Trivia: One of the most important character actors of the 1990s, Steve Buscemi is unmatched in his ability to combine lowlife posturing with weasely charisma. Although active in the cinema since the mid-'80s, it was not until Quentin Tarantino cast Buscemi as Mr. Pink in the 1992 Reservoir Dogs that the actor became known to most audience members. He would subsequently appear to great effect in other Tarantino films, as well as those of the Coen Brothers, where his attributes blended perfectly into the off-kilter landscape.Born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 13, 1957, Buscemi was raised on Long Island. He gained an interest in acting while a senior in high school, but he had no idea of how to pursue a professional career in the field. Working as a fireman for four years, he began to perform stand-up comedy, but he eventually realized that he wanted to do more dramatic theatrical work. After moving to Manhattan's East Village, he studied drama at the Lee Strasberg Institute, and he also began writing and performing skits in various parts of the city. His talents were eventually noticed by filmmaker Bill Sherwood, who was casting his film Parting Glances. The 1986 drama was one of the first feature films to be made about AIDS (Sherwood himself died from AIDS in 1990), and it starred Buscemi as Nick, a sardonic rock singer suffering from the disease. The film, which was a critical success on the independent circuit, essentially began Buscemi's career as a respected independent actor.Buscemi's resume was given a further boost that same year by his recurring role as a serial killer on the popular TV drama L.A. Law; he subsequently began finding steady work in such films as New York Stories and Mystery Train (both 1989). In 1990, he had another career breakthrough with his role in Miller's Crossing, which began his longtime collaboration with the Coen brothers. The Coens went on to cast Buscemi in nearly all of their films, featuring him to particularly memorable effect in Barton Fink (1991), in which he played a bell boy; Fargo (1996), which featured him as an ill-fated kidnapper; and The Big Lebowski (1998), which saw him portray a laid-back ex-surfer. Although Buscemi has done his best work outside of the mainstream, turning in other sterling performances in Alexandre Rockwell's In the Soup (1992) and Tom Di Cillo's Living in Oblivion (1995), he has occasionally appeared in such Hollywood megaplex fare as Con Air (1997), Armageddon (1998), Big Daddy (1999), and 28 Days (2000), the last of which cast him against type as Sandra Bullock's rehab counselor. Back in indieville, Buscemi would next utilize his homely persona in a more sympathetic manner as a soulful loner with a penchant for collecting old records in director Terry Zwigoff's (Crumb) Ghost World. Despite all indicators pointing to mainstream prolifieration in the new millennium, Buscemi continued to display his dedication to independent film projects with roles in such efforts as Alaxandre Rockwell's 13 Moons and Peter Mattei's Love in the Time of Money (both 2002). Of course there are exceptions to every rule, and Buscemi's memorable appearances in such big budget efforts as Mr Deeds and both Spy Kids 2 and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over served to remind audiences that Buscemi was still indeed at the top of his game, perhaps now more than ever. In 1996, Buscemi made his screenwriting and directorial debut with Trees Lounge, a well-received comedy drama in which he played a down-on-his-luck auto mechanic shuffling through life on Long Island. He followed up his directorial debut in 2000 with Animal Factory, a subdued prison drama starring Edward Furlong as a young inmate who finds protection from his fellow prisoners in the form of an older convict (Willem Dafoe). Moving to the small screen, Buscemi would next helm an episode of the acclaimed HBO mob drama The Sopranos. Called Pine Barrens, the episode instantly became a fan-favorite.In 2004, Buscemi stepped in front of the camera once again to join the cast of The Sopranos, costarring as Tony Blundetto, a recently paroled mafioso struggling to stay straight in the face of temptation to revert back to his old ways. In 2005 Buscemi reteamed with Michael Bay for The Island in the same year that he directed another low-budget film, Lonesome Jim, with a stellar cast that included Seymour Cassel, Mary Kay Place, Liv Tyler, Casey Affleck, and Kevin Corrigan. He also played one of the leads in John Turturro's musical Romance & Cigarettes. His very busy 2006 included an amusing cameo in Terry Zwigoff's Art School Confidential, and continued work in animated films, with vocal appearances in Monster House and Charlotte's Web (2006). His contributions to those projects earned critical acclaim; Buscemi achieved an even greater feat, however, that same year, when he mounted his fifth project as director, Interview (2007). Like Trees Lounge (1996), Lonesome Jim (2005) and other Buscemi-helmed outings, this searing, acerbic comedy-drama spoke volumes about Buscemi's talent and intuition, and arguably even suggested that his ability as a filmmaker outstripped his ability as a thespian. With great precision and insight, the narrative observed a roving paparazzi journalist (Buscemi) during his unwanted yet surprisingly pretension-stripping pas-de-deux with a manipulative, coke-addled prima donna actress (Sienna Miller).At about the same time, the quirky player geared up for a host of substantial acting roles including parts in We're the Millers (2008), Igor (2008) and Keep Coming Back (2008). He appeared as the father of a deceased soldier in The Messenger in 2009, and the next year he landed the lead role of Nucky Thompson, an Irish gangster, in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. His work on that show would earn him Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards.

