Trivia: Sydney Pollack -- one of Meryl Streep's collaborators time and again -- once proclaimed her the most gifted film actress of the late 20th century. Most insiders would concur with this assessment. To avid moviegoers, she represents the essence of onscreen dramatic art. Like Hoffman (and De Niro), she demonstrates a transcendent ability to plunge into her characters and lose herself inside of them, transforming herself physically to meet the demands of her roles. A luminous blonde with nearly translucent pale skin, intelligent blue eyes, and an elegant facial bone structure, Streep sustains a fragile, fleeting beauty that allows her to travel the spectrum between earthily plain (Ironweed), and ethereally glamorous and radiant (Manhattan, Heartburn).Born June 22, 1949, in Summit, NJ, Streep took operatic voice lessons, and subsequently cultivated a fascination with acting while she attended Bernards High School. Upon graduation, Streep studied drama at Vassar, Dartmouth, and Yale, where she appeared in 30 to 40 productions with the Yale Repertory Theater. With a five-star education and years of collegiate stage work under her belt, Streep headed for the New York footlights and launched her off-Broadway career. Streep's performance in Tennessee Williams' 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, for which she received a Tony nomination, constitutes a particularly strong theatrical highlight from this period. She made her television debut in Robert Markowitz's The Deadliest Season (1977). That year she also appeared onscreen for the first time in Fred Zinnmann's Julia (1977) as Anna Marie, opposite heavyweights Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, and Hal Holbrook. The following year, Streep picked up an Emmy for her performance in Marvin J. Chomsky's miniseries Holocaust. She first teamed with De Niro in Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978).Around this time, Streep became involved with the diminutive performer John Cazale, whom she met on the set of the Cimino film. Tragically, this marriage was ill-fated from day one, Cazale's frail body ridden with bone cancer. Forty-two at the time, he passed away in March 1978, nine months prior to the premiere of The Deer Hunter. Streep later wed Don Gummer, who was not associated with Hollywood in any capacity.Streep next appeared as Woody Allen's ruthless lesbian ex-wife in his elegiac comedy drama Manhattan (1979) and Alan Alda's Southern mistress in the scathing political satire The Seduction of Joe Tynan. Her shattering interpretation of the scarred and torn Joanna Kramer opposite Dustin Hoffman in Robert Benton's heartbreaking divorce saga Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), earned her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1980 -- which she famously left on top of a toilet at the festivities -- alongside a plethora of L.A. Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, and Golden Globe Awards for the Allen, Benton, and Alda films.Streep continued her ascent over the next decade by establishing herself as Hollywood's top box-office draw and a critical darling. Her double performance in the innovative Karel Reisz/Harold Pinter triumph The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), her gut-wrenching interpretation of the titular Holocaust survivor in Alan J. Pakula's haunting adaptation Sophie's Choice (1982), and her thoughtful evocation of Karen Silkwood in Mike Nichols' drama Silkwood were highlights of the period. In the latter, she portrays a real-life victimized nuclear-plant worker who mysteriously disappears just prior to turning in crucial evidence against her employers.Streep's decision to headline Sydney Pollack's lush epic Out of Africa (1985), as Karen Blixen, sustained her reputation. She would go on over the next decade to appear in projects like but Ironweed, Heartburn, She-Devil, Postcards from the Edge, and Death Becomes Her. In 1994, she again surprised her fans when she appeared as a muscular expert whitewater rafter who must fight a raging river and two dangerous fugitives to save her family in the action thriller River Wild (1994). In interviews, she said she did the film because she wanted to have an adventure like Harrison Ford and to overcome a few of her own fears.Streep returned to the depth and multifacetedness of her early roles -- with much concomitant success -- when she took a more low-key role as a dowdy, Earthbound farm wife who finds Illicit love with an itinerant photographer (Clint Eastwood) in The Bridges of Madison County. Following the critical and commercial heights of Bridges, Streep picked up yet another Oscar nomination for her performance as a terminally ill wife and mother in Carl Franklin's One True Thing (1998).Streep then signed on to replace Madonna as the lead in 1999's Music of the Heart, tackling what outwardly appeared to be a cookbook Hollywood plot (a teacher on a mission to teach violin to a class of inner-city youth in Harlem) with absolute commitment, teaching herself to play the violin by practicing six hours a day for eight weeks. In the new millennium, Streep hit audiences with the back-to-back with lauded performances in Adaptation and The Hours, earning an Oscar nomination for the former and a Golden Globe nomination for the latter.On the heels of this success, Streep won an Emmy in 2004 for her participation in longtime friend and collaborator Mike Nichols' Angels in America mini-series. She soon afterward won even greater audience and critic approval for her biting role as a corporate and political conspirator in Jonathan Demme's remake of the 1962 thriller The Manchurian Candidate. Streepfollowed this up with a part in the lighthearted comedies Prime, A Prairie Home Companion, and The Devil Wears Prada.In 2007 Streep starred in a pair of timely dramas about the Iraq War, Lions for Lambs and Rendition, before returning to the musical comedy milieu with 2008's Mamma Mia!. The adaptation of the smash stage musical shattered box-office records, becoming the highest grossing film in the history of the United Kingdom, and the biggest American hit of her illustrious career. She followed that up with the lead role in John Patrick Shanley's adaptation of his award-winning play Doubt, a performance that earned her fifteenth acting nomination from the Academy, as well as nods from the Screen Actors Guild, and the Hollywood Foreign Press.The renowned actress was nominated yet again for the Academy Award and the Screen Actors Guild the following year for her turn as Julia Child in the comedy Julie & Julia, a role that also garnered her a win for Best Actress from the New York Film Critics as well as the Golden Globes. That same year she played the lead for Nancy Myers in the box office hit It's Complicated, only to dive directly back into the Oscar spotlight again the next year with her acclaimed performance as English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 2012's The Iron Lady. The role garnered Streep her 17th Academy Award nomination -- resulting in her third win, this time for Best Actress, in addition to Best Actress wins from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Golden Globes. She was back in the Oscar race in 2014, securing yet another nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for her work as the wicked witch in Rob Marshall's big-screen adaptation of the musical Into the Woods.

