Trivia: With a number of high-profile projects, a variety of magazine covers, and a spot on Teen People's 21 Hottest Stars Under 21 list in 1999 under her belt, actress Julia Stiles has come a remarkably long way in a very short time. Born March 28, 1981, in New York City, Stiles was interested in performing from a very young age. When she was eleven years old, she wrote a letter to a Manhattan theater director asking to be cast in a production and was soon acting on-stage in avant-garde plays at both the La Mama and Kitchen Theaters. In 1996, Stiles made her film debut with a small part in I Love You, I Love You Not and the following year had her television debut in the Oprah Winfrey Presents: Before Women Had Wings, in which she played an abused child. The same year, she made a brief appearance as Harrison Ford's daughter in The Devil's Own and followed with roles in two 1998 films, Wide Awake and the Sundance entry Wicked. The year 1999 proved to be Stiles' breakthrough year, as she played a prominent part in the television miniseries The '60s and the lead role in 10 Things I Hate About You, the latest film to mine gold and produce endorsements out of William Shakespeare. The film was a hit, and Stiles was soon being heralded as one of the hottest, young actors of her generation. With her name attached to a number of future projects, it seemed that Stiles would indeed have success in living up to this label.Sure enough, Stiles was almost immediately cast in two modernized-for-MTV-generation Shakespeare flicks, namely director Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (2000) with Ethan Hawke and O, a teen-oriented adaptation of Othello starring Josh Hartnett and Mekhi Phifer. As classic literature once again fell in place behind predictable romantic comedies, Stiles could be found playing the romantic lead in Down to You with teen movie veteran Freddie Prinze Jr., and alongside Sean Patrick Thomas in Save the Last Dance, which featured Stiles in the role of a grieving ballet dancer who attends an inner-city school and eventually finds love within a primarily black high school. Though the film was not a critical success, Save the Last Dance (2001) and 10 Things I Hate About You nonetheless helped construct Stiles a respectable fan base, and the young actress -- now with a Saturday Night Live credit under her belt -- would continue to build her resumé throughout the early 2000s. In the film adaptation of novelist Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity, Stiles had the chance to participate in a film starring Hollywood golden boy Matt Damon and returned to the role in 2004's The Bourne Supremacy. Stiles was praised for holding her own against Stockard Channing in The Business of Strangers (2001), which was shown at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and fared decently in A Guy Thing, a romantic comedy-of-errors co-starring Jason Lee and Stiles' fellow Down to You alumna Selma Blair. In 2003, Stiles would play opposite the Oscar-winning Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile, which finds Stiles playing a conservative '50s college student whose beliefs undergo some serious scrutiny after coming in contact with an uncharacteristically progressive teacher (Roberts). The year 2004 promised more teen-styled roles; Stiles played the eccentric title character in Carolina under the direction of Dutch filmmaker Marleen Gorris and worked with director Martha Coolidge and 28 Days Later's Luke Mably in The Prince & Me. A key role in opposite William H. Macy in director Stuard Gordon's critically lauded but little seen David Mamet adaptation Edmond served well to remind audiences of Stiles acting abilities, and the following year the wholesome-looking beauty would serve as mother to the ultimate evil in the high profile horror remake The Omen. Jumping genres to action with The Bourne Ultimatum the following year, Stiles quickly ventured back into dark territory when she joined the cast of the popular Showtime series Dexter in late 2010. Cast as vengeful rape victim Lumen Ann Pierce, the versatile young actress proved an unlikely partner for the murderous protagonist, and earned an Emmy nomination for her role in the process. In 2012, Stiles had a small role in the award-winning Silver Linings Playbook.

Trivia: Shot homemade horror movies as a kid. Wrote to Sir Anthony Hopkins for funding help for his second two years at drama school and received money from Hopkins' trust. After finally receiving funding from his local council, Mably offered to send the money back but was told to keep it and spend it wisely. Was cast in stage productions of The Breakfast Club, Rush and Faust. Landed recurring roles on the BBC dramas Holby City and Dream Team. Portrayed the younger Isaac in the Biblical miniseries In the Beginning. Played the titular prince in The Prince and Me (2004) and The Prince and Me 2: The Royal Wedding (2005).

Trivia: Studied quantum physics at Cambridge University, England. Started studying for his PhD but abandoned it to follow a career in comedy. Spent four years doing gigs in pubs with friend Alexander Armstrong. Performed at the Edinburgh Fringe festival for the first time with Armstrong in 1994. Released a book about physics called It's Not Rocket Science.