Trivia: With a fair-skinned face that recalls Leonardo DiCaprio and blue-green eyes that seem to pierce the screen, actor Michael Pitt has come a long way from his role as a high school football star on Dawson's Creek. An adventurous actor who isn't afraid to take risks, Pitt has appeared as everything from a callous glam rocker (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) to a murderous, introspective teen (Murder by Numbers) -- all with equal conviction. A native of West Orange, NJ, Pitt realized his future calling at the age of ten. His supportive parents soon gathered the money to send their son to drama school in New York a few short years later. At 16, Pitt crossed the Hudson River with little more than the shirt on his back, and in between the occasional independent film and television role, the aspiring actor supported himself by taking a job as a bike messenger. In 1999, Pitt made his off-Broadway debut in the Depression-era drama The Trestle of Pope Lick Creek, and it was there that a casting agent spotted him and recommended him for a role in Dawson's Creek. With the creative constraints of television failing to fulfill Pitt artistically, however, the rising star quickly gravitated to more challenging feature roles. A supporting performance in director Gus Van Sant's Finding Forrester (2000) found Pitt's recognition factor growing, and his next role was that of glam rocker Tommy Gnosis in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001). His creativity and comfort in front of the cameras growing, Pitt took a supporting part in director Larry Clark's Bully before landing his biggest role to date as one-half of a murderous pair of teens in Barbet Schroeder's Murder by Numbers (2002). Though that may have been his highest-profile role, his most creatively challenging role was likely that of a young American living in Paris in director Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, which premiered at the 2003 Venice Film Festival. A frank and sexually explicit film concerning the friendship of Pitt's character with a pair of movie-loving Parisian siblings, the film follows the trio as they close themselves off from the world while the 1968 Paris student riots rage outside. That same year, Pitt took the lead as a reclusive young man in the dark drama Rhinoceros Eyes, and also appeared in a supporting capacity in the John Holmes crime drama Wonderland. He had a small part in 2004's The Village, and scored an art-house success as a Kurt Cobain-like figure in Gus Van Sant's Last Days. He appeared in the American remake of Funny Games in 2007, and three years later he was cast as Jimmy Darmody, the protégé to corrupt politician Nucky Thompson in the award-winning HBO drama Boardwalk Empire.