Trivia: Equally at home playing leads and character roles, actor Alec Baldwin is known for his work in just about every genre, from action thrillers to comedies to dramas. Born April 3, 1958, in Massapequa, Long Island, he was the second of six children (brothers William, Daniel, and Stephen would also become actors). Baldwin was a political science major at George Washington University before he decided to become an actor; following his change in vocation, he studied drama at NYU and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Early in his career, Baldwin was a busy man, simultaneously playing a role on the TV daytime drama The Doctors and performing in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream on-stage in the evenings. A few years after making his 1980 Broadway debut, the actor moved to Los Angeles, where he landed a part in the television series Knots Landing. He made his film debut in 1987 with a starring role in Forever, Lulu, which led to work in a number of major films. From 1988 to 1989 alone, Baldwin appeared in no less than seven films, including Tim Burton's black comedy Beetlejuice, Mike Nichols' Working Girl, Jonathan Demme's Married to the Mob, and Oliver Stone's Talk Radio. In 1990, Baldwin achieved big-budget success playing ace CIA agent Jack Ryan in the undersea thriller The Hunt for Red October. The film's popularity won him acclaim, so Baldwin surprised many by foregoing the opportunity to reprise his role in the sequel Patriot Games (he was replaced by Harrison Ford) in favor of returning to Broadway to star as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Although his decision paid off -- he received a Tony nomination for his performance -- it also marked the point at which Baldwin's star wattage began to flicker. His 1991 film, The Marrying Man proved to be an all-out flop (although it did provide him an introduction to co-star Kim Basinger, whom he would marry in 1993), and the critical success of his next two films, Prelude to a Kiss and Glengarry Glen Ross was overshadowed by a subsequent string of flops, including Malice (1993), The Getaway (1994), and The Juror (1996). The actor rebounded a bit with his role in Al Pacino's acclaimed documentary Looking for Richard (1996) but then had the unfortunate luck of starring in the 1998 Bruce Willis disaster Mercury Rising. However, the following year proved more fortuitous for Baldwin, as he starred in the coming-of-age comedy Outside Providence, as well as in the crime drama Thick As Thieves and the ethical drama The Confession, appearing alongside Amy Irving and Ben Kingsley. In addition, the actor made an uncredited appearance in Notting Hill, sending up his macho Hollywood persona as Julia Roberts' piggish actor boyfriend.Baldwin started off the 2000s by re-teaming with David Mamet on the Hollywood satire State and Main as a lecherous leading man with a weakness for underage girls. He provided narration for Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, and was one of the few people to escape unscathed from Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor. Although he continued to make headlines because of his politics, as well as his ongoing legal scuffles with now ex-wife Kim Basinger, Baldwin continued to do strong work in the comedies Along Came Polly (2004) and Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), and scored his first-ever Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor playing a menacing casino manager in 2003's The Cooler. He became a part of Martin Scorsese's stock company playing Juan Trippe in 2004's The Aviator, following it up as a federal agent in love with the Patriot Act in 2006's The Departed.Baldwin's longstanding association with the venerable sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (he has hosted over ten times) paid great dividends when he was hired to play the part of the boss on former SNL head writer Tina Fey's fall 2006 sitcom 30 Rock. He earned universal raves for his work on the show, and would earn a Golden Globe nomination every single year of the show's run, winning the award three times. He'd also pick up no less than five Emmy nods, winning that award twice as well. Baldwin was positively beloved on the series, but he would also continue to work in film as well, most notably in the 2009 romcom It's Complicated, which he starred in with Meryl Streep, and the 2012 Woody Allen ensemble film To Rome with Love.

