Trivia: A respected actress of the stage, screen, and television, Angela Bassett has been one of the few African-American actresses to break Hollywood's color boundary. She has specialized in playing strong women familiar with adversity and has worked in genres from "chick flick" (Waiting to Exhale) to sci-fi action (Strange Days) to biography (What's Love Got to Do with It?), the last of which featured her in a star-making performance as Tina Turner.Born in New York City on August 16, 1958, Bassett was raised in St. Petersburg, Florida by her mother. Growing up in a household where money was tight, she was taught determination and independence. These values were called into service after an eleventh grade Upward Bound trip to Washington, D.C., when Bassett saw James Earl Jones in a Kennedy Center production of Of Mice and Men. Deciding that acting was her calling, she became involved in a number of local productions in St. Petersburg. She continued to act at Yale University, where she earned a scholarship; after completing a B.A. in African-American studies, she also spent three years at the Yale School of Drama. One of Bassett's mentors at Yale was the drama school's dean, stage director Lloyd Richards, who was so impressed with her talent that he cast her in two of his productions, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Although she enjoyed relative success on the stage, Bassett, like other African-American actors, had a difficult time finding roles in television and film.In 1986, Bassett made her screen debut in the cult favorite F/X. Following supporting roles in Kindergarten Cop (1990) and John Sayles' City of Hope (1991), she had her first significant screen role in John Singleton's acclaimed Boyz 'N the Hood, playing a struggling single mother. Two years later, after playing the wife of civil rights leader Malcolm X in Spike Lee's biopic and the Jackson Family matriarch in the made-for-TV The Jacksons: An American Dream, Bassett had her screen breakthrough as Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It?, a performance that earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe. As her newfound status allowed her to expand her range of work, Bassett went on to star in a series of diverse films. In 1995, a foray into futuristic action in Strange Days was complemented by a lead in the successful women's ensemble drama Waiting to Exhale (based on the novel by Terry McMillan), in which Bassett starred alongside Whitney Houston, Lela Rochon, and Loretta Devine. In 1998, she starred as the title character in another McMillan adaptation, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, playing a divorcee whose discontent is ably assuaged by a hunky twenty-year-old (Taye Diggs). The following year, she had a supporting role in Music of the Heart and again tried her hand at action in Supernova, a sci-fi thriller. Starring in former Orson Welles collaborator and blacklisted director John Berry's critically panned swansong Boesman and Lena in 2000, Bassett (along with co-star Danny Glover) earned praise for their sensitive performances as a troubled South African couple striving to seek stability in the face of Apartheid.Her career continued to evolve with a part in The Score in 2001. The next year she executive produced and starred in a biopic about civil rights figure Rosa Parks. She was part of the large ensemble John Sayles brought together for Sunshine State, and co-starred opposite Bernie Mac in the sports comedy Mr. 3000. In 2006 she played the mother in the spelling bee drama Akeelah and the Bee, and she continued to land parts in big-budget blockbusters such as Green Lantern and This Means War.Since 1997, Bassett has been married to actor Courtney B. Vance, whom she had known since their days at Yale.

Trivia: Born in Houston in 1949, actress Loretta Devine rose to fame on-stage in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls before parlaying her acclaim into a career in film and television. Her first major onscreen role came in 1987, when she was cast as a resident advisor on the Cosby Show-spin-off A Different World. Though she left the series after the first season, it was far from her final gig as a TV series regular.Throughout the early '90s, Devine appeared in small supporting roles in features films such as Class Act and Amos & Andrew as well as a number of TV guest spots on shows ranging from Roc to Picket Fences. In 1995, Devine's career was given a shot in the arm when she was cast as one of the leads in Waiting to Exhale, an ensemble film that proved to be a success with both critics and audiences. More supporting work followed, and in 2000 she was cast as a lead on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public, a show that would go on to be nominated for multiple Emmys over the course of its four seasons on the air.Devine's career came full-circle in 2006 when she was cast in a small role in the film adaptation of Dreamgirls, the stage musical that launched her career. The following year, she was cast as a regular on ABC's supernatural legal drama Eli Stone.In 2010 she appeared in the American remake of Death at a Funeral, the comedy Lottery Ticket, and Tyler Perry's ambitious For Colored Girls. In 2011 she appeared in Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family, and the next year she had a role on the TV series The Client List.

