Trivia: The 5' 3," sandy blonde-haired Gen-Y icon Sarah Michelle Gellar's life story reads like a preteen wish fulfillment fantasy. Born in Manhattan in 1977 and discovered by an agent in a Manhattan restaurant at the age of four, Gellar signed for her first role (in the 1983 telemovie An Invasion of Privacy) not one week later. A plethora of bit parts in television series (Spenser: For Hire) and theatrical films (Over the Brooklyn Bridge, 1984; Funny Farm, 1988; High Stakes, 1989) followed, before Gellar landed a recurring role, in the early '90s, on the decades-long daytime soap opera All My Children. Throughout the early years of her career, Gellar was managed and supervised by her mother, a former nursery school teacher who insisted on straight A's as a prerequisite of an acting career. Sarah Michelle delivered, time and again.Despite the apparent fairy tale-like quality of her rise, Gellar reportedly battled several decidedly unhappy experiences as a child, including a parental divorce, decades of estrangement from her father, and social struggles in a New York City high school, experiences parlayed into her first (and most infamous) lead: that of Buffy, a California valley girl high school student-turned-"exterminator of the undead" in the early-'90s syndicated cult fantasy series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Gellar inherited the role from Kristy Swanson, who fleshed it out in the (decidedly more comic) 1992 theatrical release of the same name. Under Gellar's aegis, the show lasted seven years, from 1996 through 2003, and it became a massive international hit, garnering legions of fans. The subject matter of the series required the young actress to engage in rigorous exercise and physical training off-camera throughout Buffy's run.Gellar (a compulsive shopper and brand aficionado off-camera) then signed as a Maybelline spokeswoman and prepared to move into the third phase of her acting career. As Buffy wrapped, it coincided with the resurgence of American teen horror films led by Wes Craven's Scream series, and although Gellar did not join the cast of the first installment, her popularity on Buffy the Vampire Slayer thematically paved the way for involvement in one Scream sequel and one emulator: Scream 2 and I Know What You Did Last Summer (both 1997). In 1999, Gellar teamed up with two other notables of the same generation, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, for the Dangerous Liaisons teen update Cruel Intentions. As Kathryn Merteuil -- the depraved schemer who coaxes her stepbrother (Phillippe) into deflowering the school headmaster's daughter (Witherspoon), and thus inadvertently sets in motion a chain of disasters that will destroy them all -- Gellar played off of her wholesome, "all-American girl" image and helped turn the picture into a minor hit. Meanwhile, Gellar met and fell in love with Hollywood heartthrob Freddie Prinze Jr. (the son of the ill-fated, late-'70s Hispanic comedian Freddie Prinze), and the two married in Mexico in 2002, the same year they co-starred as Fred and Daphne for director Raja Gosnell in the live-action summer blockbuster Scooby-Doo. Two years later, Gellar and Prinze took the wheel of the Mystery Machine to fight a mischievous specter in 2004's Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Gellar (long a student and admirer of Japanese culture) then traveled to Japan to do battle with some truly frightening entities in the 2004 J-horror remake The Grudge. In that effort, she plays an American student employed at a Japanese health center who uncovers a centuries-old curse that feeds off of anger and guides one victim after another into an unquenchable, violent rage.Subsequent vocal work on the animated cult hit Robot Chicken found the former vampire slayer having a bit of behind-the-scenes fun without the stress of appearing before the camera, and a role as an ambitious porn star teetering on the edge of the apocalypse in director Richard Kelly's eagerly anticipated Donnie Darko follow-up, Southland Tales, preceded a trip back into terror as a successful business woman haunted by a decades-old murder in the 2006 supernatural thriller The Return. In that picture, Gellar plays Joanna Mills, a thick-skinned, courageous Midwestern girl plagued by haunting supernatural visions, who attempts to uncover the origin of these specters. Unfortunately, that film opened to horrendous critical reviews and lackluster box office numbers in November 2006, appearing and disappearing quickly.Gellar would do plenty of voice acting in movies like the family-friendly CG-animated fairy tale Happily N'Ever After and the Weinstein-produced, CG-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Gellar would ultimately find continued success in TV, however, lending her voice to the animated sketch comedy series Robot Chicken, and her role on the series Ringer.