Trivia: Working as a Disneyland concessionaire in his teens, comedian Steve Martin's first experiences in entertainment were of the party performer variety -- he picked up skills in juggling, tap-dancing, sleight of hand, and balloon sculpting, among other things. He later attended U.C.L.A., where he majored in philosophy and theater before moving on to staff-writer stints for such TV performers as Glen Campbell, the Smothers Brothers, Dick Van Dyke, John Denver, and Sonny & Cher. Occasionally allowed to perform as well as write, Martin didn't go into standup comedy full-time until the late '60s, when he moved to Canada and appeared as a semi-regular on the syndicated TV variety series Half the George Kirby Comedy Hour. As the opening act for rock stars in the early '70s, Martin emulated the fashion of the era with a full beard, shaggy hair, colorful costumes, and drug jokes. Comedians of such ilk were common in this market, however, so Martin carefully developed a brand-new persona: the well-groomed, immaculately dressed young man who goes against his appearance by behaving like a lunatic. By 1975, he was the "Comic of the Hour," convulsing audiences with his feigned enthusiasm over the weakest of jokes and the most obvious of comedy props. His entire act a devastating parody of second-rate comedians who rely on preconditioning to get laughs, Martin became internationally famous for such catch phrases as "Excu-u-use me!," "Happy feet!," and "I am...one wild and crazy guy!" It was fun for a while to hear audiences shout them out even before he'd uttered them, but it wasn't long before Martin was tired of live standup and anxious to get into films. Though Martin had roles in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1977) and The Muppet Movie, Martin's true screen bow was The Jerk (1979), in which, with the seriousness of Olivier, he portrayed a bumbling, self-described poor black child-turned accidental millionaire. Had he been a lesser performer, Martin could have played variations on The Jerk for the remainder of his life, but he preferred to seek out new challenges. It took nerve to go against the sensibilities of his fans with an on-edge portrayal of a habitual loser in Pennies From Heaven (1981), but Martin was successful, even if the film wasn't. And few other actors could convincingly pull off a project like Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1983), wherein, and with utter conviction, he acted opposite film clips of dead movie stars. After a first-rate turn in All of Me (1984), in which he played a man whose body is inhabited by the soul of a woman, Martin's film work began to fluctuate in quality, only to emerge on top again with Roxanne (1987), a potentially silly but ultimately compelling update of Cyrano de Bergerac. Though he participated in a fair amount of misses in the '80s and '90s (Mixed Nuts (1994), Housesitter (1992), Leap of Faith (1992), and Sgt. Bilko (1996), to name a few), Martin was unarguably full of surprises, as witnessed in his unsympathetic portrayal in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1989), his hilariously evil dentist in Little Shop of Horrors (1986), his angst-ridden father in Parenthood (1989), his smooth-talking Italian in My Blue Heaven, and his callow film producer in Grand Canyon (1991) -- though the public still seemed to prefer his standard comic performances in The Three Amigos (1986), Father of the Bride (1991), and L.A. Story (1991). Martin then went out on yet another artistic limb with A Simple Twist of Fate (1994) -- a film update of that high-school English-class perennial Silas Marner. After starring in a very dark role in David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner (1997) and an unsuccessful return to comedy in The Out-of-Towners (1999), Martin again won acclaim for Bowfinger, a 1999 comedy-satire that cast him as its titular hero, an unsuccessful movie director trying to make a film without the aid of a real script or real star. Martin -- who also wrote the film's screenplay -- played the straight man against Eddie Murphy, once again impressing critics with his versatility. According to rumor, Martin based Heather Graham's character on former flame Ann Heche.In addition to his Hollywood activities, Martin is well-known for his intellectual pursuits. His play Picasso at the Lapin Agile was produced successfully off-Broadway, and he has contributed numerous humor pieces to The New Yorker magazine, and penned the bestselling novella Shopgirl. Martin was also a featured artist in the PBS documentary series Art 21: Art in the 21st Century and discussed the visual arts as an integral form of self-expression. The 2000's found Martin in a slew of smaller roles, including a cameo as a heckler in Remember the Titans (2000), and a supporting role in director Stanely Tucci's historical comedy drama Joe Gould's Secret (2000). In 2001's Novacaine, Martin found himself playing dentist for the second time in his life, though this dentist would be decidedly less sadistic than the one he had played in camp favorite Little Shop of Horrors (1986). Despite an all-star cast (besides Martin, Novacaine featured Oscar-winner Helena Bonham Carter and Laura Dern) the black comedy was dismally received. Luckily, 2003's odd-couple comedy Bringing Down the House with Queen Latifah, rapper and surprising Oscar nominee for her role in Chicago, fared relatively well in theaters. Martin teamed up with the likes of Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, and Bugs Bunny in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), in which he plays the evil Mr. Chairman, head of the monolithic Acme Corporation. A film version of Shopgirl starring Martin and Claire Danes is currently slated for a 2005 release. Martin would remain a vital comedic actor in the years to come, appearing in films like Baby Mama and It's Complicated.