Trivia: Born into a theatrical family, British actor James Fox made his film bow as a child actor in 1950, using his own name, William Fox. Fox's first movie was The Miniver Story (1950), a Hollywood-financed sequel to 1942's Mrs. Miniver. The best of the actor's earliest appearances was in The Magnet (1950), in which 11-year-old Fox played a fun-loving young boy at play with his mates. Fox changed his first name to James when he began assuming adult roles in the early 1960s, a period in which he played upper-class types. It was in one of these roles that Fox appeared with Dirk Bogarde in the brooding, Freudian Harold Pinter drama The Servant (1963); that same year, Fox appeared in the "angry young man" exercise The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, which starred Tom Courtenay With his Servant vis-a-vis Sarah Miles, Fox headlined an international cast in the comedy extravaganza Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965). Fox continued in films into the 1980s, generally in class-"A" items like A Passage to India (1984) and The Russia House (1989). Fox continues to play old-blood aristocrats in films, most recently as the foolishly fascistic lord of the manor in Remains of the Day (1993); he also appeared in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) and Heart of Darkness (1994).

Trivia: Known for her vibrant, intelligent portrayals of women who run the gamut from cold-blooded killers to long-suffering wives, Miranda Richardson is one of the British cinema's foremost purveyors of elegant, energetic dysfunction. Born in Southport, Lancashire, on March 3, 1958, Richardson began acting in school plays and left school at the age of 17 to study drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatres School. Following her graduation, she acted in repertory theatre, becoming affiliated with Manchester's Liberty Theatre in 1979. Obtaining her Equity card, Richardson performed in a number of regional productions before moving on to the London stage in 1981. While performing on the stage, she also began acting on television and then in film. Her first big break came when she was cast as the real-life Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed for murder in Britain, in Mike Newell's Dance with a Stranger (1985). Her astonishing performance as a woman destroyed by her dependence on her loutish lover (played by a sulky Rupert Everett) earned wide critical acclaim, but Richardson remained fairly unknown outside of Britain.In 1987, having turned down the opportunity to play the role that went to Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction, the actress appeared in her first American outing, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of J.G. Ballard's Empire of the Sun. Richardson's portrayal of a doctor's wife interned in a Japanese prison camp provided what little sensual heat there was to be found in the film, but it was not until five years later that American audiences finally took notice of her.In 1992, Richardson had substantial roles in both Damage and The Crying Game. Playing the long-suffering wife of a philandering MP (Jeremy Irons) in the former and a murderous IRA operative in the latter, she impressed both critics and audiences with the spellbinding range and depth of her performances. Her work in both films received a number of honors, including a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her work in Damage and a BAFTA award in the same category for her portrayal of The Crying Game's Jude. In addition, Richardson won a Golden Globe for her work in another film that year, Mike Newell's Enchanted April, in which she played one of a group of British women who find liberation in the hills of Tuscany.Richardson received her second Oscar nomination and third BAFTA nomination two years later, for her vivid, full-blooded performance in Tom and Viv, in which she played the aristocratic, unstable wife of T.S. Eliot. She subsequently did starring work in films of widely varying quality, turning in particularly memorable performances in Robert Altman's Kansas City (1996) and Robert Duvall's The Apostle (1997). In the first, she demonstrated great wit as a politician's drug-addicted wife, while in the second, she made her small role as a radio station secretary one of the film's most memorable features.Following a turn in David Hare's The Designated Mourner (which was filmed in 1997 as the actors were also performing in its original production on the London stage) and a delightfully nasty stint as the evil queen in Merlin (1998), Richardson could be seen in a number of projects in 1999. Two of these were particularly high-profile, the first being Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, in which Richardson did time in a bodice and fright wig to portray a mysterious woman of questionable intention. The second, George Hickenlooper's The Big Brass Ring, was a political drama that featured the actress as the wife of a gubernatorial candidate (William Hurt) whose campaign is severely threatened by his past indiscretions.Richardson ushered in the new millenium with a role in the remake of the classic British crime-thriller Get Carter and by lending her voice to the claymation family film Chicken Run. In 2002, she wowed critics both with her performance in The Hours as well as in David Cronenberg's Spider, a film that had Richardson playing three different characters opposite Ralph Fiennes. After a handful of small films in 2003, the actress returned to the megaplexes as the Queen of Denmark in 2004's The Prince & Me.

Trivia: Prolific Canadian actress Alberta Watson is best known for her work in off-center independent films and the syndicated TV series La Femme Nikita. Born and raised in Toronto, Watson began performing in local theater productions as a teenager. After garnering a Genie nomination for one of her first films, the steamy In Praise of Older Women (1978), Watson earned parts in several Canadian features, including Stone Cold Dead (1980) and a starring role in Black Mirror (1981). Moving to the U.S. in the early '80s, Watson continued to work regularly, scoring co-starring roles with Scott Glen in Michael Mann's stylish World War II horror movie The Keep (1983); Susan Sarandon in the TV movie Women of Valor (1986); and in cult director Donald Cammel's second-to-last feature White of the Eye (1987). Watson found 1990s indie film success as the incestuous mother to Jeremy Davies' put-upon teen in neophyte director David O. Russell's unusual black comedy (and Sundance prize winner) Spanking the Monkey (1994). After playing a more conventional mother in Hackers (1995), Watson returned to Canada, appearing in the romantic drama Sweet Angel Mine (1996) and earning another Genie nomination for Shoemaker (1996). Watson marked her greatest artistic success the following year as a mourning mother and adulterous wife in Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter (1997). Her role as tough anti-terrorist strategist Madeline in the TV version of the female assassin drama La Femme Nikita brought her more attention and critical approbation. Following her 1997-2000 stint on the show, Watson added another Sundance Film Festival prizewinner to her credit (and another notable maternal role) with her performance as the title character's mother in the transgender rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001). In 2004, she joined the fourth season of 24 as the new director of CTU in Los Angeles. When La Femme Nikita was revamped as the CW series Nikita, Watson joined the cast in a recurring role, playing a senator. Watson died in 2015, at age 60.

