Trivia: Since her first leading role, as a convict's loyal girlfriend, in her friend Rob Weiss' debut film Amongst Friends (1993), Mira Sorvino has been on the fast track to stardom, playing a wide variety of multifaceted characters. Her breakthrough role displayed her willingness and ability to take on unusual parts; Sorvino shocked and delighted audiences as a crass New York streetwalker in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995). The stretch paid off, not only did her performance steal the show, it also earned Sorvino an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.Born in Tenafly, NJ, on September 28, 1967, Sorvino is the daughter of character actor Paul Sorvino, best known for roles in films like Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990). Initially, her father attempted to steer Sorvino and her two siblings away from the acting profession. He was particularly adamant that his offspring not do any professional acting during childhood, so Sorvino contented herself with appearing in various school productions. Following her high school graduation, she earned a degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University; she spent one year of her education as an exchange student in Beijing, China, where she became fluent in Mandarin. Upon graduation, Sorvino still wanted to act and she moved to New York to pursue her career. Between small acting gigs, she waited tables and worked as a production assistant until 1992, when Weiss hired her as a third assistant director on the low-budget, independent Amongst Friends. She proved so adept at her job that he promoted her to associate producer and eventually cast her as his leading lady. She appeared in two short films, Susan Seidelman's The Dutch and the satirical The Second Greatest Story Ever Told (both 1993), in which she played a contemporary Virgin Mary. In 1994, Whit Stillman hired her to play a two-faced party girl in Barcelona, while Robert Redford cast her as Rob Morrow's wife in Quiz Show. After winning her Oscar for her performance in the following year's Mighty Aphrodite, Sorvino started finding steady work in Hollywood. After a turn as Matt Dillon's anorexic girlfriend in Beautiful Girls (1996) and an Emmy nomination for her performance in the made-for-TV Norma Jean and Marilyn (1996), Sorvino went on her first big-budget outing as a scientist trying to save New York from giant cockroaches in Mimic. Unfortunately, the film was rejected by critics and audiences alike. Her other major project that year, the comedy Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, attained a level of cult status thanks to its 1980s soundtrack and over-the-top costumes. The following year, Sorvino made two small, offbeat features -- Paul Auster's Lulu on the Bridge and Wonsuk Chin's Too Tired to Die, which cast her as Death -- and another big-budgeted action thriller, The Replacement Killers. Starring opposite Hong Kong action star Chow Yun-Fat, Sorvino was able to put her past experiences in China and her fluency in Mandarin to use; unfortunately, critics and audiences alike had little use for the film. In 1999, Sorvino decided to try her hand at romantic drama, starring opposite Val Kilmer in At First Sight. The multi-handkerchief weepie was something of a critical and commercial disappointment, although Sorvino did win some positive attention for her performance as the architect who helps restore her blind lover's sight. Later that year, she won more acclaim for her starring role as John Leguizamo's estranged wife in Spike Lee's Summer of Sam, a story revolving around the long, hot summer of 1977, when New York was terrorized by serial killer David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz.Little seen performances in a made for television adaptation of The Great Gatsby and the period comedy The Triumph of Love found Sorvino's star dimming in stateside theaters in 2001, though her supporting performance in Tim Blake Nelson's acclaimed holocaust drama The Grey Zone served as a notable reminder of what the young starlet was truly capable of when given the opportunity. A pair of bombs both domestic and foreign dropped in the year that followed, and after appearing opposite Glitter star Mariah Carey in Wisegirls Sorvino's Semana Santa somehow managed to get even worse reviews that even Carey's afformentioned solo effort. Of course by this point Sorvino had almost mastered the art of balancing the bad with the good, and her portrayal of a conflicted war photographer in Between Strangers at least drew fair reviews. By this point stateside fans were likely left wondering whether Sorvino had forsaken her film career for a behind-the-scenes approach to filmmaking, and although she had indeed stepped into the producer's chair with Griffin Dunne's 2000 comedy drama Famous she returned to the silver screen in a big way with a role in the sweeping civil war drama Gods and Generals. As she prepared for roles in the sci-fi thriller The Final Cut and the large scale adventure Instant Karma, Sorvino appeared to be edging towards something of a comeback on stateside screens. Fans eager to catch a glimpse of the actress were pleasantly surprised when Sorvino turned in a winning guest appearance in the popular sitcom Will and Grace in 2003. later turning up on the popular prime time drama House, Sorvino continued to maintain momentum in her film career with roles in Multiple Sarcasms, Union Square, and her father Paul's 2012 feature directorial debut The Trouble with Cali.