Trivia: Best known to small-screen devotees as sales representative Jim Halpert, the eternally patient, undeclared admirer of Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) on Greg Daniels' hit NBC sitcom/mockumentary The Office, Massachusetts native John Krasinski graduated from Rhode Island's Brown University in 2001 as an honors playwright, but quickly segued into acting. Within three years launched himself into films, predominantly with bit roles and supporting parts, but consistently echoing the promise that he would soon find himself among number-one box-office draws and Tinseltown heartthrobs. By 2006, in fact, People Magazine featured Krasinski in its "Sexiest Men" issue, a testament to the actor's rapidly growing recognition in the eyes of the public.Born October 20, 1979, Krasinski grew up and attended high school in Newton, an affluent western suburb of Boston. After receiving his degree from Brown, Krasinski studied at the National Theater Institute. 2004 marked the actor's "breakthrough year," with fleeting appearances in no less than four A-list productions. That year, he had bit parts as Ben in the American Zoetrope film Kinsey, a biopic of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, directed by Bill Condon and starring Liam Neeson; Bob Flynn in Matt Mulhern's finely wrought (and underappreciated) alcoholism drama Duane Hopwood starring David Schwimmer; Messenger #3 in Tim Story's urban comedy Taxi, with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon; and the British CG-animated fantasy Doogal (aka, The Magic Roundabout), which didn't find U.S. release until early 2006. The first two of these films were widely lauded sleepers, the last two critically despised (though they failed to hurt Krasinski's career, given the low profile of his involvement).The Office followed in 2005. Adapted by Daniels from a hit 2001 British series of the same title, the program -- a ratings bonanza on NBC -- stars Daily Show vet Steve Carell as Michael Scott, the tactless, vain, pushy, and loudmouthed (yet well-meaning) director of the Dunder-Mifflin paper company. While Carell's off-the-wall antics spiked the series with a never-ending source of hilarity, the gradually developing relationship between Krasinski's Jim and Fischer's Pam (two straight roles) brought the series weight and solicited interest from those viewers seeking deeper and more meaningful character development. Perhaps sensing this, Daniels opted to stretch their courtship at a snail's pace over the course of several seasons. Krasinski would appear in several movies even as The Office's success continued on the small screen, like Jarhead, The Holiday, For Your Consideration, License to Wed, Leatherheads, Away We Go, and Big Miracle. In 2015, he appeared in Cameron Crowe's Aloha and acted as executive producer on the highly-successful TV series Lip Sync Battle.