Trivia: Pretty, blonde-haired British actress Eliza Bennett broke into entertainment at the age of nine, with an 18-month turn on the London stage in the Sherman-Sams musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, then quickly moved into features -- achieving a steady output of film roles by mid-adolescence. During her early years, she specialized largely, though not exclusively, in science fiction and fantasy, a somewhat ironic fact given her reportedly limited off-camera interest in those genres. Her cinematic work commenced with a supporting turn as Princess Arabella in Martha Coolidge's lighthearted romantic comedy The Prince & Me. After that, Bennett appeared in such projects as the big-screen fantasy comedy Nanny McPhee (2005), the disaster-themed sci-fi telemovie Supernova (2005), the family-oriented time travel fantasy From Time to Time (2009), and the Iain Softley-directed literary fantasy Inkheart (2009), for which she took on a lead role.

Trivia: Discovered acting as a high-school freshman. Received VCU's prestigious Excellence in Theatre award and was also recognized with the Irene Ryan Scholarship. Worked as a waiter and a bartender while pursuing an acting career in New York after college. Is a fan of horror films. Hobbies include surfing, sailing, spending time with his dogs, and working on his 1959 Chevy pickup truck.

Trivia: After studying at the Rhode Island School of Design and N.Y.U., filmmaker Martha Coolidge worked in Canadian television while making short films and documentaries. In 1975, she wrote, directed, and produced her first feature film, Not a Pretty Picture, focusing on the issue of high school date rape. It wasn't until 1983 that she would find her niche in comedies with the teen classic Valley Girl, starring a young Nicolas Cage. She stayed with teen movies for her next three projects: National Lampoon's Joy of Sex, Real Genius, and Plain Clothes. For the rest of the '80s, Coolidge directed several TV shows (including a few episodes of The Twilight Zone) and made-for-TV movies before making a comeback in 1991 with the coming-of-age drama Rambling Rose, winning her Best Director at the Independent Spirit Awards. In 1992, she made the TNT movie Crazy in Love, featuring an all-star cast with Holly Hunter, Gena Rowlands, and Frances McDormand. She stayed with comedy dramas for her next two efforts: Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers and Angie, starring Geena Davis. The rest of the '90s she made several little-seen features, including the Jack Lemmon/ Walter Matthau comedy Out to Sea. Her television work was more successful, with an Emmy nomination for her biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and a Director's Guild award for a segment of the anthology If These Walls Could Talk 2 (the other segments were directed by Jane Anderson and Anne Heche). A longtime associate of the DGA, Coolidge became the group's first woman president in 2002. The next year, she made the romantic drama Aurora Island, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Kim Basinger. In 2004 Coolidge release The Prince & Me, a romance starring Julia Stiles as a young woman who falls in love with a royal. Two years later Coolidge directed the Duff sisters, Hilary and Haylie as spoiled sisters who lose their fortune, in Material Girls.

Trivia: Best known for playing mean big brother Buzz in the Home Alone series, New York native Devin Ratray scored his first acting gig at the age of nine in the 1986 movie Where Are the Children? He continued to act throughout the '80s and '90s, appearing in movies and on television, including a memorable episode of Law & Order in which he played a mentally ill murderer. Ratray has also pursued his artistic talents in music, singing and playing guitar for the band Little Bill and the Beckleys.

Trivia: The youngest of three brothers.Worked as a copy writer at an advertising agency after graduating college.Worked in the audio-visual department of McGill University.Started acting as a hobby, performing in student plays at the William Shatner Building.Decided to become a professional actor at the age of 36.His work in The Border earned him nominations at the Golden Nymph Awards and the Gemini Awards.

Trivia: Moved from Pennsylvania to the Czech Republic at the age of 11. Trained in ballet and musical theater during middle and high school. Started acting at the age of 13 in American and European film and TV productions that came through Prague. Attended Carnegie Mellon University's summer-theater program when she was 17 years old. Began studying performing arts at New York's Atlantic Theatre Company at the age of 19. Was featured on the cover of Playboy in March 2011.