Trivia: Legions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans know Nicholas Brendon as the goofy but loyal character Xander, which he played for seven seasons between 1997 and 2003. Born in Los Angeles in 1971, Brendon was surrounded by the bright lights of Hollywood from the womb, but unlike a lot of hopeful stars, he didn't dive into show business as a child. Brendon's first love was baseball, and he had aspirations to pursue a career in sports until an injury forced him to change his plans. Addled with a stuttering problem that had plagued him from a young age, he tried his hand at acting at the age of 20 as a way to overcome his problem. The method worked, both curing his stuttering and offering him an avenue for career success -- eventually.Brendon's first shot at acting ended after two years, with Brendon frustrated by the shallow politics of Hollywood. He subsequently tried his hand as a janitor, daycare counselor, plumber's assistant, waiter, and even medical school student before giving acting another chance. After less than a week of auditions, he landed the role of Xander.After Buffy ended in 2003, Brendon followed the show with a starring role in the series Kitchen Confidential. Though the show was canceled after just one season in 2006, the actor had no shortage of projects lined up, soon working on both sides of the camera by producing and starring in the 2007 horror film Unholy. A short time later, he appeared in the horror comedy Blood on the Highway before assuming a recurring role on the procedural crime drama Criminal Minds. In 2009 he had a main role in the family-friendly A Golden Christmas. He had a terrifying arc on Private Practice, playing a rapist, in 2011.

Trivia: Born March 24, 1974, in Washington, D.C., Hannigan became a TV commercial veteran following her family's move to Atlanta. From the age of four, Hannigan appeared in a steady stream of commercials, including ones for Oreo and McDonald's. At the age of 11, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. She made her big-screen debut in the 1988 film My Stepmother Is an Alien, as Dan Aykroyd's daughter. The following year, she won a regular spot on the short-lived sitcom Free Spirit and acted in a variety of television miniseries and sitcoms (including Roseanne and Picket Fences) until 1997, when she won the part of Willow on Buffy.The show proved to be an unexpected success among critics and viewers alike, and paved the way for Hannigan to appear opposite Tom Everett Scott in the 1998 comedy Dead Man on Campus. American Pie followed the next year, giving Hannigan wider recognition and making her an unintentional poster child for band camps everywhere. She would return for sequels in the franchise, but Hannigan would also become just as well known for her subsuquent role on the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

Trivia: An unlikely candidate to end up as immortal vampire Spike on Joss Whedon's popular television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (in addition to reprising his role for the spin-off series Angel), former stage actor James Marsters got his start in the spotlight by performing in such Shakespeare classics as The Tempest before donning fangs to portray the conflicted bloodsucker who eventually falls for the one girl sworn to do battle with the undead. Marsters was born in the Northern California logging town of Greenville, later moving with his family and spending much of his childhood in nearby Modesto. From his grade-school stage debut as Eeyore in a production of Winnie the Pooh, the aspiring thespian knew that he had the talent and drive to become an actor. After studying his craft at New York's renowned Juilliard School of the Arts, he set his sites on Chicago, making a name for himself with impressive performances at the Goodman Theater before heading west to Los Angeles. The talented stage actor made a transition to the small screen when he made an appearance on the popular series Northern Exposure in 1992, with a few other minor television roles preceding his rise to fame on the wildly popular Buffy. Though his character, Spike, was originally supposed to be killed off during his first season on the show, he proved so popular that he was kept on and eventually made a regular. In addition to his appearances on Buffy and Angel, Marsters also found time to act in a pair of independent films entitled Winding Roads and Chance. While fans of his character on Buffy may have been saddened when that series wound to a close, they could take some solace in the fact that he would return as the mischievous Spike in the 2003-2004 season of successful spin-off Angel. Marsters' other small-screen roles included appearances in Strange Frequency and Andromeda, as well as voice work on the animated television series Spider-Man in 2003. In addition to his theater roles, Marsters maintained an entirely different stage persona as a member of the rock band Ghost of the Robot.