Trivia: Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald was planning to go to drama school when director Danny Boyle cast her in Trainspotting (1996). A surprise international hit, it featured Macdonald, a native of Glasgow, as the acid-tongued schoolgirl who gives heroin junkie Ewan McGregor one of the more memorable nights -- and surprises -- of his young life. Following the film's great success, Macdonald began finding steady work in a number of films as both a lead and supporting player. In the immediate wake of Trainspotting, she could be seen playing the title character, a teenage prostitute, in Stella Does Tricks. Subsequently, she nabbed a lead role in the period drama Cousin Bette (1997) and a small but memorable part in the lavish historical epic Elizabeth (1998). In 1999, Macdonald was featured in four very diverse films: the first, My Life So Far, cast her as a young girl growing up in 1920s Scotland, while Entropy featured the actress in the thoroughly modern milieu of the 20-something romantic angst drama. Later that year, Macdonald appeared in Mike Figgis' The Loss of Sexual Innocence, playing the young girlfriend of the film's protagonist; and in Gregg Araki's Splendor, a romantic comedy in which she played the blue-haired best friend of the film's heroine.After a slew of similar supporting roles, including a memorable turn as the daughter of Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Colin Firth in My Life So Far, MacDonald was given possibly her biggest break since Trainspotting when Robert Altman cast her as a lead (albeit one of many) in Gosford Park (2001). One-part comedy of manners, one-part murder mystery, the film featured MacDonald in the pivotal role of a young maid who finds herself caught up in a whirl of intrigue, deception, and exceedingly tiresome snobs over the course of a hectic weekend at a country estate.She was the female lead in the highly-respected British miniseries State of Play in 2003, and the next year she was Peter Pan in the Oscar nominated Finding Neverland. In 2005 she was in The Girl in the Café, and she was the love interest in the hit children's film Nanny McPhee. She played the woman who gets to play scenes opposite all three of the leading men in the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, and followed that up in the odd romantic black comedy Choke. In 2010 she was cast as the romantic interest for Nucky Thompson, the prohibition era gangster in the award-winning HBO series Boardwalk Empire. She became yet another luminary to join the Harry Potter franchise in 2011 and in 2012 she became part of the Pixar family voicing the lead role in Brave.

Trivia: Distinguished character actor Michael Shannon essayed a diverse series of characterizations onscreen, beginning just after the start of the new millennium. A veteran member of Chicago's experimental Red Orchid theatrical troupe, Shannon specialized in small, multidimensional portrayals that added to the overall effectiveness of each project -- per his contributions to Vanilla Sky (2001), 8 Mile (2002), and Bad Boys II (2003). Whenever necessary, Shannon imperceptibly blended into the material at hand. He played a therapist in Nicole Kassell's psychodrama The Woodsman (2004), yet by virtue of his emotional intensity and eccentric look, Shannon evinced an ability to dominate with his onscreen presence, as well. Nowhere was this tendency more evident than in William Friedkin's psychological thriller Bug (2006). As adapted by Tracy Letts from his own stage play, the film concerns a shabby and skanky drifter (Shannon, reprising his role from the play) with a serious complex of delusional schizophrenia, who believes that bugs are crawling beneath his skin and enters a terrifying pas de deux with a young waitress (Ashley Judd). Shannon followed it up with a memorable contribution to Oliver Stone's World Trade Center -- as a military man desperate to help in any way possible during the 9/11 tragedy -- and Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), a crime thriller about two brothers who team up to rob a jewelry store. Shannon grabbed his first taste of stardom with his breakout role as a mentally disturbed man in Sam Mendes' adaptation of Revolutionary Road. His truthful, menacing character cut through the main characters' self-deception, and Shannon's off-kilter delivery won him glowing notices from critics, as well as a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from the Academy. He worked steadily after that success appearing in The Greatest, Jonah Hex, and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. In 2010 he had a pair of critical successes that included his work as a repressed federal agent on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, and his portrayal of the eccentric rock entrepreneur Kim Fowler in The Runaways. In 2011 he again earned raves for his work a schizophrenic in Take Shelter. His intensity got him cast relatively often as bad guys, something he put to great effect in the 2012 action film Premium Rush and in the criminal biopic The Iceman.

Trivia: An athletic, all-American actor whose remarkable audition opposite Colin Farrell led director Joel Schumacher to cast him in his 2000 war drama Tigerland on the spot, Shea Whigham may not be a household name, but with impressive performances in such subsequent features as All the Real Girls and Out of This World, he's certainly become a talent to watch for. Born the son of former Florida State University quarterback Frank Whigham, the young athlete excelled at tennis and soccer in his early years, eventually entering college on a tennis scholarship. It was during his higher education that Whigham discovered a passion for acting, and soon thereafter, the aspiring thespian was accepted into New York's prestigious S.U.N.Y. Purchase Conservatory. A friendship with roommate Kirk Acevedo led the burgeoning actors to co-found the New York-based theater troupe The Rorschach Group, following graduation, with Whigham serving double duty as both performer and artistic director at the downtown Manhattan theater company for three years. After making an impression on audiences with his performance in Tigerland, Whigham went on to appear opposite Sam Neill in the made-for-television nautical drama Submerged, and in the next few years he would continue to gain onscreen momentum by turning in impressive performances in such efforts as All the Real Girls. If the majority of his post-Tigerland roles didn't offer quite the exposure of his impressive debut, appearances in such high-profile Hollywood efforts as Cheer Up and The Lords of Dogtown showed that Whigham was ready and willing to work his way back into the spotlight. He followed through on his potential with a string of mostly indie films including Wristcutters: A Love Story, Splinter, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, and Machete. He was cast as the corrupt police officer brother of the scheming prohibition-era gangster Nucky Thompson in HBO's Boardwalk Empire, and he would co-star in Take Shelter with his Boardwalk castmate Michael Shannon. In 2012 Wigham could be seen on the big screen in three big projects, Big Miracle, Oliver Stone's drug drama Savages, and David O Russell's crowd-pleaser Silver Linings Playbook.