Trivia: Meagan Good started acting onscreen in the late '90s, and has worked in a wide array of genres. Her first major film role was in Kasi Lemmons' gently observed, well-received ensemble drama Eve's Bayou (1997). Good followed it up with such projects as the romantic comedy Deliver Us From Eva (2002), the teen dance film You Got Served (2004), and the post-noir mystery Brick (2005). In 2007, Good signed for a supporting role in the Mike Myers comedy The Love Guru (2008). Though that film was an infamous turkey, she continued to find work in projects such as 35 & Ticking (which she co-produced), Jumping the Broom, and the sleeper box office hit Think Like a Man, as well as the drama The Obama Effect.

Trivia: Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, comedian-turned-actor DeRay Davis developed and honed a hip, sardonic, streetwise mentality at an early age and parlayed it smoothly and efficiently into the comedy-club circuit. Davis achieved his career breakthrough at the Laffapalooza Festival in Atlanta, GA, then scored a triple whammy by winning the Comedy Central Laugh Riots Competition and landing covetable spots in the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival and the Cedric the Entertainer Festival. Throughout, the comic wove vulgar and droll, yet also telling and deeply personal, routines around the subjects of race, poverty, and his challenging experiences growing up in the Windy City projects with a dysfunctional African-American family. The transition from behind-the-mike spots to movie roles represented a relatively short jump, for most of Davis' early film assignments emphasized the same subject matter as his routines; for example, he played the "Hustle Guy" in Barbershop (2002) and its sequel, Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004), rapper Mario "Fa Real" Greene in the Martin Short comedy Jiminy Glick in La La Wood (2004), and a Jamaican stoner in Johnson Family Vacation (2004). Davis expanded his genre focus with roles in Rupert Wainwright's supernatural horror outing The Fog (2005), and Todd Phillips' comedy remake School for Scoundrels (2006). Subsequent feature assignments include License to Wed (2007), Semi-Pro (2008, as basketball player Bee Bee Ellis), and Nowhereland (2009). Meanwhile, Davis also appeared on television series including Entourage and Reno 911!, and televised comedy revues such as Comedy Central's Premium Blend.

Trivia: A Broadway actress by training, Valarie Pettiford earned a Tony nomination for her role in the principal cast of the musical Fosse. She would also earn critical acclaim for roles in shows like Chicago, but most viewers would become acquainted with Pettiford for her film at TV work. Beginning with appearances on shows like Another World and Walker, Texas Ranger, Pettiford spent the '90s building up her résumé. In 2002, she was cast in the recurring role of Gayle Noland on the crime drama The District. Around the same time, she took on the role of Big Dee Thorn on the comedy series Half and Half, which she'd stay with for the next four years. In 2008, she began a professional relationship with Tyler Perry, playing Sandra on the sitcom House of Payne, and playing weary wife Harriet in Perry's 2010 dramedy Why Did I Get Married Too?