Trivia: Actress Michelle Trachtenberg was born on October 11, 1985, in New York City, and made a recognized splash into the Hollywood scene only 11 years later when she starred with Rosie O'Donnell in Harriet the Spy. Before the film, she had commercial and television acting experience, most notably with future Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar on the soap opera All My Children. After Harriet, Trachtenberg made smaller film appearances, along with additional television roles. In 1999, she co-starred as Penny in Inspector Gadget with Matthew Broderick. She took on the role of Gellar's younger sister on the WB series Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 2001, and a recurring turn as pop star Celeste on Six Feet Under in 2004. She appeared in Ice Princess and Black Christmas. In 2009 she joined the cast of the series Mercy, and continued to work on the big-screen in projects like 17 Again, Cop Out, and Take Me Home Tonight.

Trivia: Holding a degree in psychology, Emma Caulfield began her acting career in television on shows like General Hospital and Beverly Hills 90210. After a couple of brief film appearances, she landed her breakthrough role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as the demon Anyanka, reborn as the human Anya Emerson, at Sunnydale High. Her popularity on the show led to an expanding role for her character as well as a lead in the thriller Darkness Falls (2003).

Trivia: Tall African-American actor D.B. Woodside is best known for two recurring series roles: that of Principal Robin Wood on Buffy the Vampire Slayer during the program's seventh and final season, and that of Wayne Palmer on the blockbuster Fox action thriller 24. Born in New York City, David Bryan Woodside stepped into drama during his teens, almost completely by accident. As a varsity football hero, he suffered from an unexpected injury on the field and happened to be looking for an alternative pursuit. While walking down a school corridor, Woodside overheard a rehearsal for the musical Brigadoon and decided, spontaneously, to check it out. The pieces fell into place, and after graduation, Woodside devoted more of his attention to dramatics -- this time, on a curricular level, first as an undergraduate at the State University of New York at Albany (where he received his B.A.) and later via his studies at the Yale University School of Drama, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts. Woodside signed with a manager and subsequently landed the role of Melvin Franklin, bassist singer for the Temptations, in the 1998 telemovie biopic of that Motown supergroup; that of Forrest in the low-budget 1998 cop thriller Scarred City; and that of Anthony Hilliard in the BET original telemovie After All. He also portrayed Colin in Andrzej Bartkowiak's big-screen martial arts update of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo Must Die. The Buffy role purportedly came to Woodside some time before he agreed to accept it; he later recalled his manager phoning him on several occasions and insisting that he audition for the part. In the first two instances, Woodside declined, but with the third offer, he begrudgingly accepted and soon "fell in love with the part." Unfortunately, the series ended with that season (in 2003), but Woodside made a memorable impression. When reflecting on the series' closure in a BBC interview, he later observed, "It was sad to see these guys who had been together for seven years of their lives, who had grown up together. They were a family, and like many families they work hard and love hard. They were fantastic and welcomed me into that family for the final season. So there were quite a few tears, quite a few hugs, but they felt the need to move on." Woodside continued on to other roles, including playing "stoner" Martin, the best friend of Marguerite Moreau's Jamie Harris, in the quirky, low-budget romantic comedy Easy (2003). However, Woodside's most notable and high-profile role was that of Wayne Palmer -- the brother and Chief of Staff of President David Palmer -- on the aforementioned 24, starting with the hit show's third season (2003-2004). He then returned in season five (2005) for a handful of appearances before his character ascended to the presidency for the show's turbulent sixth season the next year.