Trivia: The bewitching Lake Bell was born and raised in New York City, later heading across the state to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs before making the leap across the pond to transfer to Rose Bruford College in London, England. It was there that she began to get her acting feet wet, appearing in numerous stage productions including The Pentecost and The Seagull. Bell returned to the States to begin her onscreen career, appearing on two episodes of the long-running drama ER and alongside Jeff Goldblum in the TV movie War Stories. In 2004, she took on the recurring role of Sally Heep on The Practice. When that series was canceled, she continued the role on its spin-off, Boston Legal, and stayed with the show as a regular until 2006. Bell also appeared as a main cast member on the shortlived series Miss Match and Surface before making the transition to the big screen. In 2008, she played a woman being haunted by the ghost of her boyfriend's ex-fiancée in Over Her Dead Body, alongside Paul Rudd and Eva Longoria Parker. In the years to come, Bell would maintain her position as a successful actress, appearing in movies like No Strings Attached, and movies like How to Make it in America and Childrens Hospital. She also stepped behind the camera, writing and directing the comedy In a World....

Trivia: University of Tulsa graduate Mary Kay Place hightailed it to Hollywood in hopes of becoming a writer and performer of comedy material. She was hired for 1970s The Tim Conway Comedy Hour as a production assistant to both star Conway and producer Norman Lear. It was Conway who gave her her first on-camera break, while Lear saw to it that Place received her first writing credit on his subsequent All in the Family. Lear displayed her to even better advantage in the role of senseless, tactless, and eminently lovable would-be C&W star Loretta Haggers on the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976-1977). She won an Emmy for her work as Loretta, and was later nominated for a Grammy for her spin-off musical album, Tonight! At the Capri Lounge...Loretta Haggers. She wrote scripts for such TV sitcoms as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Phyllis, and MASH, usually in collaboration with her professional partner (and future Designing Women producer), Linda Bloodworth. In films since 1976's Bound for Glory, Place has only occasionally been given a chance to shine on the big screen; the best of her movie roles include the washout nightclub singer who briefly replaces Liza Minnelli in New York, New York (1976), and the reconstituted "child of the '60s" who eagerly volunteers for surrogate motherhood in The Big Chill (1983). Place then continued to work on a variety of projects throughout the 80's and 90's, playing family friend Camille Chersky on the tragically-cancelled dramatic series My So-Called Life, and directing episodes of TV shows like Friends and Arli$$. With the new millennium, Place turned once again towards the big screen, enjoying appearances in films like Being John Malkovich and Girl, Interrupted, but she continued to work in TV as well, with a recurring role on the Showtime series Big Love -- which earned her an Ammy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress on a Drama Series in 2010.

Trivia: Actress Rita Wilson has played supporting and leading roles on television and in feature films. Her first TV work was the recurring role of Nurse Lacey on the long-running CBS sitcom M*A*S*H. An athletic beauty, Wilson had leading roles in two short-lived series, The Cheerleaders (1976) and The Beach Girls (1977). She made her film debut in Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (1978). Though she could have continued her career playing fluffy roles, Wilson had higher aspirations and accepted an invitation to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. When not studying, Wilson honed her dramatic skills at the Macowan Theatre in London. Upon her return to the U.S., Wilson co-starred with Tom Hanks in Volunteers (1985). A romance flowered between the two and they married three years later. In 1993, Wilson played one of her best-known roles, that of Suzy, the girl who falls to pieces while describing the movie An Affair to Remember in Sleepless in Seattle. Wilson had a rare starring role opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the holiday comedy Jingle All the Way (1996). Wilson has subsequently divided her time between films and television work, appearing in Hanks' feature directorial debut That Thing You Do! (1996) as well as such popular sitcoms as Mad About You and Frasier in addition to the acclaimed Hanks-produced miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. After a turn in Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho, Wilson could be seen in such romantic comedy/dramas as Runaway Bride and The Story of Us before her role as Leelee Sobieski's ill-fated mother in The Glass House (2001). In 2002 she had a huge hit as a producer when she helped bring the indie smash My Big Fat Greek Wedding to the big screen, and she got good reviews playing the wife of sex-addicted celebrity Bob Crane in Paul Schrader's drama Auto Focus. She went on to appear in Raise Your Voice, The Chumscrubber, Old Dogs, It's Complicated, and Larry Crowne, while she scored another success as a producer with the ABBA jukebox musical Mamma Mia!

