television drama Heavenly Pursuits (1985), Bremner would take on supporting roles in Prince of Jutland (1994) and Judge Dredd (1995) before being catapulted into the international limelight as the hapless "Spud" in Trainspotting. Despite having essayed the lead as Renton in the popular stage adaptation of Trainspotting, Bremner no doubt made quite an impression with audiences in the key supporting role, his alternately pathetic and sympathetic put-upon character offering some of the film's finest comic moments. The following year, Bremner attempted to bypass the hype by taking some time off and pondering his future as an actor. Though such subsequent films as The Life of Stuff (1997) and The Acid House (1998, again adapted from the works of Welsh) contained Trainspotting's edgy humor, their attempts to be "hip" were notably strained, and neither film fared well at the box office. Bremner's role as the titular character in eccentric wonder-boy director Harmony Korine's Julien Donkey-Boy found him again overlooked when the film failed to click with critics and audiences, but the undaunted Bremner would soon crack up audiences with his supporting role as "Mullet" in Guy Ritchie's stylized follow-up to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch (2000). With his role in director Michael Bay's high-profile 2001 war film Pearl Harbor, the talented actor proved his versatility once and for all by essaying the role of a wholeheartedly patriotic American soldier fighting in WWII. When Bremner stepped back into fatigues the very next year for a supporting role in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, it appeared as if he might finally be achieving the success that had previously eluded him. The next year, he appeared as none other than legendary surrealist Salvador Dali in the U.K. television drama Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali, and in the following few years, he would balance such high-profile Hollywood releases as The Rundown (2003) and Around the World in 80 Days (also 2003) with such foreign gems as the Swedish film Sweet Dreams. He was in 2004's Alien vs. Predator, and the next year played an Inspector in Woody Allen's Match Point. He was part of the ensemble in the original version of Death at a Funeral, and reteamed with Allen for 2010's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. In 2011 he appeared alongside Ewan McGreggor in the drama Perfect Sense, and also appeared in the spy drama Page Eight.

Trivia: Sited by Pierce Brosnan himself as a shining candidate to portray the first black James Bond, British actor Colin Salmon has made a name for himself across the pond with appearances in such Bond flicks as Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2002); however, the handsome and silky-voiced actor admits to feeling a little too close to his punkish roots to take on such a worldly character this early in his career. Born in London, England, in 1965, Salmon found early fame as authoritative Sgt. Robert Oswald in the acclaimed television miniseries Prime Suspect 2 (1992). Even opposite such formidable talent as Helen Mirren, Salmon commanded the screen with his bold posturing and dense screen presence. Though the following decade brought frequent television work for Salmon in the U.K., it was through his turn as M's right-hand man in Tomorrow Never Dies that international audiences got a true sampling of his talent. As Salmon's overseas exposure began to gain the actor a wider fan base, his ability to alternate between relatively low-key British television and flashy Hollywood blockbusters proved a testament to Salmon's remarkable abilities as an actor. A role in British director Paul Anderson's Resident Evil (2002) proved a physically grueling start to a busy year, and with subsequent work in that same year's Dinotopia and Die Another Day, Salmon's career as a recognized actor truly began to flourish. In addition to his film work, Colin Salmon often lends his richly reverberating vocal chords to voice-over work, and he can frequently be found on the London stage.

Trivia: Was persuaded to try acting by his friend and fellow actor Robert Carlyle. Got his start with a theater company in his native Glasgow in the early 1990s after working as a dance-club DJ. First TV roles were in a 1992 episode of the BBC anthology series Screen One and a '93 episode of Taggart, a long-running Scottish detective series. His breakout movie was Braveheart (1995). The scars on his face are the result of a mugging by knife-wielding assailants, an incident that occurred before he began acting.

Trivia: Was raised in a family of actors.Accompanied his father to the film and television sets when he was young.At the age of 16, he decided to pursue a career as an actor.Has worked in the renowned Royal Shakespeare Company.Has had an extensive career performing in theaters over the years.Is skilled at cricket and football.

Trivia: Started fencing when he was 9-years old, becoming the British under-16 and under-17 champion in the 1990s. Spent time as a competitive swimmer and basketball player during his childhood. Worked as a fight choreographer for Shakespeare's Globe Theatre while still a student at LAMDA. Voiced commentaries on Rome and Egypt for the National Geographic Channel and Channel 5 in 2011 and for Channel 4 in 2012. Played the role of Edmund in King Lear at the Almeida Theatre in London in 2012. Broke three ribs when filming a fist fight with a stuntman during filming for Beowolf. Was 40 minutes from his hometown in Hartlepool when filming Beowolf for six months in 2015. Has worked extensively in British theatre and television since graduating from LAMDA in 2001. In 2017, he guest starred in the tenth series of the BBC1 series Doctor Who as Ivan in the fifth episode of the run Oxygen.

Trivia: Her television debut was age 10 in the drama film Coming Through, playing Helen Mirren's daughter. Quit acting for 3 years age 13 because she was being bullied; was chatted up by one of her bullies years later, who didn't recognise her. In 2012, played Violet in the musical The Fix at Union Theatre, London. Voiced the characters of Licia of Lendeldt and Milibeth in the video game Dark Souls II in 2014.