Trivia: Anthony Head (often credited by his full name, Anthony Stewart Head) became most widely recognized in the U.S. for his role on the WB prime-time drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. However, on his British home-front, he is perhaps more well known for his recurring role in the dramatic Taster's Choice commercials. Wherever he is, his abundant credits both on television and on-stage have earned him notice as a talented performer.Head was born February 20, 1954, in Camden, London, England. The son of an actress mother, and documentary-filmmaker father, show business was in his blood. At an early age, his interest in the field his parents had pursued was already apparent, and would also be reflected in his brother Murray Head's acting career. Anthony Head started acting in school plays at the age of six, and was writing his own within just a few years. After high school, he attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, where he studied until 1976. He began a long-term relationship with Sarah Fisher, ten years his junior, in 1982. The couple had two daughters, Emily Rose (1989) and Daisy May (1991).In addition to decades of theatrical experience in Britain, Head has earned recognition to mass audiences with his roles on television. His first TV role came in 1978 with the British series Enemy at the Door, a World War II drama (which would perhaps go on to inspire the name of the 2001 film Enemy at the Gates). That same year he appeared on a miniseries called Lillie. After a lengthy focus on his career in theater and smaller television appearances, Head returned to starring dramatic TV roles with Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997. On the program, he portrayed Rupert Giles, the mentor to Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who followed her in disguise as the school librarian, in order to be on guard against evil powers. The character provoked a spin-off to the original series that features Rupert "Ripper" Giles as a "watcher," who returns to England after watching Buffy. Entitled Ripper, the program began its run in 2002. Also that year, Head played the role of James on the TV series Manchild. He was in the cast of Little Britain and appeared in a variety of projects including Imagine Me & You, Sparkle, and Amelia and Michael. In 2008 he landed a recurring role on the series Merlin playing King Uther, and that same year he appeared in the big-screen musical Repo! The Genetic Opera. In 2011 he appeared in the Oscar winning drama The Iron Lady, and he had a small part in the 2012 sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

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: An actress who enjoyed fame and recognition as the on-camera mother of Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), on the action-horror series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996-2003), Kristine Sutherland grew up in Lexington, KY, and first explored her capacity for effective drama via stage work. She first began appearing in A-list feature films in the mid- to late '80s, with projects including Legal Eagles (1986) and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), but her career caught fire with the role of Joyce Summers on Buffy, and her portrayal prompted at least one major publication to term her "Television's Sexiest Mom." After she exited the program in 2002, Sutherland decided to attend a still photography course at Santa Monica College upon feeling inspired by a year-long residence in Italy with her husband and daughter. She so enjoyed the course -- and the art of taking photographs -- that it encouraged her to open up her own studio, with an emphasis on portraiture. She also occasionally still appeared on television; in 2008, she played Elmira Forsythe in the Western miniseries Comanche Moon and took on a guest role on the series New Amsterdam.

Trivia: Though Charisma Carpenter refers to her first name as an "absolute curse" (it was derived from an ill-conceived Avon perfume line), it certainly hasn't proved detrimental to her career. Born in Las Vegas, NV, Carpenter had exhibited an interest in the performing arts by the age of five, when she began studying classical ballet. Though her family moved to Mexico in 1985, the fast-paced, entertainment-laden Las Vegas atmosphere had already had a profound effect on a then 15-year-old Charisma -- so much so that she embarked on an hour-long, daily commute to San Diego, where she attended the prestigious School of the Performing Arts.Carpenter had somewhat drastically changed her career plans after her graduation, when she moved to San Diego and took on a series of odd jobs, ranging from a video clerk to a member of the San Diego Chargers' cheerleading squad, in hopes of funding a college education. The non-aspiring actress was hoping to become an English teacher. To the eventual delight of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans nationwide, however, this wasn't to be. While waiting tables on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, Carpenter was discovered by a commercial agent who promptly recommended she continue attending acting school. Her penchant for show business piqued once again, Carpenter decided to test her chops at the reputable Playhouse West, where she spent 18 months honing her skills. While there, Carpenter appeared in series of commercials, though her first true television role wouldn't occur until much later, in 1995, when she made a guest appearance on Baywatch.Seven long years after dedicating herself to acting, Carpenter managed to land a starring role on prime-time soap guru Aaron Spelling's Malibu Shores opposite Keri Russell. The show, however, was short-lived, and Carpenter was once again left with no solid job of which to speak, despite sporadic appearances on Boy Meets World and Pacific Blue. In 1997, Carpenter's agent found the then very much aspiring actress two separate auditions for a role the same show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a teen-oriented horror comedy series based on 1992's much less successful movie of the same name. One of the auditions was for Buffy, the intrepid vampire slayer, while the other was for Cordelia Chase, snooty high school student extraordinaire. As fate would have it, Sarah Michelle Gellar would win the part of Buffy, while Carpenter would ignite many an Internet fan site as Cordelia. So popular was her role that in 1999, when the Buffy spin-off Angel was launched, Carpenter was able to continue and expand the role.Though the series couldn't last forever, Carpenter continued to act after its cancellation. In 2004, she starred in What Boys Like, a sex comedy directed by Lawrence Gay, and played a reoccurring role in NBC's short-lived Alicia Silverstone vehicle Miss Match. Carpenter remained active the mid-2000s, and continued to find success playing characters with some sort of supernatural ability (as indicated by her appearances on the television shows Charmed and Supernatural). The actress played the girlfriend of a mercenary (Jason Statham) in 2010's The Expendables, and reprised the role for The Expendables 2 (2012). Off screen, Carpenter enjoys a variety of outdoor activities -- rock climbing, horseback riding, biking, and rollerblading, to name a few -- and spending time with her son.