Trivia: Actor Hunter Parrish first caught the eye of many moviegoers with his roles as the brainy son of Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth in RV and a troubled inner-city high school student in the 2007 drama Freedom Writers. Yet despite these noteworthy feature achievements, Parrish's biggest early accomplishment was his leading role as a naïve suburban teen in the 2005 drama Steal Me -- in which he proved he could carry a feature and took home a Method Fest award for his efforts. In 2005, Parrish was cast in Showtime's Weeds as the grieving, insecure teenager Silas Botwin, who is forced to become the man of the house after his father dies unexpectedly. Parrish -- along with the rest of the Weeds cast -- was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award in 2007. During his run on Weeds, his film work included It's Complicated, 17 Again, and Gone. Once Weeds finished its run in 2012, Parrish had a guest arc on The Good Wife before taking another regular role on The Following. In 2014, he had a supporting role in the indie film Still Alice,opposite Julianne Moore.

Trivia: Daughter of screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, and granddaughter of prominent director Elia Kazan, actress Zoe Kazan joined the family business after graduating from Yale University in 2005. Beginning with acclaimed productions of off-Broadway plays like The Prime of Miss Jean Brody and The Things We Want, Kazan soon made her Broadway debut, starring alongside S. Epatha Merkerson in a revival of Come Back, Little Sheba. Kazan would continue to find success on Broadway, but eventually branched into on-screen acting, as well, appearing in films like Fracture, In the Valley of Ellah, and Me and Orson Welles. In 2009, the actress became a professional playwright when her play Absalom was presented at the Kazan Humana Festival of New American Plays. Kazan next joined the cast of the quirky ensemble movie happythankyoumoreplease.

Trivia: Grandfather Desmond Fitzgerald was a high-ranking CIA officer in the 1950s and '60s who helped coordinate attempts to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Mother cowrote the book Knitting for Dummies. First role was as Bessie the Cow in a Camden Civic Theatre production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Played the title role in Hedda Gabler in a 2010 off-Broadway production that staged the play in an East Village townhouse. Returned to her hometown in Maine to shoot Like the Water, which she cowrote, in 2011; used her father's house and camp as shooting locations.

Trivia: Comedic actress Nora Dunn has frequently played acerbic character roles in films and TV as foils to generally likeable leads. She was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990, when she left due to the controversial episode with musical guest Sinead O'Connor and host Andrew Dice Clay. During her five-year run, she played several talk show hosts and was one of the Sweeney Sisters, along with Jan Hooks. She made her film debut in Mike Nichols' Working Girl (1988) as a jaded office worker, followed by Savage Steve Holland's How I Got Into College (1989) as an SAT coach. Her next few films were less successful: Stepping Out, Born Yesterday, and I Love Trouble. She turned back to TV and joined the cast of the NBC drama Sisters as the lesbian TV producer Norma Lear, followed by the CBS comedy The Nanny as Dr. Reynolds. In the late '90s, she had a few small yet funny roles in the more successful films The Last Supper, Bulworth, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and Three Kings. She also used her vocal talent to provide voices for the animated TV shows Futurama, The Wild Thornberrys, and Histeria! In 2001, she played the mom in Max Keeble's Big Move, a fashion designer in Zoolander, and Miss Madness in Heartbreakers. Her 2003 projects include the independent comedy Die Mommie Die, the Jim Carrey feature Bruce Almighty, and the romantic comedy Laws of Attraction.

Trivia: Appeared in Year of the Rabbit at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in Los Angeles in 2012. Started a small pop-up library in his West Los Angeles neighborhood, but ran into issues with the local government over the location. Starred in Love Life Alpha at the Sci-Fest LA festival in 2016.

