Trivia: Born December 15th, 1972, Stuart Townsend would grow up to possess the kind of dark, coolly seductive looks that lend themselves to playing either ladies' men or raving psychos, {Townsend is one of the more compelling actors to have emerged from Ireland during the 1990s. A native of Dublin, Townsend was born to pro golfer Peter Townsend and Lorna Townsend, a well-known former model who died in 1994. He first became interested in performing through his then-girlfriend, who was studying at the Gaiety School of Acting. Townsend also enrolled at the school and made his stage debut in the school's production of Tear Up the Black Sail. He made his professional stage debut in John Crowley's True Lines. In 1996, Townsend broke onto the screen with his role in Gillies MacKinnon's Trojan Eddie. Portraying a seductive young man who steals away a bride from her groom on their wedding day, Townsend was afforded the opportunity to work with the legendary Richard Harris. His exposure in the film led to his first starring role, in Shooting Fish (1997), a successful comedy which cast him as a sweet-natured con man. That same year, Townsend had a supporting role in Carine Adler's acclaimed drama Under the Skin, engaging in emotional dysfunction and phone sex with the film's heroine. He also made a terrifying impression in the Irish crime thriller Resurrection Man, playing a psychotic killer. Townsend subsequently extended his talents to period drama, portraying an impoverished Jew in 19th century Silesia in Simon Magus (1998) and essaying a dual role in the 16th- and 20th century-set The Venice Project (1999). In 1999, he was also visible in Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland, an ensemble drama that screened at that year's Cannes Film Festival. The turnover to the new millennium found Townsend with some big shoes to fill as he stepped into the role of Anne Rice's staple bloodsucker Lestat (originally portrayed by Tom Cruise in Neil Jordan's Interview With the Vampire (1994) in 2002. Baring his fangs alongside co-star and title character Aaliyah (who perished in an airplane crash shortly before the film opened in theaters) Townsend recieved a fair amount of praise for his role in the film, which was previously rumored to have been heading for a straight to video release. In 2005 he joined the cast of ABC's Night Stalker for a role as an investigative reporter determined to catch the person responsible for his wife's murder.

Trivia: From bringing the characters of Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest), Jane Austen (Mansfield Park), and Gustave Flaubert (Madame Bovary) to life on the big screen to escaping into the outback with a wanted man (Kiss or Kill), nurturing an android (A.I.), and even inspiring a man to sell his soul to the Devil (Bedazzled), there's little that Golden Globe-nominated actress Frances O'Connor hasn't accomplished -- both literary and otherwise -- since emerging onscreen in the mid-'90s.As a young girl, O'Connor always knew that she wanted to become an actor, and after making her screen debut on the Australian television series Law of the Land, she was well on her way to achieving her dream. Later, after making a name for herself on Australian television, O'Connor achieved her breakthrough role -- as a desperate fugitive in the stylish 1997 crime thriller Kiss or Kill. Not only did that film earn O'Connor the first of two Best Actress nominations at the 1997 Australian Film Institute awards (the other being for her performance in the romantic comedy Thank God He Met Lizzie), but it also brought her the international attention that eventually led to roles in such lavish period pieces as Mansfield Park and Madame Bovary (the later of which earned O'Connor a Golden Globe nomination). In 2000, O'Connor crossed the Atlantic to appear as the waitress who prompts a hapless line cook to sell his soul to the Devil in Harold Ramis' Bedazzled, and the following year she remained stateside to film Steven Spielberg's A.I. -- in which she played a grieving mother who turns to technology after her son is stricken with an incurable disease.By this point in O'Connor's career, audiences across the globe were beginning to catch on to the rising star's talent. She returned to the classics with The Importance of Being Earnest, followed by a pair of misfires (Windtalkers and Timeline); nonetheless, prominent roles in Piccadilly Jim, Iron Jawed Angels, Book of Love, and The Lazarus Child followed in short order. In 2007, O'Connor could be seen opposite Lucy Liu in the sexy ABC comedy Cashmere Mafia, which was executive produced by Sex and the City writer/executive producer/director Darren Star. That show ended quickly, but O'Connor went on to appear in Blessed, Darwin's Darkest Hour, and The Hunter.

Trivia: The daughter of Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson bears more than a passing resemblance to her famous mother in both looks and onscreen vivacity. Born in Los Angeles on April 19, 1979, Hudson made her screen debut in 1998. She first earned notice for her work in 200 Cigarettes (1999), an ensemble film that cast her as naive Cindy out on a date with caddish Jack (Jay Mohr). Although the film proved to be a substantial critical and commercial disappointment, Hudson's performance was singled out for some of the scant praise the film did receive. The following year, she could be seen starring opposite fellow up-and-comer Joshua Jackson in Gossip, a drama centered on the disastrous side effects of rumor-mongering on a college campus.If critical recognition had eluded her in the past, it certainly caught-up with her at the 2000 Golden Globe Awards, where she took home the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. Engulfed in the Hollywood hype machine following her winning role in Almost Famous, it seemed as if Hudson was set to follow her mother in taking the film industry by storm. After soaking in her nowfound fame in the early years of the new millennium, Hudson emerged from a whirlwind schedule of fashion shoots and awards shows to appear in the romantic war drama The Four Feathers in 2002. Though The Four Feathers was quickly and unceremoniously relegated to box-office obscurity, Hudson fired back with an almost surefire hit when she starred opposite quirky heartthrob Matthew McConaughey in the romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003). While subsequent roles in Alex and Emma, Le Divorce, and Raising Helen did little to elevate Hudson's already-comfortable star status, a venture into the unknown in the curiously original but largely underseen Skeleton Key at least showed the actress' willingness to explore new territory onscreen. Back in the realm of comedy, Hudson would do her best to tolerate onscreen husband Matt Dillon's eccentric best-friend when the down-on-his-luck Dupree (Owen Wilson) arrives on their doorstep looking for a place to stay in the farcical summer comedy You, Me and Dupree (2006). Hudson joined with Mathew McConaughey for a second time for the romantic comedy Fool's Gold (2008), and starred in another rom-com, My Best Friend's Girl, the same year. Hudson gained recognition for her previously unknown dance skills thanks to her performance in filmmaker Rob Marshall's musical film Nine, which also featured Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, and Nicole Kidman. In 2010, the actress starred in the film adaptation of Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me.Hudson conitnued to rotate between lighter romantic comedies and heavier dramas, appearing in Something Borrowed in 2011, followed by political thriller The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), Larry David's TV movie Clear History (2013) and the drama Good People (2014). She also took a recurring gig on Glee, playing a dance instructor, allowing Hudson to showcase her singing skills and dancing chops.