Trivia: Independent film star Aleksa Palladino began her career in a starring role, at the age of 15, in Lisa Krueger's debut feature Manny & Lo (1996). Palladino played Lo, the pregnant runaway sister of Manny (Scarlett Johansson). For the next couple of years, she continued getting starring roles in small indie films including Red Dirt, Wrestling With Alligators, and The Adventures of Sebastian Cole. Making a brief move to made-for-TV movies, she starred in the USA Network original movie The Huntress as a 19-year-old girl avenging her father's death. Eventually, she accepted a couple of supporting roles for two downbeat dramas in 2001, Todd Solondz's Storytelling and Tanya Wexler's Ball in the House. Over the coming years, Palladino would find particular success with the period series Boardwalk Empire.

Trivia: A graduate of the prestigious Juilliard School, Michael Stuhlbarg began his career on the stage, appearing in Broadway productions like Cabaret, Taking Sides, and The Pillow Man ( for which he earned a Tony award nomination). Stuhlbarg's career also occasionally landed him onscreen, where he made a handful of appearances in films like Body of Lies and Cold Souls. In 2009, he was cast in the lead role as a troubled professor in the Coen Brothers film A Serious Man, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. He played a film historian in Martin Scorsese's Hugo, the time-jumping center of Men in Black 3, and Lew Wasserman in the biopic Hitchcock. On the small screen, he was memorable as the gambler Arnold Rothstein on the HBO period gangster series Boardwalk Empire.

Trivia: Knew that he wanted to act since he was 10. Became friends with Leonardo DiCaprio on the set of Gangs of New York, and Dicaprio recommended Graham to director Michael Mann for his role in Public Enemies. Sent Mann an audition tape made by his wife on her handheld video camera. Found it difficult at first to play a racist in 2007's This Is England because of his mixed-race heritage. (His grandfather is Jamaican.) Honed his Brooklyn accent for Boardwalk Empire with Brooklynite Charlie, a gaffer on the set of the series.

Trivia: Queens, New York, native Vincent Piazza was a successful amateur hockey player at Villanova University before his athletic aspirations were iced by a recurring shoulder injury. Subsequently realizing that he had little choice but to resort back to his first love of acting, Piazza hit the boards hard and never looked back. He started out as a prolific New York stage actor before making the transition to film and television, honing his acting skills in productions of Baby Steps and A Match Made in Heaven. Appearances in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Sopranos, and Rescue Me found the rising star becoming a familiar face to television viewers, with additional roles in such independent films as Rocket Science, Goodbye Baby, and Apology showing great promise for a feature film career. He appeared in both Assassination of a High School President and Polish Bar.

Trivia: Dark-haired, quietly sensual actress Paz de la Huerta grew up with a single mother in Manhattan, attending the prestigious St. Ann school in Brooklyn and spending her summers in Spain with her father. In late adolescence, de la Huerta both established herself as one of the world's most sought-after runway and print models and started landing small roles in Hollywood features -- per her turn as a good-natured but troubled abortionist's patient (in The Cider House Rules [1999]), or (on a much different note) a conniving maid who seduces her rich employer's houseguest (in Griffin Dunne's Fierce People [2006]). The actress graduated to lead status with a powerhouse role as a manipulative, scheming country girl in the 2005 drama Steal Me, and appeared in the following year's "politically themed" slasher picture The Tripper (2007). Meanwhile, de la Huerta also co-authored scripts on the side. She acted in 2008's Choke, and the next year landed parts in the indie films The Limits of Control and Enter the Void. In 2010 she landed a juicy part as the lead character's regular squeeze in the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire.