Trivia: Born in 1977, actress Amber Benson entered the hallowed halls of show business as a child star, with multifaceted, audience-commanding portrayals in such respected arthouse fare as King of the Hill (1993) and Imaginary Crimes (1994). Benson netted far greater exposure, however, as Tara Maclay, the lesbian sorceress and first girlfriend of fellow witch Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) on the cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That assignment lasted for two and a half years; near the end of Benson's participation in it, she assumed quadruple-threat status as the writer, director, producer, and star of the offbeat comedy drama Chance (which, unfortunately, bypassed wide release and received extremely limited ancillary exposure). She then returned to acting in films including Intermedio (2005), Tripping Forward (2006), and the medieval monster-themed telemovie Attack of the Gryphon (2007) before re-assuming directorial duties with the 2007 feature Lovers, Liars and Lunatics.

Trivia: When college basketball star Marc Blucas did not make the NBA, he decided to apply to law school. The day before he was scheduled to take the Law School Admission Test, he unwound by watching Rob Reiner's courtroom drama A Few Good Men (1992) and realized that what excited him about the film was not the law, but the acting. A few years later, Blucas was a television veteran with several feature films under his belt and a coveted spot in Vanity Fair's prestigious Hollywood Issue.Born Marcus Paul Blucas on January 11, 1972, the actor grew up in the small town of Girard, PA. The son of a school superintendent and an education administrator, he made his stage debut as a cupcake in his third grade class' production of Hansel and Gretel. At 6'2" tall, he was the star center on the Girard High School basketball team. An All-State athlete, Blucas averaged 20.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game and lead his team to two 2A championships. In his senior year, the team went undefeated and was ranked among the best high school basketball teams by USA Today. Blucas earned a full scholarship to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, where he majored in business with a minor in speech communication and played shooting guard and small forward for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He competed in four NCAA tournaments and won the Murray C. Greason Sr. Athletic Academic Award and the Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship in his senior year. When Blucas was not picked in the NBA draft, he joined the Manchester Giants and played pro basketball in England for one season. After starting a company that was targeted to assist athletes in endorsement and contract negotiations, he intended to go to law school but tried his hand at acting instead.Blucas had already appeared opposite Marg Helgenberger and Kris Kristofferson in the television movie Inflammable (1995), when a friend at Wake Forest informed him that the producers of the Whoopi Goldberg comedy Eddie (1996) were looking for a baby-faced basketball player to appear in the picture. He was a perfect fit and made his feature-film debut as a benched player on the New York Knicks. After working as the technical advisor on NBC's sports biopic Never Give Up: The Jimmy V Story (1996), Blucas was able to expand his part as an athlete in Pleasantville (1997) by coordinating the film's basketball sequences. He then dedicated himself to honing his craft through workshops and acting classes, before resurfacing as Jerry O'Connell's best friend in the NBC miniseries The '60s (1999), and as Carmen Electra's ex-beau in Jeff Abugov's The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999). He also appeared on MTV's Undressed, the WB's Clueless, and HBO's Arli$$.Blucas' breakthrough role came in the fall of 1999, when he was cast as a regular on Joss Whedon's hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Portraying Buffy's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) demon-hunting boyfriend, Riley Finn, he became a recognizable actor with a sturdy fan base. Blucas left the show in 2000 (with the promise that he would be back) in order to pursue film work. After starring in the baseball-themed Summer Catch (2001) with Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jessica Biel, he began a back-to-back shooting schedule that included Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) with Ben Affleck and Jason Lee, John Sayles' The Sunshine State (2001) with Angela Bassett and Edie Falco, and Randall Wallace's We Were Soldiers (2002) with Mel Gibson and Chris Klein. He also joined the casts of the Gwyneth Paltrow comedy A View From the Top (2002), the thriller They (2002), and the period piece I Capture the Castle (2002).While still swearing to fans that he will return to Buffy the Vampire Slayer as soon as he can, Blucas signed on to director Alex Steyermark's Pray for Rock 'n' Roll, which stars Gina Gershon, Jennifer Esposito, Jane Adams, and Shelly Cole as a struggling Los Angeles-based girl band. Despite his onscreen success and his busy schedule, the actor still makes time for basketball. He plays on an adult team and serves as a referee for a Los Angeles youth league.