Trivia: Often referred to as "the littlest Culkin," Rory Culkin came to acting with a family reputation that stands in inverse proportion to his diminutive stature. Born in 1989, as the youngest child of the infamously fractious Kit Culkin and Patricia Bentrup, Rory was only a year old when his eldest brother, Macaulay, found an almost obscene degree of fame and fortune thanks to his starring role in Chris Columbus' blockbuster Home Alone. Most of Rory's earliest screen appearances came courtesy of his resemblance to his famous brother; fans of The Good Son (1993) may recall his appearance as a younger version of Richard, Macaulay's bad seed alter ego. Likewise, Rory also played the more childlike version of his brother's title character in Richie Rich. Unfortunately, any talent the wee Culkin may have exhibited was, for a number of years, largely obscured by his family's various misfortunes. Following the bitter and widely publicized breakup of his parents, Culkin also had to endure the unfavorable publicity surrounding Macaulay's career burnout and a 1998 fire in his family's Manhattan apartment. In 2000, he finally earned recognition as a talented young actor, thanks to his role as Laura Linney's wry, observant son in Kenneth Lonergan's much-acclaimed directorial debut You Can Count on Me, causing both critics and audiences to remark that perhaps big screen bankability had not been limited solely to Culkin the Eldest. After a subsequent appearance in Showtime's made-for-cable film Off Season (2001), Culkin once again appeared as a younger incarnation of an older sibling, this time Kieran, in the art-house comedy Igby Goes Down (2002). As his first major feature role independent of his siblings, Rory appeared as alongside Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix in M. Night Shyamalan's rural alien invasion thriller Signs. Culkin was praised for his work in the independent dramas Igby Goes Down and Mean Creek, and went on to play a supporting role for Down in the Valley (2005), a psychological drama starring Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood. Culkin joined the cast of Lymelite in 2008 to portray the 15-year-old neighbor of a man suffering from Lyme disease, and took a supporting role in the less than successful Scream 4 in 2011.

Trivia: Her parents both worked at Bristol University, her father as a professor and her mother as a research technician. Was a member of the Bristol Old Vic Young Company. Auditioned for Skins to gain experience and was given the role of Cassie for two series. Made her stage debut in the West End play That Face in 2008. Had a small part in the film Bruges in 2008, but her scene was cut from the final version of the film. Won a Bafta Award in 2009 for her performance in Skins. Has played the role of Gilly in Game of Thrones since 2012. Played the lead in the play Martine at the Finborough Theatre in 2014, earning an Off West End Award nomination for Best Female Performance. Won the Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film Award at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015 for her role in Bridgend.

Trivia: For some actors a career in film seems to be in the cards from the very beginning; such was the case with early bloomer AnnaSophia Robb. The only child of an architect and an interior designer, Robb knew from the age of five that she was destined for a career as an entertainer. A Denver, CO native who never wavered in her determination to succeed, Robb convinced her parents to let her take an acting class before setting out on her first round of L.A. auditions in 2003. It was during this time that her new manager and agent team would help young Robb successfully navigate the Hollywood audition scene, her family living in a modest guest house as her father worked and her mother took Robb to auditions during the daytime hours. By the end of the summer, Robb had attended no less than 42 auditions and had landed her first role as a Bratz-loving Happy Meal fan in a McDonald's commercial. Due to the success of her first voyage west, it didn't take much to encourage Robb to come back to Hollywood in the spring, and after receiving notice that auditions were being held for Wayne Wang's Because of Winn-Dixie, it was time to gas up the car for the long haul once again. Fate seemed to play a curious role during the trip when her father pulled out a stack of librarian-recommended books on tape that he had rented only to find the recorded version of the best-selling Kate DiCamillo novel sitting right on top, and before long Robb was preparing to help bring Dixie to the big screen. Having previously played the lead in the made-for-television movie Samantha: An American Girl Holiday, it didn't take Robb long to find her place in front the camera, and she frequently credits Dixie director Wang with providing the advice she needed to advance as an actress. A subsequent role as bubblegum-chomping brat Violet Beauregarde in the Tim Burton film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory allowed the young actress to cut loose and have a bit of fun on film, and in 2006 Robb could be seen fending off the forces of evil in the apocalyptic horror thriller The Reaping.She had a major part opposite Josh Hutcherson in the 2007 adaptation of Bridge to Terabithia. The next year she had a small part in Jumper, and the year after that she would star opposite The Rock in the remake of Race to Witch Mountain. In 2011 she had the lead in the inspirational surfing film Soul Surfer, playing a girl whose arm was bitten off by a shark. In 2013, she won the starring role in the CW's The Carrie Diaries, playing a young version of Carrie Bradshaw (a role first embodied by Sarah Jessica Parker on the HBO series Sex and the City).