Trivia: A native of Brooklyn, NY, actor Michael Kenneth Williams fell into a typecast with repeated portrayals of hoods, toughs, and career criminals from project to project. Williams entered acting courtesy of professional dancing, which he began at the age of 22; in that arena, his unique and individualistic moves caught the attention of producers and landed him in a string of music videos. Williams subsequently decided to pursue classical training as an actor, which he received via participation in the National Black Theater Company and New York's La' MaMA Theatre Company, though his breakthrough arrived at the hands of the late gangster rapper Tupac Shakur, who discovered Williams and cast him as his own little brother in the Julien Temple-directed urban crime drama Bullet (1995). Work for Martin Scorsese followed, with a minor role in the grueling psychodrama Bringing Out the Dead (1999), though Williams scored much broader acclaim and exposure via participation in HBO's popular crime drama series The Wire, where he played stick-up man Omar Little for multiple seasons. Williams then moved back into features with a supporting turn as Devin in actor-turned-director Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone (2007), then starred opposite Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron in director John Hillcoat's post-apocalyptic thriller The Road (2008).

Trivia: Began his opera career at age 12, singing the role of the newsboy in Charpentier's Louise. Known for being an operatic tenor who often played comprimario (second-banana) roles. Debuted at New York City's Metropolitan Opera in 1982, where he went on to appear in more than 800 performances; and support such stars as Luciano Pavarotti, Kiri Te Kanawa and Jessye Norman. Retired from performing opera in 2007. Teaches opera at the New Jersey City University. Selected for Boardwalk Empire, his first non-opera acting gig, by executive producer Martin Scorsese, whom he first met after a production of Janacek's The Makropulos Case.

Trivia: Studied chemical engineering in Oklahoma before moving on to drama at New York University, where he also minored in philosophy. Appeared as an understudy in Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out in 2003, but considers his Broadway debut a starring role in a 2009 revival of Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, costarring Mary-Louise Parker. Earned fifth Drama Desk Award nomination for Stephen Belber's Dusk Rings a Bell in 2011; his first was in 2000 for Bruce Graham's Coyote on a Fence. Has type 1 diabetes, and ran his first marathon—in 3:52:46, by the way—in New York City in 2011 to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; he's since become an avid runner.

Trivia: Jack Huston grew up in the lap of show business, as the scion of the legendary Huston directing and acting dynasty -- the grandson of maverick American director John Huston and New York actress-model Ricki Soma, the son of Tony Huston, and the nephew of actress Anjelica Huston and actor-director Danny Huston. He thus seemed predestined for a career in showbiz, especially given his dashing good looks. Though largely of American stock, Huston grew up and came of age in England and quickly acquired a English accent; as a result, the press typically classified him as British, and he often referred to the U.K. with great fondness as "home." He first stepped in front of the camera in his mid-twenties, scoring his breakthrough with a turn as poet-photographer-filmmaker Gerard Malanga in the 2005 Edie Sedgwick biopic Factory Girl, followed that up with a prominent role in director Paddy Breathnach's trippy gorefest Shrooms (2007), and signed for a role as Prince Wulfric, a Viking who takes on a group of invading extraterrestrials, in the sci-fi actioner Outlander (2008). Huston played a recurring role on ABC's quickly-canceled Eastwick, an attempt at updating The Witches of Eastwick for primetime television, and had a small role in a flashback scene in 2010's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. He then joined HBO's Boardwalk Empire in a recurring role as the disfigured, mask-wearing Richard Harrow in season 1 of the show; the character was later upgraded to a series regular for season 2. Huston also kept busy with movies, playing writer Jack Kerouac in Kill Your Darlings (2013).