Trivia: Best known to TV audiences for her role as Faith on the WB Network's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Eliza Dushku also has a number of films to her name. Dushku, who made her film debut starring opposite Juliette Lewis in the 1992 period drama That Night, began acting professionally when she was barely in her teens. Born of Albanian-Danish descent in Boston, MA, on December 30, 1980, Dushku grew up the youngest sibling of three older brothers. Following her debut in That Night, which cast her as a young girl who becomes infatuated with the rebellious teen who lives across the street, the young actress did supporting work in This Boy's Life (1993) and played the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies (1994). In 1998 Dushku got one of her biggest breaks to date when she was cast as troubled slayer Faith on Buffy. Although Faith was only meant to appear in a handful of episodes, the show's creators liked Dushku enough to make Faith a recurring character, and also featured her on Angel, Buffy's spin-off. Dushku had perhaps her most successful big-screen role to date in Bring It On (2000), a high-school comedy that cast her as Kirsten Dunst's reluctant but tough fellow cheerleader. The film was one of the summer's biggest money-earners, and Dushku, unsurprisingly, was soon busy with a number of new film projects. Included amongst them were Soul Survivor (2001), a teen horror movie that also featured Casey Affleck and Wes Bentley, and The New Guy (2001), another comedy about the horrors of high school life.She starred in the TV series Tru Calling beginning in 2003, and continued to try and make headway into a movie career with projects like Wrong Turn, Nobel Son, and Bottle Shock.In 2009 she reteamed with Joss Whedon for the TV series Dollhouse, but it failed to build the same devoted audience as Buffy. Once Dollhouse ended, Dushku worked extensively doing voice-over work in animated series (including the role of Catwoman in Batman: Year One) and guest starring on shows like White Collar and The Big Bang Theory.

Trivia: Made his TV debut in the 1996-99 Nickelodeon series The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Played a recurring character on TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Has directed a number of music videos. Codirected the 2010 film Drones with former Buffy costar Amber Benson. Performs in the indie rock band Common Rotation.

Trivia: Mercedes McNab etched out a memorable late-'90s small-screen characterization when she signed to work for producer/series creator Joss Whedon on the cult fantasy series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar. As the brilliantly named Harmony Kendall -- a spoiled, well-to-do Southern California prima donna whose life turns a nasty corner when she gets inadvertently vampirized, McNab provided an all-too-familiar high school archetype (with and without the ghastly makeup) amid the series' themes of adolescent angst. She continued her portrayal of Harmony on the spin-off series Angel, moving up from recurring character to regular during the show's fifth and final season. McNab continued on with guest roles on TV shows like Reaper and Supernatural, and also moved into features. In 2006, the actress took on a plum role in the 2006 slasher movie Hatchet.

Trivia: Started college at 16 and went on to be her class validictorian. Studied ballet professionally and is an accomplished violinist. She was offered a scholarship to Juilliard for violin, but turned it down and attended school in Texas instead. Appeared in the final episodes of the WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playing a potential slayer named Vi. Created, writes and stars in the Web series The Guild, a sitcom about online gamers. Was the first guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon during the "soft launch" (via the Internet) of the program prior to its television debut. Claims to have played the online role-playing game World of Warcraft for eight hours a day over two years.

Trivia: Early acting appearances included guest spots on Dawson's Creek, Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. Supplied voice work for Fox's animated comedy Family Guy, doing impressions of celebrities such as Cybill Shepherd, Sarah Jessica Parker and Christina Aguilera. Played Willa McPherson, Lucy's protégé-in-training, for two seasons on FX's Dirt.