Trivia: Mike Epps' name has become synonymous with a particular style of humor, through his appearance with several other African-American artists in the same genre. Epps earned a large portion of his fame through his credits in several Ice Cube films, including Next Friday (also starring Chris Tucker), How High (with Redman and Method Man), Friday After Next, and All About the Benjamins. Aside from featuring Ice Cube, the common thread of these films was the hilarious prominence of marijuana-smoking comic characters like the ones portrayed by Epps.Born in Indianapolis, IN, into a large family, Epps' natural comedic ability was encouraged at an early age, and he began performing standup as a teenager. He moved to Atlanta where he worked at the Comedy Act Theater, before moving to New York City to star in Def Comedy Jam in 1995. His first major film role came just two years later when he starred in Vin Diesel's Strays, a dramatic portrayal of relationships and drugs. In 1999, he made an appearance on the HBO mafia series The Sopranos.In addition to his aforementioned film work with Ice Cube, Epps had several other feature-film appearances. In 2000, he was featured in Bait, starring Jamie Foxx and David Morse, and in the jail-comedy 3 Strikes. He performed the voice of Sonny in Dr. Dolittle 2, starring Eddie Murphy, in 2001. As he gained more recognition, his comedic talent began to blossom, as demonstrated in his two 2002 features: Kevin Bray's All About the Benjamins, an action-packed comedy, and the sequel-to-the-sequel, Friday After Next, in which he starred as Day-Day. He took over the part of Ed Norton in the big-screen remake of The Honeymooners, and had a major supporting role in the Petey Green biopic Talk to Me. He had a part in the smash 2009 comedy The Hangover, had a big part in Next Day Air, and a turn in Lottery Ticket. In addition to his acting, he kept churning out comedy specials.In 2012 he was one of the stars of Whitney Houston's last movie Sparkle, and played a teacher in the comedy Mac + Devin Go to High School. He reprised his role in The Hangover Part III and played the love interest in the HBO film Bessie. Epps also had a presence in TV, appearing in series like Survivor's Remose and Being Mary Jane, and playing the title role in the remake of Uncle Buck.

Trivia: African-American actor Pooch Hall began his career on a noble and dignified note, by landing one of his first significant acting assignments in the critically acclaimed miniseries Miracle's Boys -- under the aegis of revered directors Spike Lee, Ernest Dickerson, LeVar Burton, Bill Duke, and Neema Barnette. In Boys, Hall starred as the eldest of three orphaned brothers, Ty'ree, who sacrifices an MIT scholarship in order to look after his siblings, remaining in Harlem and working in a publishing-house mail room. The work received positive notices and scored favorable ratings for Hall when it premiered on The N network in 2005, and marked an auspicious beginning for the actor. He then opted to portray football hero Derwin Davis (the boyfriend of med student Melanie Barnett [Tia Mowry] in the weekly series The Game) and, also in 2006, signed for a supporting role in the blood-soaked comic fright-fest Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror. The next year, Hall contributed a minor role to the romantic comedy Blind Dating. In 2011 he joined the cast of the comedy drama Jumping the Broom.

Trivia: Son of legendary music mogul Master P and rapper Sonya C, entertainer Romeo Miller has sometimes been known by the stage name Li'l Romeo. He began his own rap career in 2001 at the age of 12, with a self-titled album that featured the hit single "My Baby." He would continue his hip-hop career over the coming years, though he would eventually remove the "Li'l" from his name and simply go by the moniker "Romeo." Miller would also embark on an acting career, making small appearances on TV, and soon made a stir with a role in the 2003 movie Honey. He also starred in his own show on Nickelodeon, Romeo!, from 2004 to 2006, and subsequently appeared in films like 2007's Uncle P and 2011's Jumping the Broom.

Trivia: Goes by his middle name, Stokes, to family and friends. His father was an engineer with the Navy and the family spent time in the Philippines and Guam before settling in San Diego. Went to high school with Annette Bening. Worked with San Diego's Old Globe Theatre, the Junior Theater and the Civic Light Opera. Met his wife, Allyson Tucker, when they were both cast in the 1990 Broadway production of Oh, Kay! Took a seven year break from Broadway after his son was born in 2003. Released his self-titled debut album in 2006. Before being cast as one of her dads on Glee, worked with Lea Michele when she was 8 in a Toronto production of Ragtime and again in the 2008 Hollywood Bowl production of Les Miserables.

Trivia: El DeBarge was the lead singer and co-founder of the '80s R&B group DeBarge. A minor hit from his solo debut album in 1985, "Who's Johnny," was featured on the Short Circuit (1996) soundtrack.

Trivia: Worked at a mortuary and as a counselor at an outpatient facility before breaking into the entertainment industry. Was named a Top 50 Power Showrunner along with his wife Mara Brock Akil by the Hollywood Reporter in 2011. Won an NAACP Image Award in 2012 for his direction of the feature film Jumping the Broom. Directed Whitney Houston in her last film appearance, in 2012's Sparkle.