Trivia: Her early experience a testament to the dangers of premature publicity, Gretchen Mol was all but declared Hollywood's new "it" girl before her career had even left the gates. After appearing in only a handful of films, Mol was chosen to star as Matt Damon's girlfriend in John Dahl's Rounders. A highly touted film that also starred Edward Norton, it was endlessly publicized before its 1998 release. Mol was made part and parcel of this publicity, and her blonde, milk-fed looks were the subject of numerous magazine articles, including a memorably provocative Vanity Fair September cover story. Rounders, however, turned out to be a sizable disappointment, and the slavish attention surrounding its female lead virtually evaporated. Mol continued to work steadily though, apparently refusing to disappear with the hype that had initially surrounded her.Born in Deep River, Connecticut, on November 8, 1973, Mol entertained performing ambitions from a young age, studying musical theatre in addition to receiving a regular public school education. Following her high school graduation, she moved to New York, where she did a stint at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and began performing in a number of stage productions. To support herself, Mol also worked a number of odd jobs, the most fortuitous of which was as a coat-check attendant at a popular industry restaurant. There she was "discovered" by an agent, who subsequently got her work in commercials and on the TV sitcom Spin City. Mol made her film debut with a supporting role as a phone-sex operator in Spike Lee's Girl 6 (1996) and went on to do bit work in Abel Ferrara's The Funeral (1996), Mike Newell's Donnie Brasco (1997), and Stephen Kay's The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997). Although these projects afforded Mol the opportunity to work with the likes of Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, Claire Forlani, and Adrien Brody, she was quickly being typecast into "girlfriend" roles that capitalized more on her looks than acting abilities. She did do more substantial work in Music From Another Room (1998), opposite Jude Law, but the film went virtually unnoticed by critics and audiences.After 1998, which in addition to the Rounders debacle, also featured Mol as part of the all-star ensemble cast of Woody Allen's much anticipated -- and much lambasted -- Celebrity, the actress continued to work, albeit far from the limelight's glare. She again collaborated with Allen on Sweet and Lowdown (1999), portrayed actress Marion Davies in Tim Robbins' star-studded ensemble drama Cradle Will Rock (1999), and starred opposite Ray Liotta and Joseph Fiennes in Paul Schrader's Forever Mine (1999). Mol also directed some of her energy towards television, portraying Madge Owens in the 2000 remake of Picnic and starring alongside Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in Alfonso Arau's 2001 small-screen adaptation of The Magnificent Ambersons. A turn as one of the most iconic pin-up models of the 1950s followed in Mary Harron's The Notorious Betty Page, an on the heels of a high-profile role on the short-lived cop drama Life on Mars, Mol joined the cast of the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire. Created by Terence Winter (The Sopranos) and produced by Martin Scorsese, the lavish period crime series earned numerous critical accolades in its first few seasons, including two consecutive Screen Actor's Guild awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, in 2011 and 2012.

Trivia: Coleman attended a Virginia military school before studying law and serving in the army. While attending the University of Texas, Coleman became attracted to acting, and headed to New York, where he studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse. After stage experience and TV work, Coleman made his movie debut in 1965's The Slender Thread. Minus his trademarked mustache for the most part in the mid-1960s, Coleman specialized in secondary character roles. He began to branch into comedy during his supporting stint as obstetrician Leon Bessemer on the Marlo Thomas sitcom That Girl, but his most memorable role would come in 1980 as the nasty, chauvinistic boss in 9 to 5. He would go on to appear in other films, like On Golden Pond [1981], The Beverly Hillbillies [1993], You've Got Mail [1998], and Moonlight Mile, but the actor found more success in television, appearing on a few cult hits that were tragically cancelled, like Drexell's Class and Madman of the People, as well as The Guardian, Courting Alex, Heartland, and Boardwalk Empire.

Trivia: After decades of honing his acting skills on stage and screen, and eventually carving out a niche for himself as a "gangster," Dominic Chianese came upon his most widely recognized role as Uncle Junior on the hit HBO mob series The Sopranos, beginning in 1999. Born in 1931, in Bronx, NY, Chianese attended Brooklyn College, and began appearing on-stage in 1952. He would appear on and off-Broadway in theater for over 45 years before his famous role on The Sopranos, adding film and television to his repertoire along the way.After his first film role in 1972, as a panhandler in a drama called Fuzz, he embarked on what would become the trademark of his career with his first gangster role, as Johnny Ola in Coppola's The Godfather Pt. II (1974), the classic, starring Al Pacino. Chianese also appeared in All the President's Men in 1976, and would work with Pacino again in the 1979 thriller ...And Justice for All.Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Chianese had numerous roles of all kinds from major feature films to stage to made-for-TV movies. He was featured in Fort Apache, the Bronx in 1981, and had a small role in Pacino's Looking for Richard in 1996. In 1999, HBO debuted its mobster series The Sopranos, starring James Gandolfini, and Chianese's long-term experience acting in all kinds of mob-related roles finally paid off with his part as Corrado "Uncle Junior" Soprano. The series earned incredible success, and in 2001, Chianese was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for his role on the program. In 2002, he was featured in Adrian Lyne's drama Unfaithful, starring Diane Lane, Richard Gere, and Olivier Martinez.