Trivia: Known to many as Dr. Sydney Heron on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, Kali Rocha seems to be an eternally familiar face, due to her numerous appearances in such a variety of projects. After growing up in Rhode Island, Rocha attended the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama before embarking on a professional acting career with a role in 1996's The Crucible. Subsequent projects found her playing everything from a fun-loving demon on Buffy the Vampire Slayer to an all-business social worker in White Oleander.

Trivia: Best known for his multi-decade contributions to film as a character actor, Mark Metcalf began life in Ohio but came of age in St. Louis. Though Metcalf entered college with engineering ambitions, he soon gravitated to theater and decided to shift majors, almost on a whim, then moved into the Manhattan theatrical community in his mid-twenties and accepted stage roles in productions of varying magnitudes. 1976-1977 represented Metcalf's breakthrough period -- the period that witnessed him turning heads with a performance in David Rabe's military-themed play Streamers (he reportedly received personal backstage visits and hearty praise from the likes of Warren Beatty and Bette Davis) and another acclaimed supporting turn in the 1977 Best Picture nominee Julia. Metcalf scored broadest recognition, however (and the role with which he permanently became associated), as equestrian Douglas C. Neidermeyer, the sadistic, obnoxious ROTC officer and Omega fraternity president at Faber College, in director John Landis' anarchic blockbuster comedy National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). Metcalf purportedly went in auditioning for lady-killer Otter -- the part eventually given to Tim Matheson -- but picked up the Neidermeyer role when he deceptively convinced Landis that he could ride a horse. At about the same time, Metcalf stepped behind the camera and set up shop with actor Griffin Dunne (another future Landis associate), as well as actress Amy Robinson (Mean Streets), to form the production shingle Triple Play Productions in the late '70s. The trio turned out a single effort -- the critically well-received but commercially unsuccessful 1979 romantic drama Head Over Heels (later reedited and renamed Chilly Scenes of Winter). After that, however, Metcalf jumped ship and moved squarely into acting for many years, prompting Dunne and Robinson to rename the production company Double Play. Subsequent projects (which placed a particularly strong emphasis on comedic turns) included Where the Buffalo Roam (1980), Mr. North (1988), Hijacking Hollywood (1997), and Warden of Red Rock (2001). The outings Oscar and The Stupids re-teamed him with director Landis. In the late '90s, Metcalf enjoyed a recurring role as The Master on the syndicated supernatural drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and became acquainted with producer David E. Kelley, on whose Ally McBeal he occasionally guest starred. Off-camera, Metcalf and his wife made headlines when they purchased a Mequon, Wisconsin-based restaurant from Kelley, called Kelley's, and co-ran it.

Trivia: Harry Groener is known to many viewers as the mayor of Sunnydale on the cult-hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but some of the actor's biggest accomplishments have been on the stage. Born in Germany, Groener's family moved to the U.S. when he was two. He apprenticed with the San Francisco Ballet as a teenager, and went on to study drama at the University of Washington before embarking on what would become an extremely successful career on Broadway. Throughout the following decades, he would appear in countless plays such as Cats, Oklahoma!, and Spamalot, while simultaneously maintaining a career onscreen, appearing in movies like Road to Perdition and About Schmidt, and on TV shows like Dear John (as the very awkward Ralph), The West Wing, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Trivia: Clare Kramer grew up in the Midwest and learned about business from her father while studying acting at N.Y.U. She had small roles in commercials, TV shows, and films until her first big break in the cheerleading teen movie Bring It On. Kramer was most known for her role as Glory on UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In 2002, she starred in both The Mallory Effect and The Rules of Attraction.

Trivia: Many remember actress Rachael Bella for her role in the horror film The Ring as the unfortunate teen who winds up in a mental hospital. Bella began acting as a child, appearing in the movie Household Saints in 1993 when she was just nine years old. She would continue to make appearances on various TV shows over the coming years, including episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Law & Order: SVU. In 2005, Bella appeared in the movie American Gun, and the next year she joined the cast of Nice Guys.