Trivia: First professional role was in The Nutcracker in 1993. Won the Agnes Moorhead Award for her off-Broadway performance in Just in Time: The Judy Holliday Story. Made her Broadway debut in To Be or Not to Be. Appeared in the theater production of Manipulation in 2014.

Trivia: Acted on Broadway in Spring Awakening in 2008; also choreographed and staged a 2012 production of Spring Awakening at her alma mater, Nebraska Wesleyan University. Appeared in 20 plays during her four years at college. Released the five-song EP Blue Toothbrush in 2011. Maintains a blog about her experiences as a young actor at the Web site BackStage. Considers herself a chronic listmaker. Has a tattoo of a heart with a music note inside it on her left shoulder.

Trivia: Moved to New York from London in 1991. Began acting in 2001. Studied acting with Bob Krakower. Taught acting at the Manhattan Film Institute. Taught acting at the Freeman Studio in New York.

Trivia: A former commercial actress who has since found success on film and television, Blanchard Ryan gained notable exposure in film and television by the time she jumped into shark-infested waters for the highly-publicized 2003 feature Open Water. Though her cinematic career might have prepared the up-and-coming actress for such a physically exhausting role, Ryan's background as a former Club Med aerobics instructor no doubt helped the actress maintain her stamina during endless hours floating in the ocean. The daughter of a hockey coach who would later become the president of the Philadelphia Flyers, Blanchard was born and raised in Boston. Ryan began studying acting and improvisation shortly after earning her B.A. in political philosophy from the University of New Hampshire, and though she aspired to the screen, her cinematic career was still only in its infancy. Early work at Club Med was followed by a handful of commercial roles and the occasional appearance on Late Night With Conan O' Brien, with a feature debut in the 1998 film Remembering Sex, showing a flair for dramatics and offering testament to her compelling screen presence. A role in the 1999 comedy Big Helium Dog found the emerging actress forming a friendship with the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, and two short years later, she would join the troupe in its 2001 cult hit Super Troopers. For those who were watching her career, her trajectory was obvious with each role offering a little more screen time and becoming ever more demanding. Following a substantial role in the 2001 drama My Sister's Wedding, Ryan appeared in a pair of little-seen short films, and it was only a matter of time until she got her big break. Inspired by the harrowing true-life story of divers Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were suspected dead after being accidentally left behind by their diving boat in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Open Water gained notable buzz on the festival circuit for its stark realism and intense storytelling. Cast opposite Daniel Travis as one-half of the couple in question, Ryan had to overcome a paralyzing fear of sharks to pull off the daring role (the actors were fitted with chain mesh so they would be safe among the docile but unpredictable sharks); the bravery paid off, however, and the film was soon put into wide release to the terror of audiences nationwide.

Trivia: Was working for a French back, selling derivatives, when she was relocated to New York; she saw the play Appointment with a High-Wire Lady and decided to quit and become an actor. Got her Equity card for a one-night performance of Speed-the-Plow. Appeared in a series of AT&T commercials. Made her Broadway debut in Hand to God in 2015, earning a Tony nomination for her performance.

Trivia: Met husband Dan O'Brien while performing improv comedy together in college. Performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York and Los Angeles. Wrote episodes of her sitcom BFF by recording herself and cowriter Lennon Parham improvising, then transcribing it later.

Trivia: Grew up mostly in Utah, but lived in Hawaii for a period of time before returning to Utah to finish high school. Is the only person in his family who acts, but his mother's side of the family includes several professional singers, and as a result singing is another talent of his (he sang on one episode of Lincoln Heights). Got interested in acting during his high-school years and participated in a summer Shakespeare festival. Worked four jobs simultaneously while trying to make it as a struggling actor. Enjoys listening to jazz music and standards, including the music of Michael Bublé. His career role model is Christian Bale.

Trivia: Began modeling and landed a Werther's Candy national commercial when he was 4.Relocated to California with his family when he was 5.Made his film debut playing Pedro Adler in the 2009 comedy It's Complicated.Took over a year and a half off of acting following his debut in It's Complicated to finish high school.First major TV role was Adam Leon in the American comedy-drama TV series Rake, starring Greg Kinnear.