Trivia: Played on the varsity football team in high school. Competed in a Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition at Madison Square Garden at the age of 17, but was soon after diagnosed with elbow tendinitis, ending his boxing career. Made his stage debut in his high school's production of Kismet. In 1999, played the role of Mitch in the Hartford Stage's production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Performed on Broadway as Mike in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Pal Joey in 2009.

Trivia: From the time of his screen debut in the late '80s, the slightly stocky character actor William Hill specialized in everyman portrayals, often with a professional edge, such as psychiatrists, guards, and police detectives. He struck a fairly equal balance between television (with a series of appearances as different characters on Law & Order over the years) and features that fell into a wide variety of genres. These included Striptease (1996), Anything Else (2003), and Gran Torino (2006).

Trivia: A graduate of the State University of New York at Purchase, actor Bill Sage began his career in the early '90s, striking up a relationship with indie filmmaker Hal Hartley. Sage would appear in a number of Hartley's films, like Trust, Ambition, and Flirt, and he soon found a niche in independent film. He would appear in several acclaimed art films and sleeper hits over the coming years, such as I Shot Andy Warhol and High Art. Sage also landed recurring roles in episodes of TV's Third Watch, Cashmere Mafia, and NCIS, as well as a starring spot alongside Mariah Carey in the 2008 film Tennessee.

Trivia: Is of Jewish descent.Started his acting career in theaters.Made his debut on television and film in 1993.Used to read novels out loud to his wife when their child was a toddler.In 2019, he supported the Riley's Way Foundation, aimed to provide teen lead projects to inspire them kindness.Is skilled at tennis.

Trivia: Left high school during her senior year to study drama in Miami. Made her television debut in Days of Our Lives in 1992. Received the Ovation Award for leading actress in a play in 1999, for her work in Summer and Smoke. Formed a website to raise money for educating women around the world called Shutter to Think.

Trivia: Got serious about acting in junior high school, when she and her twin sister, Christina Bennett Lind (who played Bianca Montgomery on ABC's All My Children from 2010 to '11), portrayed twin siblings Sebastian and Viola in an eighth-grade production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. In 2010, was still in graduate school in New York City when cast in Shakespeare in the Park productions of The Winter's Tale and The Merchant of Venice, the latter of which had her playing Jessica, the daughter of Shylock, who was played by Al Pacino. Made Broadway debut later in 2010 when The Merchant of Venice opened at the Broadhurst Theatre, reprising her role as the daughter of Al Pacino's Shylock, which earned her a Theatre World Award. When AMC's Turn began in 2014, was reunited with actor Seth Numrich, who also made his Broadway debut in 2010's The Merchant of Venice.

Trivia: London-born actor Charlie Cox got his start onscreen opposite Y Tu Mamá También star Gael García Bernal in the 2003 drama Dot the I before leaping into the celluloid time machine for back-to-back period roles in The Merchant of Venice and Casanova. Formally trained in his craft at the Sherborne School in Dorset, Cox immediately immersed himself in film following his graduation and never looked back. In 2007, Cox set out on the quest of a lifetime as the main protagonist of Matthew Vaughn's Stardust. Adapted from the Neil Gaiman graphic novel of the same name, Stardust tells the tale of a young man from a quiet village who ventures out into a magical land for the purpose of retrieving a fallen star for his true love.

Trivia: Growing up in Union City, NJ, Bobby Cannavale participated in the school play because his mother wanted him off the streets. Today, he is a recognizable New York-based character actor with roles in the city's best theater, television, and film productions. Cannavale was born in New Jersey to an Italian father and a Cuban mother. His parents insisted that he attend St. Michael's Catholic School in Union City where he took part in almost every after school activity, from the alter boys to the chorus. When he was eight, Cannavale secured the plum role of "the lisping boy" in his school's production of The Music Man and a part in Guys and Dolls. Ever since then, he wanted to do nothing but perform. Cannavale's parents divorced when he was 13 and his mother moved the family to Puerto Rico. After two years in Latin America, they returned to the United States and settled in Coconut Creek, FL. Cannavale returned to New Jersey after graduating high school in the late '80s -- he needed to be closer to New York in order to begin his acting career. Forgoing acting lessons for actual performance experience, Cannavale became involved with Manhattan's prestigious Circle Repertory Theater. He served as a "reader" for several plays and was eventually cast as Mark Linn-Baker's understudy in Georges Feydeau's French farce A Flea in Her Ear. Cannavale soon ended up replacing Baker for two weeks. His first-rate performance secured him a role in the company's next play, Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. Television powerhouse John Wells attended one of the shows and cast Cannavale in his television series Trinity. Cannavale's character, a tugboat operator, was supposed to appear in only three episodes of the show, but starred in nine. Trinity was canceled in 1998, but Wells immediately secured Cannavale for his next television venture, 1999's Third Watch. As dedicated and lovesick paramedic Robert "Bobby" Caffey, Cannavale struck a cord with female audiences. The show was renewed for a second season, but Cannavale felt that Caffey's character was not being developed. He asked Wells to let him exit the series and to make sure he exited "big." The producer obliged his friend: Caffey left the show mid-season after being fatally shot in the chest. The dramatic two-part episode even included a "beyond the grave" meeting between Caffey and his deceased dead-beat dad. In 2001, Cannavale joined the cast of his then-father-in-law, Sidney Lumet's heralded television courtroom drama, 100 Centre Street. Cannavale's brazen, ambitious prosecutor, J.J. Jellinek, is a far cry from the softhearted paramedic he portrayed on Third Watch. Debuting on the show at the beginning of its second season, Jellinek shook up 100 Centre Street -- immediately romancing a fellow lawyer and shamelessly advancing his career in any way possible. Cannavale's television career has not kept him away from theater or film. He appeared on-stage throughout the '90s, participating in productions such as Lanford Wilson's Virgil Is Still the Frog Boy and Noel Coward's In Two Keys. His movie credits include Herbe Gardner's I'm Not Rappaport (1996) with Walter Mathau and Ossie Davis, Lumet's Night Falls on Manhattan (1997), and Gloria (1999), John Irvin's HBO original film When Trumpet's Fade (1998), Phillip Noyce's The Bone Collector (1999) with Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington, Spike Lee's 3 A.M. (2001) with Danny Glover, Alec Baldwin's The Devil and Daniel Webster (2002), and Daisy Von Scherler Mayer's The Guru (2002). Cast as friendly and outgoing lunch truck vender Joe in the critically acclaimed 2003 indie hit The Station Agent, Cannavale provided the perfect contrast to Peter Dinklage's introverted protagonist. WIth subsequent small screen roles in Kingpin and OZ that same year, the up and coming actor would become a familiar face to television viewers before once again returning to the silver screen for supporting roles in Shall We Dance?, Haven, and Romance and Cigarettes.A recurring, Emmy-winning role on Will and Grace ensured Cannavale's continued presence on the small screen right through to the final episode of the series aired in May of 2006, with a slew of supporting performance in such the features The Night Listener, Fast Food Nation, Snakes on a Plane, 10 Items or Less, and Dedication that same year proving that Cannivale was the go-to guy for producers in search of quality supporting players. This trend would continue for the actor in the coming years, as he turned up in everything from the quirky Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, to the family friendly Paul Blart: Mall Cop. In 2010 he took a small part in the Will Ferrell comedy The Other Guys. The next year he reteamed with Tom McCarthy for Win Win. Cannavale continued to showcase his incredible range in the years to come. In 2012, he had a season-long arc on Boardwalk Empire, winning an Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. He then had a recurring role on Nurse Jackie (opposite his son, Jake, playing Cannavale's character's son). After playing Chili in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine in 2013, Cannavale took supporting roles in Chef, Adult Beginners and the remake of Annie, all in 2014. The following year, he appeared in Danny Collins (opposite Al Pacino), and took smaller roles in big movies like Spy, Ant-Man and Daddy's Home.